psyc 2080 exam 3

criminal behavior

- intentional behavior that violates a criminal code

- did not occur accidentally

- action cannot be justified or excused

juvenile delinquency

- variety of antisocial acts committed by youth

- not all are criminal offenses; some are only criminal when committed under a certain age

status offenses

- behavior prohibited only for juveniles (i.e. underage drinking, running away)

juvenile delinquent

- one who commits an act against criminal code

- is adjudicated delinquent by appropriate court

- usually restricted to persons younger than age 18, but some states include persons up to age 21

all states allow juveniles...

- to be tried as adults in criminal courts under certain conditions and for certain offenses; in some cases as young as age 10

conduct disorder (CD)

- diagnostic label

- group of behaviors characterized by habitual misbehavior

- i.e. stealing, setting fires, running away from home, skipping school, destroying property, fighting, being cruel to animals

antisocial behavior

- usually reserved for serious habitual misbehavior

- actions directly harmful to well-being of others

- more common for adolescents to grow out of this behavior

antisocial personality disorder (ASP/APD)

- diagnostic label

- primarily for adults at least 18 who displayed conduct disorder as children/adolescents and continue serious offending well into adulthood

DSM-5 recognizes four categories of ASP

- may occur alone or in combination

- aggression to people and animals

- destruction of property

- deceitfulness

- serious violation of rules

the developmental perspective

- if we follow groups of individuals from birth to adulthood, we learn a great deal about how antisocial behavior develops

- most fruitful approach is to conceptualize dev. as following a path/trajectory

executive function (EF)

- higher order mental abilities involved in goal-directed behavior

- resides predominantly in the prefrontal cortex (PFC)

- includes organizing behavior, memory, inhibition processes, and planning strategies

working memory

- processes we can bring to bear on contents of our conscious mind

- i.e. translating instructions into action

cognitive flexibility

- ability to think about something in more than one way

- includes skills inherent in verbal fluency, creativity, planning, and judgement

inhibitory control (self-regulation)

- behavioral process of self-regulation/self control that keeps impulses in check

- requires the ability to follow rules, modulate emotions, and delay gratification

EF development can be slowed/damaged by...

- quality of parenting, disadvantageous environments

- can deteriorate because of age/stress

- can be damaged following a traumatic brain injury, stroke, exposure to toxic environments

A developing and well-functioning EF can be a predictor of...

- achievement and academic success

risk-taking

- acting without thinking of the consequences

- believed to be closely associated with deficits in EF

the moffitt developmental theory

- conducted by Terrie Moffitt

- indicated that delinquency could be best understood if we viewed it as progressing along two development paths

- one of the dominate theories in the psychology of crime and deviance

life course-persistent offenders (LCPs)

- lifelong pattern of antisocial behavior

- can also show poor life outcomes

- often resistant to treatment/rehabilitation

moffitt finds that many LCPs also exhibit...

- inherited or acquires neurological problems during their childhoods

- i.e. difficult temperaments as infants, attention deficit disorders, hyperactivity in elementary school, learning problems during later school years

adolescent-limited offenders (ALs)

- usually only show delinquent/antisocial behavior during teen years

- moffitt estimates that a majority of adolescents are involved in some form of antisocial behavior during their teens, but stop as their brain matures

histories of ALs vs LCPs

- the developmental histories of ALs do not demonstrate the early and persistent antisocial problems of LCPs

- AL delinquents are most likely to be involved in offenses symbolizing adult privilege and autonomy (i.e. vandalism, theft, drug and alcohol offenses, running away, truancy)

AL offenses usually lack...

- the cruelty and violence typical of LCPs

Christina Carlisi et el. (2020)

- revealed that LCPs are neurologically different from ALs

- LCPs had smaller surface area and thinner cortex in brain regions associated with executive function, motivation, and emotional regulation compared to ALs

expansion of Moffitt's two-path theory

- a simple dual developmental path may not adequately capture all the variations in criminal careers

- some researchers have identified four developmental paths that comprehensively reflet the reality of offending patterns

AL offending pattern (Moffitt)

- follow Moffitt's hypothesized offending pattern

- beginning in their early teens, peaking around age 16, showing a steady decline during late teens/early adulthood

low-level chronic offenders (LLCs) offending pattern (Moffitt)

- rise in offending through early adolescence, reach a plateau by mid-teens, remain at same offending level past age 18

high-level chronic offenders (LCPs) offending pattern (Moffitt)

- begin antisocial behavior early and remain at a high level through lifetime

non-offending (NCs) offending pattern (Moffitt)

- do not have a pattern of offenses

H.R. White, Bates, and Buyske (2001) proposed fifth category

- engage in relatively little delinquency in early adolescence but increases from late adolescence into adulthood

Steinberg's Dual-Systems Model (developmental dual systems model)

- reward seeking/impulsivity dev among different timetables, have different neurological influence during adolescence/young adult dev.

