Forensic psychology

What does Eyesenck's theory suggest about behaviour

Behaviour can be represented along two dimensions. Introversion - extroversion (E), neuroticism - stability (N)

A third dimension was later added psychotisicm - socialibility (P)

Why does Eyesenck's theory have a biological basis

He believes personality traits are based on the type of nervous system we inherit

Name the 3 personality types according to Eyesenck

Extroverts, Neurotics, Psychotics

Describe what an extrovert may look like

Under active nervous system and a constant need for stimulation (thrill seeking behaviour). Extroverts are hard to condition as they may not learn from mistakes

Describe what a neurotic may look like

High level of reactivity in SNS, they are quick to flight or fight and may be nervous and jumpy causing them to seem unpredictable

Describe what a psychotic may look like

High levels of testosterone making them seem unemotional and prone to aggression

What is the criminal personality type

neurotic-extravert-psychotic

Describe the role of socialisation in Eyesenck's theory

Learning delayed gratification can help teach children how to become more socially orientated. They become less selfish and learn whats right and wrong.

What is the EPQ

Eyesenck's personality questionnaire, a self report questionnaire designed to measure participants along the three dimensions of

Describe research support of eyesencks theory

Eyesenck and Eyesenck compared 2017 male prisoners with 2422 controls. They found that prisoners had higher average scores for E, N and P which supports the central theory

Describe the counterpoint to supporting evidence of Eyesenck's theory

Harrington et al conducted a meta analysis and found offenders had higher P but not E or N. similarly EEG's provided inconsistent evidence for the difference between introverts and extroverts. Creates questions towards the theory

Describe cultural factors to Eyesenck's theory

Bartol and Holanchock studied African-American and Hispanic offenders who were split into two groups based on offending history. All groups scored lower on E than non-offenders - may be due to cultural differences. Can Eyesenck be generalised?

What do cognitive explanations for crime suggest

Criminals have lower levels of moral reasoning or faulty information processing

Who developed the levels of moral development

Kohlberg

Describe the levels of moral development

Pre-morality level - doing what is right based off of fear of being punished

Conventional morality - doing what is right based off off the law

Post-morality - doing what is right based off of whether the law is rightd

Describe the level of morality of a criminal

Pre - conventional stage is seen as more childish and immature making them more likely to commit a crime if they can get away with it

What is a cognitive distortion

irrational thoughts leading to false assumptions and misinterpretations

What is hostile attribution bias

The tendency to judge ambiguous situations as aggressive or threatening - causing aggressive actions. Schonenberg and justye found 55 violent offenders were more like to perceive an unemotional face as angry

What is minimalisation

A type of deception that involves downplaying the significance of an event or emotion. A common strategy when dealing with feelings of guilt. May involve the use of euphemistic language such as referring to a burglary is doing a job. This is particularly common among sex offenders in which barberee showed 94% of rapist used denial

Evaluate, cognitive explanations for offending

Research support, real world application, dependent on the crime

Explain research support for cognitive explanations for offending behaviour

Palmer and Hollin assessed Moral reasoning in 332 male and female non-offenders and 126 convicted felons using the socio-moral reflection measure short form. They were presented 11 moral dilemma related questions such as not taking things that belong to others. They found that the offender group showed less mature moral reasoning 9

Explain how cognitive explanations have real word application

Can be used in therapies to encourage offenders to face up to what they have done to establish a less distorted view. Denial is associated with reoffending, acceptance leads to rehabilitation. Showing how the research has practical value

Explain how cognitive explanations for offending may depend on the type of crime

What is the differential association theory

A psychological explanation for crime which suggests that offending behaviour is learned through the relationships and associations formed between people

Who proposed the differential association theory?

Sutherland

What are the two factors that Sutherland suggests need to be present for offending to occur

-Learning attitudes through socialisation from being exposed to attitudes towards the law. If the pro-criminal attitudes that have been exposed outweigh the anti-criminal attitudes then offending is most likely to occur.

