FPSYC201

• Interaction occurs when the effect of one variable is DEPENDENT upon the presence of one or more other variables.
• (Person = genes x environment (G X E))
• (Behaviour = person x situation (P X S))
• Sociological, looks at poverty to need to steal for food (strain theory). Lower class want what richer have.
• Psychological, family violence, saw open window (in the shoes of the people).
• criminology is a scientific study of crime and criminals
• Sociological is a focus on changing the structure and the system and therefore a long term goal.
• Goals of psychological, to help these individuals, take some at risk (the shorter term and management of individual.
• Science “is systematically observing natural events, then using those observations to develop laws and principles.”
• Psychology is the study of human mind and behaviour; they can still demonstrate the scientific method
• Pseudoscience are broad claims that are not falsifiable.
• Karl Popper rejected the idea that the scientific method is about proving theories – it involves ‘empirical falsification’.
• The traditional understanding of the scientific method was based on looking and developing observations of whatever you see
• Sciences disconfirms while pseudoscience confirms
• We used testable, refutable and falsifiable. We only prove our theories wrong.
• Knowledge is about probability and contingency; these beliefs should be varying on the data.
• Crime an event/act (done by a person or a social context). Therefore, this is behaviour. This varies on cultures and areas.
• Criminality refers to the propensity to do crime, within an environment and how crime becomes more likely. Person-based ‘criminal’.
• We tend to assume that we have free will to our own destiny. That is key in law as individuals must take responsibility for their actions.
• Determinism is the basis of most theories in psychology and criminology, behaviourism is a good example of this. According to this If we knew the history of an individual, we could predict how they would act
• Soft determinism is the middle ground. Where self-regulatory strategies to delay gratification for greater rewards.
• Nature: characteristics, brain function, neurotransmitters, biochemical characteristics, genetic composition and DNA or physical trauma to change function.
• Nurture acts on nature in some ways, nature is clearly shaped by environmental factors, e.g., parental nutrition and stress, the family situation we are born in has a significant effect on our development from family to peers to a social context.
• Psychological views, people who commit a lot of crime may have characteristic that contribute to this; however, this is not a type of pathology.
• Medical model, disease and cure will end crime.
• Psychological approach, learned to behave badly, or failed to learn to behave well.
• The idea that antisocial and criminal behaviour and the level of an individual criminal propensity is a natural phenomenon which needs to be controlled by socialisation.
• The tension between a person’s stable internal characteristics to behave the same way consistency or is an individual’s behaviour situation specific.
• Situational factors in crime prevention, is relevant because this is factors outside the person, often crime is opportunistic. Individuals that are heavily involved in crime do not commit this 24/7, this varies to opportunity.
• Wortley's integrative model includes human nature, heredity, the brain, personality, development, learning, cognition and situations.
• (Moffitt, 1993) looks at antisocial behaviour across the life course (this is the prevalence rate).
• For the most part versatility across criminals is the norm, most offending is minor. The rule is versatility.  
• About 5% of people who commit crime are responsible for about half the crimes committed. Or the 80/20 rule.
• This criminal career approach has helped us recognise different variations in criminal behaviour, both overtime and across people.
• Antisocial behaviour is quite consistent over the lifespan. People involved earlier are typically involved later.
• Prevalence changes a lot with age too, especially around adolescence. This is why we see the big increase and decrease.
• The group that starts early and persist, life-course persistent. This group requires more support
• The group that starts later but do not persist, this is a much bigger group relative to the other, this is a short period group, adolescence limited. The primary explanation for this is the maturity gap.
• LCP people typically have biological differences that make this harder. Anatomical and physiological features influence, temperament, behaviour and cognitive abilities
• Cumulative consequences, indirect effects in life course continuity e.g., poor engagement, the building up of effects overtime. Creates new + exacerbates old.