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Forensic psychology
AQA A level Component 3
Paper 3 GREEN AMBER RED
3.3.9 Forensic Psychology
1. Problemsindefiningcrime:Waysof measuringcrime,official statistics,
victimsurveysandoffendersurveys
2. Offenderprofiling: top-down,bottom-up,investigativepsychologyand
geographical profiling
3. Biological explanations:atavisticform,geneticsandneural
explanations
4. Psychological explanations:Eysenck'stheoryof the criminal
personality,cognitive explanations(moral reasoning,attribution),
differentialassociationandpsychodynamicexplanations
5. Dealingwithoffenderbehaviour:Aimsof custodialsentencingandits
effects. Recidivism. Behaviourmodification,angermanagementand
restorative justice programmes

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1) Problems in Defining Crime
Task: - In pairs write down a definition of crime
Crime or Deviance?
Look at the list of 20 acts; decide in your groups which are crimes and
which some people might class as deviance. You must really discuss the
items and be able to justify your decisions with reasons.
Rank them in order of seriousness 1 = MOST SERIOUS, 20 = LEAST
SERIOUS. Again be prepared to justify your decisions.
1. Steve (17) robs a wine store at knife point.
2. Lauren (45) leaves a store with change for a £20 after realising she gave
the cashier a £5 note.
3. Sally (34) approaches Michael (45) in the street for the purposes of
prostitution.
4. Robert (27) pays Sam (15) £50 after receiving sexual services from her.
5. Wayne (19) parks in a disabled parking space, even though he is not
disabled.
6. Sebastian (24) is a drug addict who sells heroin to feed his habit.
7. Bruce (53) and Brian (21) are homosexuals living together.
8. Wanda (23) picks a stranger’s pocket in the street and steals a wallet
containing £70.
9. Chris (47), a self-employed plumber, falsifies his accounts so he has to
pay less tax.
10. Dominic is caught holding one ounce of cannabis he claims is for personal
use.
11. David (33) is caught with two kilos of cannabis after Dominic’s tip-off to
the police.
12. Malcolm (25) refuses to wear his seat belt when driving.
13. The DirtiSmelli Chemical Co. is suspected of polluting a local river with
factory waste.
14. Tony (26) severely injures a small child while doing 40mph in a 30mph
school zone. He is 3 times over the legal alcohol limit.
Crime is: -

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15. Tracy (15) watches as her sister Brenda (19) steals a dress from a shop,
she does not report her.
16. Martin (18) is caught leaving a house having stolen £25 from a wallet he
found in the house.
17. Max (18) leaves a house having stolen £1000 worth of jewellery. He is
not caught.
18. Robert (68) assists his severely-disabled wife Susan (54) to commit
suicide.
19. Alan (43) is suspected of sexually abusing a neighbour’s child (12).
20. Shelly (15) uses a false ‘proof of age’ card to get into nightclubs. She
buys alcohol using the same card.
Crime involves breaking a law.
Deviance involves breaking society’s norms and values.
Is all crime deviance and is all deviance crime?
Social norms can over time and vary from culture to culture. Think back
to the work you did last year in the psychopathology unit, when we
studied deviance from social norms as a definition of abnormality.
However, social norms and values do influence law. Below are some
examples of things that used to be illegal in the UK.
 Homosexuality
 Women in bars
 Placing a stamp upside down on an envelope
Do you know any other examples?
Give an e.g. of a crime that might not be considered deviant
Give an e.g. of deviance which is not criminal

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Cultural issues in defining crime
What is considered a crime and how that act is dealt with varies
considerably from culture to culture. Almost all research in forensic
psychology can be considered ethnocentric as it is only relevant to the
culture where the research was carried out. For example bigamy is illegal
in the UK but not in all cultures. The age of criminal responsibility is 10 in
England & Wales, but 8 in Scotland (being raised to 12) and 14 in most
other European countries.
Historical issues in defining crime
Definitions of crime change over time. For example a parent’s right to
smack their own child was outlawed in 2004. Homosexuality became legal
in Britain in 1967.
Measuring Crime: - Crime Statistics
Crimes recorded by the police, 1876–2000. Source: Maguire, 1997, p. 158;
What are the criminal trends are here?
Does this mean that there is much more crime in Modern Britain?
What other possible explanations are there?

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There are three main ways in which we measure crime via official
statistics, victim and offender surveys.
Official Statistics
These are government records of all recorded crime in the previous year,
based on police reports. They are published by the Home Office annually.
Why might they not be accurate?
Victim Surveys
The Crime Survey for England and Wales selects 50,000 households
randomly and asks them to document any crimes they have been a victim
of in the past year.
Why might they not be accurate?
Offender Surveys
Individuals volunteer the number and types of crimes they have
committed. These tend to target groups of likely offenders based on
‘risk’ factors such as previous convictions, age, social background etc.
The Offender Crime and Justice Survey was the first self-report survey
of its kind in England and Wales.
Why might they not be accurate?

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Problems with official statistics
 They only count the number of acts rather than the number of
criminals
 Some people aren’t aware that they are victims and therefore don’t
report it
 Victims do not report crime for a variety of reasons. Why not?
 Not all reported crime is recorded by Police forces
Problems with victim and offender surveys
 Social desirability
 Demand characteristics
 Insurance fraud
 Memory
Conclusion: - All methods to measure crime are hampered by what is
known as the dark figure of crime. As all the methods used to measure
crime have issues with reliability and validity a better approach might be
to take a multidisciplinary approach and combine all three methods to get
the best possible picture of the extent of crime in the England & Wales
in any year.
Exam Questions: - Describe & evaluate ways of measuring crime.
Refer to evidence and/or published examples in your answer (16
Marks)

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2) Offender Profiling
‘The process of predicting the characteristics of an offender based
on the information available.’
Top-down Typology
The phrase top-down refers to an approach, which starts with the big
picture and then fills in the details, this contrasts with a bottom-up
approach which starts with details and creates the big picture. Both of
these approaches have been used to build up profiles of crimes to aid
police in solving crimes and apprehending criminals. Both have flaws, in
reality it will depend on the situation and type of crime as to which
approach is used.
FBI Approach – Top Down
In the 1970’s the FBIs Behavioural Science Unit gathered data from 36
sexually motivated serial killers, including Charles Manson & Ted Bundy to
develop this approach to Offender Profiling.
Using this data and police knowledge of previous similar crimes a profile
is drawn up. There are four main stages in constructing a profile.
1) Data assimilation – profiler reviews evidence
2) Crime scene classification – organised or disorganised
3) Crime reconstruction – hypotheses formation of how the crime
might have taken place
4) Profile generation – hypotheses related to ‘likely’ characteristics of
the offender.

