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Forensic Psychology

Crime has a long history in human society. Just as Willhelm Wundt is considered the father of psychology, Hugo Münsterberg is considered to be one of the first to bring psychology into the courtroom. Why people commit crimes whilst others forgo a life of crime has interested psychologists for a long time.The need to understand the reasons behind criminal behaviour,…

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Forensic Psychology

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Forensic Psychology
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Crime has a long history in human society. Just as Willhelm Wundt is considered the father of psychology, Hugo Münsterberg is considered to be one of the first to bring psychology into the courtroom. Why people commit crimes whilst others forgo a life of crime has interested psychologists for a long time.

The need to understand the reasons behind criminal behaviour, how to catch a criminal, and, more importantly, how to prevent crime became obvious. This is where forensic psychology comes in.

  • We are going to explore the world of forensic psychology.
  • First, we will provide a forensic psychology definition, clarifying what we mean by forensic psychology.
  • We will then explore the various forensic psychology methods, such as offender profiling.
  • Then, we will briefly cover forensic psychology research, namely the biological and psychological explanations for offending behaviour.
  • Finally, we will discuss the problems in forensic psychology.

Forensic Psychology, yellow tape saying crime scene do not cross over a blurry background, StudySmarterFig. 1 - Forensic psychology explores the theories behind criminal behaviour

Forensic Psychology: Definition

Forensic psychology is investigative psychology that looks into the psychological theories behind criminal behaviour. Why a person may commit a crime, who they may be and how they act are all factors psychology explores.

Whilst initially, forensic psychology was not a fully respected discipline (Münsterberg faced scepticism in the courtroom by the judge and others present), it has gained credibility and esteem over the years.

Forensic psychology applies psychology to law and the criminal justice system.

Many television shows focus entirely on forensic psychology procedures. Finding and catching criminals using psychological methods has proven popular amongst the public.

Forensic psychologists typically help in the cases of eyewitness testimonies, assessing competency to see if a person is in a sound state of mind to stand trial and help decide appropriate treatment plans and sentencing.

Forensic Psychology Research: Measuring Crime Rates

Crime is an act that violates the law, usually resulting in punishment. What people consider a crime varies from place to place (culture, setting, and time can change the definition of a crime).

Whilst certain acts are illegal across the board (murder, for example), other crimes, such as drug use and theft, may incur different degrees of punishment.

It's important for governing bodies to know the true extent of crime rates, and one way to do this is through measuring crime.

Measuring crime rates comes in three forms, mainly:

  • Official statistics: Government records of total crimes reported and recorded in official figures.
  • Victim surveys: Each year, the Crime Survey for England and Wales sends a survey to 50,000 households asking them to report any crimes they have been victims of in the previous year.
  • Offender surveys: Individuals volunteer information about the number and type of crimes they have committed.

Forensic Psychology Methods: Offender Profiling

Offender profiling focuses on accurately predicting the characteristics of unknown criminals through various procedures and is an investigative tool, a core aspect of investigative psychology. There are two main forms of offender profiling: the top-down and the bottom-up approaches.

The top-down approach is used by America, whereas the British use the bottom-up approach.

The Top-down Approach

Developed by the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), the top-down approach classifies criminals into different types, working from the top down. Using data from 36 convicted serial killers and murderers (including the infamous Ted Bundy), the FBI identified organised and disorganised groups.

The top-down approach assumes that criminals show particular behaviours (often known as their modus-operandi or ‘MO’).

The FBI follow four steps when creating profiles (Douglas et al., 1986):

  1. Collecting and combining data from the crime.
  2. Classifying the type of crime.
  3. Hypothesise about what happened and reconstruct the crime.
  4. Generating a profile of the offender.

Forensic Psychology, three people dressed in suits interacting in an office in front of an American flag, StudySmarterFig. 2 - America uses the top-down approach in offender profiling.

The Bottom-up Approach

Developed by David Canter, the bottom-up approach uses investigative psychology and geographical profiling to identify possible offenders. There are no typologies. Investigators examine crime scenes, analyse evidence, and talk to witnesses to hypothesise about the likely characteristics of the perpetrator, such as:

  1. Personal characteristics.
  2. Criminal history.
  3. Location.
  4. Social characteristics.
  5. Career and educational history/level.

