Forensic Psychology

• what are anger management programmes?

  a form of CBT where the individual is taught to recognise the cognitive factors that trigger anger and develop techniques that bring about conflict resolution
• what are the 3 stages of anger management CBT?

  1. Cognitive preparation - reflect on past experience and consider patterns of anger. Learn to identify triggers, if the offender interprets the situation irrationally the therapist encourages them to change that and break the automatic response.

  
  

  2. Skills acquisition - offenders are introduced to techniques and skills to deal with anger more effectively

  Cognitive - positive self talk

  Behavioural - training how to communicate more effectively

  Physiological - relaxation training or meditation

  
  

  3. Application and practice - role play with therapist re-enacting scenarios that may have triggered anger in the past.
• describe the research into anger management CBT

  - keen studied the progress made by 17-21 year olds who took part in the National Anger Management Package

  - Although the offenders did not take it seriously at first, the final outcomes were generally positive

  - Offenders reported an increased capacity for self control
• why is anger management CBT better than behaviour modification?

  - Benefits outlast behaviour modification and more likely to have permanent change

  - anger management tackles one of the causes of offending

  - It deals with the processes that drive behaviour

  - Gives offenders insight into the cause of their criminality

  - gives them ways of managing their behaviour outside of prison
• why might anger management CBT not be the best form of rehabilitation in general (3 points)?

  - The application phase relies on role play which doesn't reflect a real life situation (low ecological validity)

  - there is little evidence that it reduces re-offending in the long term

  - Expensive as it requires highly trained specialists used to dealing with violent offenders
• why might anger management CBT not be the best form of rehabilitation for all prisoners?

  - Howells conducted investigation with Australian offenders

  - Significant progress was made with offenders who showed intense levels of anger before the programme and offenders who were open to change and highly motivated

  - The success of anger management is based on the commitment of those who participate so this wont work on offenders who are uncooperative

  - Suggests anger management may only benefit offenders who fit a certain profile
• what is behaviour modification?

  programmes based on behaviourist principles designed to reinforce obedient behaviour and punish disobedience
• how are token economies used in prison?

  - Based on operant conditioning

  - Encourage behaviour like following prison rules and keeping an orderly cell

  - Prisoners are given a token (secondary reinforcer - not rewarding in itself, derives value from association with reward) every time they perform a desirable behaviour (positive reinforcement)

  - Noncompliance or disobedience would result in the tokens being withheld or removed (negative punishment)

  - They may be exchanged for time in the gym or outside or extra food (primary reinforcers)
• how is a token economy designed?

  - Operationalise target behaviours: breaking down behaviours into component parts that are objective and measurable

  - Scoring system: hierarchy, some behaviours receive greater rewards

  - Train staff: aim to standardise the procedures and staff must record rewards in order to assess progress
• what does research suggest about token economies in prison?

  - researchers tried a token economy programme with some young offenders and observed a significant difference in positive behaviour compared to the non-token economy group

  - when the researcher field used a token economy on young people with behavioural problems a number of young people did not respond

  - These youths were placed on a special programme where the rewards were more immediate and frequent, and the results were more positive

  - This suggests token economy systems work but may need adapting
• why are token economies a better form of rehabilitation than the alternatives?

  - Easy to implement, straightforward to set up and enforce

  - can be used in most prisons by most prisoners

  - no need for a specialist professionals

  - They are cost effective
• why might token economies not be a good option for rehabilitation?

  - May not affect long-term behaviour, positive changes don't last once released

  - Ronald Blackburn said behaviour modification has "little rehabilitative value"

  - cognitive based treatments such as anger management may be more likely to lead to permanent behavioural change as they help the offender understand the reason for their offending and take responsibility for their rehabilitation

  - Offenders can play along with the token system, but it produces little change in their overall character
• what is the genetic explanation of offending?

  offenders inherit a gene or combination of genes that predispose them to commit a crime
• describe the evidence from twin studies for the genetic explanation of offending

  Karl Christensen studied 3500 twin pairs and found concordance rates for offenders' behaviour (police data) of 35% for MZ twins and 13% for DZ twins
• describe the evidence from adoption studies for the genetic explanation of offending

  Raymond Crowe found that adopted children whose biological mother had a criminal record had a 50% risk of having a criminal record by 18 whereas adopted children whose biological mother didn't have a criminal record only had a 5% risk
• what are the candidate genes associated with crime?

  - genetic analysis of 800 Finnish offenders suggested 2 genes associated with violent crime (MAOA and CDH13)

  - MAOA gene regulates serotonin in the brain and has been linked to aggressive behaviour

  - CDH13 is linked to substance abuse and ADHD
• what is the diathesis stress model for offending behaviour?

  Offending behaviour is due to a combination of genetic predisposition and a biological or psychological trigger
• what is the issue with twin studies?

  - Because MZ twins look identical, people tend to treat them the same which affects their behaviour

  - The higher concordance rates for MZ twins may be because they are treated more similarly rather than because they have the same DNA
• what is the research support for the diathesis stress model for offending behaviour?

  - A study of 13,000 adoptees

  - When neither sets of parents had convictions 13.5% of the adoptees did

  - When one of the biological parents had a conviction 20% of the adoptees did

  - When one parent from both sets had convictions 24.5% of the adoptees did

  - Genetic inheritance plays an important role but environmental is also important
• what is the neural explanation for offending behaviour?

  there is evidence from research of people with APD to suggest there may be neural differences in the brains of offenders and non-offenders
• what role does the prefrontal cortex play in offending behaviour?