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Characteristics of Murder Likely Characteristics of
Offender
Organised
Crime is planned
Shows self control at the crime
scene
Leaves few clues
Victim is a targeted stranger
Attempts to control the victim
Above average IQ
Socially and sexually competent
Married/co-habiting
Experiencing anger/depression at
the time of the offence
Follows media coverage of crime
Skilled occupation
Disorganised
Little planning/preparation
Little attempt to hide the evidence
at the scene
Minimum use of constraint
Random, disorganised behaviour
Lives alone, near to crime scene
Sexually and socially inadequate
Unskilled occupation or unemployed
Physically/sexually abused in
childhood
Frightened and confused at the
time of the attack.
In 1980 Hazelwood and Douglas published their account of the ‘lust
murderer’, they advanced a theory that lust murderers are mainly
catergorised by two types: - Organised and disorganised. This is an
example of a top-down typology.
An organised offender leads an ordered life and kills after some sort of
critical life event. Their actions are premeditated and planned; they are
likely to bring weapons and restraints to the scene. They are likely to be
of average to high intelligence and employed.
A disorganised offender is more likely to have committed the crime in a
moment of passion. There will be no evidence of premeditation and they
are more likely to leave evidence such as blood, semen, murder weapon
etc. behind. This type of offender is thought to be less socially
competent and more likely to be unemployed.

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Evaluation
 Top Down typology can only be applied to sexually motivated serial
killers; because of the limitations of the originally sample that they
interviewed: - sexually motivated serial killers!)
 Alison et al (2002) argues that this approach is based on out-
dated theories of personality being stable. External, situational
factors can be a major influence on offending and they are
constantly changing.
 Reductionist – The classification system is too simple. Offenders
are not either disorganised or organised. It may be that there are
both organised and disorganised features to all their crimes. An
offender may start off being disorganised and become more
organised as they develop their modus operandi.
Task: -
What are the issues with building offender profiles?
Do they help or hinder the police in their search for perpetrators of crime?

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Bottom up approaches
Canter (1990) is the UK’s foremost profiling expert; his bottom-up
approach looks for consistencies in offenders’ behaviour during the crime.
No initial assumptions are made about the offender and the approach
relies heavily on computer databases. It can be the little details that are
often overlooked that can be crucial to the success of a case.
Canter’s most famous case is that of the ‘Railway Rapist’ John Duffy.
John Duffy carried out 24 sexual
attacks and 3 murders of women
near railway stations in North
London in the 1980’s. David Canter
analysed the geographical details
and the evidence and drew up a
surprisingly accurate profile.
However, it should be noted that the
profile didn’t directly lead to John
Duffy’s arrest.
Canter’s Profile Facts about Duffy
Lives in Kilburn Lived in Kilburn
Marriage problems Separated
Physically small and unattractive 5ft 4in with acne
Martial artist Member of a martial arts club
Need to dominate women Violent - attacked wife
Fantasies of rape and bondage Tied up his wife before sex
Investigative Psychology
Using computer databases and a programme called Smallest Space
Analysis, patterns are identified and it is possible to see if a series of
offences are linked. Central to this approach is the concept of
interpersonal coherence this means the behaviour of the offender at the
time of the crime will be comparable to what they’re like in everyday life.
Degrees of violence used in serious crimes, especially rape, may reflect
how the criminal treats other women in his non-criminal life.

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Smallest Space Analysis
Geographical Profiling
This is used to make inferences about where an offender is likely to live.
Also known as crime mapping.
Jack the Ripper - Geographical Profile

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Canter’s Circle theory (1993) proposed two models of offender
behaviour.
Spatial Consistency – Circle
theory
Marauders
Commit their crimes close to where
they live or feel secure.
Usually disorganised criminals
Commuters
Commit their crimes away from
where they usually live.
Usually organised.
It is called circle theory as most offenders (marauders) do operate in an
area they are familiar with and their crimes form a circle around their
usual residence. It is more difficult to geographically profile commuters,
although when investigators were looking at the disappearance and
murder of 4 young girls from different and seemingly unrelated areas of
Britain in the 1980s, the dumping of the bodies in laybysnext to major A
roads (including Twycross, just up the road) led to a break through. It
was realised that his likely occupation was delivery driver, giving him
access to a van/lorry for easy transportation and led to him ‘commuting’
all over the country, travelling along A roads.
Evaluation
 Evidence supports investigative psychology. Canter & Heritage
(1990) analysed 66 sexual assault cases using Smallest Space
Analysis and identified clear common patterns of behaviour.
 Evidence supports geographical profiling Lundrigan & Canter
(2001) collated evidence from 120 murder cases and found that
the offender’s home base was invariably located in the centre of
the crime scene pattern.
 The use of computer databases and Smallest Space Analysis makes
this approach much more scientific than top down typologies.
 Bottom up has wider applications; it can be applied to other crimes,
not just sexually motivated serial killers like top-down.
 Despite Copson (1995) finding that 83% of police forces found the
profile to be ‘useful’, in only 3% of cases did it lead to an accurate

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identification of the offender. In fact, as the case of Rachel
Nickell, showed sometimes Offender profiles can be misleading and
dangerous. However, they are only ever used as a last resort when
police forces have nothing else to go on.
Exam Questions: -
 Discuss the top-down approach to offender profiling. Refer to
evidence in your answer (16 marks)
 Discuss the bottom-up approach to offender profiling. Refer
to evidence in your answer (16 marks)
 Discuss investigative psychology and/or geographical offender
profiling. Refer to evidence in your answer (16 marks)