Investigative psychology includes details from the crime scene that are matched with psychology theories and analysis of offenders to find the most likely match. Geographic profiling examines crime scenes to determine the offender’s base and possible future crimes.

Forensic Psychology, man wearing a suit looking at a data board connecting clues of a crime, StudySmarterFig. 3 - The UK uses the bottom-up approach to offender profiling.

Criminology and Forensic Psychology: Biological explanations

Several biological explanations and theories for criminality exist in psychology (and criminology), such as the atavistic form, and genetic and neural explanations.

Atavistic Form

Positivist criminology suggests no free will exists in criminal behaviours; our features decide it. Cesare Lombroso described the atavistic form in 1876, which states that criminals are less evolved people or primitive subspecies unfit for modern society.

Lombroso noted that this criminal subspecies could be identified by specific characteristics such as:

  • A prominent jaw.
  • High cheekbones.
  • Drooping eyes.
  • Dark skin.
  • Asymmetry of the face.

Physical features can indicate criminal tendencies, according to Lombroso.

Genetic and Neural Explanations

Psychologists have also tried to find genetic and neural explanations for criminality. Twin studies and candidate genes are essential parts of this process.

  • Studies by researchers such as Tiihonrn et al. (2014) have shown that abnormalities in the MAOA and CDH13 genes can predict violent criminal behaviours.

Other psychologists claim that there may be neural differences between criminals and non-criminals.

Raine et al. (1997) found that murderers had neural differences in their prefrontal cortex, amongst other notable brain areas. They had dysfunctional brain processes, supporting the neural explanation.

Forensic Psychology Research: Psychological Explanations

Are murderers born or made? Psychological explanations explore the psychological aspect of offending behaviours, namely identifying issues in the mind of offenders and identifying possible environmental conditions that may explain the behaviours.

Eysenck’s Theory of the Criminal Personality

Eysenck (1964), a critical exponent of personality and intelligence research, stated that behaviour could be divided into three categories: introversion/extroversion (E), neuroticism/stability (N), and psychoticism (P). According to Eysenck, we inherit the extent and type of character traits through our nervous system, which means that criminality could have a biological basis.

  • Eysenck explained that the criminal personality type is neurotic-extroverted with a high degree of psychoticism.
  • However, Eysenck also stated that criminals are formed by a combination of criminal personality and socialisations, meaning that his approach is a hybrid one, both biological and social.

Thinking Patterns, Levels of Moral Reasoning, and Cognitive Distortions

Several explanations for criminal behaviour suggest that offenders think differently than their peers. They show different thinking patterns, levels of moral reasoning, and cognitive distortions that affect their perceptions of reality.

  • The levels of moral reasoning, developed by Kohlberg (1958), refer to the stages of moral reasoning people advance through as they age, affecting their behaviours. According to the theory on moral reasoning, criminals may have a lower level of moral reasoning, meaning they feel less about the morality of their actions.
  • Cognitive distortions are information processing/thinking errors that alter a person's ability to perceive reality. Offenders may have cognitive distortions linked to their criminal behaviours (i.e., being self-centred or minimising their behaviours).

Differential Association Theory

Differential association theory, developed by Sutherland (1939), suggests criminal behaviour is a learned interaction where offenders learn the techniques, methods, and motives of criminal behaviours from other criminals.

Cognitive Biases

According to cognitive theory, criminals also have cognitive biases (information processing errors or biases) that influence their behaviour. Two examples are:

  • Hostile attribution: Viewing the behaviour as aggressive or threatening when not.
  • Minimalisations: Downplaying an event or emotion, e.g., guilt.

Forensic Psychology, man sat on the crime in handcuffs, StudySmarterFig. 4 - There are a variety of psychological explanations for criminal behaviours.

Forensic Psychology: Psychodynamic Explanations

Psychodynamic explanations for criminal behaviour explore offending behaviours through the lens of Freud's theories. Blackburn (1993) suggests that the differential development of the superego can lead to criminal behaviour:

  • The weak superego: When a child does not identify with a parent, they do not internalise a superego, which leads to immoral or criminal behaviour.
  • The deviant superego: If a child internalises an immoral or deviant superego, this can lead to criminal behaviour.
  • The overly harsh superego leads to debilitating guilt and anxiety in a child, resulting in criminal behaviour to satisfy the superego’s need for punishment.