-Learning techniques from people around them that allow them to put the pro-criminal attitudes into place

Describe the role of socialisation in prisons

Prisoners are surrounded by other criminals with pro-criminal attitudes which causes reinforcement. In prison, criminals can share techniques to prevent getting caught in the future which can be put into place once released. DAT explains reoffending behaviour

Explain how the differential association theory has a scientific basis

Allows predictions of whether someone will offend or not by being able to determine whether pro-criminal attitudes outweigh the anti-criminal attitudes.

Evaluate the differential association theory

Created a shift of focus, has scientific credibility although has difficulties with testing

Explain how the differential association theory created a shift of focus

Moved explanations for offending behaviour away from biological explanations and draws attention to the deviant social circumstances and environments that may be more to blame for offending behaviour. Provides a more realistic solution rather than biological

Describe how the differential association theory has scientific credibility

Due to its scientific basis, we can make predictions about whether someone is likely to offend or not. This gives the theory scientific credibility due to the fact that a hypothesis can be created and tested - allowing us to establish cause and affect

Explain the difficulties in testing the differential association theory

It is very hard to operationalise. You cannot see the number of attitudes someone has acquired and whether they are pro or anti criminal attitudes. Therefor it is possible, it is very difficult to make these predictions. Threatens the scientific credibility

What is a. psychodynamic explanation

Behaviour is the result of innate, unconscious drives that are formed in childhood.

What are the two psychodynamic explanations for crime

Blackburn's inadequate superego and Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation

What are the three forms of inadequate superego

Weak superego, deviant superego and the over harsh super ego

What is a weak superego

Results from an absence of the same sex parent in childhood meaning identification cannot take place. This causes the superego to be unable to control the ID so criminal behaviour is more likely

What is a deviant superego

Identifying with the same sex parent who has immoral values results in a deviant superego. For instance, a boy who was raised by a criminal father

What is an over harsh superego

Result of identifying with a parent who gave excessive punishment. The superego is used to punishing the ego so without anything to punish, an unconscious urge to do wrong is created - making crimes more likely

How does bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation link to criminal behaviour

Bowlby states that the most important bond created is the bond formed with the mother. Failure to establish this bond means the child will experience a number of damaging consequences such as lack of guilt, affection less psychopathy or lack of ability to form close relationships. Making criminality more likely

Evaluate psychodynamic explanations for crime

Research support, counterpoint and gender bias

Explain why psychodynamic explanations for crime have research support

Goreta analysed 10 offenders in a Freudian style analysis. Disturbances in the super ego formation were found in all. Each offender experienced guilt and an excessive need for punishment which supports the over harsh superego.

Explain the counterpoint to the research support of psychodynamic explanations for crime

If this theory were correct, we would expect children with an over harsh superego to experience guilt often. Research suggests the opposite and that harsh parents tend to form guilt-free, rebellious kids. Creates questions about the theory

Explain how psychodynamic explanations for crime suffer from gender bias

Psychodynamic theory suggests that girls develop a weaker super ego, meaning they should be more likely to commit crime. However, there are 20x more men in prisons than women. Hoffman also suggests women are more likely to resist temptations. Freud suffers from alpha bias and may not be an appropriate explanation

What is offender profiling

A means of identifying the person responsible for a crime based on the idea that key characteristics of an offender can be deduced.

What is the bottom up approach?

A data-driven approach where profilers work up from the evidence collected at the crime scene to develop likely characteristics, motivations and social background of the offender.

What are the two branches of the bottom up approach

Investigative psychology and geographical profiling

What does investigative psychology aim to do

Establish patterns of behaviour that are likely to occur across the crime scene

Describe the components that investigative psychology is broken down into

Interpersonal coherence - the way the offender behaves with the victim is the same as other people in their life. Shown. By Dwyer et al with different types of rapists

Time and place significance - the time and location of the crime may be significant as to who commited it e.g if its always 6pm+ or on weekends they may work 9-5

Forensic awareness - indicators as to whether they've been involved with the police before e.g if they've left little evidence or avoided cctv

What is geographical profiling

Uses information about the location of the crime scenes to make inferences about the offender - assumes locations are not random and offenders will stick to a certain area

What is circle theory

The idea that offenders operate according to a limited spatial mindset and the crimes radiate from their home creating a circle