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3) Biological explanations of Crime
Is there any evidence that criminal behaviour has a biological cause?
Cesare Lombroso's (1835-1909) theory
of anthropological criminology essentially
stated that criminality was inherited, and
that someone "born criminal"' could be
identified by physical defects, which
confirmed them as a criminal. The
pictures show the characteristics that
Lombroso suggested criminals had.
Atavistic form: - This is a biological
explanation of criminality. Lombroso used
this to explain that offenders are genetic
throwbacks or a primitive sub-species not
suited to conforming to the rules of
modern society. They are distinguishable
by particular features. In a study of 383
dead Italian criminals and 3839 living
ones he found 40% of them had atavistic
characteristics.
These features include: - large jaw, forward projection of jaw,
low sloping foreheads, high cheekbones, flattened or upturned nose,
handle-shaped ears, large chins, very prominent in appearance, hawk-like
noses or fleshy lips, hard shifty eyes, scanty beard or baldness,
insensitivity to pain, long arms and tattoos!
Although, this theory now seems ridiculous and outdated, it fitted in with
the theories of the time. Remember, at around this time the concepts of
Eugenics were gaining in popularity. Hitler’s ideas of breeding a master
race would have included eliminating those with ‘weak criminal’ genes!
Most modern theories of crime place far more emphasis on environmental
factors.
How could environmental factors explain some of the physical
characteristics identified by Lombroso

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Sheldon’s Body Types (1942)
Which body type do you think is predicted to be more likely to be a
criminal? Why?
Sheldon (1949) found male delinquents were much more likely to be
mesomorphs than male students of a similar age.
Evaluation
+ These early theories seem ridiculous to us now, but they did represent
the beginning of offender profiling and modern forensic science.
+ Lombroso did also champion the use of the scientific method by using
an evidence based approach to research, doing hundreds of observations
and measurements.
- Lombroso did not have a control group of non-criminals, so it could
just have been that those characteristics are common in the
general population.

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- Lombroso has been accused of scientific racism; some of the
characteristics he identified are more prevalent in certain racial
groups. However, this is still an issue today Eberhardt found that
stereotypically ‘black’ looking men were much more likely to get the
death penalty in the USA than those who were less stereotypically
black looking, even if they had committed very similar offences!
- The physical differences Lombroso discovered were much more
likely to be the result of other factors such as poverty, poor diet,
illness and disease.
- Goring (1913) did find evidence that criminals tended to have
lower than average intelligence. But, this may mean crime is due to
lack of education rather than any biological factors.
- Lombroso’s theory lacks temporal validity. It is a child of its time,
when eugenic theories were very popular.

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Neural Explanations of Offending Behaviour
Adrian Raine of the University of Southern California has conducted
research using PET scanning and found abnormalities in some parts of the
brain in violent criminals.
Most of the criminals in these studies have been diagnosed with
Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD). Raine has discovered that these
individuals have reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex of the brain,
the part of the brain that regulates emotional behaviour. Put simply they
find it difficult to control their impulses and do not suffer from guilt or
remorse. In 2000 Raine also found that individuals with APD had an 11%
reduction in the volume of grey matter in their prefrontal cortex
compared to normal controls.
Keysers (2011) found that mirror neurons did not function in individuals
with APD in the same way as they do in normal controls. Mirror neurons
enable us to feel empathy. Individuals with APD were not completely
without empathy, but had to be told to feel empathy when seeing a film
showing an individual experiencing pain. It seems that these individuals
can switch on or off their mirror neurons.
Evaluation: - Not every criminal has APD or an abnormal brain structure.
These theories can only explain a small minority of extreme cases.
Everybody has free will we choose whether or not to break the law.

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Genetic Explanations of Offending Behaviour
Price (1966) suggested that males with an extra Y chromosome XYY
‘supermale’ were predisposed towards violent crime. Individuals with XYY
are above average height and below average intelligence. It might be the
latter characteristic (Low intelligence) that accounts for their over
representation in prison populations.
Christiansen (1977) looked at 3586 twin pairs in Denmark a 52%
concordance rate for criminality was found for monozygotic (identical)
twins, compared to just 22% for dizygotic (non-identical) twins.
However, we must remember the effects of shared upbringing and if
crime really was genetic we would expect a 100% concordance rate for
monozygotic twins as they share 100% of their genes.
Brunner studied a genetic abnormality commonly known as the ‘warrior
gene’ as it is associated with excessively violent and aggressive
behaviour, which may lead to crime.
Brunner et al (1993) – A study of violence in a family with genetic
abnormality
Aim: - A case study on a family from the Netherlands where males were
affected by a syndrome of borderline mental retardation and abnormal
violent behaviour. These included impulsive aggression, arson, attempted
rape and exhibitionism.
Procedure: - 5 affected males were studied. Data was collected from
the analysis of urine samples over a 24 hour period. Medical, school and
criminal records were also analysed.
Findings: - A mutation was identified in the X chromosome of the gene
responsible for the production of MAOA. This has become known as the
‘warrior gene’. This mutation leads to increased levels of MAOA. As
MAOA removes the neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine and
noradrenaline, this leads to lower levels of these neurotransmitters,
which can then lead to behavioural problems. Serotonin is linked to sleep
and mood, dopamine is linked to emotional arousal and noradrenaline
arousal.

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Conclusion: - MAOA is involved in serotonin, dopamine and noradrenaline
metabolism. The reduced levels of serotonin explain the sleep problems
these males had and reduced levels of dopamine and noradrenaline explain
the problems they had with inappropriate violent and sexual behaviour.
Impaired metabolism of serotonin is also likely to be responsible for
mental retardation and this could be linked to aggressive behaviour.
Evaluation: -
 + There is support for the diathesis-stress model of crime.
Someone may have biological tendencies towards crime, but they
will need some sort of environmental trigger in order to actually
become a criminal. (Nature and Nurture)
 + Use of scientific method and scientific equipment e.g PET scans
 There are problems with twin studies as it is difficult to untangle
nature and nurture. Sample sizes are usually very small so we can’t
generalize from them. This criticism also applies to Brunner’s case
study of the family from the Netherlands.
 We must avoid biological determinism; genes are not destiny.
Criminals have free will.
 Explaining crime simply through brain structure and genes is very
reductionist. Crime is complex and the reasons for people turning
to crime are many and varied.
 A good example of these criticisms is the case of Jim Fallon: -
Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, Irvine. Jim
Fallon has the brain of a serial killer – Low activity prefrontal
cortex and the defective version of the MAOA gene. BUT he is
not a serial killer! Something he attributes to his fabulous
childhood and supportive family. A case of nurture triumphing over
nature.
 As crime is a social construct (laws are formulated by societies)
the concept of a biological explanation seems illogical. How can you
have a biological predisposition to break arbitrary laws which
society has invented? Biological exlanations can only really explain
violent or sexual crimes.
Exam Questions: -
 Discuss atavistic form as an explanation for criminal behaviour.
Refer to evidence in your answer (16 marks)
 Discuss genetic and/or neural explanations of offending. Refer
to evidence in your answer (16 marks)

