Test Review

Front 1

Idiographic knowledge

Back 1

the study of concrete: examining individuals and their actual qualities.

Concentrates on specific cases and the unique traits or functioning of individuals

Example: Behavioral Evidence Analysis

Front 2

Nomothetic knowledge

Back 2

The study of abstract.

Results in knowledge about the characteristics of groups

*The vast majority of criminal profiling methodology is concerned primarily with, and based primarily on, nomothetic study.

Front 3

4 main types of nomothetic profiling methods

Back 3

1)Criminal Investigative Analysis (CIA)

2)Diagnostic Evaluations (DE)

3)Investigative Psychology (IP)

4)Geographic profiling

Front 4

Criminal Investigative Analysis (CIA)

Back 4

An investigative process developed by the FBI that identifies the major personality and behavioral characteristics of the offender based on the crimes he or she has committed – in other words, the FBI’s term for criminal profiling. At its core is the widely used organized/disorganized dichotomy.

Front 5

Organized crimes

Back 5

-Crime scene is one with evidence of planning

-where the victim is a targeted stranger

-the crime scene reflects overall control

-there are restraints used

-aggressive acts occur before death.

Front 6

Organized Offender

Back 6

-average to above average intelligence

-will be socially competent

-will prefer skilled work

-will have a high birth order

-will have controlled mood during the crime

-may use alcohol with the crime

Front 7

Disorganized crimes

Back 7

-Crime scene shows spontaneity

-where the location is known

-the crime scene is random and sloppy

-there is sudden violence,

-minimal restraints are used

-there are sexual acts after death.

Front 8

Disorganized Offender

Back 8

-below average intelligence

-being social inadequate

-having a low birth order

-having an anxious mood during the crime

-using minimal amounts of alcohol.

Front 9

Diagnostic evaluations

Back 9

-They are services offered by medical and mental health professionals who rely on clinical experience when giving profiling opinions about offenders, crime scenes, or victims.

*Commonly offered as a footnote to primary reports

Front 10

Investigative psychology

Back 10

purports to cover all aspects of psychology that are relevant to the conduct of criminal and civil investigations

Front 11

IP's five-factor model

Back 11

1) Interpersonal coherence

2) Significance of time and place

3) Criminal characteristics

4) Criminal career

5) Forensic awareness

Front 12

Geographic profiling

Back 12

focuses on determining the likely location of the offender’s home, place of work, or some other anchor point.

Assumes that an offender’s home, or other locations the offender is familiar with, can be determined from the crime locations.

Front 13

Least effort principle

Back 13

suggests that, given two alternative courses of action, people will choose the one that requires least effort – that is, people will adopt the easiest course of action.

Front 14

Distance decay

Back 14

refers to the idea that the frequency of an offenders crimes decreases as he or she travels farther from home

Front 15

The circle theory

Back 15

Two models of offender behavior were developed from the circle theory:

1)marauder – offenders will “strike out” from their base in the commission of their crimes

2)commuter – offenders will travel a distance from their base before engaging in criminal activity

Front 16

Forensic psychology and psychiatry & the questions they answer

Back 16

involve the application of the behavioral sciences to legal questions.

Common psycholegal questions that forensic mental health processionals answer involve

1)risk for future sexual offense recidivism;

2)competency to stand trial;

3)criminal responsibility/sanity at the time of the offense.

Front 17

forensic psychiatrist

Back 17

a physician who specialized in psychiatry after completing medical school, with board certification in forensic psychiatry, who for court purposes regularly evaluates and diagnoses patients with physical and mental illnesses.

* They can evaluate patients, diagnose illnesses, and prescribe medication

Front 18

forensic psychologist

Back 18

typically a person with at least a Ph.D.level education in psychology, with board certification in forensic psychology, who regularly performs and interprets psychological measures and evaluates and diagnoses patients with mental illnesses for court purposes.

Front 19

Competency to stand trial

Back 19

relates to a defendant’s current ability to understand his or her legal predicament(e.g., charges, possible outcomes) and to assist an attorney with his or her defense.

Front 20

Insanity(criminal responsibility)

Back 20

refers to the defendant’s mental state at the time of the offense.

*Generally,a person needs to be able (at the time of the crime) to understand that what he or she was doing was against the law

Front 21

Psychological Pitfalls and the Profiler

Back 21

-Bias

-Transference: a psychoanalytical term for the phenomenon that occurs when a patient related to a therapist in a manner that mimics other relationships from the patient’s past

-Projection: a psychoanalytical term for ascribing to others the thoughts, feelings, or motives of oneself

Front 22

Blood Libel

Back 22

“Blood libel”, or false accusation of ritual killing, is an early form of criminal profiling involving a predetermined set of crime-related characteristics used to infer and accuse a particular suspect pool.

*One of the first documented uses of criminal profiling involves the demonization of Jews.

Front 23

Modern Criminal Profiling Definiton

Back 23

the study of crime and criminal behavior (criminology), the study of mental health and illness (psychology and psychiatry), and the examination of physical evidence (the forensic sciences)

*It has always involved the inference of criminal characteristics for investigative and judicial purposes