forensic psychology

• What is the focus of cognitive explanations for offending behavior?

  They look at the mind of the offender to understand their thoughts and behavior.
• What does Kohlberg's theory of moral reasoning suggest about criminals?

  Criminals have a lower level of moral reasoning than non-criminals.
• What is moral reasoning?

  It is the process by which an individual determines whether an action is right or wrong.
• How did Kohlberg measure moral reasoning?

  By identifying different levels based on answers to moral dilemmas.
• What is the relationship between moral reasoning and criminal behavior according to Kohlberg's theory?

  Offenders tend to reason at a lower level than non-offenders.
• What are the three stages of Kohlberg's moral reasoning theory?

  • Pre-conventional level (stages 1 and 2)
  • Conventional level
  • Post-conventional level
• What characterizes the pre-conventional level of moral reasoning?

  It is characterized by a need to avoid punishment and gain rewards.
• How might an adult reasoning at the pre-conventional level behave in terms of criminality?

  They may commit a crime if they believe they can get away with it or gain rewards.
• What is a characteristic of offenders compared to non-offenders regarding social perspective taking?

  Offenders display poorer social perspective taking skills than non-offenders.
• What are cognitive distortions?

  Faulty, biased, irrational ways of thinking that lead to inaccurate perceptions.
• What is a hostile attribution bias?

  It is a distortion where individuals interpret ambiguous situations as aggressive or threatening.
• How might a person with a hostile attribution bias react to an ambiguous social situation?

  They may perceive the actions of others as hostile and respond aggressively.
• What did recent research by Schonberg and Zeus (2014) find about violent offenders?

  They are more likely to interpret emotionally ambiguous faces as aggressive and hostile.
• What is minimalization in the context of cognitive distortions?

  It is downplaying the seriousness of an offense or using euphemistic labels.
• How might a sex offender use minimalization?

  By downplaying their behavior or claiming the victim contributed to the crime.
• What did Kennedy and Grubin (1992) find regarding minimalization among offenders?

  They found that sex offenders often use minimalization to justify their behavior.
• What are the evaluation points for cognitive explanations of offending behavior?

  1. Research support for moral reasoning (Palmer and Holland, 1998)
  2. Strength of cognitive distortions in therapy (CBT)
  3. Limitation: Type of offense affects moral reasoning and cognitive distortions
• What did Palmer and Holland (1998) find in their research on moral reasoning?

  They found that offenders showed less mature moral reasoning than non-offenders.
• How does cognitive therapy (CBT) relate to cognitive distortions?

  CBT aims to challenge irrational thinking and reduce denial and minimalization.
• What limitation do both moral reasoning and cognitive distortions share according to Thornton and Reed (1982)?

  They depend highly on the type of offense being committed.
• What did Howard and Sheldon (2007) find regarding cognitive distortions among sexual offenders?

  Non-contact sex offenders used more cognitive distortions than contact sex offenders.
• How can Kohlberg's theory and cognitive distortions be evaluated in an exam?

  • They can be used together or separately in evaluation points.
  • Both theories have strengths and limitations.
  • Consider the type of offense when evaluating their applicability.
• what is the top-down approach?


  It is an involved analysis of previous crimes to create a profiling of a likely offender.
• what are the 4 stages of the top-down approach?


  • data assimilation
  • crime scene classification
  • crime reconstruction
  • profile generation
• • data assimilation - e.g police reports, crime scene photographs, pathologist's reports
  • crime scene classification - can be classified into two typologies: organised or disorganised
  • crime reconstruction - it clarifies the offender's modus operandi
  • profile generation - the offender's physical characteristics, behavioural habits and demography
• evaluation of the top-down approach

  difficult to distinguish between organised and disorganised, e.g some crimes become organised over time- this isn't taken into consideration, categories based on ex sex offenders can't be generalised
• what are the psychological principles that assists the bottom-up profiling?

  interpersonal coherence, time and place, criminal characteristics, forensic awareness.
• • interpersonal coherence - there is consistency between the way offenders interact with their victims and others in their life
  • time and place - position and timing of the place
  • criminal characteristics - involves placing perpetrador into categories
  • forensic awareness - certain behaviour may reveal a knowledge of police techniques.
• smallest space analysis - is used to plot the relationships between crime scene characteristics on a 2D map
• what is geographical profiling?

  it analyses locations of a connected series of crimes, and its based on assumption that offenders are more likely to commit crimes near where they live.
• • Lombroso’s theory of Criminology suggests that criminality is inherited and that someone “born criminal” could be identified by the way they look.
• In a study of 383 dead Italian criminals and 3839 living ones, he found 40% of them had atavistic characteristics.

  • These features include: large jaw, high cheekbones,upturned nose, large chins, baldness, long arms and tattoos
•  MAOA removes the neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine, and noradrenaline, this leads to lower levels of these neurotransmitters, which can then lead to behavioral problems.
• what are the 3 biochemicals that are thought to cause criminal behaviour?


  Serotonin, dopamine, noradrenaline
• what does dopamine do?


  excess dopamine leads to more pleasure when taking drungs
• what does serotonin do?

  low levels of serotonin cause mood and impulsive actions to be unstable
• what does noradrenaline do?

  high levels are linked to violence, aggression and consequently crime.
• what are the similarities between top-down and bottom-up?


  • top-down uses previous crimes(interviews), similar bottom-up uses (computer database)
  • both rely on an analysis of the crime scene to create the profile
  • long drawn out process in term of finding the actual perpator
• what are the diffrences between top-down and bottom-up?

  • top-down can explain murders only whereas bottom-up can explain a range of crimes.
  • top-down uses qualitative methods (witness reports), bottom-up uses quantitative methods (smallest space analysis)
  • top-down uses categories (organised, disorganised) whereas bottom-up uses multiple pieces of data
  • top-down is subjective and bottom-up is objective
• what are the three biological explanations for offending behaviour?


  Atavistic form, genetic and neural