Psych 297F (forensic psych) exam 1: UMass Amherst

Psych and Law: mutual interests

1. understanding human behavior

2. solving problems

3. improving lives and helping people

physiognomy

how different facial features can predict personality traits

Cesare Lambrozo

developed the study of physiognomy and wrote The Criminal Man

Sigmund Frued

studied how unconscious processes can help explain criminal behavior

Hugo Munsterberg

1st to identify major connection between psych and law in his book "On the Witness Stand"

Muller v. Oregon

Supreme Court case that was the first to use psych and law to argue why women should not be working long hours

The "Brandeis Brief"

100 pages of social-scientific evidence used in the Muller v. Oregon case.

Brown v. Board of Education

Supreme Court case that used psychology to show how segregation affected the mind of young children in schools

Deinstitutionalization

moving people with psychological or developmental disabilities from highly structured institutions to the streets, where they often ended up in prisons (causing the need for psychologists in prisons)

court advisors

serve as paid trial consultants- ensure competence for trial, evaluate dangerousness of the accused in the future

evaluators

evaluate if law related programs are achieving their goals, and work on rehabilitation strategies for juveniles and criminals.

forensic psychologists

Psychologists who assist in jury selection, evaluate defendants' mental competence to stand trial, and deal with other issues involving psychology and the law

Criminal Profiling

drawing inferences about a criminal's personality, behavior, motivations, and demographics based on the crime scene and other evidence.

serial killing

three or more murders in separate events with a cooling off period of several months or years in between.

mass murder

the killing of three or more victims by one or a few assailants within a single event

spree killing

three or more people killed in a short period of time at different locations

3 main goals of profiling

1. to provide a social and psychological assessment of the offender

2. to provide interview suggestions and strategies

3. to narrow down suspects in the investigation

psychology is ------(how people behave), while law is ------(how people should behave)

descriptive; prescriptive

modus operandi

pattern of behavior/process of committing crime

signature

something specific done to fulfill of satisfy the offender's emotional state

6 things that profilers examine

1. location of crime: why there?

2. victimology: who are the victims?

3. crime scene type

4. method of approach

5. method of attack

6. method of control

first systematic criminal profile

Jack the Ripper

1st U.S. criminal profiling case

The "Mad Bomber": George Metsky planted bombs around NYC in the 1950s

Unit of the FBI formed in 1972 that interviews serial killers about their motives, details of crimes, planning, and evidence

Behavioral Science Unit

most famous criminal profiler that worked for the FBIs Investigative Support Unit

John Douglas

crime that:

1. appears well planned

2. has a specifically targeted victim

3. body is hidden

4. weapon removed from scene

5. restraints used

6. aggression takes place before death

organized murder

crime that:

1. appears to be spontaneous

2. victim may be an acquaintance

3. body is not hidden

4. weapon present at scene

5. aggression or rape post-mortem

disorganized murder

visionary

criminal is psychotic; hearing voices or seeing visions

mission-oriented

kill people they believe are evil

hedonistic

kill for thrill/sexual pleasure

power-oriented

Get satisfaction from victim capture and control before and while killing

person that:

- lacks empathy or guilt

- difficulty forming emotional attachments

- highly manipulative

- can be charming and educated

- usually born this way

psychopath

person that:

- respect-less

- deceitful

- impulsive and aggressive

- reckless and irresponsible

antisocial personality disorder

person that:

- repeatedly breaks rules

- no regard for their own or others safety

- are made, not born

- difficulty finding relationships

- easily agitated

sociopath

Oppositional Defiant Disorder

a childhood disorder in which children are repeatedly argumentative and defiant, angry and irritable, and in some cases, vindictive

conduct disorder

patterns of behavior in which the rights of others or basic social rules are violated; including aggression to people or animals, destruction of property, theft, serious violation of rules

the dark triad

1. bed wetting

2. animal cruelty

3. obsession with fire

cross-situational consistency

assumes that personality traits affect behavior the same over time and situations

Case Linkage

The process of determining whether two or more crimes were committed by the same person.

reactive profiling

Attempts to solve crimes that have already occurred

Proactive profiling

indirect and attempts to stop crime before it happens

Anthropometry

the scientific study of the measurements and proportions of the human body; developed by Alphonse Bertillion

Francis Galton

conducted the first definitive study of fingerprints and their classification

Frye v. United States

Case that set the "general acceptance" standard for the admission of expert testimony into court

Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals

"The court ruled that 'general acceptance' by an expert witness is not an absolute prerequisite to the admissibility of scientific evidence." The judge essentially makes the final call

The Footpath murders

The murder and rape of two fifteen year old girls that was the first case to successfully catch the criminal with a DNA sequence match

Biometrics

the identification of a user based on a physical characteristic, such as a fingerprint, iris, face, voice, or handwriting. good because of the permanence, speed, and hard to fake