Forensics L3-8

Question 1

What is the historical approach to explaining offending behaviour?

Answer 1

• Lombroso suggested that criminal
  individuals were ill-suited to modern society
• believed criminals were genetic throwbacks/primitive sub-species, who were biologically different from non-criminals

Question 2

How did Lombroso view offenders, AF?

Answer 2

• offenders seen as lacking evolutionary development
• their savage and untamed nature meant that they would find it impossible to adjust to demands of civilised society and would inevitably turn to crime
• saw criminal behaviour as natural tendency, rooted in genealogy of those who engage in it

Question 3

What does the atavistic form include in terms of cranial characteristics?

Answer 3

• a narrow, sloping brow
• a strong prominent jaw
• high cheekbones
• facial asymmetry
• other physical features included dark skin and extra, toes, nipples or fingers

Question 3

What is the atavistic form?

Answer 3

• Lombroso argued that criminal sub-species could be identified by set of particular physiological characteristics that were linked to particular types of crime
• these were biologically determined atavistic (meaning reversion to something ancestral) characteristics
• mainly features of the face and head
• indicates that criminals are physically different from the rest of us

Question 4

How were murderers described, AF?

Answer 4

• bloodshot eyes
• curly hair
• long ears

Question 5

How were sexual deviants described, AF?

Answer 5

• glinting eyes
• swollen/fleshy lips
• projecting ears

Question 6

How were fraudsters described, AF?

Answer 6

• lips were thin and ‘reedy’

Question 7

What traits did Lombroso suggest beyond physical traits, AF?

Answer 7

• insensitivity to pain
• use of criminal slang
• tattoos
• unemployment

Question 8

How did Lombroso test atavistic form?

Answer 8

• examined the facial and cranial features of Italian convicts
• both living and dead
• proposed that the atavistic form was associated with a number of physical anomalies which were key indicators of criminality
• he examined the skulls of 383 (~400) dead criminals and 3839 (~4000) living ones
• concluded that 40% of criminal acts could be accounted for by the criminal subspecies

Question 9

Atavistic form, +ve evaluation:

Answer 9

• had an important role in the shift away from theories
  based on feeble-mindedness, wickedness and demonic possession
• was the forerunner to more biological explanations, evolutionary and genetic

Question 10

Atavistic form, -ve evaluation:

Answer 10

• attention drawn to the distinct racist undertones in Lombroso’s work
• many of the features he described as atavistic (e.g. dark skin and curly hair) are most likely to be found in people of African descent
• claim that atavistic characteristics were uncivilized, savage and primitive
  supported the eugenic philosophy
  = Goring (1913) set out to establish if there were any physical or mental abnormalities among the criminal classes
  = after conducting a comparison of 3,000 criminals and 3,000 non-criminals he concluded that there was no evidence that offenders had particular facial and cranial characteristics
  = he did suggest that criminals are more likely to have a below average intelligence
• Lombroso did not compare his criminal sample to a non-criminal control group
• if he had done then the differences he reported may have disappeared
  = even if criminals have atavistic characteristics this doesn’t necessarily mean that
  these characteristics cause their criminal behaviour
  = facial and cranial features
  can be influenced by poverty and poor diet, which can also lead people to crime

Question 11

What twin study supports the genetic explanation of crime?

Answer 11

• Lange (1930) investigated 13 monozygotic (identical) twins and 17 dizygotic (non-identical)
  twins
• at least one of the twins in each pair had served time in prison
• 10 of the 13 pairs of monozygotic twins had both spent time in prison
• whereas only 2 of the 17 pairs of dizygotic twins had both spent time in prison

Question 12

What is the genetic explanation for crime?

Answer 12

• criminal behaviour could be polygenic; this means that no one single gene is responsible for offending
• many genes responsible for causing criminal behaviour
• known as, candidate genes
• genetic explanations for crime suggest that would-be offenders inherit a gene, or combination of genes, that predisposes them to commit crime

Question 13

What gene study supports the genetic explanation of crime?

