Forensics A2 Pyschology Revision

Crime
1. An act of misbehaviour that is unlawful and goes against the laws/rules of the state it's committed in
2. Problems with defining
  1. Culture
  2. Time
Offender Profiling
1. Bottom Up
  1. Investigative Psychology
    1. Interpersonal Coherence
      1. Forensic Awareness
        Smallest space awareness
  2. Geographical Profiling
    1. Criminal Geographical Targeting
      1. Rossmo's formula
        Creates a 3D spatial map, relating to time distance & location of offender
    2. Circle Theory
      1. Marauders
      2. Commuters
  3. Evaluations
    1. Distinction between marauders & commuters unneccessary: 91% of sexual offenders are marauders
    2. 75% police said it had been useful, but only 3% said it had helped identify actual offender
    3. Danger of focusing on one profile (Rachel Nickell case)
    4. More scientific - doesn't rely as heavily on inferences
2. Top Down
  1. 36 imprisoned serial killers & sex offenders
  2. Stages
    1. Profiling input
      1. Decision making
        Criminal assessment
        Criminal profile
        Crime assessment
        Apprehension
        Organised/disorganised
  3. Evaluations
    1. Copson: 184 police officers 80% said its useful, 60% would use again
    2. Based upon findings from 36 imprisoned killers - unreliable, manipulative
    3. Junk science - not based on any theory or deduction.
      1. Barnum effect - ambiguous descriptions made to fit anyone
Biological Explanations
1. Early explanation: Lombrosso
  1. Atavistic form
    1. Criminals have a particular look - sloping forehead, squinty eyes, protruding lips
      1. Didn't have a control group
      2. Scientific racism - traits familiar in people of African descent. Used phrases such as primitive uncivlised, typical racist phrases @ time
      3. Possibility of leading to Eugenics, unfit people not allowed to reproduce. Also treat ppl with those traits badly
      4. Gender biased - believed women's jealousy was neutralised by their motherly characteristics. Believed women criminals actually had masculine traits, and they were monsters
    2. Did 100,000 postmortem examinations
      1. 21% had one trait
        43% had 5 or more
2. Genetic
  1. Twin Studies
    1. Raine
      1. Found concordance rates
        52% MZ twins
        21% DZ twins
  2. Candidate Genes
    1. Monoamine oxidase (MAOA) controls dopamine & serotonin in brain
      1. Studies 28 male members of Dutch family with histories of violent behaviour
        Shared gene that led to low levels of MAOA
3. Neural Explantion
  1. Prefrontal Cortex
    1. Antisocial Personality Disorder show reduced activity in this area
  2. Neurotransmitters
    1. Serotonin - inhibits in PFC, low levels mean individuals become aggressive
      1. Noradrenaline - high levels activate sympathetic NS & low levels reduce ability to react to perceived threats
4. Reductionist - doesn't take into account vital social factors
5. Passive influence, not nature
Psychological Explanations
1. Eyesnck & Criminal Personality
  1. cluster along two dimensions
    1. biological in origin - come from nervous system we inherit
  2. Extraversion - under aroused, seek external stimulation
  3. Neuroticism - nervous & jumpy due to overactivity in nervous system, prone to over reaction
  4. Psychoticism - cold, unemotional & prone to aggression. Less likely conditioned
2. Differential Association Theory
3. Psychodynamic
4. Level of Moral Reasoning
Dealing with offending behaviour
1. Custodial Sentencing
  1. Deter offending & others in society
    1. Incapacitation - protect the public
      1. Rehabilitate
        Retribution (atone for wrongdoing)
  2. Psychological Effects
    1. Mental state (10,000 cases self harm since 2008)
    2. Prisonisation - socialised into adopting inmate code
    3. Effect on family
    4. Effect on identiy
2. Recidivism
  1. 149,000 out of 573,000 reoffended within a year
  2. Why?
    1. Institionalised - sense of belonging, no prospects
    2. Mental health
      1. Coid: 60% less likely to reoffend when they'd been treated
    3. Time contiguity
      1. Sentencing happens too far after, punishment for being caught
    4. Shows that CS doesn't work - lead to development of strategies
    5. Individual differences - length of sentencing means little to habitual offenders
Ways of measuring
1. Official Statistics
  1. Released by home office, every reported event/witnessed by police
    1. Hides dark figure of crime - people sometimes too scared to report
    2. Only 24% crimes reported to police
2. Victim Suveys
  1. Crime Survey for England & Wales, 50,000 households selected through post code lottery
    1. Asked about crimes committed against them
      1. Tells us more about dark figure of crime
      2. Good sample - random means that it is more representative of general public
3. Offender Surveys
  1. Offending Crime & Justice Surveys
    1. Asked whether they have been involved in criminal behaviour over past year
      1. Social desirable answers - don't want to look bad
      2. Might exaggerate answers to live up to 'criminal image' they've attained

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Forensics A2 Pyschology Revision

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	Created by Grace Tankard over 7 years ago