FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY

1. FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY Profiling Role of the expert/Psychologist Theories of Personality.

2. Profiling. Crimes that are suitable (1) Sadistic torture in sexual assaults (2) Eviscerations (3) Postmortem cases of slashing and cutting (4) Motiveless fire settings (5) Lust and mutilation murders (6) Rapes (7) Occult crimes (8) Child sexual abuse including paedophilia (9) Bank robberies (10) Obscene and terrorist letter writing (Geberth 1996; Holmes & Holmes 2002)

3. The Goal Of Profiling. • According to Holmes & Holmes (2002), who take the FBI serial killer profiling technique as a model for proactive profiling of an UNSUB (Unknown Suspect), there are three goals that a profiler strives for: • To provide a social and psychological assessment of the offender. • To provide a psychological evaluation of belongings in possession by the offender. • To provide interviewing suggestions and strategies .

4. Social & Psychological • This goal requires the profiler to hypothesize as to the ‘Perps’ details (I.e.age, race,gender) to what can reasonably be inferred. • They use both inductive & deductive reasoning stats, and their knowledge.

5. Evaluation of belongings/suggestions & strategies. • These steps are likely to involve the analysis of souvenirs and motives..more commonly known as ? • A: Signature behaviour. • According to Douglas et. al (1986), we should take the time to consider the • "How plus Why equals Who" he suggested a“good psychological profile is an educated attempt to provide parameters about the type of person who committed a certain crime.”

6. The Early Theorists. • Jacob Fries (1773-1843)Enquires began. • Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909) Body type theorist • Alphonse Bertillon (1853-1914)Body type theorist • Hans Gross (1847-1915)Personality Theorist

7. Lombroso's & Kretschmer's Early Attempts at Profiling 1An aquiline beak of a nose2. Fleshy, swollen, or protruding lips3. Small receding chin4. Dark hair and bushy eyebrows that meet across the nose5. Little or no beard6. Displays an abundance of wrinkles7. 4 to 5 times greater taste sensibility8. A cynical attitude, completely lacking remorse9. More likely to wear a tattoo10. Attaches no importance to dress as is frequently dirty and shabby (Lombroso-Ferrero 1972) 1. Cycloid Personality -- heavyset, soft body type, vacillates between normality and abnormality, lacks spontaneity and sophistication, most likely to commit nonviolent property crime.2. Schizoid Personality -- most likely to have athletic, muscular body; some can be thin and lean, schizophrenic-like, commits violent types of offences3. Displastic Personality -- mixed group, highly emotional, often unable to control self, mostly commits sexual offences or crimes of passion (Kretschmer 1925)

8. Dr. Thomas Bond akaThe first Criminal psychologist (profiler) • The doctor responsible for autopsy on Mary Kelly. • Reconstructed crime scenes, founded signature behaviours. • This led to work by other profilers such as: • The offices of OSS requested the help of Walter Langer to develop the profile of one Adolph Hitler he came with....

9. Adolph Hitler profile.. Arealistic appraisal of the German situation. If Hitler is running the show, what kind of person is he? What are his ambitions? How does he appear to the German people? What is he like with his associates? What is his background? And most of all, we want to know as much as possible about his psychological make-up, the things that make him tick.  In addition, we ought to know what he might do if things begin to go against him."  (Langer 1973) These were the words of Colonel William J Donovan. • The result of the investigation established the psychodynamic personality profile that not only pointed out Hitler's oedipal complex in needing to prove his manhood to his mother, his coprolagnia and urolagnia, but predicted that Hitler would commit suicide at war's end

10. So what are the different methods used? • Applied criminology -- what Hans Gross said all criminal investigation was • Behavioural evidence analysis -- Brent Turvey's profiling method • clinical criminology -- what Israeli schools call the study of insanity • crime scene analysis -- the FBI's profiling method • crime scene reconstruction -- interpreting what happened at crime scenes • criminal investigative analysis -- what police call victimology-oriented profiling • criminal personality profiling -- what police use with bizarre, sexual cases • criminalistics -- interpreting the minutia (minute details) of crime scene evidence • facet theory -- smallest space analysis; relies on differentiation of patterns  • geographic profiling -- Kim Rossmo's profiling method • hot spot analysis -- the geographic mapping of offender residence/patterns • investigative process management -- Maurice Godwin's profiling method • investigative psychology -- David Canter's profiling method • psychodynamic personality profiling -- the CIA's profiling method • sociopsychological profiling -- Ronald Holmes' profiling method