Answer 13

• Tilhonen et al. (2014) conducted genetic analysis of over 900 Finnish offenders
• revealed abnormalities on two genes that may be associated with violent crime
• first was the MAOA gene, which controls dopamine and serotonin in the brain and has been linked to aggressive behaviour
• second was the CDH13 gene, this gene has been linked to substance abuse and attention deficit disorder
• within Finnish sample individuals with this high-risk combo of genes were 13 times more likely to have a history of violent behaviour compared to a control group

Question 14

What is suggested by the diathesis stress model, GE?

Answer 14

• holds that genetics influence criminal behaviour but this is at moderated by the effects of the environment
• tendency towards criminal behaviour may come through a combination of genetic predisposition and biological or psychological triggers
• such as being raised in a dysfunctional environment

Question 14

What is the neural explanation of crime?

Answer 14

• suggests that there may be neural differences in the brains of criminals compared with non-criminals
• much of the evidence in this area has investigated individuals diagnosed with anti-social personality disorder (APD)
• APD is associated with reduced emotional responses and a lack of empathy
• a condition that characterises many convicted criminals

Question 15

What brain imaging study supports the neural explanation of crime?

Answer 15

• several dozen brain-imaging studies demonstrating that individuals with anti-social personalities have reduced activity in the pre-frontal cortex of the brain
• is the brain area that regulates emotional behaviour
• Raine et al. found an 11% reduction in the volume of grey matter in the prefrontal
  cortex of people with APD compared to a control group

Question 16

What empathy study supports the neural explanation of crime?

Answer 16

• recent research has suggested that criminals with APD can experience empathy but that they do so more sporadically than the rest of us
• Keysers et al. found that only when criminals were asked to empathise (with a person on a film experiencing pain) did their empathy reaction (controlled by mirror neurons in the brain) activate
• suggests that APD individuals are not totally without empathy but may have a neural switch that needs to be turned on in order to experience it
• in a normal brain the empathy switch is permanently switched on

Question 17

Genetic+neural explanations, -ve evaluation:

Answer 17

no +ve
- concordance rates in MZ twins are not high and leave plenty of room for non-genetic environmental factors
- concordance rates may be due to shared learning experiences rather than genetics
= brain scanning studies show pathology in brains of
criminal psychopaths
= but cannot conclude whether these abnormalities are genetic or signs of early abuse
- term ‘offending behaviour’ is too vague
- some specific forms of crime may be more biological than others e.g. physical aggression
= example of biological reductionism
= criminality is complex and explanations that reduce
offending behaviour to a gene or imbalanced neurotransmitter may be inappropriate and overly simplistic
= criminal behaviour does seem to run in families, but so does emotional instability, mental illness, social deprivation and
poverty
= twin studies never show 100% concordance rates in monozygotic twins
= so genetics cannot be the only explanation for criminal behaviour
- example of biological determinism
- presents us with a dilemma for our legal system
- if someone has criminal gene they cannot have personal and moral responsibility for their crime
- if this is the case it would be unethical to punish someone who does not have free will

Question 17

What is Eysenck’s theory of the criminal personality, PE?

Answer 17

• according to Eysenck (1947) our personality traits are biological in origin
• come about through the type of nervous system we inherit from our parents
• therefore, all personality types have an innate biological basis
• offenders have distinctive inherited/genetic personality traits, they are high in neuroticism, extraversion and psychoticism

Question 18

What do the traits suggested by Esyneck lead to, PE?

Answer 18

• high extraversion score, impulsive and seek sensation which draws them to the thrill of criminal behaviour
  = high neuroticism score, tend towards offending because they are unstable and unpredictable
  = Eysenck believed that people with a high neuroticism score had inherited a nervous systems that made them difficult to
  condition, as a result they will not learn easily from their mistakes
• high psychoticism, cold, lack empathy and are prone to aggression

Question 19

Eysenck’s theory PE, -ve evaluation:

Answer 19

no +ve
- Farrington et al. reviewed several studies and reported that offenders tended to score higher on psychoticism
- but NOT on extraversion and neuroticism, when compared to non-offenders
= idea that all offending behaviour can be explained by a single personality type has been heavily criticised as being simplistic
= crime is too varied and
complex a behaviour to be due to one single personality type
= the type of individual who commits murder is likely to be very different to one who commits fraud
- out of step with modern personality theory
- Digman’s Five Factor Model of personality suggests that openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness are important personality dimensions, in
addition to extraversion and neuroticism
= Bartol and Holanchock looked into cultural differences
= studied Hispanic and African-American offenders in a max security prison in New York
= divided them into six groups based on their criminal history and the nature of their offences
= all 6 groups were found to be LESS extravert than non-criminal control groups
= means Eysenck’s theory could be culturally biased
- based on the idea that it is possible to measure personality through psychological tests
- critics have argued that personality may not be reducible to a score in this way
- many psychologists believe there is no such thing as stable personality
- on a daily basis people’s personality changes depending who they are with and the situation they are in

Question 20

What are the cognitive explanations to psychology?

