Forensic Psychology *

• what is the top down approach?

  It was developed in the 1970s in the USA by the FBI to understand patterns of criminal behaviour. They interviewed 36 sexually motivated serial killers including Ted Bundy. 

  The core assumption of profilling id the existence of a MO (modus operandi). Most offenders have a way of how they work. Some are organised and others are disorganised.
• what would an organised criminal do when planning a crime?(top down approach)

  Planning an alibi 

  Planning every detail 

  Time scales 

  Stalk the victim to get to know their routine  

  Take weapons back 
• what would a disorganised criminal do when planning a crime?(top down approach)

  No planning involved and just know the basics of what they want 

  Impulsive 

  Use weapons from crime scene or not take them away 
• what would an organised criminal do at the crime scene?(top down approach)

  Little to no damage to property 

  Wearing gloves so their isnt any fingerprints 

  Sneaky, so no one gets involved meaning less likely of getting caught (lack of clues) 

  Bleach – get rid of clues
• what would a disorganised criminal do at the crime scene?(top down approach)

  Not bothered about creating damage 

  Leave evidence 
• what would an organised criminals education look like?(top down approach)

  highly educated
• what would a disorganised criminals education look like?(top down approach)

  little to no education
• what is a organised criminals social skills?(top down approach)

  Social skills 

  Good social skills 

  High social status 

  Communication skills 
• what is a disorganised criminals social skills?(top down approach)

  Anit-social 

  Socially awkward 

  Bad social skills 
• what is one strength of the top down approach?

  One strength of the top down approach is that it is high in ecological validity. This is because the approach was created by the FBI , meaning that it uses real investigations into offenders and have been shaped through criminal investigations. This is a strength because it means the top down approach to offender profiling and used in the real world to catch criminals. 
• what is one limitation of the top down approach?

  One limitation of this approach is that it lacks scientific credibility because it is relying on self report from 36 sexual motivated serial killers. Self report is unreliable because people could easily lie meaning it is subjective and people would believe this. Therefore this results in false information from the interview. As a result, the information tells us little information about criminality. 
• what is the bottom up approach?

  It was developed in the 1990's and is based of a scientific theory. this theories relies on computer databases such as the police national computer (PNC). The bottom up approach is when research and statistics of similar crimes are used to develop a profile of the criminal based on previous convictions. Patterns are used to generate profiles on the offender.  
• what is the two parts the bottom up approach is split into?

  geographical profiling and investigative psychology
• what is investigative psychology? (bottom up approach)

  Interpersonal coherence is the way they behave at the crime will be like the way they behave ordinarily. For example, if someone is organised ordinarily, then the crime will be organised. 

  Significance of time and place may indicate where the offender is living or the type of employment. 

  Forensic awareness is certain techniques used aid profiling. For example, fingerprints would lead to finding the offender.
• what is geographical profiling? (bottom up approach)

  This form of bottom up profiling based on the location or locations of a series of crimes. It analyses the spatial relationships between different crime scenes and how they might reveal the offenders place of residence. 

  Circle theory – offenders have a spacial mindset and they commit crimes within a geographical circle. 

  The marauder – the offender opperates in close proximity to their home base. 

  The commuters – the offender is likely to have travelled distance away from their usual residence. 
• what is one strength of the bottom up approach? (real world application)

  One strength of the bottom up approach is that it has real world application. John Duffy was the railway rapist who murdered many women in train stations. The police estimated where he lived and profilled him by using the bottom up approach. This was mainly geographical profiling as they mainly focused on where the offender lived meaning they used circle theory. This is a strength because it shows that the bottom up approach is successful in real world applications. 
• what is a strength of the bottom up approach? (scientific credibility)

  One strength of the bottom up approach is it is high in scienfific credibility. Computer databases are used to support the generation of a profile through the statistics that are present on these databases. These statistics are factual and are not based on personal opinion or bias (free from bias). As it is based on factual information it will result in more accurate profiles compared to the top down approach. The top down approach uses self report which can change the profile as personal opinions will be involved. 
• what is a limitation of the bottom up approach?

  One limitation of the bottom up approach is that relys on profiles being developed subjectively.Colin Stagg was incorrectly profilled due to police interpretation and police geographical profilling.Nickel was murdered and 32 men were interviewed. The police created a offender profile which was similar to Colin Stagg. This meant that he ended up in custody while the real killer Robert Knapper ended up committing another offence. This is a weakness of the bottom up approach as it shows that it is unsuccessful in the real world. 
• what is the historical approach

  Criminals could be identified by their physical characteristics which indicated their biological inferiority. Criminals were ‘throwbacks’; their atavistic (primitive features) were biological characteristics from an earlier stage of human development that manifested as a tendency to commit crime. 
• what is atavistic features - historical approach

  • High cheekbones 
  • Large ears 
  • Large jaw 
  • Long arms 
  • Dark skin 
  • Flat noses 
  • Sloping brow 
  • Drooping eyelids 
• when did lombrosso come up with his theory - historical approach

  Lombrosso came up with this theory using living and dead italian convicts. After examining 3839 living criminals lombrosso concluded that 40% of these people had atavistic features. He did post-mortem experiments on the dead italian convicts. 
• limitation - generalisability - historical approach

  One criticism of lombrossos theory is that it has low generalisability. Lombrosso examined italian convicts and their physiology meaning that it cant be generalised to the rest of the world. This is also low in generalisability because italians have different physiology to other people meaning that this cant be applied to others. This is low in generalisability because it can only be applied to italians. 
• limitation - temporal validity - historical approach

