Forensics

• crime is any act, or lack of an act, that violates the law of a country
• it is harmful to an individual, a group or society
• offender is punished by the state (court)

Defining Crime

• social norms, time and culture are considered when defining crime
  • socially dynamic construct
• some behaviours are universally regarded as unacceptable
• some countries factor in passion and honour for crimes such as murder

Problems With Defining Crime

• cultural issues
  • polygamy is illegal in the UK, but multiple wives is necessary elsewhere
• historical issues
  • homosexuality has been legal since 1967 in the UK, but is illegal in many other places
  • smacking children became illegal in the UK in 2004 under the Children's Act

Official Statistics

• government records of the total number of crimes reported to the police
• recorded in official figures, published by the Home Office on an annual basis
• snapshot in the number of crimes across the country or in specific regions
• develop prevention strategies and policing initiatives via directing resources

Victim Surveys

• recordings of people's experience of crime over a specific period
• The Crime Survey of England and Wales via the Office of National Statistics
• document of 50,000 households, randomly selected to report crimes they've been victim to
• individual surveey for 10-15 year olds made in 2009

Offender Surveys

• criminals volunteer details of the number and types of crimes they have commited
• identify target groups and risk factors (indicators for repeat offenders)
• The Offender Crime and Justice Survey

For

• random sampling of households
• confidentiality is ensured
• surveys allow for greater details of crimes, than official statistics

Against

• witnesses do not always recognise a crime to report it
  • Walker: only 42% of crimes are reported
• those without a postal code are not included
• only 75% of those contacted take part (random sampling becomes volunteer sampling)
• some criminals may overexaggerate crimes, or hide them from fear of being prosecuted
• victims can only report 5 crimes a year - other crimes will not go to the official statistics

The American/FBI Approach

• Top-Down (typology) began in the US, from FBI Behavioural Science investigations
• based on 36 interviews with sexually motivated serial killers to identify indicators
• creates a pre-existing template of a profile for later comparison via crime-scene analysis

Offender Profiling

• police investigative tool for solving crimes
• narrow the field of inquiry and generate a hypothesis of probable characteristics/suspects
• based on careful analysis of evidence

Classification: Organised vs. Disorganised Offenders

• signature behaviours which correlate to specific social/psychological characteristics
• Organised = planning, targeting, socially/sexually competent, higher than average IQ, high degree of control, few clues, skilled/professional occupation, often married +/ children 
• Disorganised = little planning/targeting, little control, leaves clues, socially/sexually incompetent, lower than average IQ, sexually dysfunctional/failed relationships, unemployed, live alone near scene of crime

Constructing an FBI Profile: 4 Main Stages

1. data assimilation - profiler reviews evidence
2. crime scene classification - organised/disorganised
3. crime scene reconstruction - hypothesis of timeline and behaviours
4. profile generation - hypothesis of a likely offender based on demographic   ..............................................background/characteristics

Ressler's Top-Down Approach: Extra Stages

• (1.) profiling inputs: background info and evidence
• (1./3.) decision process models: mass/spree/serial, time, location
• (2.) crime assessment: organised vs. disorganised
• (4.) criminal profile: hypothesis of offender's background, habits, beliefs

• (5.) investigate report: people matching the hypothesis are evaluated
• (5.) apprehension: suspect caught and process is reviewed for conclusion validity

For

• Copson: questionnaire of 184 police - 82% said it was useful, 90% said they'd use it again
• application to success of crime solving - it is the standard approach

.
Against

• based on outdated models that can be prejudiced
• crime may be due to external factors, not just dispositional factors
• classification is too simple, as a highly intelligent person may commit a spontaneous murder
• does not apply to smaller crimes that leave very little evidence used for profiling
• Canter: reviewed 100 murderer's cases and comparing them to 39 traits associated with dis/organisation - organised exists but found no evidence for disorganised 
• despite it being used as a standard procedure, it doen not make it good for all situations, as crimes are all unique - it is just the procedure that is enforced

• systematic, statistical analysis of evidence at the crime scene (British Approach)