- cognitive-control network is typically well developed by mid-adolescence, but its efficiency is hampered by socioemotional network

- by age 16 reasoning ability is similar to that of adults, but decision making is influenced by immaturity in socioemotional realm

- increases in reward-seeking needs occurs early and is relatively abrupt, whereas increases in self-regulatory competence occurs gradually and is not typically complete until mid-20s

cognitive control

-ability to persist in goal-directed behavior when faced with competing cognitive/behavioral demands

why does risk-taking decline between adolescence and adulthood?

- because of developmental changes in the cognitive control system which is primarily located in the prefrontal cortex (PFC)

-growth changes improve the person's capacity for self-regulation and regulate the socioemotional system

why does risk-taking behavior increase between childhood and adolescence?

- Steinberg theorizes that risk taking increase during this time because of developmental changes in the socioemotional system

- neurological changes lead to significant increases in reward-seeking and stimulation-seeking activity during adolescence.

adolescent behavior

- characterized by impulsiveness, sensation seeking, a lack of future orientation, strong susceptibility to peer pressure/influence

sensation seeking

- tendency to seek out novel, varied, highly stimulation experiences

- willingness to take risks in order to obtain them

- wide assortment of factors influence sensation-seeking/risky behavior such as opportunities to engage in antisocial risk taking, parental/adult supervision levels, individual temperamental differences, access to drugs/alcohol

social cognition

- how we process, store, apply info about other people/social interactions

- allows us to make inferences about another person's intentions, feelings, and thoughts

social brain development

- develops rapidly through adolescence

- stabilizes in early to mid-20s.

- adolescence is a period of heightened sensitivity to socio-cultural signals in the social environment

adolescent peer evaluations

- affect feelings of social or personal worth, especially between ages 13-17.

- desire to be accepted by peers can drive them engage in risky, dangerous, and criminal behavior; can also positively influence behavior

disruptive behavior

- actions that create problems for some kids and their caretakers

- typically include hyperactivity, impulsivity, inattentions, oppositional behaviors, defiance, aggression, and disregarding the rights of others

- affects 5-10% of children and adolescents

- accounts for more than 50% of referrals to mental health clinics

when disruptive behavior is left untreated

- disruptive children are likely to experience peer rejection, have problems in school, demonstrate difficulties getting along with others, and exhibit persistent delinquent behaviors

externalizing disorders

- maladaptive behaviors directed at environment

- i.e. acting out, antisocial behavior, deceitfulness, hostility, violations of rules/social norms, vindictiveness, and aggression

internalizing disorders

- maladaptive process within or directed at self

- i.e. depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, low self-confidence, low self-esteem

ADHD

- traditionally characterized by developmentally poor attention, impulsivity, hyperactivity

- contemporary perspective also sees behavioral pattern as deficiency in interpersonal skills

- leading psychological diagnosis for US children, with boys outnumbering girls

- estimated 9.4% of children ages 2-17 have, at some point in their lives, received an ADHD diagnosis

- symptoms usually manifest during preschool years and often persist into adulthood

ADHD encompassing terms:

- minimal brain dysfunction (MBD)

- attention deficit disorder (ADD)

- hyperactive-impulsive attention (ADHD-HI)

three central behaviors (ADHD):

- excessive motor activity (fidgets, runs about, talkative, noisy)

- impulsivity (acts before thinking, interrupts others, shifts between activities quickly, doesn't consider consequences)

- inattention (doesn't seem to listen, easily distracted, loses necessary things)

oppositional defiant disorder (ODD)

- symptoms NOT to be confused with those of ADHD

- arguing with adults, refusing adults' requests, deliberately trying to annoy others, blaming others for mistakes, being spiteful/vindictive

conductive disorder (CD)

- diagnostic label; children who demonstrate habitual misbehavior

- considered to be serious childhood/adolescent disorder

- often results in child being mislabeled with learning disability

- frequently co-occurs with ADHD; increases symptoms of ADHD

- combination of CD and ADHD is strong predictor of lifelong course of violence, persistent criminal behavior, and drug abuse

childhood-onset CD

- pattern begins before 10

- often worsens as child gets older; more likely to lead to serious/persistent criminal behavior into adulthood

adolescent-onset CD

- absence of any maladaptive behavior before 10.