  Low Temporal validity – done in 1800s, things has changed since then and ist is very outdated. (more modern techniques to determine criminality such as DNA and brain scans. Cant be related to criminality in the 21st century 
• limitation - scientific credibility - historical approach

  when he was determining atavistic features he didnt have a control group to compare to his findings to. This means you cant define criminality features by atavistic features. Cause and effect.  
• strength - first theory proposed - historical approach

  One strength of lombrossos theory of offender behaviour is that it was the first ever theory to be proposed about criminal behaviour (and has real world application). This was the first step taken towards scientifically understanding the reasons why people committed crime and was done with a large sample of prisoners and prisoner skulls. In conclusion, the work of lombrosso played a pivotal role in scientific fields attempting to understand offender behaviour, with the intent to porevent it. 
• what was the cristiansen study - biological approach - genetic

  Cristiansen (1977) studied over 3500 twin pairs in Denmark, and found concordance rates for offender behaviour of 35% for Mz twin males and 13% for Dz twin males(with slightly lower rates for females). This included all twins born between 1880 and 1910 in a reigon of Denmark. Offender behaviour was checked against police Danish records. This data indicates that it is not just the behaviour that might be inherited but specific genes that make an individual at more of a risk of the criminality gene).
• what is candidate genes - biological approach - genetic

  A genetic analysis of almost 800 Finnish offenders by Tiihonen et al (2015) suggested that the gene MAOA may be associated with violent crime. The MAOA gene regulates serotonin in the brain and has been linked to aggressive behaviour. The analysis found 5-10% of all severe violent crime in Finland is attributable to the MAO genotypes. (when someones born their genetic makeup has a MAOA gene but only some people have this. When their is an environmental stressor, this triggers the MAOA gene which causes aggressive behaviour). 
• diathesis stress model - biological approach - genetic

  If someone has a criminal gene, then they need an environmental stresser for this to show.
• limitation - biologically deterministic - biological explanation - genetic


  One limitation of the genetic explanation is it is biologically deterministic because it suggests that the persons MAOA gene causes crime. The MAOA gene, also known as the warrior gene, suggests that their is an absense of free will and accountability for their violent behaviour. Individuals can use this as an excuse to lessen their prison sentences as people may see this as they have no control over their actions. This means that people might not get the correct prison sentence. 
• limitation - generalisability - biological approach - genetic

  Low generalisability – cristiansen drew up upon danish twins. Denmark is a well developed european country in an individualistic society. As a result it can only be applied to this type of culture sand it cannot be applied to collectivists cultures such as russia where criminality may be different their. 
• limitation - unaccurate study - biological approach - genetic

  One limitation of the genetic explanation is findings do not give 100% concordance rate. Cristians figure only said 35% of MZ twins had offender behaviour which means that environmental factors took place. This means that this study isnt accurate. 
• neural expanations - biological approach - neural

  Evidence suggests there may be neural differences in the brains of offenders and non-offenders. Much of the evidence in this area has involved individuals diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder (formerly referred to as psychopathy). APD is associated with reduced emotional responses, a lack of empathy for the feelings of others, and their is a condition that characterises many convicted offenders.  
• what was the raine study procedure - biological approach - neural

  conducted a study consisting of 41 murderers who had pleaded not guilty by reasons of insanity (NGRI). The conditions varied from schizophrenia to head injuries. The prisoners had brain scans and Raine took this chance to compare the results to a control group. The control group consisted of 41 non-murderers.  

  The ppts were tested at the University of California. Each was injected with the glucose tracer and then preformed the continuous preformance task (CPT) for 32 mins, then the PET scan was carried out.   
• what were the results for Raines study - biological approach - neural

  He found that the murderers had reduced activity in the pre-cortal frontex and amygdala (regulates emotion and empaythy).  

  Criminality is caused by Inbalance of neural activity in the brain (neural abnormalities). Individuals with antisocial personality disorder (psychopaths) have reduced activity in their pre frontal cortex. The pre frontal cortex is the part of the brain that regulates decision making, planning and self control. This is apparrent in individuals with anti-social personality disorder.  
• strength - bioogical determinism - biological approach - neural

  One strength of the neural explanation is that it is biologically deterministic. This suggests that disfunction in the pre-frontal cortex is out of our control.  This leads to suggest that we have no free will. This means that criminals will use this excuse in the legal system and get shorter sentences leading not being punished correctly. This is due to the lack of free will and this is used as a defense. This also causes danger to society. Therefore, the neural explanation is biologically deterministic. 
• strength - objective form of measurement - biological approach - neural

  One strength of the neural explanation is that it utilises pet scans which is an objective form of measurement. The data obtained is automatically generated from the computer and is free from any human bias. Therefore, more accurate conclusions can be drawn.
• what is the psychodyamic explanation

  The psychodynamic explanation of offending behaviour focus on the influence of early childhood experiences and how they impact on later development. For example, the superego in personality development and the role of maternal deprivation. 
• what is the role of the superego - psychodynamic explanation

  According to Freud, during childhood, children go through a stage of psychosexual stages and overcome numerous crises in order to avoid childhood fixations. This occurs during the time that personality development is laying the foundations for a healthy, mature superego (the morality principle). The superego is concerned with an individuals understanding of guilt, right and wrong, their conscience and their morals. 
• how did blackburn (1993) explain offender behaviour - psychodynamic explanation


  According to Blackburn (1993), offender behaviour may occur if their is a problem with the way the superego develops during the phallic stage of psychosexual development. There are three likely superego issues that can explain offender behaviour: Underdeveloped or weak superego, Overdeveloped or harsh superego, Deviant superego
• deviant superego - psychodynamic explanation

  an individual does identify with the same sex parent; however, the same sex parent already holds deviant morals and values, meaning that the child internalises them too. Thus would cause the child to develop their own deviant morals and sense of right and wrong, increasing the likelihood of offending.