Midterm Forensic Psych.

Midterm Exam Overview

Categories of Forensic Psychology

  • 1. Police Psychology

    • Focuses on two areas:

      • Psychology of police officers:

        • Involves officer selection, stress management, fitness evaluations, and high-risk assignment selection.

        • Aims for professionalism and emotional well-being of officers.

      • Psychology of police mission:

        • Concerns techniques for effective policing, including communication styles, use of force, hostage negotiations, and public perception.

  • 2. Investigative Psychology

    • Focuses on criminal offenders with goals of identification and apprehension.

    • Involves offender profiling, crime-scene analysis, forensic hypnosis, interrogation techniques, and statement analysis.

    • Activities primarily conducted by trained police officers, rather than doctoral-level clinicians.

  • 3. Criminal Psychology

    • Concerns understanding the personality, behavior of offenders, and developmental markers of at-risk youth.

    • Aims to identify behavioral characteristics and construct psychosocial profiles for offenders.

  • 4. Correctional Psychology

    • Focuses on rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders post-sentencing.

    • Involves offender placement in training programs, mental health treatment, and developing release plans.

    • Addresses higher tensions within correctional facilities, with crisis intervention as a routine activity.

Investigative Process Components

  • Arrest and Detention Phase:

    • Includes interrogation, hostage negotiation, jail intake, and tactical operations.

  • Trial Phase:

    • Involves competency evaluations, jury consultation, expert witness roles, and assessments for the insanity defense.

  • Penal Phase:

    • Focuses on inmate classification, crisis intervention, offender therapies, and evaluations for parole decisions.

Forensic vs Legal Psychology

  • Forensic Psychology:

    • Integrates psychological principles for civil and criminal justice.

  • Legal Psychology:

    • Specifically applies psychological research to legal contexts, examining human behavior under legal circumstances.

Psychological Theories and Concepts

Freud’s Components of Personality

  • Id:

    • Seeks pleasure without regard for social norms (source of criminal behavior).

  • Ego:

    • Mediates desires of the Id with the demands of the Superego to reduce anxiety.

  • Superego:

    • Regulates behavior based on ethics and social conformity.

Historical Influencers in Forensic Psychology

  • Andrea Yates:

    • Important case that highlighted forensic psychology in public discourse.

  • August Aichhorn:

    • Explored juvenile delinquency, linking it to parenting in Freudian terms.

  • Hugo Munsterberg:

    • Pioneered research on eyewitness reliability and initiated psychological study in legal arenas.

  • John B. Watson:

    • Developed behaviorism as a study of human behavior, considering the environment's influence on crime.

Understanding Stress in Law Enforcement

  • Professional Stress:

    • Expected stress associated with the job.

  • Occupational Stress:

    • Results from job demands and risks.

  • Vicarious Stress:

    • Indirect stress caused by witnessing the crises of others.

  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD):

    • Develops after traumatic events, characterized by intrusion and avoidance symptoms.

Categories of Panic

  • Desperation-driven panic:

    • Mass panic from resource loss.

  • Excitement-driven panic:

    • Collective excitement that may turn violent.

  • Fear-driven panic:

    • Results from perceived loss of control.

  • Anger-driven panic:

    • Triggered by collective anger over events, often escalated by opportunists.

Personality Disorders in Forensic Contexts

  • Avoidant Personality Disorder:

    • Characterized by social inhibition and fear of negative evaluation.

  • Narcissistic Personality Disorder:

    • Excessive focus on self-worth and power.

Theories on Crime

  • General Strain Theory:

    • Crime results from lack of economic opportunity and negative relationships.

  • Subculture of Violence Theory:

    • Violence accepted within certain social groups.

  • Anomie:

    • Breakdown of societal institutions leading to social disorder.

Merton’s Adaptation Styles

  • Conformity:

    • Acceptance of societal goals and means for achieving them.

  • Ritualism:

    • Acceptance of means without goals of success.

  • Innovation:

    • Acceptance of societal goals but use of alternative, including criminal methods.

Freud’s Defense Mechanisms

  • Repression:

    • Blocking unwanted thoughts from consciousness.

  • Denial:

    • Refusal to acknowledge threatening impulses.

  • Sublimation:

    • Channeling impulses into accepted behaviors.

  • Projection:

    • Attributing one's own unacceptable thoughts to others.

Criminal Thought Patterns (Yochelson and Samenow)

  • Criminals often exhibit fears, seek power, create grandiose self-images, play the victim, and neglect long-term consequences.

Types of Killings

  • Spree Murder:

    • Multiple locations, short time span.

  • Serial Murder:

    • Long duration with cooling-off intervals.

  • Mass Murder:

    • Multiple victims at one event.

Holmes and Holmes Model for Serial Killers

  • Visionary Killer:

    • Acts on delusional thoughts.

  • Missionary Killer:

    • Targets specific victim groups for societal 'cleansing'.

  • Hedonistic Killer:

    • Kills for pleasure or thrill.

  • Power/Control Killer:

    • Seeks domination over victims.