Investigative Psychology

• patterns occuring across several crime scenes, if suspected to be linked, can be used to make inferences and generate a profile of the likely offender
• develop a statistical database of evidence to use as a baseline for comparison
  • interpersonal coherence: there may be consistency between the crime and their everyday behaviour (e.g a sexual offender may have an public disrespect for women)
  • significance of time and place: how they relate to an offender
  • forensic awareness: mindfulness of control over the crime

Geographical Profiling

• locations of similar crimes to make inferences about offender profile and their future targets
• offenders tend to commit crimes in areas around where they live or work
• Canter's Circle Theory for Crime Mapping for offender behaviour
  • Marauders: create a circle of crimes around their place of residence
  • Commuters: create a circle of crimes in a place away from their place of residence

For

• more scientific because it uses statistical analysis of objective data
• application to successful solving of crimes - it is the standard approach in Britain
• Circle Theory can help predict where next crime will be (possibly prevent it)

Against

• in cities, offenders' ranges are less circular due to transport links
• data doesn't include offender's unreported/unsolved crimes (circles may be coincidental)
• Kocsis: chemistry students produced a more accurate offender profile on a solved murder case than experienced senior detectives
• Copson: surveyed 48 police officers and found that 83% of profiler advice was 'useful' but only 3% lead to the solving of the case

Lombroso

• criminals are a savage, primative, biologically different sub-species ('genetic throwbacks')
• they are unable to adapt to social demands, and so channel their behaviour through crime

Lombroso Research

• assessed Italian convicts' facial and cranial features
• 40% had atavistic form

Characteristics

• general: dark skin, facial asymmetry, prominent jaw, extra toes/fingers/*******; insensitivity to pain, uses criminal slang, tattoos, unemployed
• murderers: bloodshot eyes, curly hair, long ears
• frausters: thin lips
• sexual deviants: glinting eyes, swollen lips, projecting ears

For

• first approach towards crime that used biological/evolutionary basis (scientific credibility)

Against

• racist undertones towards African descendants (severely/embarassingly outdated)
• many killers are psychopaths/sociopaths who blend into society (are highly intelligent, not primative)
• Lombroso's original stance was far too deterministic, as physical traits do not cause criminality, and can be due to environmental factors (even he later agreed)
• Lombroso's research had no control, is not externally supported and was a biased sample

Twin Studies

• Lange: 10/13 monozygotics had both gone to prison
  • 2/17 dizygotics had both gone to prison
• Christensen: concordance of 33% (monozygotic) vs. 12% (dizygotic)

Candidate Genes

• Tiihonen: looked at 900 Finnish offenders' genes
  • MAOA gene mutation causes dopamine/serotonin regulation disruption
  • CDH13 gene mutation is linked with substance abuse and ADD
  • mutations meant a 13x increased likelihood of violent history

Diathesis-Stress Model

• genes create vulnerability to criminality, but do not directly cause it
• exposure to specific environments and criminal role models

Against

• concordance rates are never 100% - must be other factors
• twin studies are small and do not account for confounding variables, which include how siilarly twins are treated
• early twin studies are based on looks, not genetics (not 100% sure)

• dysfunctions of the brain and nervous system

Antisocial Personality Disorder (Psychopathy)

• (criminals tend to have) reduced emotional responses and empathy

Prefrontal Cortex

• APDs have reduced activity in emotial-behaviour regulation
• Raine: found an average of 11% reduction in grey matter in the PFC

Mirror Neurons

• criminals with APD can experience non-automatic empathy
• empathy is usually permanently turned on in normal brains
• Keysers asked criminals to empathise with a person in pain
  • mirror neurons activated, triggering a kind of empathy

For

• scientific credibility of biology and brain scans
• application to treatment for those with abnromal serotonin/dopamine regulation

Against

• reductionist

Socialisation Processes

• criminals are selfish, impatient, need instant gratification

Eysenck's Dimensions

• Extroversion (- Introversion) = outgoing, positive, seek more arousal -> risk
• Neuroticism (- stability) = overreact to threats, emotionally
• Psychoticism (- normality) = aggressive, impulsive, lacking empathy

