Forensic Psychology: Personality, Mental Disorders, Crime, and Sexual Offending

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering personality traits, Eysenck's dimensions, attachment theory, types of offending, criminal responsibility (NCRMD/automatism), psychopathy models, and sexual offence typologies.

Personality

The stable and distinct ways in which individuals think, feel, and behave in social interactions.

Consistency (Feature of Personality)

A durable disposition to behave in a particular way across time and in a variety of situations.

Distinctiveness (Feature of Personality)

The phenomenon where the same stimulus or situation evokes behavioural differences across different individuals.

Traits

Pre-existing dispositions to behave in a particular and consistent way, each existing on a continuum.

The Five Factor Model (OCEAN)

A trait model of personality composed of five major dimensions: Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.

Id

The psychic component of the mind operating on the pleasure principle and primary-process thinking.

Ego

The psychic component of the mind operating on the reality principle and secondary-process thinking.

Superego

The psychic component of the mind that incorporates moral imperatives.

Fixation

The failure to resolve a conflict at a particular psychosexual stage of development, serving as a source of maladaptive personality.

Eysenck's Theory of Personality and Crime

A biosocial theory positing that personality traits are determined by genes that influence physiological functioning via the autonomic nervous system and environmental interactions.

Extraversion (Eysenck)

A personality trait characterized by thrill-seeking, sociability, and impulsivity, linked biologically to a lower-functioning autonomic nervous system (ANS) and a desire for stimulation.

Introversion (Eysenck)

A personality orientation characterized by quiet, cautious, unsociable, and emotionally controlled behaviour, driven by a higher-functioning autonomic nervous system (ANS) that is easily overwhelmed by stimulation.

Neuroticism (Eysenck)

A personality trait characterized by high emotional reactivity, anxiety, anger, guilt, and depressed mood, driven by a low threshold of activation in the autonomic nervous system (ANS).

Psychoticism (Eysenck)

A personality trait characterized by aggression, tough-mindedness, egotism, non-conformity, and coldness, biologically linked to higher levels of testosterone.

Attachment Theory

The concept that early relationships and bonds formed with caretakers in infancy significantly influence the capacity to form meaningful relationships as adults.

Dismissing Adult Attachment Style

An adult attachment pattern originating from avoidant infant attachment, characterized by a seemingly strong positive self-image alongside a poor, mistrusting regard of others.

Preoccupied Adult Attachment Style

An adult attachment pattern originating from ambivalent infant attachment, characterized by a negative view of self, a positive view of others, chronic insecurity, jealousy, and fear.

Fearful Adult Attachment Style

An adult attachment pattern originating from disorganized infant attachment, characterized by a desire to be around others combined with an avoidance of emotional closeness.

Symbolic Crimes

Other-focused offences where rage is directed at a surrogate rather than the actual source of grievance, related to early childhood attachment failure and an underdeveloped internal deterrence system.

Opportunistic Crimes

Act-focused offences motivated by the act of killing itself, linked to an underdeveloped internal deterrence system and an absence of parental moral deterrence, empathy, and sympathetic arousal.

Ego-Directed Crimes

Self-focused offences committed to fill a psychological void in one's sense of self, stemming from a deficient sexual self or a hyper-ideological self.

Personality Disorder

An enduring pattern of thinking and feeling about oneself and others that adversely impacts functioning across multiple life domains, causing disturbances in at least two areas: cognitions, emotions, interpersonal functioning, or impulse control.

Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD)

A pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others; diagnostic criteria require the individual to be at least 18 years old and have exhibited conduct disorder symptoms before age 15.

Mental Disorder

An abnormal pattern of thoughts, emotions, or behaviours caused by a personal dysfunction and associated with significant personal distress or disability.

Mental Illness

A major mental disorder specifically involving psychosis, characterized by symptoms that are variable and episodic.

Psychosis

A clinical state characterized by impaired reality testing, loss of contact with reality, and an inability to distinguish real experiences from fantasy.

Delusional Disorders

Psychotic disorders characterized by non-bizarre, reasonably believable delusions occurring without other prominent psychotic symptoms or generalized behavioural disturbances.