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4) Psychological explanations of crime
Eysenck’s Personality Questionnaire
Please answer the following questions yes or no, don’t spend too long
thinking about it, they are designed to measure how you usually act, think
or feel.
Yes No Score
1. Are you a talkative person?
2. Does your mood often go up and down?
3. Are you rather lively?
4. Do you ever feel miserable for no reason?
5. Do you enjoy meeting new people?
6. Are you an irritable person?
7. Can you usually let yourself go and enjoy yourself
at a lively party?
8. Are your feelings easily hurt?
9. Do you usually take the initiative in making new
friends?
10. Do you often feel fed up?
11. Can you easily get some life into a rather dull
party?
12. Would you call yourself a nervous person?
13. Do you tend to keep in the background on social
occasions?
14. Are you a worrier?
15. Do you like mixing with people?
16. Would you call yourself tense or highly strung?
17. Do you like plenty of action and excitement
around you?
18. Do you worry too long after an embarrassing
experience?
19. Are you mostly quiet when you are with other
people?
20. Do you suffer from nerves?
21. Do other people think of you as lively?
22. Do you often feel lonely?
23. Can you get a party going?
24. Are you often troubled about feelings of guilt?

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This test is an abridged version of
Eysenck’s famous personality test. For
each answer which agrees with the
table below score 1 point.
1 Yes 13 Yes
2 Yes 14 Yes
3 No 15 No
4 Yes 16 No
5 No 17 No
6 Yes 18 Yes
7 No 19 No
8 Yes 20 No
9 Yes 21 Yes
10 No 22 No
11 Yes 23 Yes
12 Yes 24 Yes
Extraversion score- add scores for questions 1, 9, 11, 14, 18, 21
Neuroticism score – add scores for questions 2,4,13,15,20,23
Psychoticism score – add scores for questions 3, 6, 8, 12, 16, 22
Lie score – add scores for questions 5, 7, 10, 17, 19, 24 (Data from
participants with a high lie score is usually discarded as it lacks validity!)
Do you agree with this, is it how you would think of yourself?
What issues can you see with this method of measuring personality?
Is it reliable or valid?

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Eysenck’s theory of personality applied to Offender Behaviour
According to Eysenck our personality is innate and has a biological basis.
There is a personality type known as the criminal personality. Individuals
with a criminal personality will score highly on measures of extraversion,
neuroticism and psychoticism. These people are seen as difficult to
condition (train) and cold and unfeeling and it is these traits which may
explain their criminality.
Evaluation
Evidence to support this theory comes from Eysenck’s study of 2070
male prisoners and 2422 male controls. The prisoners scored higher on
extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism than the non-criminal
controls.
However, Farrington reviewed several studies and only found evidence of
prisoners scoring higher on measures of psychoticism.
The idea of one personality type explaining all offending behaviour is not
very plausible; there are many different types of both crimes and
offenders. All criminals are not the same.
This research can be seen as culturally biased. Holanchock studied Black
and Hispanic criminals in America and found them to be less extroverted
than non-criminal control groups.
The validity of measuring personality through a psychometric test is also
questionable, as is the notion that personality is a stable entity. Most

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people would argue that personality changes over the years and as a
person matures.
Eysenck’s theory is similar to other biological explanations of offending
such as Anti-social personality disorder (APD). However, whilst Raine
explains this through neural differences, Eysenck attributes it to the
functioning of the nervous system. Therefore, although Eysenck’s theory
is seen as a psychological theory as it focuses on personality, it could also
be accused of biological determinism as it sees personality as innate and
unchanging.
Cognitive Distortions
Do criminals think differently from other people?
They must be able to rationalise their own behaviour and decide the risks
involved are worth the possible gains.
The basic assumption here is that criminals must think in a fundamentally
different way to law-abiding citizens. The big problem here is how do we
ever really know how and what another person is thinking?
Cognitive distortions are
faulty, biased or irrational
ways of thinking.
The concept here is that
offenders commit crime
because they think in the
‘wrong’ way. So crime is the
result of faulty thought
patterns.
Hostile Attribution Bias
This occurs when an offender misreads the actions or intentions of
another person. They might assume someone is being confrontational
when they actually are not. ‘What are you looking at?’

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Schonenberg & Justye presented 55 violent offenders with images of
emotionally ambiguous faces, when compared with a non-aggressive
matched control group they were much more likely to perceive the faces
as angry or hostile.
Hostile attribution bias is probably learnt in childhood. Dodge & Frame
showed children a video clip of ‘ambiguous provocation’, children who had
been identified as rejected or aggressive were much more likely to
classify the situation as hostile.
Minimalisation
This is an attempt to downplay or deny the seriousness of an offence.
E.g. ‘Nobody got hurt, I stole it because I have to feed my family’.
This is much more common in sex offenders. Barbaree found amongst 26
convicted rapists 54% denied they had committed any offence and 40%
minimized the harm caused to the victim.
Internal and External Attribution
We all justify and explain our behaviours using either internal or
external attributions. An internal attribution is when a person accepts
full responsibility for their own behaviour and sees the cause as being
within him or herself. An external attribution is when a person sees the
cause of their behaviour as being an external factor, e.g. ‘I was provoked,
it’s his fault I hit him’, ‘I had a bad childhood’, ‘I’ve got no money, job etc.’
A criminal is considered rehabilitated when they can fully accept
responsibility for their crime, in other words, have an internal
attribution, they accept their guilt.
Fundamental Attribution Error
We tend to attribute more significance to situational factors when
considering the causes of our own behaviour but attribute more
significance to personality characteristics when considering causes of the
behaviour of others. E.g. If you receive a good grade in your Psychology A
level you will attribute it to your own hard work, if you receive a bad
grade you will blame the teachers!