Eysenck's Personality Inventory (EPI)

• scoring high on all basis = psychotic, neurotic-extrovert = criminal personality

Eysenck's Research

• 2000 prisoners, 2000 controls
• prisoners scored higher on Personality Inventory, against controls

Against

• neurotics are too anxious to commit crimes for fear of being caught
• under-explains biology and environmental factors
• personality is too complex to measure by a yes/no questionnaire, and changes based on the situation
• self-report techniques for criminals may lead to Social Desirability Bias
• 3 dimensions are not comprehensive enough - Dignam's Five Factor Model includes more traits)

Kohlberg

• theory of moral reasoning in terms of development levels
• Preconventional Level: rules are obeyed for personal gain/no punishment (criminals, children)
• Conventional Level: rules obeyed for approval/social order (normal adults)
• Post-Conventional Level: rules obeyed for personal ethics (10% of adults)

Criminality

• rewards are greater thank risks (low level = egocentric, poorer perception...)

Cognitive Distortions

• hostile attribution bias = misinterpretation of others' emotions
• minimalisation = downplay severity of crime

For

• application to CBT to help offenders overcome preconventional level
• Dodge and Frame: more aggressive children perceived ambiguous as hostile
• Pollok and Hashmall: over 35% of child molesters said that "victims consented"/ "it was not sexual"

Against

• describes criminal mind, but does not explain it (how it is formed)
• level of reasoning may change depending on the crime (biased for likelihood of success)
• reductionist - does not explain biology or environmental factors
• minimalisation may be due to aiming for a lesser sentence, not actually believing it was not serious
• criminals like to take pride in their crimes - not downplay them

Sutherland

• scientific principles to discriminate between criminals and non-criminals
• criminality/conformity is learned via the Social Learning Theory (association and interaction)

Factors

• should be able to mathmatically predict outcome based on exposure frequency
• learning attitudes towards crime (from peers)
• learning from specific criminal acts (from observation)

Pro-Crime

• would-be offenders learn motives, values, techniques and rewards
• identification with a criminal/conformist group

For

• explains how and why people offend, and why they would reoffend if put in a prison
• environmental determination
• Farringdon - 41% of deprived children with risk factors went on to be convicted

Against

• correlation, not causation - individual differences (different strength of effect of SLT)
• lack of explanation for the role of video games
• difficult to test scientifically (can not be operationalised and extraneous variables can not be controlled)

Freud

• unconscious conflicts and personality drive future (tripartite)
• weak superego due to not overcoming Oedipus and Electra Complexes

Blackburn

• weak superego: absent same-sex parent -> phallic fixation -> never fully develop morality principle 
• overharsh superego: strict parent -> guilt/anxiety -> punishment = familiar 'release'
• deviant superego: criminal parent = identify and internalise morals

Bowlby

• prolonged separations between mum and child during critical period, leading to emotional consequences
  
• leads to affectionless psychopathy -> don't develop close relationships
• 44 thieves study

For

• application to psychoanalysis to identify issues to prevent reoffending

Against

• gender bias - theory does not match up with male:female statistics (females have less pressure on them to identify with their mothers than boys with their fathers - should develop a weaker super ego)
• Bowlby's theory and research could be privation, not deprivation (self-report)
• correlation, not causation -> could be due to biology, socialisation...
• unconscious concepts are untestable (pseudoscientific)

• judicial sentence is determined by a court
• confined to either a prison or other close instutution

Aims

• Deterrence - unpleasant prison experience
  • condition through punishment
  • general (societal) deterrence and individual (offender) deterrence
• Retribution - society enacts revenge on offender
  • proportionate to their crime
• Incapacitation - taken out of society to prevent reoffending
  • protect the public
• Rehabilitation - help the offender to reform 
  • learn skills to allow adjustment into society

Psychological Effects

• stress and depression - higher statistics for self-harm/suicide that the general public
  • even after release
• institutionalisation - adopt norms and routines of prison
  • no longer function outside of prison
• prisonisation - socialised into adopting an inmate code
  • certain behaviour is rewarded in prison
  • this same benhaviour is unacceptable outside of prison

