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Summary Forensic psychology essays

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Forensic psychology

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AQA

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Forensic psychology essays

Contents:

- Bottom-up approach
- Dealing with offending behaviour: Custodial sentencing
- Differential Association Theory
- Eysenck’s theory
- Genetic and neural explanations for offending
- Psychodynamic explanations of offending

Bottom-up approach

The bottom-up approach is when profilers work up from evidence
collected from the crime scene to develop hypotheses about the likely
characteristics, motivations, and social background of the offender.

The profile is ‘data-driven’ and emerges as investigator finds more details.
The aim is to generate a picture of the offenders’ characteristics, routines,
and background through analysis of the evidence.

Investigative psychology is a form of bottom-up profiling that matches
details from the crime scene with statistical analysis of typical offender
behaviour patterns based on psychological theory. Statistical procedures
detect patterns of behaviour that are likely to occur (or coexist) across
crime scenes. Done to develop a statistical ‘database’ which acts as a
baseline for comparison. Features of a crime can be matched against
database to suggest important details about the offender such as their
history or family background. Interpersonal coherence is the way an
offender behaves at the crime scene (including how the ‘interact’ with the
victim) this may reflect their everyday behaviour (for example they may
be controlling or apologetic etc.), so their behaviour ‘hangs together’ (has
coherence). This might tell police about how offender relates to women
e.g. more generally.

Geographical profiling is another form of bottom-up profiling based on the
principle of spatial consistency – that an offender’s operational base and
possible future offence are revealed by the geographical location of their
previous crimes. Crime mapping is when the location of crime scenes is
used to infer the likely home or operational base of an offender. Spatial
consistency is when they restrict their ‘work’ to areas they are familiar
with. A marauder operates close to their home base and a commuter is
likely to have travelled further away from their usual residence. Circle
theory suggests that pattern of offending locations is likely to forma. Circle

, around offender’s usual residence, this becomes apparent with more
offences.

One strength of the bottom-up approach is that there is support for
investigative psychology. 66 sexual assault cases were analysed using
smallest space analysis. Several behaviours were identified in most cases.
Each individual displayed a pattern of behaviours which helps establish if
multiple offences were committed by the same person (‘case linkage’).
This supports consistency in behaviour.

However, case linkage depends on the data base and thief will only
consist of historical crimes that have been solved. The fact that they were
solved may be because it was relatively straightforward to link these
crimes together in the first place which makes this a circular argument.
This suggest that investigative psychology may tell us little about crimes
that have few links between them and therefore remain unsolved.

Another strength is that there is research support for geographical
profiling. Information was gathered from 120 US murder cases. Smallest
space analysis revealed spatial consistency – a centre of gravity. Offenders
leave their home base in different directions when dumping a body but
created a circular effect, especially marauders. This supports geographical
profiling.

However, one limitation is that geographical profiling may not be
sufficient on its own. Reporting of crime is not always accurate, 75% of
crimes are not reported to the police. Even if the data is correct, other
factors such as timing, age, and experience of the offender matter.
Geographical info alone may not lead to successful capture of an offender.

Dealing with offending behaviour

Custodial sentencing involves a convicted offender spending time in
prison or another closed institution such as a young offender’s institute or
psychiatric hospital. There are four main reasons for doing this:

The first reason is deterrence, which is when the unpleasant prison
experience is designed to out off the individual (or society at large) from
engaging in offending behaviour through punishment. Then there is
incapacitation which is when the offender is taken out of society to
prevent them reoffending as a means of protecting the public. Next there
is retribution which is when society is enacting revenge for the offence by
making the offender suffer, and the level of suffering should be
proportionate to the seriousness of the offence. Finally, there is
rehabilitation which is in contrast to the above. Many people would see

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