Forensic Psychology

what is psychopathy?

Refers to a person who is callous and antisocial. It is not a mental health issues or official disorder, instead it is treated as a personality disorder.

signs of a psychopath

• pathological lying

• lack of remorse/empathy

• manipulative

• lacking realistic/long term goals

• impulsivity

causes of psychopathy

• being physically or psychologically  neglected or traumatised

• convicted parent

• low involvement between a parent

• from a disrupted family

• experiencing harsh discipline

eyewitness testimonies

It is a description of an even that is given by a person who has witnessed the event.

It is subjective, and is subject to unconscious memory distortions and bias which leads to wrongful convictions.

factors that affect eyewitness testimony

• attention

• time

• trauma, fear, stress

• proximity

• distractions, media

• police behaviour - wording of questions, treatment of witnesses

• suspect line-ups - fear of seeing the suspect, suspect not being there

The Bystander Effect 

The greater the amount of people present in the event, the less likely people are to help a person in distress.

factors:

• diffusion of responsibility

• socially acceptable norms of helping others

criminal Profiling

Is used to help investigators to accurately predict and profile the characteristics of unknown offenders.

the nature of the crime is used to make inferences about the personality and other characteristics of the likely offender.

consider:

• possible motives

• victim

• perpetrator

• police and expert reports

• updated developments in the investigation

• how accurate the process and investigation is

Criminal Profiling Steps

1. crime is compared to similar crimes from the past

2. crime scene is analysed

3. motivation is analysed

4. info about perpetrator is gathered

5. description of possible offender is constructed

6. life of of the victim is analysed

7. Police reports are gathered

8. criminal profile is developed

Objective vs Subjective measures

Objective: refers to research methods, verifiable by psychologists:

• physical evidence - blood, DNA

• finger prints, appearance, shoe size

• previous criminal history

Subjective: refers to research methods, subject to personal bias:

• Interviews with investigators

• recount of memory

• written testimony