Freud also explored defence mechanisms, namely displacement, repression and denial.

Maternal Deprivation Theory

Bowlby (1944) asserts that a child who cannot form a solid attachment to their mother figure is less likely to form meaningful relationships in adulthood and is more likely to develop a personality type of ‘loveless psychopathy’. A lack of guilt, empathy, and feelings for others, all traits associated with criminal behaviour, characterise this personality type.

Dealing with Offending Behaviour

So, the offender committed a crime. What next? Punishment for criminal behaviour can take different forms, from more traditional versions to modern therapeutic approaches.

Custodial sentencing

Custodial sentencing is when the court orders the offender to serve time in a prison or other closed therapeutic/educational facility such as a psychiatric hospital.

The custodial sentence has many purposes :

It also has many psychological effects:

In this section, we also address recidivism.

Behaviour Modification in Custody

Behaviour modification in custody applies the behaviourist approach that attempts to replace criminal behaviour with desirable, productive behaviour by using positive/negative reinforcement.

A clear example of this is the idea of ‘getting out on good behaviour’, where punishment is reduced for inmates as a reward for good behaviour while incarcerated.

Anger management

Anger management involves a therapeutic program to identify and manage the anger that may have led to criminal behaviour. This process consists of three phases:

  • Cognitive preparation.
  • Skill acquisition.
  • Application practice.

Restorative justice

Restorative justice focuses on reconciliation between offender and victim. The aim is to enable the offender to understand their crime’s impact and empower victims by giving them a ‘voice’.

Problems in Forensic Psychology

Whilst forensic psychology provides multiple techniques to investigate criminal behaviour and identify possible explanations for criminal behaviour, it has problems in itself.

  • Some techniques are not as robust. The top-down approach has been criticised for validity issues and generalisability concerns. Research into offender profiling is also surprisingly limited into how effective it actually is.
  • Explanations of criminal behaviour have issues with reductionism (particularly biological explanations) and determinism. Psychological explanations also suffer from problems, for example, the psychodynamic approach is not scientifically tested, and Sutherland's (1939) theory on differential association fails to account for individual differences.
  • Ethical concerns remain in forensic psychology, as misuse of work, problems with competence, and issues with avoiding harm crop up within forensic psychology.


Forensic Psychology - Key takeaways

  • Forensic psychology is investigative psychology that looks into the psychological theories behind criminal behaviour. Forensic psychology applies psychology to law and the criminal justice system.

  • We can define crimes using official characteristics, victim surveys and offender surveys. Offender profiling focuses on accurately predicting the characteristics of unknown criminals through various procedures and is an investigative tool.

  • Biological explanations for crime include atavistic forms and genetic and neural explanations.

  • Psychological explanations of crime include Eysenck’s theory, cognitive explanations, and differential association theory. Psychodynamic explanations for crime include a malformed superego and maternal deprivation theory.

  • We can treat delinquent behaviour through incarceration, behaviour modification, anger management, and restorative justice.

Frequently Asked Questions about Forensic Psychology

Forensic psychology applies psychology to law and the criminal justice system.

Forensic psychology can help prevent and explain crime.

Criminal psychologists develop psychological profiles of criminals to understand them or prevent crime. Forensic psychology is investigative psychology that looks into the psychological theories behind criminal behaviour.

Criminal psychologists develop psychological profiles of criminals to understand them or prevent crime. Forensic psychologists look at crime more widely and apply this study to the criminal justice system. 

Forensic psychology can help us understand criminal motivations and influences by producing different investigative techniques, such as offender profiling, how to measure crime rates accurately, and exploring different explanations of crime (psychological and biological).

Final Forensic Psychology Quiz

Forensic Psychology Quiz - Teste dein Wissen

Question

Who proposed differential association theory and when?

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Answer

Sutherland proposed this theory in 1939.

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What does differential association theory state?

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Answer

People learn to become offenders through interactions with others (friends, peers, family members). Criminal behaviours are learned through other people’s values, attitudes, methods, and motives.

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How can the theory explain why crime is more prevalent in certain communities?

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Answer

Perhaps the people are all learning from each other in some aspect, or the community’s general attitude is ‘pro-crime’.

