OCR GCSE Criminal Psychology

A set of vocabulary flashcards focusing on key concepts and terms in Criminal Psychology.

Violent Offences

Crimes which involve physical harm caused to a person.

Drug Offences

Crimes involving trading in or using illegal substances.

Acquisitive Offences

Crimes where capital or belongings are acquired through illegal means.

Sexual Offences

Crimes where sexual harm is caused to someone.

Anti-social Offences

Crimes which go against the social norms of a society or culture.

Subjective

Based on personal opinion rather than fact.

Social Construct

Determined by people in a particular society.

Social Norms

Behaviour that is seen as normal and desirable to a given society or culture.

Culture

A specific set of values and practices amongst a population.

Self Report

A method involving participants reporting on themselves through answering questions, as in interviews and questionnaires.

Social Learning Theory

The theory that behaviour is learnt by observing behaviours of role models.

Role Model

A person who is similar to us, cares for us, has power over us or rewards us.

Identification

The process where someone aligns themselves with another.

Observation

The process of observing behaviour from a role model.

Imitation

A process where people recall behaviours and reproduce them in their own actions.

Vicarious Reinforcement

Imitating a behaviour because you have seen someone else being rewarded for that behaviour.

Direct Reinforcement

Continuing a behaviour because you have been rewarded for it.

Internalisation

When a behaviour becomes an integral part of an individual's personality due to continuous reinforcement.

Nature

Relates to behaviour that people are born with or develop naturally.