  - 71 brain-imaging studies of the APD brain show that they have reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex that regulates our emotions and behaviour

  - Found on average an 11% reduction in the volume of grey matter in the prefrontal cortex of APD brain compared to control group
• how do mirror neurons work in the APD brain?

  - researchers found that only when offenders were asked to empathize with a person experiencing pain did their empathy reaction (controlled by mirror neurons) activate

  - Individuals with APD have a neural switch that can turn their empathy on and off
• what is the evidence for the role of the prefrontal cortex in offending behaviour?


  - researchers found people with damage to prefrontal cortex show impulsive behaviour, emotional instability and an inability to learn from mistakes

  - supports idea that abnormal functioning of the prefrontal cortex causes offending behaviour
• what is a limitation of the neural explanation for APD?

  - in a studied of a group of men with APD all the men had experienced risk factors in childhood such as having a criminal parent or being physically neglected

  - it could be that early childhood experiences caused APD and the neural differences rather than the neural differences causing APD
• what is the historical biological explanation for criminals?

  - criminals were 'genetic throwbacks', a primitive subspecies biologically different to non-criminals

  - Offenders lack evolutionary development

  - their savage and untamed nature means they cannot adjust to demands of civilized society and inevitably turn to crime
• what is atavistic form?


  - Offenders can be identified through physiological 'markers' that were linked to different offences.

  - Cranial characteristics of the atavistic form; sloping brow, strong prominent jaw, high cheekbones, and facial asymmetry

  - other characteristics include insensitivity to pain, use of slang, tattoos and unemployment

  - Murders: bloodshot eyes, curly hair, and long ears

  - Sexual deviants: glinting eyes, swollen lips, and prominent ears
• explain Lombroso's research into atavistic form


  - Examined 383 dead and 3839 living Italian convicts

  - Concluded 40% of criminal acts are committed by people with atavistic characteristics
• why is the historical biological explanation for offending important?

  - Lombroso 'father of modern criminology' coined the term 'criminology'

  - Shifting crime research away from moralistic discourse (offenders wicked or weak-minded) towards more scientific position (evolution and genetics)

  - Trying to describe how particular people commit particular crimes, beginning of offender profiling
• why does the atavistic form theory have racist undertones?


  - Many of the identified atavistic features are found among people of African descent

  - This view fitted 19th-century eugenic attitudes

  - Theory was not objective and influenced by the racial prejudices of the time
• what evidence contradicts the theory of atavistic form?

  - comparison of 3000 offenders and 3000 non-offenders concluded that there is no evidence of a distinct group with different facial features

  - Challenges the idea that offenders can be physically distinguished from the rest of the population, they are not a subspecies
• what is a limitation of Lombroso's research into atavistic form?


  - failed to control important variables

  - he did not compare his offender sample with a non-offender control group which would have addressed confounding variables and identified other reasons for higher crime rates in certain groups

  - Research has shown links between crime and social conditions like poverty and poor educational outcomes, these links would explain why offenders were more likely to be unemployed

  - Lombroso's research does not meet modern scientific standards
• what are the 2 cognitive explanations for offending?

  - faulty moral reasoning

  - cognitive distortions (faulty thinking)
• what is the theory of moral development and crime?

  - Kohlberg proposed that people's morality can be summarized in a stage theory based on researching people's responses to a series of moral dilemmas

  - Offenders show lower levels of moral reasoning

  - Kohlberg et al found that a group of violent youths were at a significantly lower level of moral development (classified as pre-conventional) than non-violent youths even after controlling for social background

  - offenders tend to be more ego-centric, display poorer social skills and be less sympathetic
• what is the research support for the moral reasoning explanation for offending?

  - researchers compared moral reasoning in 332 non-offenders and 126 convicted offenders using the Socio Moral Reflection Measure Short Form (SRM- SF) that contains 11 moral dilemma related questions

  - The offender group showed less mature moral reasoning
• what are cognitive distortions?


  errors or biases in people's information processing system characterised by faulty thinking
• what is hostile attribution bias?

  - Offenders may misread non-aggressive cues and trigger a disproportionate violent response

  - researchers presented 55 violent offenders with images of emotionally ambiguous facial expressions

  - violent offenders were much more likely to perceive the images as angry and hostile than the non-aggressive matched control group

  - other researchers showed children an ambiguous clip, children identified as aggressive interpreted the situation as more hostile than non-aggressive

  - this suggests the behaviour begins in childhood
• what is minimalization?


  - denying or downplaying the seriousness of an offence

  - using 'euphemistic labels' like 'doing a job'

  - researchers found among 26 convicted rapists 54% denied they had committed a crime and 40% minimized the harm they caused the victim
• what is the real world application of the cognitive distortions explanation for offending behaviour?


  Applications to therapy

  - Cognitive behaviour therapy challenges irrational thinking

  - Offenders are encouraged to take responsibility for what they have done and establish a less distorted view of their actions

  - Studies suggest that reduced minimalization is highly associated with a reduced risk of reoffending
• what is the bottom up approach?

  Profilers work up from evidence collected from the crime scene to develop hypotheses about the likely characteristics, motivations and social background of the offender.
• what is investigative psychology?

  A form of bottom-up profiling that matches details from the crime scene with statistical database of typical offender behaviour patterns based on psychological theory.