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How can the theory explain why convicts after their release from prison frequently continue offensive behaviour?

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Answer

Often, in prison, they have learned how to improve their ‘technique’ through observational learning and imitation, or even through direct learning from one of the other prisoners.

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Question

What were the six most significant risk factors for criminal activity at age 8–10, according to Farrington et al. (2006)?

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Answer

  1. Crime in the family
  2. Impulsivity
  3. Low IQ and low school attainment
  4. Poverty
  5. Poor parenting

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Question

What is a strength and weakness of Farrington et al. (2006) study?

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Answer

The study shows support for differential association theory; however, some of the factors can also be due to genetics.

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What were the findings of the Osborne and West (1979) study?

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Answer

Osborne and West (1979) compared family criminal records and found that when a father had a criminal record, 40% of sons also had a criminal record by age 18, compared with 13% of sons of fathers who did not have a criminal record. 

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What conclusions can be drawn from the Osborne and West (1979) study?

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Answer

This finding suggests that children learn criminal behaviour from their fathers in families with a convicted father through differential association. However, one could also argue that genetics could be to blame since convicted fathers and sons share the genes that predispose them to criminality.

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Question

How do Akers’ (1979) findings support differential association theory?

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Answer

Akers (1979) surveyed 2500 male and female adolescents. They found that differential association and reinforcement accounted for 68% of the variance in marijuana use and 55% of the variance in alcohol use.

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Question

What are the two strengths of differential association theory?

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Answer

The strengths of differential association theory are that it can explain different types of crimes and crimes committed by people from different socioeconomic backgrounds. It has also changed people’s view of crime from individual (genetic) factors to social factors.

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Why was changing people’s views on crime from blaming individual (biological) factors to social factors a major point?

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This has real-world applications as a person’s environment can be changed, but genetics cannot.

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What are the weaknesses of differential association theory?

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  • The research on it is correlational, thus we do not know if interactions and associations with others are the real cause of crimes.
  • The theory does not explain why criminality decreases with age.
  • The theory is hard to empirically measure and test.
  • It can account for less severe crimes such as burglary but cannot explain crimes such as murder. Lastly, biological factors are not taken into account.

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What were the findings of Newburn (2002)?

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Answer

Newburn (2002) found that people under the age of 21 commit 40% of crimes and that many offenders stop committing crimes when they get older.

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Give an example of why the theory is hard to measure and test.

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Sutherland states that when the number of interpretations favourable to breaking the law exceeds the number of interpretations unfavourable (through more contact with people who favour the crime), a person becomes a criminal. However, it is hard to empirically measure this. How do we accurately measure the number of favourable/unfavourable interpretations a person has experienced their whole life?

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Question

The differential association theory does not take biological factors into account. What model may better explain offensive behaviour?

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Answer

Diathesis-stress model

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Who created the theory of atavistic form?

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Cesare Lombroso created the theory of atavistic form.

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Define atavistic form.

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The atavistic form is a biological approach to crime that attributes criminal activity to offenders being genetic throwbacks or primitive subspecies unable to adapt to the rules of modern society. According to this approach, we can recognise such individuals due to their distinguishable facial and cranial features.

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What name did Lombroso call criminals?

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Answer

Genetic throwbacks.

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What did Lombroso believe was different about criminals compared to the rest of us?

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Lombroso believed criminals lacked evolutionary development, and their inability to conform to society would lead them to crime.

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What are ‘atavistic characteristics’?

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Answer

Atavistic characteristics are physical markers that distinguish criminals from other people, especially the head and face.

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Which of the following are NOT atavistic facial features? (select all that apply)

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Answer

High cheekbones.

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What are the atavistic characteristics of murderers?

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The atavistic characteristics of murderers are bloodshot eyes, curly hair, and long ears.

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What are the atavistic characteristics of sexual deviants?

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The atavistic characteristics of sexual deviants are shiny eyes, swollen lips, and prominent ears.

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What were Lombroso’s findings after examining the facial features of hundreds of Italian convicts?

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Lombroso claimed 40% of criminal acts could be determined by atavistic characteristics.

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Why was Lombroso named father of modern criminology?

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Because he was the first one to suggest that biological influences were playing a role in criminal behaviours, shifting away from moral arguments. 