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Evaluation
If offending behaviour can be explained by cognitive distortions then this
has practical applications for rehabilitation. Cognitive Behavioral
Therapy (CBT) could be used to change the way offenders think and
therefore change the way they behave.
However, there are considerable individual differences between criminals
and crimes. Cognitive distortions cannot explain all crime. Obviously, we
can never really know what another person is thinking, we can only ask
them or infer thoughts from behaviour. Both of these methods lack
reliability and validity.

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Moral Development
Morals are a set of norms and values, usually learnt from our parents
about what is right and wrong.
In the UK the age of criminal responsibility is 10; children over 10 are
deemed to clearly know the difference between right and wrong. Other
countries have different age limits; German 18, Scotland 8.
Kohlberg (1963) was heavily influenced by the work of Piaget and
believed that children’s cognition developed through stages. His research
involved presenting groups of boys with moral dilemmas and then asking
them questions about them. His most famous moral dilemma is below: -
Discuss the questions in small groups.
Social Cognition
Attribution is all about blame. Who or what do we blame when we do
something wrong. If we realise that we are to blame, that is known as
internal attribution, if we blame others, or outside factors, it is known as
external attribution. An offender is considered on the round to
rehabilitation when they can take full responsibility for their actions, in
other words come to an internal attribution.
Gudjohnsson & Bownes – The attribution of blame and type of crime
committed.
Kohlberg - Moral Development in Children (1963)
Aim: - To find evidence in support of a progression through stages of
moral development.
Procedure: - 58 working and middle class boys from Chicago aged 7, 10,
13, 16 were given a two hour interview with 10 dilemmas (like the Heinz)
to solve. Some of these boys were followed up at 3 yearly intervals and
the study was repeated in 1969 in the UK, Mexico, Taiwan and the USA.
Heinz Dilemma
Heinz’s wife was suffering from terminal cancer. In an effort to save her he
went to a chemist who had developed a cure which might help her.
Unfortunately, the chemist wanted much more money for his cure than
Heinz could afford and refused to sell it for less. Even when Heinz
borrowed enough money for half the cost of the drug, the chemist still
refused to sell it to him. Having no other means of getting the drug, Heinz
broke into the chemist’s laboratory and stole it.
 Should he have broken into the laboratory? Why?
 Should the chemist insist on the inflated price for his invention?
Does he have the right?
 What should happen to Heinz?
 What if Heinz did not love his wife – does that change anything?
 What if the dying person was a stranger? Should Heinz have stolen
the drug anyway?

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Findings: - Younger boys tended to perform at stages 1 and 2, with older
boys at stages 3 and 4. This pattern was consistent across different
cultures.
Level 1
Pre-morality
(up to 9)
Stage 1 Punishment & Obedience Orientation
– Doing what is right because of fear of
punishment
Stage 2 Hedonistic Orientation – Doing what
is right for personal gain, perhaps a reward
Level 2
Conventional Morality
(9- adolescence)
Stage 3 Interpersonal Concordance
Orientation – Doing what is right according to
the majority
Stage 4 Law & Order Orientation – Doing
what is right because it is your duty and helps
society. Laws must be obeyed for the common
good.
Level 3
Post-conventional morality
(adolescence +)
Stage 5 Social Contract or Legalistic
Orientation – Doing what is morally right even
if it is against the law because the law is too
restrictive.
Stage 6 Universal Ethical Principles
Orientation – Doing what is right because of our
inner conscience which has absorbed the
principles of justice, equality and sacredness of
human life.
Conclusions: - The evidence does support the idea of a stage theory.
More recent research by Thornton & Reid (1982) with criminal samples
suggests that criminals committing crime for financial gain show more
immature reasoning than those committing violent crimes.
Chandler (1973) found that individuals who function at higher levels of
moral reasoning tend to sympathise more with the right of others and
exhibit more conventional behaviours such as honesty, generosity and
non-violence.

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Evaluation: -
What are the problems with Kohlberg’s sample?
Are dilemmas an appropriate way of measuring morality?
What are the strengths of Kohlberg’s research?
Does anyone ever reach stage 6?
How does this explain adult criminality?
Where do moral values come from?
Might it be the case that criminals actually have a very highly developed
sense of morality?

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Sutherland (1939) – Differential Association Hypothesis
This explanation for offending suggests that through interaction with
others, individuals learn the values, attitudes, techniques and motivation
for criminal behaviour. We often hear the phrase “Got in with a bad
crowd”; our friendship groups can profoundly affect criminality especially
during adolescence.
Offending behaviour might be learnt through Classical Conditioning,
Operant Conditioning or Social Learning.
Classical Conditioning – What associations might be made?
Operant Conditioning – What would reinforce offending behaviour?
Social Learning Theory – What behaviour might be imitated?
Sutherland presented his theory in the form of nine principles. Make
notes under each one: -
1. Criminal behaviour is learnt.
2. Criminal behaviour is learned in interaction with other persons in a
process of communication.
3. The principlepart of the learning of criminal behaviour occurs
within intimate personal groups.
4. When criminal behaviour is learned, the learning includes the
techniques of committing the crime, which are sometimes very
complicated, sometimes very simple and the specific direction of motives,
drives, rationalisations and attitudes.

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5. The specific direction of motives and drives is learned from
definitions of the legal codes as favourable or unfavourable.
6. A person becomes delinquent because of an excess of definitions
favourable to violation of law over definitions unfavourable to violation of
law.
7. Differential associations (number of contacts with criminals over
non-criminals) may vary in frequency, duration, priority and intensity.
8. The process of learning criminal behaviour by association with
criminal and anti-criminal patterns involves all of the mechanisms that are
involved in any other learning. (Behaviourism)
9. While criminal behaviour is an expression of general needs and
values, it is not explained by those general needs and values, since non-
criminal behaviour is an expression of the same needs and values.
Summary: -Sutherland’s theory is based on two core assumptions: -
1. Deviance occurs when people define a certain human situation as an
appropriate occasion for violating social norms or criminal laws.
2. Definitions of the situation are acquired through an individual’s
history of past experience.
Evaluation
+ This theory shifted the emphasis away from biology and eugenics
arguments for criminality.
+ It can also account for white-collar crime and indeed it was Sutherland
who coined the term. Differential association can explain crime for all
race, gender and social groups.
-This theory is impossible to test. How do you count up someone’s
associations and influences accurately?
- Farrington found that the family is a large influence on offending.
Crime can be seen as inter-generational.
- Does not account for individual differences. Some people are much
more susceptible (easily led) to the influence of others.