What is distance decay

The number of crimes decreasing the further away from the offenders house. However, there is a buffer zone immediately around the base

Evaluate the bottom up approach

Evidence for investigative psychology and geographical profiling although, they have mixed results

Explain the evidence for investigative psychology

Canter and heritage, conducted a smallest space analysis of 66 sexual assault cases and several behaviours were identified as common in different samples of behaviour such as the use of impersonal language. Each individual displayed a characteristic pattern of behaviour that helped decide whether two or more cases were committed by the same person. Supporting the theory

Explain the evidence for geographical profiling

Lundrigan and canter - looked at info from 120 murder cases and found that the disposal sites created a centre of gravity in which the offenders were based at the centre of the pattern. This shows how it can be used for identification

Explain the mixed results of offender profiling

Profiling is a tool for narrowing down possibilities not providing exact answers

Rachel nickel stabbed in Wimbledon common - profiling led to the wrong arrest because the offender was "too short" for the profile. Suggests it should be used with caution to prevent wrongful convictions

What is behaviour modification

Aims to effectively manage the behaviour of offenders and reduce the likelihood of reoffending

Describe the behaviourist principles of behaviour modification

Assume that all behaviour is learnt, therefore it is possible to unlearn. Lead to the development of behaviour modification programmes to reinforce positive behaviour

How do token economy systems work in behaviour modification

The token economy system is based off of operant conditioning - it believes that desireable behaviour can be rewarded with a token that is exchangeable for gifts such as a phone call with a loved one. Undesireable behaviours can be punished by rewards being withheld or removed

Describe how the tokens are secondary reinforcers

They have no value in themselves but gain value by being paired with a reward

How should token economies be used

Behaviours should be broken down into measureable and observable behaviours. They should also have a scoring system meaning that some rewards have greater value than others.

All staff should have a standardised procedure so that the token economy is consistently used in the same way

Evaluate the use of behaviour modification in custody

Research support, its easy to implement but has little rehabilitative value

Explain the research support of the token economy system

Hobbs and Holt introduced TES to a group of young offenders. They observed a significant increase in positive behaviours to a control group. They later underwent a programme where rewards where immediate and more frequent. This shows how the token economy system is effective in managing behaviour

Explain how the token economy system is easy to implement

Straightforward and cheap to set up and run - no need for specialists so they can be implemented by basically anyone and it is easy to follow. Meaning token economy systems can be accessible to most prisoners. However, it is important for techniques to be applied consistently or value is lost

Explain how the token economy system has little rehabilitative value

Blackburn believes that any positive change made will be lost once released. TES does not require the offender to understand their offending or take responsibility for their rehabilitation so they can easily fake change for their rewards. This suggests other treatments such as cognitive treatments may be more effective

What is the aim of custodial sentencing?

Involves a convicted offender spending time in prison or another closed institution - there are four main reasons for this

What are the 4 reasons for custodial sentencing

deterrence, incapacitation, retribution, rehabilitation

Describe deterrence

The unpleasant experience of prison is designed to put one off from engaging in offending behaviour. There are two types of

What are the two types of deterrence

General and individual

What is general deterrence

The awareness of punishment of others prevents someone from committing a crime

What is individual deterrence

Encouraging the offender to not reoffend by putting them in prison or giving the threat of imprisonment

What is incapacitation

Taking the offender out of society to prevent them from reoffending and to protect the public

What is retribution

Acting in revenge by causing the offender to suffer and punish them for their crime. It is believed that this should be proportionate to their crime - an eye for an eye

What is rehabilitation

The goal of reforming the offender - allowing them to leave better adjusted and being given the opportunity to prepare for the outside world

What are the psychological effects of custodial sentencing

Stress and depression, institutionalisation and prisonisation

Describe stress and depression

Suicide rates are higher in prison than those of the general population. Abramson et al suggests that depression is caused by feelings of hopelessness and helplessness - the stress of the prison experiences increases the risk of psychological disorders

Describe institutionalisation

When the offender is no longer able to function outside of prison as they become accustomed to the routines. This can explain psychological disorders after release and the high levels of recidivism - easier to be in prison