- tend to exhibit fewer problems in interpersonal and social skills, but do reject traditional rules/formal procedures

- often associate with deviant peers in forbidden activities

CD prevalence

- ranges from 2% to more than 10% (median 4%)

- sex ration appears to be 2.5 males to each female

-boys tend to display fighting, stealing, vandalism, and discipline problems

- girls tend to participate in lying, truancy, running away, substance abuse, and prostitution

emotional intelligence

- ability to know how people and self feel; capacity to use that info to guide thoughts/actions

- deficiency may play prominent role in human violence

hostile attribution bias

- tendency of some people to perceive hostile intent in others even when it is lacking

language development

- verbal deficits and impaired language development;

- closely associated with behavior problems and serious delinquency

- low language proficiency linked to antisocial behavior and aggression as early as age 2

psychopath

- demonstrates cluster of psychological, interpersonal, neuropsychological features that distinguish them from general population

- profound and pathological stimulation seeking

- recent research suggests they may possess good amounts of emotional intelligence, and use it to manipulate/deceive/control others

sociopath

- someone who commits repeated crime

- have sense of morality, show genuine empathy, generally possess a well-developed conscience

Dr. Hervey Cleckley

- one of the first to outline behavioral characteristics of psychopaths

- credited with completing one of the most comprehensive works on psychopaths, "The Mask of Sanity"

10 cardinal behavioral features characteristic of the true psychopath (Cleckley)

- selfishness/egocentricity

-inability to love or give genuine affection to others

- frequent deceitfulness/lying

- lack of guilt or remorsefulness

- callousness or lack of empathy

- law anxiety proneness

- poor judgment and failure to learn from experience

- superficial charm

- failure to follow any life plan

- cycles of unreliability

antisocial personality disorder (ASP/APD)

- pervasive pattern of disregard for/violation of rights of others, since age 15.

- broad behavioral patterns based on clinical observations

- NOT synonymous with psychopathy which refers to specific behavioral patterns and measurable cognitive, emotional, and neuropsychological differences

prevalence of criminal psychopathy (Hare, 1998)

- 1% in general population

- 15-25% in adult prison system

- statistics criticized as inflated by other researchers

PCL-R scoring

- scoring is complex and requires substantial time, extensive training, and access to considerable amount of background info on the individual

- item ratings require some integration of info across domains including beh at work/school; beh toward family, friends, sex partners; criminal beh

Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R)

- best know, most heavily researched instrument for measurement of criminal psychopathy

- assesses affective (emotional), interpersonal, behavioral, and social deviance facets of criminal psychopathy

- sources include self-reports, behavioral observations, collateral sources (friends, family, arrest/court records, etc.)

- reliable and valid for distinguishing criminal psychopaths from criminal non-psychopaths

PCL: SV

- Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version

- 12-item short-form version of PCL-R

PCL: YV

- Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version

- designed for assessing psychopathy in adolescents age 13 or older

- a modified version of the PCL-R

- attempts to assess psychopathy across the youth's lifespan; emphasis on school adjustment and peer/family relations

P-Scan: Research Version

- measure of psychopathy intended primarily for research purposes, but now used by some mental health practitioners in their clinical practice

factor analysis (psychopathy)

- statistical procedure designed to find different dimensions or factors in test data

- at least 2 behavioral dimensions/factors came to light (interpersonal-affective factor, impulsive factor)

impulsive factor

- most closely associates with socially deviant lifestyle and antisocial attitudes

- associated with strong tendency to engage in antisocial lifestyles combined with unrealistic goals/ambitions (grandiosity)

- appears to be related to spontaneous and disinhibited violence

interpersonal-affective factor

- interpersonal/emotional components

- tendency to be deceitful, unemotional, remorseless, socially dominant, and manipulative

- psychopath feels no guilt about using others strictly to meet their own needs

- associated with planned predatory violence, resistance/inability to profit from psychotherapy and treatment programs

deficient affective experience

- lack of sincere positive emotions towards others

- callousness/lack of empathy

arrogant and deceitful interpersonal style

- glibness, superficial charm, grandiose sense of self-worth

four-factor perspective

- factor 1 (interpersonal): pathological lying, conning

- factor 2 (impulsive lifestyle): irresponsible behaviors, sensation seeking, impulsiveness

- factor 3 (affective): shallow affect/emotional reactions, lack of remorsefulness for actions

- factor 4 (antisocial tendencies): poor self-regulation, wide array of antisocial behavior

**factor 4 most important for predicting psychopathic recidivism

Cooke and Michie (1997) PCL-R factor analysis

- factor 1: arrogant and deceitful interpersonal style

- factor 2: impulsive and irresponsible behavioral style

- factor 3: deficient affective experience

TriPM

- Triarchic Psychopathy Model

- consists of three dimensions, with a scale measuring each one (meanness, disinhibition, boldness)

meanness

- dimension of TriPM

- expressed through extreme arrogance, defiance of authority, destructive excitement seeking, callous aggression, interpersonal detachment, and animal/human cruelty

