Very detailed mind maps of Edexcel A level Criminal Psychology notes - these helped me get an A* at AS and predicted an A* for my A level
It includes the AO1 details of the studies and theories you need to know and also the AO3 evaluation
This is the whole package of criminal psychology notes! Yo...
• There are 23 pairs of chromosomes in humans meaning Supporting Evidence
there are 46 in total • Jacobs et al: proposed that XYY led to people to be more aggressive and it has been
• The XYY syndrome occurs in about 1 in 1,000 births of males suggested that people with XYY are over-represented in the prison population
which is 0.1% of births therefore it isn’t very common Critiquing the Evidence
• This syndrome is a random mutation that happens at • It's such a rare disorder that it's hard to find a large enough sample of males with
conception therefore it isn’t an inherited condition (meaning XYY to be certain of a direct link between the syndrome and violent crime
just because you have it doesn’t mean your children will) Other Theories
• The physical effects of the syndrome are than some males • Brain function - impairment in the amygdala and prefrontal cortex can causes poor decision
making and lower emotional control and can lead to crime
may grow taller and faster than others • Personality - Eysenck proposed that if our personality has all three traits of extrovert,
• The XYY syndrome however may have no influence on neuroticism, and psychoticism it can lead to criminal behaviour when enhanced by
behaviour and there is no effect on testosterone levels or socialisation. This explanation also considers a biological explanation such as an inherited
nervous system
sexual development Useful Applications
• Males with XYY syndrome may show slightly lower • It is a limited explanation as it only an explanation for men
levels of intelligence, and some may have as women don't have a Y chromosome
Testability
behavioural problems such as being easily
• It is testable because Thielgaard was able to take blood
distracted and impulsivity samples to see which of the 30,000 men she studied had
XYY syndrome
,• People who have anti-social personality disorder are usually
associated with this explanation for crime Supporting Evidence
Symptoms of this disorder
• Raine et al: Studied the comparison of PET scan results from NGRI ‘murderers’ and
• The symptoms of having anti-social personality disorder are that controls. They found that NGRI’s showed reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex
people have a reduced emotional response to what ‘normal’ people and left amygdala but higher activity in right amygdala compared to controls
would expect • Williams et al: studied 196 prisoners of which 60% had received some form of
• They have a lack of empathy meaning they can’t reason with other trauma to the brain. He suggested that injuries affect development of
people’s emotions temperament, temperance, social judgement, and impulse control. Injuries may
lead to a greater degree of risk taking behaviour where the individual is more likely
to engage in antisocial activity
• There are 2 main effects if the amygdala is damaged are a Critiquing the Evidence
lack of emotional control and an inability to express • Use of retrospective data can’t always be trusted as you didn’t do the research so
emotions reasonably (either higher or lower emotional you don’t know of any variables that couldn’t be controlled
response than expected and never ‘normal’)
Other Theories
• The effects of a damaged prefrontal cortex are decision • XYY syndrome – an extra Y chromosome can lead males
making and social judgement as well as response inhibition to have behavioural problems e.g. with impulse control
(impulse control) • Personality - Eysenck proposed that if our personality has
• The prefrontal cortex doesn’t fully develop/mature until all three traits of extrovert, neuroticism, and psychoticism
it can lead to criminal behaviour when enhanced by
mid 20s predisposing young adults to criminal behaviour
socialisation. This explanation also considers a biological
explanation such as an inherited nervous system
• Labelling and self-fulfilling prophecies
Useful Applications
• Prolonged use of drugs, Illness, Injury
• Possible interventions such as screening education and
training
Testability
• Research into brain function as an explanation for • It only gives correlational evidence so direct cause and
crime include animal experiments, brain scanning effect can’t be tested
• Measures of aggression are not the same as criminal
and retrospective studies of ABI patients behaviour
• Brains scans can be interpreted differently by different
people
, Who came up with this theory? Supporting Evidence
• Hans Eysenck
• Strength: Eysenck and Eysenck compared EPI scores of 2070 male prisoners with
How did he measure where you are on the scale?
2422 controls and found offenders scored higher on all parts
• He came up with a questionnaire called the Eysenck
Personality Inventory (EPI) which three dimensions of Critiquing the Evidence
personality. • Weakness: Digman proposed a 5 factor model which involves introversion,
What are the three dimensions of personality in this extroversion but also dimensions of openness, conscientiousness and
theory? agreeableness. They found low levels of agreeableness and
• Introvert - Extrovert, Stable - Neurotic, Normal – Psychotic conscientiousness are associated with offending behaviour
What are the biological origins of extroverts? • Weakness: Lipsey and Derzon suggest that impulsivity (as a specific trait) is a
• lower activity in the nervous system so always seeking for better predictor of offending behaviour
more stimulation Other Theories
What are the biological origins of neuroticism?
• over active limbic system which is hypervigilant and seeks • XYY syndrome: a random mutation at conception
a lot of danger • Brain function: impaired amygdala and prefrontal cortex
What are the biological origins of psychoticism? • Labelling and self-fulfilling prophecy
• higher levels of testosterone, low MAOA levels, anti-social
and emotionally cold
What does the biological part of this theory involve? Useful Applications
• It involves an inherited nervous system
What are the social origins of personality in this • Strength: if we know those people who have high levels of all three traits
theory? which Eysenck think makes a criminal personality then social measures can
be put in place so these traits don't manifest into criminal behaviour
• Eysenck noted that the extent to which these traits
• Weakness: The limitations are that you can’t test everyone for a criminal
manifest themselves as criminal behaviour would depend
personality so you can’t stop people from committing crime but maybe can
upon the socialisation process.
stop re-offending crimes
• Therefore concluding that just having the right
combination of traits isn't necessarily sufficient for Testability
someone to turn to crime • Weakness: Weak reliability and validity with self-report data from the
According to the Eysenck, what makes a criminal questionnaire as people may put socially desirable answers instead of
truthful ones. Or they might not know enough about themselves to answer
personality?
correctly
• High levels of all three traits of extrovert, neuroticism and
• Weakness: Mischel: argued that personality isn’t a stable construct and out
psychoticism
behaviour is situationally dependent therefore how we act depends on the
social context we are in rather than an underlying set of characteristics like
Eysenck thinks
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