Police Stressors and Criminal Behavior

Police Stressors

  • 4 Categories of Police Stressors

    1. Organizational Stressors:

    • Issues include poor pay and excessive shift work.

    1. Task-Related Stressors:

    • Includes exposure to violence and undercover duties.

    1. External Stressors:

    • Factors like media portrayals and court proceedings.

    1. Personal Stressors:

    • Involves health problems, intimate partner relationships, and emotional labor.

  • Emotional Labor:

    • Defined as keeping one's emotions under control in professional settings.

  • Surface Acting:

    • Involves faking emotions deemed appropriate for various situations.

Emotional Dissonance

  • Emotional Dissonance:

    • Refers to the discrepancy between authentic (true) emotions and displayed (projected) emotions.

Fitness for Duty Evaluations

  • Fitness for Duty Evaluations:

    • Assess whether police officers are suitable for their roles.

    • Serve as predictors of police misconduct and corruption, particularly in the early stages of an officer's career.

Criminal Profiling Techniques

  • Criminal Profiling Categories:

    • Geographical Profiling: Analyzes locations of crimes to predict offenders' residences.

    • Suspect-Based Profiling: Targets behaviors and traits of specific suspects.

    • Psychological Autopsy: Investigates a deceased person's psychological state before death.

    • Psychological Profiling: Establishes the mental characteristics of a suspect based on crime scenes and behavior.

Modus Operandi and Criminal Types

  • Modus Operandi (M.O.):

    • The specific method or manner in which an offender commits crimes.

    • M.O. may evolve as the criminal gains knowledge and experience.

  • Signature/Trophy Taking:

    • Acts that extend beyond what is necessary to commit a crime; often includes the offender taking a 'souvenir' from victims.

  • Types of Offenders:

    1. Hunter:

    • Operates within a familiar geographic area.

    1. Poachers:

    • Travels farther to find victims.

    1. Trollers:

    • Capitalizes on spontaneous opportunities to commit crimes.

    1. Trapper:

    • Creates situations that lure victims towards them.

Cognitive Overload and Lying Detection

  • Cognitive Overload:

    • A method used to detect lies; overloads a suspect's cognitive capacity, making it difficult to fabricate stories.

  • Reid Technique:

    • Developed to elicit confessions; involves strategies for gaining information leading to a confession and conviction.

  • Minimization Technique:

    • Involves minimizing the severity of the offense to encourage confession.

Types of False Confessions

  • False Confession Types:

    1. Voluntary:

    • Confessions made without external pressure.

    1. Coerced-Compliant:

    • Confession obtained through coercion, where the suspect wishes to escape immediate pressure.

    1. Coerced-Internalized:

    • Suspects come to genuinely believe they committed the crime.

Biases in Perception and Identification

  • Own Race Bias:

    • The tendency to recognize and differentiate faces of one’s own ethnic group better than others.

  • Unconscious Transference:

    • Confusing a person seen in one context with someone seen in another context.

  • Commitment Bias:

    • Once a witness has identified a suspect, even incorrectly, they are likely to reaffirm that choice.

  • Confirmation Bias:

    • The ingrained tendency to favor information that confirms existing beliefs.

  • Nominal vs. Functional Size:

    • Nominal Size: The actual number of individuals in a lineup.

    • Functional Size: The number of people that are perceived as viable choices by the witness.

Identifications and Risk Assessment

  • Show Up:

    • A police procedure where a single suspect is presented to a witness for identification.

  • Risk Assessment:

    • Psychologists evaluate an individual's risk level to themselves and others.

  • Risk Factors:

    • Stable Dynamic Risk Factors:

      • Risk factors that are consistent over time.

    • Acute Dynamic Risk Factors:

      • Risk factors that can change quickly.

    • Static Risk Factors:

      • Long-term characteristics that don’t change.

  • Malingering:

    • The act of faking or exaggerating mental illness for personal gain.

Expert Testimonies

  • Expert Witness:

    • A qualified individual providing testimony based on specialized knowledge to assist in a case.

  • Lay Witness:

    • A non-expert individual testifying based on firsthand knowledge about facts or opinions.

  • Mitigating Circumstances:

    • Factors that reduce a defendant's culpability and may lessen penalties.

  • Aggravating Circumstances:

    • Factors that increase the severity of a crime and may lead to harsher penalties.

Violence and Behavioral Patterns

  • Hostile Attribution Bias:

    • The inclination to interpret others' actions as having hostile intents.

  • Types of Antisocial Behavior:

    • Adolescent-Limited (AL):

      • Antisocial behavior that is temporary and usually resolves in early adulthood.

    • Life Course Persistent (LCP):

      • Continuous antisocial behavior that persists throughout an individual's lifespan.

  • Types of Violence:

    1. Instrumental Violence:

    • Violence that is goal-oriented.

    1. Reactive/Expressive Violence:

    • Violence that is driven by emotional responses.

Factors Contributing to Violence

  • Biological Factors:

    • Influences present at birth, e.g., gender, psychological elements.

  • Social Factors:

    • Environmental processes that dictate learned behaviors from early life, e.g., media influences, peer interactions.

  • Cognitive Factors:

    • Deep-seated beliefs and thought patterns, e.g., low intelligence quotient (IQ), misogyny.

  • Situational Factors:

    • External environmental characteristics that may promote aggression or stress.

Characteristics of Criminals

  • Average Murderer:

    • Typically male, aged 18-26, with low recidivism rates for murder offenses.

  • Average Child Molester:

    • Generally older, with low self-esteem, poor social skills, and high recidivism rates; often experienced victimization as children.

  • Average Rapist:

    • Generally young males with poor social skills regarding the opposite sex and a history of antisocial behavior; high rates of recidivism.

  • Average Serial Killer:

    • Predominantly male, often motivated by missions or a desire for power and control.

  • Rape Shield Laws:

    • Legal provisions preventing the introduction of a victim's prior sexual history in court to protect from character attacks.

Impact of Homicide

  • Co-Victims:

    • Family members, friends, or loved ones who are emotionally affected by the act of homicide.

  • Criminal Courts:

    • Formally structured, involving juries to determine verdicts.

  • Juvenile Courts:

    • More informal court proceedings, lacking juries, focusing on rehabilitation rather than punishment.

  • Confidentiality:

    • Unique terminology and processes in juvenile justice systems to protect minors' identities and interests.