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Psychodynamic Explanations
Freud viewed the adult personality as having three
basic components – Id, Ego and Superego.
When explaining offending behaviour it is the Superego
on which we focus.
Superego – This is formed around the age of 5-6 years
in the phallic stage of psycho-sexual development and
contains our moral values, therefore it operates on the morality
principle. The superego is our internalised same-sex parent, so for
females morality comes from the mother and for males, the father. The
superego ensures that the ego does not use unacceptable means to
satisfy the demands of the Id. It is around the age of 5-6 years that
parents start to demand that the child acts in more socially acceptable
ways. The superego gradually takes over this parental role and tells us
inside our own head how we should behave. It consists of two parts, the
conscience and ego ideal. The conscience tells us what we should not
do, right and wrong, whilst the ego ideal tells us what we should do. The
conscience makes us feel guilty; the ego ideal makes us feel proud.
Blackburn (1993) argues that if the superego (the moral part of the
personality) is deficient then criminality is inevitable as the Id (pleasure
principle) is not properly controlled and we are going to give into our
urges and impulses.
1) Weak Superego may develop if the same-sex parent is absent
during the phallic stage of psycho-sexual development. This would
mean that we would fall to internalize the moral values of the same
sex parent.
2) Deviant Superego may develop if the child internalizes the morals
of a criminal or deviant same-sex parent.
3) Over-harsh Superego may develop is the same-sex parent is overly
harsh. This may mean an individual is crippled by guilt and anxiety
and commits crime in order to satisfy the superego’s need for
punishment.
Bowlby’s maternal deprivation hypothesis predicts that if an infant is
deprived of a mother or mother figure during the critical period of
attachment in the first few years then there will be serious and

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permanent consequences. These consequences included mental
abnormalities, delinquency, depression, affectionless psychopathology
and even dwarfism!
You will remember his famous study on 44 Juvenile Thieves from
Component 1.
Evaluation
- Freud’s theory is seen as sexist as he focuses on the Oedipus
Complex and added the Electra complex as an after thought. In
fact Freud argued that females were less moral than males. This is
because males fear castration by their father for moral
transgressions, whereas females only fear losing their mother’s
love!
- There is little evidence to back up this theory, many children grow
up without a same-sex parent and the vast majority do not turn to
crime.
- The idea of the over-harsh superego and wanted to be punished
does not stand up to scrutiny; most criminals go to great lengths
not to be caught and punished!
- The Freudian concepts of unconscious motivations are not testable
and unfalsifiable, therefore they are pseudoscientific.
- You should already know the issues with Bowlby’s research! He
failed to distinguish between deprivation and privation and his
sample was biased.
- There may be a correlation between maternal deprivation and
criminality, but correlation does not equal causation.
Exam Questions:-
 Discuss Eysenck’s theory of the criminal personality. Refer to
evidence in your answer (16 marks)
 Describe and discuss cognitive explanations of offending. Refer
to at least one other explanation of offending in your answer
(16 marks)
 Discuss the differential association theory of offending. Refer
to at least one other explanation of offending in your answer
(16 marks)
 Discuss two or more psychodynamic explanations of offending.
Refer to evidence in your answer (16 marks)

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5) Dealing with offender behaviour
In 2016 the UK prison population is 86,000, despite having an official
capacity of only 78,000, leading to serious overcrowding. (Howard League)
What are the implications of this?
In order for prison to work, prisoners must be educated and made more
employable, to ensure they are more likely to remain out of prison and
instead contribute to society. Otherwise, prisons become simply
‘Universities of crime’.
Research has shown (Prison Reform Trust 2007) that many prisoners
have not reached the levels of literacy and numeracy expected of average
11 year old; 50% in writing, 66% in numeracy and 80% in reading. 50% do
not have the skills required by 96% of all jobs and 50% have been
excluded from school. These statistics make prisoners, along with their
criminal records, virtually unemployable without successful educational
intervention within the prison system.
Many people are critical of the parole system (the fact that prisoners are
often released early and rarely serve their full sentence); however, this
is an important incentive, crucial to the smooth operation of the prison
system. Applications for parole are allowed after a minimum term (set by
the judge) has been served. Success will depend on the nature of the
offence, the judge’s comments on sentencing and crucially the inmate’s
behaviour in prison. This gives the prisoner an incentive to behave and
comply with prison rules, without this incentive many inmates would be
unmanageable.
Aims of Custodial Sentencing
1) Deterrence – Prison should
be an unpleasant experience. So
someone who serves a prison
sentence should never wish to
serve another. The thought of
prison should act as a deterrent
to others and prevent them from
committing crime.

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2) Incapacitation – Taking a criminal out of circulation means they
are unable to commit further crime, keeping society safe.
3) Retribution – Society is taking revenge on the criminal. They are
paying for their crimes by having their freedom taken from them.
4) Rehabilitation – Prison can be used to reform criminal through
training, education and therapy, so they leave prison a changed
person.
Psychological Effects of Custodial Sentencing
1) Stress and Depression – Suicide rates are higher in prison than in
the general population, as are cases of self-harm. If a prisoner
suffers with mental health issues before their sentence, this is
likely to worsen in prison.
2) Institutionalisation – Having adapted to the norms and values of
prison life, some prisoners find it impossible to cope in the real
world on their release. Some even commit crimes with the
intention of being arrested and returned back to the comfort of
what they know – prison.
3) Prisonisation – Similar to institutionalisation, some behaviours that
are unacceptable in the outside world are encouraged and rewarded
inside the walls of a prison. Prisoners learn to accept the prisoner
code in order to survive, for example the unofficial hierarchy of
prisoners.
Zimbardo – Stanford Prison Experiment
The study you learnt about last year is useful
here. Zimbardo’s main conclusions were that
situational factors were more useful for
explaining the behaviour of prisoners and guards
than individual ones. Zimbardo’s participants
conformed to their ideas of how prisoners and
guards should behave.
Recidivism
The aim of prison is to punish and rehabilitate offenders in the hope that
they will not re-offend. Re-offending is known as recidivism. Prison has a
poor record for reducing reoffending – 57% of offenders will reoffend
within a year of release (2013). Over two-thirds (67%) of under 18

