Definitions and Historical Background.ppt

Definitions and Historical Background.ppt

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  Criminal Psychologists--Views Desmond Ayim-Aboagye,Ph.D. Criminal Psychology
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  Popular views • Criminalpsychologists involves in helping the • police to catch criminals or engaging in the ‘profiling’ of offend- • ers. • Criminal psychologists attempt to gain a better insight into the • minds of serious offenders by talking to convicted offenders about • their crimes.
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  Variety of Roles •There are variety of roles: • 1) criminal psychology assisting the police in investigations, • 2) providing advice on interviewing of suspects or witnesses, • 3) working as expert witnesses in court cases, • 4) working in the rehabilitation of • offenders, • 5) conducting criminal psychology research or working in • academia,
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  What is criminal/forensicpsyc hology? • Criminal psychologists in the • UK defined it as ‘that branch of applied psychology which is con- • cerned with the collection, examination and presentation of evi- • dence for judicial purposes’ (Gudjonsson and Haward 1998, p. 1). • A leading American psychologist has gone some way • to provide this. He described criminal psychology as ‘any applica- • tion of psychological knowledge or methods to a task faced by • the legal system’ (Wrightsman 2001, p. 2). This more inclusive • definition involves the whole of the legal system.
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  1981 Professor LionelHaward • Four Roles of Criminal Psychologists: • 1) Clinical: in this situation the psychologist will usually be • involved in the assessment of an individual in order to provide • a clinical judgement. • 2) Experimental: this can involve the psychologist performing • research in order to inform a case. This can involve carrying • out experimental tests in order to illustrate a point or provide • further information to the courts • • • •
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  Four Roles (cont) •3) Actuarial: in this instance the word ‘actuarial’ relates to the • use of statistics in order to inform a case. One example of • how a psychologist may act in an actuarial role is if they are • required to present actuarial information relating to the • probability of an event occurring to the court. • 4) Advisory: in this role the psychologist may provide advice to • the police about how to proceed with an investigation. For • example, an offender’s profile could inform the investigation, or advice could be provided about how best to interview a • particular suspect.
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  Criminal investigations • Theapprehension of the offender would be • assisted by : • A) enhancing police decision-making and leadership • skills, • B) improving methods of interviewing witnesses and victims, • C) developing accurate methods of recording, • D) collating and analysing data on preconvictions of offenders, • E) developing suspect prioritization systems based on empirical research and • enhancing intelligence-led policing and the use of informants. the apprehension of the offender would be • assisted by enhancing police decision-making and leadership • skills,
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  Criminal Investigation (Cont) •F) improving methods of interviewing witnesses and victims, • developing accurate methods of recording, • G) collating and analysing data on preconvictions of offenders, • H) developing suspect prioritization systems based on empirical research and • enhancing intelligence-led policing and the use of informants.
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  Crime analysis • Crimeanalysis (intelligence analysis) is • one field of work which draws upon criminal psychological • methods. • Crime analysts are generally employed by the police • (or policing agencies, for example in the UK the National • Crime and Operations Faculty and the National Crime Squad) • in order to analyse crime data to aid the police carry out their • roles.
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  Case linkage • Oneof the most common roles of crime analysts is th at of case linkage. • This process involves the linkage of crimes based on the similarities in the behaviours of the offender as re ported by the victim or as inferred from the crime sce ne.
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  Offender profiling orcriminal investigative analysis • Profiling uses information gleaned from the crime scene relating to the offender’s behaviour during the crime. • This can be pooled with other information, • such as victim statements (if available), in order to draw conclu- • sions about the nature of the person who committed the crime. • Was the crime planned meticulously or was it impulsive? Does the • offender live locally to the crime scene? What age range is the • offender likely to fall into? What gender is the offender? This • information can then be used to aid the police in investigations • and in targeting resources.
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  Interviewing, detecting deceptionand eyewitness research • One of the most important tasks during an investigation is col- • lecting reliable evidence in order to put together a case of what • happened during the event in question. One of the main sources • of this evidence is the people who were eyewitnesses to the event. • In order to gain this information, an interview needs to be con- • ducted by the investigating police officers with the aim of gaining • as much accurate information from the witness as possible. In • addition, once a suspect has been identified, he or she too is inter- • viewed in order to gain his or her view of events and to possibly • extract a confession to the crime. Hence the interview (whether • with a witness or suspect) and the manner in which it is conducted • can be crucial to a case.
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  Police psychology • Thepolice force itself • presents its own challenges - what type of person makes a good • police officer? What is the best way to train police officers? How • might the attendance at unpleasant scenes of crime, or repeated • exposure to negative events, impact on an individual and how are • those affected in this way best treated?
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  Psychologists, both Occupational andCriminal • These officers have been advising the police on • such matters for the last twenty-five years or so. Psychologists • have contributed their knowledge to the process of police officer • recruitment through the introduction of psychometric tests • which measure psychological characteristics that may be import- • ant in relation to such work. These could assess, for example, • whether a person is an assertive individual, open to persuasion, • and conscious of detail. Psychologists have also provided advice • on the composition of interviews and assessment centres which • will eliminate those who do not have the necessary qualities for the role as well as providing an indication of those who will pros- • per in such a role.
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  Police stress • Whereasstress can be elevated in • most jobs through organizational change, such as decreased • workload or a pay rise, the police can be faced with unexpected, • perhaps threatening, situations at any time during their daily • work. These events, due to their unpredictable nature, cannot • necessarily be mediated by organizational change so the police • also need stress management measures that can assist at an indi- • vidual level, as and when they are needed. Psychologists have been • instrumental in advising the police on what mechanisms would be • beneficial (such as peer counselling and self-help programmes), • but will also provide professional services to police officers who • require more intensive stress management.
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  Expert witnesses • Courtcases can involve complex issues including the presentation • of information that is judged to be beyond the knowledge of the • average layperson who may sit on a jury. In such situations, the • court permits the calling of an expert witness who, by definition, • has an expertise relating to the issue in question. Under these cir- • cumstances expert witnesses are permitted to provide their opin- • ion (rather than the facts) on the issue being discussed.
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  Criminal psychologists andassessment and treatment of offenders • Criminal psychologists, especially within Australia, Canada • and the UK, are heavily involved in work concerning the • assessment, rehabilitation and management of offenders, either • in the community or when held in incarceration. This role can • involve working with the offenders to reduce their likelihood • of reoffending in the future or a more clinical role addressing • the psychological needs of offenders. These psychological • needs may (or may not) result from the effects of crime they • committed (for example, the development of post-traumatic • stress disorder or realization of the impact of their offence on • their victim) or the environment within which they are held • (for example, developing depression due to being away from • the family or anxiety brought on by repetitive bullying from other • prisoners).
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  Post-Sentence • One ofthe first and ongoing concerns of a criminal psycholo- • gist working with offenders post-sentence is the assessment of the • offenders. This encompasses an in-depth analysis of their risk of • reoffending, their risk of harm (to others as well as themselves) • and their needs (such as accommodation, finances and mental
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  Criminal psychologists andacademia/research • There has been an increased demand for courses which teach • the theory and practice of criminal psychology. With the • inevitable growth in criminal psychology courses, there has been • a corresponding increase in the number of criminal psychologists • working within academia.
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  Recommended further reading • •Ainsworth, P. B. (2000) Psychology and crime: Myths and reality. • Harlow, Essex: Longman. • • Alison, L. (2005) The Forensic Psychologist’s casebook: psychological • profiling and criminal investigation. Cullompton, UK: • Willan. • • Carson, D. and Bull, R. (2003) Handbook of psychology in legal • contexts, 2nd edn. Chichester: Wiley.