Forensic Psychology

• Lombroso argued that criminals are born with an innate criminal disposition and that criminals are more likely to be born with a physical defect
• Lombroso saw criminals as a more primitive form of human and not as well developed as modern humans
• Lombroso suggested that criminals had more in common with our evolutionary ancestors
• Lombroso's theory was based on the idea that there is a link between physical appearance and behaviour, which has been criticised by many psychologists
• Atavistic form


  Biologically determined characteristics- mainly features of the face and head, that make offenders physically different from the rest of us.
• Lombroso's research was criticised for being unscientific and lacking in ethical standards
• Lombroso's study


  Data was based on the measurements from almost 4,000 criminals and the skulls of almost 400 dead criminals. Found atavistic features of large ears and having a strong jaw
• Lombroso also argued that there were other non physical traits like insensitiveness to pain and having tattoo
• + Hailed the 'father of criminology' due to his contributions to the subject. Before Lombroso criminality was often seen as religious and due to a bad spirit
• --Hooton (Criticism)


  Compared 12000 male prisoners in the US to a control group and although he found differences between the groups, the characteristicswere not the same as those that Lombroso identified
• Neural explanation- Explanation of behaviour (and its disorders in terms of (dys)functions of the brain structures such as the prefrontal cortex and neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine.
• Twin studies - Genetic explanation


  Christiansen (1977) studied over 3500 twin pairs in Denmark and found concordance rates for offender behaviour of 35% for MZ male twins; and 13% between DZ twins.

  -  These rates were slightly lower for females.
• Adoption studies - Genetic explanation

  Raymond Crowe (1972) found that adopted children whose biological mother had a criminal record had a 50% risk of having a criminal record by age 18
• Candidate genes


  Genetic analysis of almost 800 Finnish offenders by Jari Tiihonen et al (2015) suggested that two genes (MAOA and CDH13) may be associated with violent crime.
• Diathesis stress model


  Offending behaviour may come about through a combination of genetic predisposition and biological or psychological trigger.

  -    An example of this is being raised in a dysfunctional environment or having criminal role models.
• Evidence for diathesis-stress

  Study of 13000 Danish adoptees conducted by Mednick et al (1984)

  Figure rose to 20% when either biological parent had convictions.

  Figure rose to 24.5 when both adoptive and biological parents had convictions
• Evidence may suggest that there may be differences in the brains of offenders and non-offenders.


  -          Much of the evidence in this area involves individuals diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder

  -          APD is associated with reduced emotional responses a lack of empathy for the feelings of others and is a condition characterises many convicted offenders.
• Prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain that regulates emotional behaviour
• Raine and his colleagues found an 11% reduction in the volume of grey matter in the prefrontal cortex of people with APD compared to controls. Suggesting that individuals with personalities have reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex
• Brain imaging studies are limited because they cannot show cause and effect relationships. For example, it could be argued that the enlarged amygdala was caused by the experience of committing crimes rather than causing them.
• Mirror neurons - suggests that offenders with APD can experience empathy, but this is done more sporadically than the rest of us.


  Keysers (2011) found when offenders were asked to empathise (person on a film experiencing pain) did their empathy reaction (controlled by mirror neurons) activate.

  • Suggests that APD individuals are not totally without empathy but may have a neural ‘switch’ that can be turned on and off.
• The criminal personality


  An individual who scores highly on measures of extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism and cannot easily be conditioned is cold and unfeeling is likely to engage in offending behaviour.
• Personality theory


  Eysenck proposed that behaviour could be represented along two dimensions:

  o   Introversion-extraversion (E)

  o   Neuroticism-stability (N)
• He later introduced the third dimension - psychoticism-sociability
• Biological basis


  Our personality traits are all biological in origin and come about through the type of nervous system we inherit.
• Extraverts


  Tend to be sociable, impulsive, expressive and risk taking. They have an underactive nervous system. They also tend not to condition easily and do not learn from their mistakes easily.
• Neurotic


  Tend to be nervous and jumpy, or overanxious. They have a high functioning or level of reactivity in the sympathetic nervous system. This means that their behaviour tends to be hard to predict.
• Psychotic 


  suggested to have high levels of testosterone and are unemotional and prone to aggression.
• Application to offending behaviour

  The criminal personality type is neurotic-extravert, and a typical offender would score highly on measures of psychoticism.
• Extraverts might be drawn to criminal behaviour due to the thrill they may end up feeling by committing a crime to stimulate their under-stimulated nervous system.
• -          Neurotics are unstable and prone to overreact to situations of threat.
• -          Psychotics lack empathy and conscience for others.
• -Research into EPQ has been limited


  In terms of the samples rarely being controlled in terms of the type of crimes committed in terms of the type of crimes committed. Perhaps certain personalities are drawn to certain types of crimes
• -Cultural Factors

  o   Bartol and Holanchook studied Hispanic and African American offenders in a maximum-security prison in New York

  o   Researchers divided these offenders into six groups based of their offending history and the nature of the offences

  It was found that all six groups were all less extravert than a non-offender control group
• +Research support 


  Eysenck and Eysenck compared 2070 prisoners score on the EPQ with 2422 and prisoners recorded higher average across the three dimensions Eysenck identified
• Moral development


  This refers to the way a person thinks about what is right or wrong
• Kohlberg suggests that through development we pass through three levels of moral reasoning. At each level we demonstrate greater moral maturity
• Pre-conventional morality 


  Consideration of self

  1. Punishment orientation correct behaviour is whatever will help them avoid punishment.
  2. Reward orientation correct behaviour is whatever is the most rewarding
• Conventional morality


  Less likely to commit crime as they consider what is best for society and their relationships
• Post conventional morality

  Tend to consider general moral principles and what is fundamentally right or wrong. Even if the right is wrong