Recidivism

• repeat reoffending is a problem in the UK and USA
• Ministry of Justice (England and Wales) reports: 57% of offenders in UK reoffended (2013)
  • 14 prisons had reoffender rate of 70%
• rates are much higher than in Norway
• Norwegian prisons are very different from the ones in UK/USA (critisied for being 'too soft')
• focus more on reform (e.g community service) - costing the taxpayer less money

For

• Prison Trust Reform - 25% females and 15% males reported symptoms of psychosis as a result of custodial sentencing

Against

• effectiveness and psychological harm may vary by case (locus of control), instituation type and staff
• prison life can be preferable to homelessness - disrupts the 'reliable' statistics of reoffening (and not very good at deterrence/retribution)
• prison population is rising - clearly not effective
• better types of reform (as demonstrated by Norwegian prisons) - such as community service

• application of behaviourist approach as one scheme of many of a custodial sentence

Behaviourist Principle

• behaviour can be learned, so it shoud be possible to unlearn it via conditioning (counter-conditioning)

Token Economy

• reward obedience with tokens that can be exchanged for priveleges (positive reinforcement)
• withhold tokens for disobedience (punishment)
• rewards are primary reinforcers, tokens are secondary reinforcers

Changing Behaviour

• behaviours are identified (and broken down) - baseline established
• all in the institution (including staff) follow the same rules
• monitored by prison officials

For

• Hobbs and Holt - introduced token economy to 3 groups (and a control group) of youth offenders and found an increased in positive behaviour
• easy to implement (no need for specialistsm, cost effective, easy to follow)
• any one prisoner can receive rewards - treated equally with good behaviour - promotes positivity instead of direct punishment (negativity)

Against

• ethical issues: manipulates and dehumanises prisoners (rewards them with things that are arguably a right to have) and is obligatory
• a passive approach - it does not force the offender to reflect on their crime
• Blackburn - little rehabilitative value, as it does not prevent reoffending after release (and reinforces that prison is not that bad)

Novaco

• suggested cognitive factors trigger emotional arousal (channeled through agressive acts)

Stages

• Cognitive Preparation - reflect on experiences/patterns to break automatic response
• Skill Organisation - cognitive, behavioural and physiological mechanisms to control anger
• Application Practice - role play with mediator in a controlled environment
  • requires commitment (belief) from the offender
  • requires bravery from the mediator

Research

• Keen - young offenders (17-21) undertook National Anger Management Package
  • 8 2-hour sessions of anger management
  • resulted in increased self-awareness and self-control capacity

For

• can be continued outside of prison - it is a long-term solution
• multi-disciplinary approach (techniques, application, break-down), as offending is a very complex socio-psychological activity - more comprehensive
  • better than Behaviour Modification, as it finds the cause of the anger, instead of just conditioning against it

Against

• self-report technique of prisoners may cause social desirability bias, and role play may not be believable
• expensive to the taxpayer and needs the commitment of a trained specialist
• correlation that anger causes crime, not causation

• alterative to punishment
• mediator helps to restore a healthy society via remorse of an offender

Features

• acceptance of responsibility (see the impact and distress caused by their crime)
• flexible (where it can happen, who can take part, what can be discussed)
• active process (both parties can share and learn frim discussion for rehabilitation)
• positive outcomes - empowers victims and reduces recidivism

Variations

• face-to-face discussion, financial resolution, repairing physical damage, community service

Restorative Justice Council (RJC)

• set the standards for RJP
• support victims and specialists
• help with initiatives in schools and communities for Restorative Justice

For

• allows victim to be part of the process and resolve their feelings
• much less expensive than other methods (does not require specialists)
• provides long-term prevention and/or action for the victim
• Sherman and Strang - did meta-analysis on RJP
  • significantly lowered recidivism and post-trauma

Against

• may do more damage to victim, especially if the offender is not remorseful
• soft option - victims usually want redemption, not for the offender to forgive themselves