Forensic psychology researchers

Douglas

Developed FBI typology of organised/disorganised offenders (Offender Profiling – Top-down approach)

Canter (2004)

Smallest space analysis supported the existence of an organised type (Offender Profiling – Top-down approach)

Alison (2002)

Criticised top-down profiling as unscientific and outdated (Offender Profiling – Top-down approach)

Canter & Heritage

Used smallest space analysis to support investigative psychology (Offender Profiling – Bottom-up approach)

Canter (1994)

John Duffy case used bottom-up profiling successfully (Offender Profiling – Bottom-up approach)

Lundrigan & Canter

Circle theory: offenders operate in spatial patterns (Offender Profiling – Bottom-up approach)

Lombroso (1876)

Claimed criminals have atavistic features (Biological – Atavistic Form)

Goring

Compared 3000 criminals and non-criminals; found no evidence for atavistic traits (Biological – Atavistic Form)

Christiansen

Twin study: higher concordance in MZ (35%) than DZ (13%) (Biological – Genetic)

Tiihonen

Found MAOA and CDH13 gene mutations in violent criminals (Biological – Genetic)

Brunner et al

Dutch family with MAOA gene mutation and aggressive behaviour (Biological – Genetic)

Raine

Brain scans showed reduced activity in prefrontal cortex of murderers (Biological – Neural)

Seo

Low serotonin levels linked to impulsive aggression (Biological – Neural)

Keysers

Found criminals may have empathy when asked to activate mirror neurons (Biological – Neural)

Eysenck

Found higher extraversion, neuroticism, psychoticism in prisoners (Psychological – Eysenck’s Theory)

Farrington

Found little consistent support for Eysenck’s theory (Psychological – Eysenck’s Theory)

Kohlberg

Proposed levels of moral reasoning; criminals use lower stages (Psychological – Cognitive)

Palmer & Hollin

Offenders showed less mature moral reasoning than non-offenders (Psychological – Cognitive)

Gibbs

Proposed immature vs mature moral reasoning model (Psychological – Cognitive)

Schönenberg & Justye

Offenders more likely to interpret neutral faces as hostile (Psychological – Cognitive)

Dodge & Frame

Children showed hostile attribution bias when shown ambiguous situations (Psychological – Cognitive)

Barbaree

Found 54% of rapists denied their offence (Psychological – Cognitive Distortions)

Pollock & Hashmall

35% of child molesters said crime was non-sexual (Psychological – Cognitive Distortions)

Sutherland

Differential association theory: criminal behaviour is learned (Psychological – Differential Association)

Blackburn

Suggested three types of inadequate superego leading to crime (Psychological – Psychodynamic)

Bowlby

44 thieves study: maternal deprivation linked to affectionless psychopathy (Psychological – Psychodynamic)

Lewis

Found no consistent link between maternal deprivation and offending (Psychological – Psychodynamic)

Bartol

Claimed prison is brutal and demeaning (Dealing with Offending – Custodial Sentencing)

Zimbardo

Stanford Prison Experiment: showed deindividuation and psychological impact (Dealing with Offending – Custodial Sentencing)

Clemmer

Introduced concept of prisonisation – inmates internalise prison norms (Dealing with Offending – Custodial Sentencing)

Hobbs & Holt

Used token economy with youth offenders; showed behaviour improvement (Dealing with Offending – Behaviour Modification)

Blackburn

Criticised token economies: little long-term effect (Dealing with Offending – Behaviour Modification)

Novaco

Developed anger management as CBT (Dealing with Offending – Anger Management)

Keen

Found anger management had positive outcomes with young offenders (Dealing with Offending – Anger Management)

Braithwaite

Introduced idea of reintegrative shaming (‘crime hurts, justice should heal’) (Dealing with Offending – Restorative Justice)

Sherman & Strang

Meta-analysis: restorative justice reduced reoffending (Dealing with Offending – Restorative Justice)

Osborn and West

Found that 40% of sons of criminal fathers had a criminal record by age 18, compared to 13% of sons with non-criminal fathers.