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year olds are reconvicted within a year of release offending by all recent
ex-prisoners in 2007-08 cost the economy between £9.5 and £13 billion.
Evaluation
Prison doesn’t work!!!!
 Curt Bartol (1995) has suggested that prison is ‘brutal, demeaning
and generally devastating’. Suicide rates are generally 15 times
higher than in society in general. Most at risk are young, single
men in the first 24 hours of incarceration. Around 25% of female
and 15% of male prisoners have symptoms of psychosis (severe
mental illness)
 Individual differences – Not all prisoners react in the same way to
incarceration. Some the punishment should fit the individual, not
necessarily the crime!
 Rehabilitation – Cuts to prison budgets mean that education,
training and therapy are not always available or effectively
delivered. So opportunities for rehabilitation are limited.
 University of Crime – Putting young, inexperienced criminals into a
prison environment with older more experienced criminals may
mean that the type of education these youngsters get is not
necessarily the type we would want!
 Alternatives to imprisonment – Given that we know prison doesn’t
work we need alternatives. Some alternatives include probation
and restorative justice. However, the government is reluctant to
invest in prisoners, due to economic restraints and public opinion.
But, this is a short-sighted approach, in order to cut crime and
recidivism rates investment is needed (Economic implication).

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Behaviour Modification – Operant Conditioning
In terms of operant conditioning, behaviours are learned and maintained
as a result of reinforcement. This applies to ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’
behaviours. E.g. the temper tantrums of a child or the bizarrebehaviour
of someone with schizophrenia may be reinforced by the attention they
receive.
Therapies based on the principles of operant conditioning aim to bring
about specific changes in behaviour. This is known as behaviour
modification. It involves rewarding ‘appropriate’ behaviour and
withholding rewards for ‘inappropriate’ behaviour. This approach usually
works best with children or in institutions such as mental hospitals,
schools and prisons. For example, when prisoners display desirable
behaviours they receive a token from guards which can be exchanged for
privileges. As a result, their behaviour can be consistently and
systematically reinforced.
Token Economy
Token economies illustrate the application of
operant conditioning principles to adults in
institutional settings. They were introduced into
mental hospitals in the USA in the 1960s. Tokens,
such as plastic discs are given as rewards for
‘desirable’ behaviour. The tokens can then be exchanged for privileges.
In theory, tokens reinforce, ‘appropriate’ behaviour. House credits are
used in the same way in schools.
Hobbs and Holt (1976) introduced a token economy programme with
young delinquents in three behavioural units, a fourth acted as a control.
They observed a significant improvement in positive behaviour as a result
of the introduction of the token economy. Allyon (1979) found similar
effects in an adult prison.
Evaluation
 Token economies are easy to implement and do not require
specialist training or expense, like other therapies such as Anger
Management. But, all staff must implement them consistently if
they are to work.

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 The effects they appear to produce may not be primarily due to
the token economy. Prisoners may be responding to increased
attention, planned system of activities and improved monitoring,
rather than a desire to get tokens.
 Token economies may not really change behaviour – people may
simply mimic or fake ‘desirable’ behaviour in order to get tokens.
On release prisoners revert back to previous criminal behaviours.
 Token economies raise ethical issues. Is it ethical to withhold
‘privileges’ such as watching TV because a severely disordered
prisoner does not do what a guard thinks is desirable? Are people’s
human rights threatened when staff can control their access to
food and their freedom of movement?
 Clinton Field (2004) found that for maximum affect the rewards
and frequency of them, needed to be individually tailored to the
inmate. Think about house credits, whilst they work well with Year
7 students, a school mug or pen is hardly going to motivate a Year
11 student!
 What would motivate a prisoner?

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Restorative Justice
Restorative justice brings those harmed by crime or conflict and those
responsible for the harm into communication, enabling everyone affected
by a particular incident to play a part in repairing the harm and finding a
positive way forward.
Historically, the offender is seen as having committed a crime against the
state e.g. Smith Vs Regina (Lawsuits are given the name of the defendant
and the Queen). However, crimes have victims and victims often feel
that their experiences and expectations are not taken into account by
the justice system. Restorative justice aims to redress this balance,
crime is seen as being against a person or organisation and victims are
allowed to be part of what happens.
Restorative justice has to be voluntary for all parties and seeks a positive
outcome. It is respectful and not degrading for either offender or
victim.

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Restorative justice aims to provide victims with: -
 An opportunity to explain the impact of the crime (impact
statements)
 An acknowledgement of the harm caused
 A chance to ask questions
 Some control and choice
 Peace of mind about the future.
Restorative justice has a long history, although in the past it was often
more about revenge and compensation. Sharia law (Muslim law) which is
based on the Koran is dispensed by elders who decided on the amount of
compensation a victim or victim’s family is entitled to. They suggest that
this system works better than the UK system as, “Here you have the
fullest prisons in the world because you feed the criminals and they
become fatter and do the crimes again.” "Our experience may be
something we can offer to this country's penal system."
Restorative justice is tough both for victims and offenders. For
offenders they have to face up to the consequences of their actions, but
for victims they may be forced to relive frightening and upsetting
experiences.