Describe prisonation

Prisoners learn how to behave in prison. These behaviours may be rewarded in prison but may not be acceptable outside of prison. This may explain recividism

Evaluate the use of custodial sentencing

Research support for negative effects, confounding variables and school of crime

Describe research support for the negative effects of custodial sentencing

Bartol - prison is brutal and devastating. 119 committed suicide in prisons in 2016 (32% increase) which is 9x higher than the general population. Prison reform trust - 25% women and 15% men reported psychosis. Prison regimes lead to psychological issues

Explain the effect of confounding variables in custodial sentencing

Many prisoners have pre-existing psychological difficulties which may explain offending in the first place. Meaning that we don't know if their psychological problems are due to the prison regimes or whether it is a result of trauma. May be confounding variables influencing the link

Explain how prison is a school of crimes

Suggested that offending behaviour is the result of socialisation - therefore putting people in prison with more experienced offenders may result in them learning new techniques or new criminal contacts. Prison may be setting them up to reofffend

What is anger management

a therapeutic programme that involves identifying the signs that trigger anger as well as learning techniques to calm down and deal with the situation in a positive way

What principles is anger management based on

Cognitive and behavioural that could influence offending behaviour

What is the rationale of anger management

Novaco suggests that cognitive factors trigger emotional arousal that often leads to aggression which comes quicker in some than others. The feeling of anger is reinforced by feelings of control

How is CBT used in anger management

Offenders are taught to recognise factors that trigger anger and loss of control, they are then taught techniques for a violence free resolution

What are the 3 steps to anger management

Cognitive preparation, skills acquisition and application practice

What is cognitive preparation

The offender reflects on past experiences of anger and consider possible patterns. They are then taught to identify the triggers and develop a more rational thought process e.g perceiving someone looking at you as non-threatening rather than confrontational

What is skills acquisition?

Techniques are introduced to deal with anger provoking situations. This may be cognitive with positive self talk, behavioural with learning effective communication or physiological with relaxation and meditation

What is application practice

offenders are given the opportunity to practice their skills in a monitored environment using role play. the successful response would be met with positive reinforcement from the therapist. This requires commitment from the offender and bravery from the therapist

Who researched the outcomes of anger management

Keen et al

Describe one piece of research into the outcomes of anger management

Young offenders ages 17-21 took part in 8, 2 hour sessions of anger management. They encountered some problems with the procedure but found generally positive outcomes with increased awareness of anger difficulties and an increased capacity to exercise self control

Evaluate research into anger management

Greater benefits than behaviour modification, individual differences and expensibe

Describe how anger management has greater benefits than behaviour modification

Behaviour modification such as TES only focuses on surface level behaviour and not the underlying processes - which has not proven very successful after prison. Anger management tackles the cognitive processes that leads to anger which will give offenders a new insight into the cause of their criminality and allow them to manage themselves outside of the prison

Describe how individual differences may affect anger management

Howell's et al found anger management had little impact when compared to a control group however, this was not true for all. Offenders with intense levels of anger prior to the study or were highly motivated to change showed significant differences in their anger management

Describe how anger management is expensive

Anger management require highly trained specialists that may not be available in all prisons as they may not have the correct recourses or funding. Change also takes time to be noticeable so money may be spent on something that has no effect. Not accessible to all offenders

What is restorative justice?

a system of criminal justice that focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with victims and the community at large.

How does the use of restorative justice change the emphasis of dealing with offending

Crimes are usually described as a crime against the state. Restorative justice focuses on individual needs (e.g closure, compensation etc) rather than a need to punish. This allows the victim to focus on their recovery and the offender to focus on their rehabilitation

Describe some features of restorative justice

Involves a mediator to construct a meeting - active involvement is required from both the offender and the victim. This could be done face to face or virtually

What is the atavistic form

A biological explanation for criminal behaviour advanced Lombroso suggesting that criminals are a genetic subspecies who lack evolutionary development and are genetically different from non-criminals who could not adjust to civil society so they turned to crime

Describe the atavistic form

Lombroso categorised types of offenders based on the physiological markers for a criminal. He suggested murderes have bloodshot eyes and curly hair whereas sexual deviants have glinting eyes and swollen fleshy lips