11. Accuracy & Reliability of Profiling. • Profilers can expect significant challenge to the credibility when giving evidence in a court of law. • Two main challenges seem to have some support in the research • The personality of the offender stays the same • Elements of the crime scene reflect the personality • The criticism which involves the first assumption questions whether criminal personality is the same from situation to situation. • The criticism which involves the second assumption questions whether there are such things as "signature" elements left behind at the crime scene which reflect the thought patterns of certain types of offenders

12. Accuracy & Reliability of Profiling. • The first criticism may well be valid..the approach lacks predictive validity I.e. Classifying offenders into broad personality types (e.g., organized, disorganised) and then relating those to clusters of socio-demographic variables (e.g., age, sex, marital status)

13. Accuracy & Reliability of Profiling. • It would seem more appropriate and effective to use modern personality theories where the personality is seen as a product of person x situation. • Bartol & Bartol (2004) put it, there is some evidence that criminal personality remains fairly stable across time (trans-temporal consistency), but no evidence that criminal personality remains fairly stable across place (trans-situational consistency).

14. Types of Profiling • Bottom-up processes are those that take in stimuli from the outside world -- letters and words, for reading -- and deal with that information with little recourse to higher-level knowledge. • Top-down processes, on the other hand, the uptake of information is guided by an individual’s prior knowledge and expectations.

15. Top Down Vs. Bottom Up. ·The creation of general typologies of criminal behaviour and motivation based on interviewswith captured criminals and impressions of crime scenes. ·The intuitive analysis of data based on personal experience in law enforcement. ·Matching a particular type of criminal to the features of a particular crime.   The above type of profiling focuses more on criminal aspects (characteristics of criminal) The data driven, building up of more individualistic profiles through the identification of specific associations between particular characteristics of the offence and the offender. • The use of scientific statistical analysis and the application of psychological principles. • Finding what kinds of criminal behaviours were associated together and therefore might be the work of the same type of criminal. • Canter began to base profiles on individualistic analysis, but he then changed and begun to statistically analyse larger number of solved crimes, using techniques like smallest space analysis, which reveals clusters of events that commonly occur together, in order to derive typologies. • In each case the behaviour of the individual was used as a data source rather than the interviews

16. Theories of criminal behaviour • Freud- Conflict between Id & Superego? • Kohlberg-Reasoning & morality? • Social learning theory-Observing questionable role models? • Bowlby-Lack of maternal figure results in affectionless psychopathy? • Biological (genetic, biochemical)

17. Personality and crime. • According to Furnham & Heaven (1999) studies have shown that personality is related to anti social behaviour. • The research has been largely cross sectional thus looking at crime in relation to personality types originally researched by Eysenck:- • Neuroticism, introversion, extroversion & Psychoticism.

18. The ABC of personality…….. ‘A criminal is neurotic extrovert.’ • N= Anxiety-these are similar to any drives. • E= stimulus hungry-thrill seekers. These individuals would be difficult to condition! Conscience is a response of anxiety NE=responses are under socialised thus has a under developed conscience.

19. Evidence???? • Cochrane reviewed a number of studies using prisoners vs. control group. They were given the EPI questionnaire. • Result • Prisoners generally higher on N but not higher on E(in fact several studies have shown criminals to be less extroverted-thus more introverted.)

20. Counter evidence!!(Eysenck) • The EPI measures sociability of extroversion rather than impulsivity which is more pertinent to conditioning. • Cochrane accepted that in it’s original form the theory was discredited.

21. Other points to consider… • Caught prisoners react differently to those not caught (found guilty). • Farrington (1992) role of N depends on official vs. self reported delinquency. • Officials characterised by high N and low E (as per Cochrane findings!) • Self reporters were opposite • However both related to high P

22. Heather argues: • ‘The notion that such a complex & meaningful social phenomenon as crime can ever be explained by appealing to the activity of individual nervous systems would be laughable were it not so insidious ‘ • He went onto say…. • ‘It places the fault inside the individuals rather than in the social system where it almost always belongs’.