- motivational style in which pleasure and satisfaction are sought without consideration of others

disinhibition (externalizing proneness)

- dimension of TriPM

- characterized by reckless-impulsive tendencies that are often connected to the use of severe, potentially criminal coercive tactics

- believed to have strong genetic component

boldness (fearless dominance)

- dimension of TriPM

- ability to remain calm and focused in stressful/life-threatening situations

- exhibits high self-assurance and social efficacy in wide variety of social situations

- reflects the capacity to recover rapidly from disastrous events, seek out unfamiliarity and danger

callous-unemotional (CU) traits

- characterized by distinct lack of empathy, deficits in recognizing various emotions, shallow affect, lack of remorse/guilt, indifference towards one's performance

- traits can often lead to persistent and aggressive pattern of antisocial behavior

female psychopaths

- may be less aggressive/violent than male psychopaths

- may recidivate less than males

- tend to be more subtle/skillful in their aggression, exploitative relationships, and manipulation of others

- more likely to target family, friends, and acquaintances rather than strangers

neurotoxins

- have toxic effects on human nervous system

- have the potential of producing neurocognitive dysfunction, predisposing individuals to engage in antisocial behavior and violence

aversive situation

- can provoke aggression and violence in persons submitted to conditions such as excessive heat, continuous loud noise, crowded living conditions.

link between violence and media (APA)

- increases viewer's fear of becoming a victim, with corresponding increase in self-protective behs. and distrust of others

- desensitizes viewer to violence

- encourages some to become more involved in violent actions

- demonstrates that aggression/violence earn desired goods/services

- sexual violence in X/R-rated films increases sexual aggression in some males

psychological risk assessment

- systematic process evaluating the likelihood that a person will engage in dangerous behavior

- person doesn't make a direct/implied threat

threat assessment

- process to determine the credibility/seriousness of a threat, likelihood it will be carried out

- involves three basic functions: identify, assess, manage

- aims to interrupt people on a pathway to commit violence

- requires a threat to be communicated

identity (threat assessment)

- be aware of "markers" of possible impending violence (i.e. expressed threat, uncharacteristic/violent beh, hostility to others)

- report concerns to authorities

assess (threat assessment)

- obtain and gather info from various sources

- talk with individuals and their peers

- appraise person's current situation with/without using threat assessment instruments

- determine underlying problem (i.e. depression, bullying)

manage (threat assessment)

- provide counseling/treatment for underlying problem

- warn/protect potential victims

- monitor the individual; obtain a restraining order if necessary

indirect threat

- vague and more ambiguous

- motivation, intention, and/or target unclear

direct threat

- specifies a target

- delivered in a straightforward, clear, explicit manner.

veiled threat

- strongly implies but does not explicitly threaten violence

conditional threat

- suggests that harm will result if something threat-maker wishes is not delivered

leakage

- communication by potential attacker about violent interaction

Safe School Initiative (SSI) Report

- study of school shootings and other school-based attacks between 1974-2000

- conducted by US secrete service and department of education

three levels of prevention for school shootings (Price and Khubchandani, 2019)

- primary: preventing kids from getting access to firearms

- secondary: detect and deter students from bringing guns into schools

- tertiary: minimizing injuries/deaths during a shooting incident

workplace violence

- physically violent incidents, behavior that threatens violence

- coercion, intimidation, outright threats, harassment

- may be classified as:

1. homicides

2. physical but nonfatal violence

3. psychological violence

workplace homicides

- from 2000-2012, over half of workplace homicides occurred within sales, protective service, and transportation occupations

- firearms account for 80% of all workplace homicides

nonfatal workplace violence

- robbery, aggravated assaults, and sexual assaults are most common

- police officers are victims of highest rate of workplace violence, followed by correctional officers, taxi drivers, private security guards, and bartenders

psychological workplace violence

- non-physically aggressive, intimidating, derogatory, or offensive interpersonal behavior

- likely to have negative psychological and beh consequences for target

homicide

- killing of one person by another

criminal homicide

- causing death of another person without legal justification/excuse

- two major levels: murder and manslaughter

murder

- unlawful killing of one human by another with malice aforethought, either expressed or impressed

- first-degree is usually considered a capital offense, punishable by death or life in prison

- second-degree suggest less planning and premeditation but still requiring an intent to kill

- third-degree (some states) which displays a depraved mind without regard for human life