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Aims of Restorative Justice
 Rehabilitation of Offenders – Being punished is a passive process,
restorative justice requires the offender to be an active
participant in the process. It is tough for the offender they have
to listen to the impact of their crimes on the victim and take full
responsibility for their actions. The experience should reduce the
likelihood of them reoffending.
 Atonement for Wrongdoing – Offenders may offer concrete
compensation (money or unpaid work) or atone by showing genuine
feelings of guilt and remorse.
 Victim’s Perspective – Restorative justice restores power to the
victim. Their voice is heard in the legal process and they feel that
their feelings have been taken into account. Many who have been
through the process report that it has reduced their feeling of
being a ‘victim’ and helped them to feel safe again.
John Braithwaite (2004) ‘crime hurts, justice should heal’.
Restorative justice usually involves a supervised mediation meeting
between the victim and the offender with a trained mediator. The victim
is given the opportunity to confront the offender and explain the impact
the crime has had on their life. The offender has to face up to the
consequences of their actions and this starts the rehabilitation process.
Key features of Restorative Justice
 Focus on acceptance of responsibility for actions
 Not restricted to courtrooms
 Active (not passive) involvement of all parties
 Focus on positive outcomes
Evaluation
 The UK Restorative Justice Council (2015) reported 85%
satisfaction from victims who had taken part in face-to-face
restorative justice meetings.

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 Sherman & Strang (2007) reviewed 20 studies, involving 142 men
convicted of violence and property offences, who had taken part in
restorative justice, only 11% reoffended, compared to 37% of a
matched control group. So it does work!
 Cost – Shapland (2007) concluded that every £1 spent on
restorative justice would save the government £8 through reduced
reoffending. However, there are costs involved in training
mediators and high dropout rates from offenders unable to face
their victims, so it may not always be cost effective.
 Remorse – Offenders must feel genuine remorse. Therefore,
restorative justice is not suitable for all criminals or indeed all
crimes. It only works where there is an obvious victim.
 Soft Option – Public opinion may be against restorative justice, as
it may be seen as ‘getting off lightly’.
 Feminist critique – Women’s Aid have called for a ban on the use
of restorative justice in cases of domestic abuse, as they believe it
is inappropriate.
 First time offenders – Restorative justice is most effective with
young, first time offenders. It provides a short, sharp shock and
forces them to face up to the consequences of their actions.
Task: Give examples of where restorative justice would not work
or be inappropriate.

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Anger Management
Anger is a very strong emotion with obvious consequences. Anger may
have physical effects-correlates with increased heart rate, blood
pressure, and levels of adrenaline (glandular) and noradrenaline (produced
by the brain’s neurotransmitters). Many prisoners have problems
controlling their anger, which leads to violent behaviour. Anger needs to
be controlled within a prison environment for the safety of staff and
inmates. One way of achieving this aim is through anger management
programmes. Anger Management programmes are a form of Cognitive
Behavioural Therapy (CBT), they aim to change the way a prisoner
thinks and therefore the way they act.
There are three stages in Anger Management: -
1) Cognitive Preparation: - The offender is encourages to reflect on
their past behaviours and what makes them angry. The therapist
works with them to show them that their response is irrational and
helps them to redefine the situations as non-threatening. They are
taught to recognise their own triggers for anger.
2) Skill Acquisition: - The offenders are taught a range of
techniques and skills to enable them to avoid triggers and deal with
anger-provoking situations more rationally. They might require
training in assertiveness and effective communication. They are
taught how to control their own emotions, rather then being ruled
by them.
3) Application practice: - Offenders practice their new skills
through role-play. The therapist will deliberately provoke them to
see how they react. The therapist will positively reinforce
successful strategies.

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Task: - Case Study
John is in his late forties serving 4 years for attempted arson. He was
arrested with a can of petrol on his way back to a pub he had threatened
to burn down.
He had outbursts of anger- was rather grandiose. Managing his
aggression was key to his recovery and to gaining parole.
Role-play the case of John in pairs.
One of you is the counsellor, the other is John, work through the 3
stages of Anger Management.
Then evaluate the effectiveness of such cognitive approaches.

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Ireland (2000) Investigation of whether anger management courses
work.
Aims: - To assess whether anger management programmes work with
young male offenders.
Procedure: - A natural experiment compared a group of 50 prisoners who
had completed CALM and a group of 37 who were assessed as suitable,
but had not actually taken the course. The prisoners were given a
cognitive behavioural interview. Prison officers completed a Wing
Behavioural Checklist (WBC) rating 29 angry behaviour with scores of 0, 1
or 2 for the week before the interview. Prisoners also completed a self-
report questionnaire on anger management with 53 questions.
Results: - Prisoners who had completed CALM rated themselves lower on
the anger questionnaire and were rated lower by the prison officers, than
the control group. 92% showed improvements on at least one measure of
aggression and anger.
Conclusions: - In the short-term the treatment seemed effective, but
there is no re-offending data.
Evaluation
 Anger management is an eclectic approach it uses a cognitive
approach in stage 1, behavioural in stage 2 and social in stage 3.
This recognises that offending behaviour is the complex
interaction between social and psychological factors.
 Anger management is more likely to lead to a permanent change in
behaviour than behaviour modification programmes (token
economies) as it focuses on changing the way an offender both
thinks and behaves.
 Although, Anger Management works in the short-term, the lack of
re-offending data means we don’t know if the effects last. It is
very different role-playing controlling anger to controlling anger
once outside of prison.
 Anger management is limited in its application as not all crime is
motivated by anger. Crimes for financial gain for example, would
not benefit from any form of CBT, as they are logical!
 Anger Management is very expensive and time consuming as it
required highly skilled therapists. Also, the prisoner must be

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motivated and want to change. (How many Psychiatrists does it
take to change a light bulb? One – but the light bulb must really
want to change!)
Exam Questions: -
 Discuss the psychological effects of custodial sentencing. Refer
to evidence in your answer (16 marks)
 Discuss behaviour modification in custody. Refer to evidence in
your answer (16 marks)
 Discuss the use of anger management as a treatment for
offenders. Refer to evidence in your answer (16 marks)
 Discuss restorative justice as a way of dealing with offenders
(16 marks)

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Exam Questions
Read the item and then answer the questions that follow.
In the UK, it is against the law to have more than one wife or husband at
the same time. Smacking children was not illegal before 2004 in the UK,
but now can be a criminal offence.
1) Referring to the statements above, explain two problems in defining
crime. (4)
2) Outline one cognitive distortion shown by offenders who attempt to
justify their crime. (2)
3) One method of offender profiling involves categorising offenders as
either organised or disorganised offenders. Briefly explain one limitation
of this method of offender profiling. (2)
4) Discuss the psychological effects of custodial sentencing. (16)
24 marks