Answer 20

• moral reasoning
• cognitive distortions

Question 21

What is moral reasoning, CE?

Answer 21

• Kohlberg proposed that the quality of people’s judgments of right and wrong can be summarised by a stage theory of moral development
• offenders more likely to have their moral reasoning classified at the pre-conventional level
• means that a person is punishment orientated, reasoning based on whether or not the act will lead to punishment
• and reward orientated, reasoning based on what can be gained
• is immature reasoning which typically lasts from ages 3-7
• teens and adults who still reason in this way may commit crime if they can get away with it
  and/or gain rewards
• e.g. money, respect etc.

Question 22

What are the levels of moral reasoning, CE?

Answer 22

1. pre-conventional - shows concern for self interest - and external rewards and punishments 2. conventional - one does what is expected of them by others 3. post-conventional - one develops more autonomous decision making - based on principles of right and justice

Question 23

Moral reasoning CE, +ve evaluation:

Answer 23

- Palmer and Hollin compared moral reasoning - between 210 female non-offenders, 122 male non-offenders and 126 convicted offenders - using 11 moral dilemmas, such as not taking things that belong to others - offenders showed less mature moral reasoning than the non-offenders

Question 24

Moral reasoning CE, -ve evaluation:

Answer 24

- level of moral reasoning may depend on the type of offence - Thornton and Reid found individuals who committed crimes for financial gain, such as robbery, were more likely to show pre-conventional reasoning - than those convicted of impulsive crimes like assault, where no reasoning was evident

Question 25

What are cognitive distortions, CE?

Answer 25

- the way an offender’s biased/dysfunctional thinking about their offence serves to help them legitimise their behaviour - so they maintain a positive self-image - includes hostile attribution bias and minimalisation

Question 26

What is the hostile attribution bias, CD CE?

Answer 26

- when offender’s misinterpret social cues - justify their actions to themselves by attributing the cause of their offence to their victim - an unprovoked act is justified on the grounds that the victim did something to initiate the violence - offenders tend to judge ambiguous situations, or the actions of others, as aggressive and/or threatening when in reality they are not - may misread non-aggressive cues as aggressive and this may trigger a disproportionate, often violent, response

Question 27

What is minimalisation, CD CE?

Answer 27

- when offenders justify their offence to themselves by playing down the significance of their actions - may suggest that injuries inflicted in a vicious assault were mild - this bias acts to reduce an offender’s feeling of guilt. - offenders often use euphemisms for their offences - e.g. hit someone and say it was a tap? - sex offenders are in particular prone to minimalisation

Question 28

Cognitive distortions CE, +ve evaluation?

Answer 28

- understanding the nature of cognitive distortions has proven beneficial in the treatment of criminal behaviour - the dominant approach in the rehabilitation of sex offenders is CBT - this encourages offenders to ‘face up’ to what they have done and establish a less distorted view of their actions - reduced incidence of cognitive distortions in therapy is highly correlated with a reduced risk of offending

Question 29

Cognitive distortions CE, -ve evaluation?

Answer 29

- hostile attribution bias can explain reactive aggressive behaviour better than pre-medicated and planned aggression = minimalisation can describe how an offender rationalises or interprets their actions after the event = but does not necessarily explain the initial cause of the offending - it explains thinking but it cannot account for the source of these thoughts - are people born with cognitive distortions (nature) or are they the result of trauma (nurture) = cannot be observed or measured = psychologists have to rely on self-report or their own inferences to determine what someone is thinking = means the cognitive explanation of criminal behaviour is not scientific

Question 30

What is the differential association theory?

