Theoretical approaches

Theoretical approaches

1. Forensic psychology

   • What is forensic psychology?
     • Applying theory to criminal investigations
     • Understanding psychological problems associated with criminal behaviour
     • Treatment and recovery
   • What does a forensic psychologist do?
     • Research
     • Deal with offenders
     • Contribute to investigations
     • Statistical analysis of crime trends
     • Statistical analysis for offender profiling
     • Crime scene analysis
     • Providing expert testimony in court
     • Assessing suspects for fitness to be charged, questioned or tried
     • Hostage negotiation
     • Offender treatment programmes
     • Academic/practice research programmes
   • Components of forensic psychology
     • Applied
       • Police psychology: recruitment and stress
       • Investigative psychology: profiling and geographical profiling
       • Clinical psychology: assessment and prediction
       • Prison psychology: treatment and parole/release
     • Academic
       • Biological psychology: inheritance of criminality and effects of injury
       • Developmental psychology: aggression and delinquency
       • Cognitive psychology: eyewitness testimony and interviewing
       • Social psychology: juries and media influences

2. Theories of crime

   • Why do we need them?
     • Understand and explain criminal behaviour
     • Attempt to prevent crime
     • Can test predictions
   • Need to combine different perspectives, including outside psychology
   • Levels of analysis
     • Societal (macro) theories
       • E.g. men seen as dominating on women and domestic abuse
     • Community (locality) theories
       • Frequency on a map, offending near your house but not right there
     • Group influence and socialisation theories
       • e.g. lack of executive functions and ability to inhibit behaviour
     • Individual approaches
       • Ego-centred personality may change empathy levels 
   • Psychological approaches
     • 1) Biology
       • Neuropsychological theory
       • Genetic theory
       • Evolution
     • 2) Social psychology
       • Social learning
       • Strain
     • 3) Individual differences
       • Intelligence theory
       • Personality

3. (1) Biological accounts

   • Genetics
     • Crowe 1974
       • 46 adoptees (role of adoption?)
       • Biological mum HAD criminal record = 50%; biological mother DIDN'T HAVE criminal record = 5%
     • Kendler et al., 2014
       • 18070 adoptees with a large age range; info on both biological + adoptive parents
       • Heritability accounts for 30-50% of variance in offending
   • Neuropsychology
     • Early brain damage
       • Peri-natal, pre-natal
       • Pillmann et al., 1999
         • EEG while watching emotional pictures
         • Higher rates of abnormal electrical activity in the brains of aggressive/violent offenders
     • Head injuries
       • Personality changes
       • Memory and attention impairment
       • Fazel et al., 2011
         • The brain injury group had almost double the violent crimes compared to other types of patient
   • Some influence on criminality but may be restricted to a small proportion of cases

4. (2) Social psychology accounts

   • Social learning
     • Bandura: observational learning
     • Principles
       • Violence is appropriate
       • A violent family environment
       • Other strategies ineffective
   • Media and social learning
     • Huesmann et al., 2003
       • 15 years, 779 participants, different TV immersions (just viewing)
       • More TV meant more likely to be aggressive in adulthood
   • Environmental factors
     • Cultural symbols
     • Family
     • Prevalent subculture in one's social group

5. (3) Individual differences account

   • Intelligence?
   • Evidence for:
     • Bartels et al., 2009
       • When IQ declines the prevalence of violent crimes increases
   • Evidence against:
     • Cullen et al., 1997
       • Weak correlation: 0.1 adult criminality and 0.2 juvenile with IQ
     • Oleson & Chappell, 2012
       • More high IQ in violent offenders than control group
   • Link to school failure and unemployment?

6. Application of theories

   • Killers
     • Violent aggression
     • Substance abuse
     • High intelligence
     • Cognitive impairment
     • McDonald 1963: triad (serial killers?)
       • Bed-wetting
       • Fire-setting
       • Cruelty to animals
   • Economic crime
     • High-intelligence (high status?)
     • Personality
       • Narcissism
       • Lack of empathy
       • Non-violent antisocial
     • Rational choice
   • Terrorism
     • Personality
       • Pathological narcissism
       • Antisocial personality disorder
     • Development
       • Early trauma and abuse
     • Distinction between in-group and out-group
     • Head injuries
     • Conflict between different cultures or values

7. Victims of crime

   • Victimisation doesn't occur randomly or equally
     • Repeat victimisation
     • Walklate, 2012
       • Class (poor in private rented housing), gender (male), age (young) and ethnicity (minority groups)
   • Psychological consequences of crime
     • PTSD
       • Exposure to a terrifying event
       • Depression and possible thoughts of suicide; fear of others; flashbacks; sleep disturbances; oversensitivity to noise
       • 10-15% after crime
     • Psychological accounts of PTSD
       • Brewing & Holmes, 2003
         • Conditioning
     • Psychological help
       • Pennebaker & Chung, 2007
         • Structured trauma writing
         • Habituation rather than avoidance; verbally labelling emotion