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How did Matt DeLisi (2012) criticise Lombroso?

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Answer

He pointed out that many of the ‘atavistic characteristics’ are of a racist and sexist nature. Also, his references to ‘primitive, savage, uncivilised’ people resonate with many of the eugenicist philosophies of the time.

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What were Charles Goring’s study findings of 3,000 criminals and non-criminals?


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Answer

Charles Goring found no evidence showing that one group exhibited distinct facial characteristics the other group did not.

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Explain why one of Lombroso’s research weaknesses is the issue of casualty.

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Answer

His study suggests a correlation between criminality and particular characteristics, not direct causation. Therefore, these characteristics may have been due to other linked factors, e.g., poverty or poor diet.

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What are genes?

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Answer

Genes consist of DNA strands. DNA provides ‘instructions’ for general physical characteristics  (e.g., height) and the process that occur within an organism (e.g. neurotransmitter activity

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What twin study investigated the heritability of offending behaviour?

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Answer

Christiansen (1977) Twin Study

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What are concordance rates?

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Concordance rates refer to the probability of both twins sharing the same trait. 

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What were the findings of Christiansen (1977) twin study?

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Answer

Christiansen found higher concordance rates of criminal behaviour among monozygotic twin pairs compared to dizygotic twin pairs. 

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Question

What was Lombroso’s theory of crime called?

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Answer

Altruistic form.

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Question

True or False: Grove (1990) found significant negative correlations between genetic influences and symptoms of antisocial behaviour in twins reared apart.

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Answer

False.

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Question

How do adoption studies investigate heritability?

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Answer

Adoption studies look at how similar the adoptees are to their biological versus adoptive families.

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When were adoptees most likely to offend, according to the Mednick et al. (1984) study?

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Answer

According to Mednick et al. (1984) adoptees were most likely to offend if both their biological and adoptees parents had a criminal record.

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Question

Tihonen et al. (2014) found two genes on which abnormalities were linked to criminal behaviour. What were the two genes?

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Answer

The MAOA gene (controls dopamine and serotonin and has been linked to aggressive behaviour), and the CDH13 gene (linked to substance abuse and attention deficit disorder).

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Question

Why were the males studied by Brunner et al. (1993) unable to control their aggression?

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Answer

Due to a rare genetic disease, which caused a MAO-A enzyme deficiency and an abnormality in breaking down serotonin.

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Question

How can genes affect behaviour indirectly?

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Answer

Genes can influence behaviour indirectly, through one's environment. 

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What are the three ways in which genetics influence the environment?

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Answer

The passive, the reactive and the active way.

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Question

What is one strength of the genetic explanation of offending behaviour?

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Answer

One strength of the genetic explanation of offending behaviour is that it is based on scientific studies and supported by empirical evidence. 

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Question

If individuals who are genetically similar in a population also share a common trait, this trait has ______ .

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Answer

High heritability.

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Question

What is forensic psychology?

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Answer

Forensic psychology is the application of psychology to a criminal investigation.

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Question

Which of these is not a way of measuring crime? 

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Answer

Perpetrator reports.

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Question

What is offender profiling?

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Answer

Offender profiling helps us identify criminals. Top-down profiling is when we create a suspect profile based on common features of the perpetrators of that crime. The Bottom-up is when we use crime evidence to predict the suspect profile.


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Question

Why are there problems when it comes to defining crime?

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Answer

Crime may also change over time. For example, legal things two years ago might now be illegal due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

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Why might there be cultural issues with defining crime? 

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Answer

Acts considered crimes in some cultures might not be illegal in others. For example, homosexuality is illegal in some countries, but legal in others, with homosexual marriage legalised.

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Question

 Why might there be historical issues with defining crime?

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Answer

Definitions of crime change drastically over time, which can be a problem in defining crime. For example, attitudes towards homosexuality change over time. It was a crime in the UK until 1967. Now, gay marriage is legalised, and most of the UK accepts it.

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Question

When did the UK decriminalise homosexuality?

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Answer

1967

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Question

Give an example of historical change in perceptions of crime.

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Answer

 [Answers similar to the following example are acceptable] At one time, it was illegal for a woman to have an abortion in the UK. Now, with cultural changes regarding women’s rights, it is legal.

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