Answer 30

- Sutherland proposes that offending is learnt through socialisation - pro-criminal attitudes/behaviour occur through association and relationships with other people like family and friends - learn our norms and values from others, even deviant ones - offending more likely to occur where the social group values deviant behaviour - offending behaviours/techniques are passed on from one generation to another or between peers

Question 30

Why is it referred to as differential, DAT?

Answer 30

- everyone’s associations are different - expectations/attitudes of those around us act to reinforce our behaviours through acceptance/approval - reinforcement also affects offending behaviour - if rewards for offending are greater than the rewards for not offending

Question 31

Differential association theory, +ve evaluation:

Answer 31

- able to account for crime within all sectors of society - while Sutherland (1939) recognised that some types of crime, such as burglary, may be clustered within inner-city, working class communities - it is also the case that some crimes are most prevalent among affluent (richer) groups - white-collar (sometimes referred to as corporate crime) is a feature of middle-class social groups = Sutherland was successful in moving the emphasis away from early biological explanations of crime = and those explanations which saw offending as being the product of individual weakness or immorality = DAT draws attention to the role of dysfunctional social circumstances and environments in criminality - offers a more desirable and realistic solution to offending behaviour than the biological solution (eugenics) or the morality solution (punishment)

Question 32

Differential association theory, -ve evaluation:

Answer 32

- difficult to test scientifically - most evidence to support it is correlational so does not demonstrate cause and effect - how can the pro-crime attitudes a person has been exposed to be measured? - theory is built on the assumption that offending behaviour will occur when pro-criminal values outnumber anti-criminal ones - but without being able to measure these values, it is difficult to know at what point the urge to offend will trigger a criminal career = not everyone who is exposed to criminal influences goes on to commit crime = is a danger that this theory could stereotype individuals who come from impoverished, crime-ridden backgrounds as ‘unavoidably criminal’ = theory ignores the fact that people might choose not to offend despite criminal influences = it ignore people’s free will = e.g. offenders may seek out people with criminal values rather than being passively influenced by them

Question 32

How can pro-criminal behaviours be learnt, DAT?

Answer 32

- imitation - vicarious reinforcement - direct reinforcement - direct tuition from criminal pairs

Question 33

What is the psychodynamic explanation of crime?

Answer 33

- inadequate superego - suggests offenders have an Id which is insufficiently controlled/moderated - because of problems with the development of the superego

Question 34

How does the superego develop, PDE?

Answer 34

- superego is the last aspect of personality to form - develops at end of phallic stage of psychosexual development at 3-6 years old - major conflict of this stage is the Oedipus complex in which the male child unconsciously wishes to possess their mother and get rid of their father - as result of this desire boys experience castration anxiety, they fear their father will remove their penis to punish them for their desire of their mother - in attempt to resolve this anxiety the child identifies with their father and eventually internalises their father’s superego, creating their own - girls go through a similar process, called the Electra complex - but as they do not have castration anxiety, they do not internalise their mother’s superego to the same extent - so their own superego is less well developed than a male superego

Question 35

What are the types of inadequate superego, PDE?

Answer 35

- weak superego, weak due to failure to identify fully with same-sex parent - deviant superego, deviant due to identification with a deviant same-sex parent - over-harsh superego, excessively punitive (attitude towards goal of punishment) superego so individual is crippled with guilt and anxiety, crimes committed to fulfil with unconscious desire for punishment

Question 36

Inadequate superego PDE, +ve evaluation:

Answer 36

- combines innate drives such as those in the id (nature) and the effects of early experience (nurture)

Question 37

Inadequate superego PDE, -ve evaluation:

Answer 37

- theory has a lack of falsifiability - id and superego are unconscious and therefore cannot be empirically tested = viewing the cause of offending as within the person neglects the complexity of the social conditions of offending = such as deprivation, lack of education, poverty etc - according to Freud male identification with the same-sex parent is stronger sp males should be more moral than females - is not supported by crime statistics as evidence is that more males offend than females = no evidence that children raised without a same-sex parent offend more than children who do - adheres to psychic determinism as it suggests that offenders cannot be held responsible for their crimes - problems are rooted in childhood experience behaviour cannot change = if children raised by deviant parents go on to commit crime themselves this could be due to genetics or learning rather than a deviant superego - idea that some criminals have an unconscious desire for punishment is debatable - most offenders go to great lengths to conceal their crime and so avoid punishment