Threat Symptoms

Psychotic symptoms, such as persecutory delusions, that cause an individual to believe they are likely to be harmed.

Control-Override Symptoms

Psychotic symptoms that induce feelings of losing personal autonomy or control over one's own thoughts, body, and actions.

Principle of Rationality-Within-Irrationality

The concept that violent acts committed during psychotic episodes often represent a rational, defensive response to an irrational, distorted symptom or delusion.

Actus Reus

A wrongful or prohibited physical act or deed, which is an essential element required to establish criminal guilt.

Mens Rea

The blameworthy mental state or 'guilty mind' that must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt alongside the criminal act.

NCRMD (Not Criminally Responsible on Account of Mental Disorder)

A Canadian legal ruling applied when a mental disorder renders a defendant incapable of appreciating the nature and quality of an act, or of knowing that the act was morally or legally wrong.

Non-Insane Automatism

An involuntary state of behaviour caused by external factors that negates voluntary act requirements and leads directly to a not guilty verdict.

Insane Automatism

An involuntary state of behaviour caused by an internal disease of the mind, which leads to an NCRMD verdict rather than an acquittal.

M'Naghten Standard (R v. McNaughton)

A legal insanity standard requiring proof that the defendant was labouring under a disease of the mind such that they did not know the nature and quality of their act, or did not know what they were doing was wrong.

The Case of Johnny Baxstrom

A landmark United States Supreme Court ruling holding that mentally ill offenders held past their prison sentence must receive equal protection under the 14th Amendment, leading to the release or transfer of 966 institutionalized patients.

Bill C-54

Canadian legislation aimed at prioritizing public safety and victim involvement by creating a high-risk NCR designation that restricts unescorted passes and extends Review Board review periods up to 3 years.

Psychopathy

A personality disorder characterized by a constellation of affective and interpersonal deficits (lack of empathy, guilt, and remorse) combined with impulsive, socially deviant behaviours.

PCL-R (Psychopathy Checklist-Revised)

A 20-item clinical and forensic rating scale measuring interpersonal, affective, and socially deviant traits through semi-structured interviews and comprehensive file reviews.

PCL-SV (Psychopathy Checklist-Screening Version)

A shortened version of Hare's psychopathy checklist adapted specifically to screen for psychopathic traits in community and non-forensic samples.

Lykken's Fearlessness Model

A psychobiological model stating that psychopaths experience an absence of fear response to aversive stimuli due to an under-responsive autonomic nervous system.

Hare's Hypoemotionality Model

A neurobiological model showing that psychopaths exhibit little to no EEG brainwave differences when processing neutral words compared to emotionally charged words.

Baumeister's Threatened Egotism Model

A theory proposing that psychopathic violence is predatory, calculated, or vindictive, frequently triggered when an inflated self-concept or grandiosity is challenged.

Consent (CCC Section 273.1)

The voluntary agreement of the complainant to engage in sexual activity without question.

Aggravated Sexual Assault

A sexual assault in which the offender wounds, maims, disfigures, or endangers the life of the complainant, carrying a maximum sentence of life imprisonment under Canadian law.

Opportunistic Rapist (MTC:R3)

A typology of sexual offender characterized by generalized impulsive behaviour, wherein the sexual offence typically occurs during the commission of another crime.

Vindictive Rapist (MTC:R3)

A typology of sexual offender driven by deep-seated misogyny and high levels of focused hostility toward women.

Fixated Child Molesters

Offenders whose sexual orientation is directed primarily toward children (most often boys), exhibiting premeditated offences and an absence of precipitating life stressors.

Regressed Child Molesters

Offenders whose primary sexual orientation remains directed toward adults, but who impulsively offend against female children under the influence of situational life stress.

Paraphilic Disorder

An intense, persistent atypical sexual interest accompanied by clinically significant distress or impairment, or one that causes harm or risk of harm to others.

The Confluence Model

A dual-pathway model explaining sexual aggression through the convergence of an impersonal sexual orientation pathway and a hostile masculinity pathway.