Forensic PSYC
Hubbard, Zapf and Ronan examined competency of defendants and found:
Differences between competent and incompetent defendants: less likely to maintains job, have serious mental illness, more likely to be charged with property and miscellaneous crimes than violent, more likely African American
Meta analysis of 30 studies conducted in both Canada and US found for unfit and fit defendants
Different on age, gender, race, and marital resources
Threats to impartiality
Emotional and biased media before the trial, there is a modest positive relationship between exposure to negative pretrial publicity and judgements of guilt. Positive information biased jurors positively towards the defendant and vise versa with negative information.
Bill C-30
Enacted in 1992, stated the "fitness standard": unable on account of a mental disorder to conduct a defence at any stage of the proceedings before a verdict is rendered or to instruct counsel to do so, and, in particular unable on account of a mental disorder to a) understand the nature of the proceedings, b) understand the possible consequences of the proceedings or c) communicate with counsel
Youth found unfit case must be reviewed
Every year
Common characteristics of serial killers:
-Mostly male -Operate on their own -Caucasian (US statistic) -Usually young females not related to the killer, however age and sex can vary
Details related to homicide in Canada:
-See a steady rise in gang related homicides -Gun related homicides have been on the rise since 2002 -Rates of female homicides are decreasing -Homicides more likely in Western provinces
Despite the challenges, research on recidivism has show:
-Sexual offenders who refused treatment or who dropped out of treatment had higher sexual recidivism rates compared to those who completed treatment - Treatment effects were equally effective for adolescent and adult offenders - Both institutional treatment and community treatment were associated with reductions in sexual recidivism - Most effective treatment were recent programs providing some form of cognitive behavioural treatment and systemic treatment aimed at a range of current life problems
Postpartum psychosis
1 or 2 in every 1000 births, delusions, homicidal/suicidal thoughts following birth, research supports this connection
Keeping potential jurors impartial
1) Change of venue: moving the trial to a community other than where the crime occurred, however not granted often 2) Adjournment: delaying the trial until sometime in the future. Major limitation is memories of the witnesses may fade 3) Challenge for cause: an option to reject potential jurors. Prospective jurors who are challenged are probed with questions approved by the judge so the state of mind or thinking can be examined. This process is unique to Canada.
Only two situations when the Crown may raise the issue of insanity
1) Following a guilty verdict the crown may argue it if they want the defendant to get psychiatric treatment 2) if defence states the defence has a mental illness the crown can argue it
Three categories of indictable offences
1) Less serious offences, heard by judge only Theft, probation hearing 2) Highly serious offences, heard by judge AND jury (murder, piracy, treason). If the accused and the attorney general agree, the trial may proceed without a jury 3) Some indictable offences allow the accused to choose whether the trail proceeds by judge and jury or judge alone. (Robbery, arson, sexual assault with a weapon)
Rogers criminal responsibility assessment scales (R-CRAS)
First standardized assessment scale for criminal responsibility
Two stage process for addressing defences of automatism
First the trial judge must decide if there is sufficient evidence that a jury could find the defendants behaviour involuntary. Second determines if the conditions in insane or non insane
How long can a defendant be held for a fitness evaluation?
Five day limit for court ordered, requested extensions should not exceed 30 days and the entire stay cannot exceed 60 days
Should jurors be able to ask questions?
Heurer and Penrod 1994, reported that typically juries have few questions and the questions tend to be with regard to legal terms they dont understand The research on allowing jurors to ask questions does not show that it would be particularly harmful or helpful In Canada, if the jurors want to submit questions to a judge after the lawyers present the evidence, the judge determines if they are permissible
Post trial interviews, external validity?
High external validity, however in Canada jurors are not allowed to discuss the deliberation process. US does not have this rule. Jurors may recall details inaccurately, downplay elements, make recall mistakes.
Simulation
High internal validity, one of the most common ways to investigate jury issues. Mock trials. However, the control the researchers have over the independent variables limit the external validity.
How do jurors react and understand expert testimony?
If the expert testimony was more complex, the jury awarded higher damages to the plaintiff when the expert was male rather than female Less complex testimony, higher damages awarded with the expert was female Jurors may carefully consider expert testimony, jurors may disregard it completely or think they have little credibility
Insanity is
Impairment of mental or emotional functioning that affects perceptions, beliefs, and motivations at the time of the offence
Is women's sexual history admissible in court?
In 1992 the rape shield provisions were amended so a women's sexual history could be admitted at the judge's discretion, only if deemed relevant The onus is on the defendant to demonstrate that the accuser's sexual history is relevant before it can be allowed.
Do stepparents kill their stepchildren more frequently?
In Canada the proportion of step parents accused of killing a stepchild has increased in the last decade. Studies have conflicting research.
Finkelhor's theory of child molesting proposes that four preconditions must be met for abuse to occur:
1) Motivation to abuse due to: a)emotional congruence, the offender's desire for the child to satisfy an emotional need, b)sexual attraction to the child, c)blockage of emotional outlets for the offender to meet their sexual and emotional needs 2)Lack of internal inhibitions, alcohol and impulse control problems can weaken the offenders ability to restrain the behaviours that lead to abuse 3) Must overcome external inhibitors. Need opportunities alone with the child 4) Must overcome the child's resistance
Three types of offences in Canada
1) Summary offences 2) Indictable offences 3) Hybird offences
Dealing with offenders who are mentally ill, provincial/territorial mental health legislation gives police two options
1) if individual poses a threat, police may bring them to a hospital or mental facility though it can be difficult to obtain services via mental health system 2) arrest the individual and have them obtain services through the justice system
Why are there such high rates of mental illness in offender populations?
1) individuals with mental illness are likely to be arrested at a disproportionately high rate 2) less adept at committing crime so more likely to get caught 3) more likely to plead guilty, possibly because of an inability to access good representation or understand consequences More likely for mentally ill to be remanded into custody for minor offences
Two types of challenges lawyers can use to reject a juror
1) peremptory challenge: reject jurors who are unlikely to reach a verdict in their favour, lawyer does not need a reason for rejecting a juror. In murder trials, each side has 20 peremptory challenges, regular trials 12 2) challenge for a cause: the lawyer must give a reason to reject the juror *Canadian lawyers have very limited information about prospective jurors
Bill C10, A court, not a review board now has the authority to stay the proceedings for a defendant who is unlikely to become fit is any of the following are true:
1) the accused is unlikely to ever become fit 2) the accused does not pose a significant threat to the safety of the public 3) a stay of proceedings is in the interests of the proper administration of justice
Fitness Interview Test Revised (FIT-R)
In the form of a semi structured interview and assesses the three psychological abilities stated in the Codes fitness standard 1) Understand the nature or object of the proceedings example: defendants understanding of the arrest proceedings, the nature and severity of charges, and the role of key participants 2) Understand the possible consequences of the proceedings example: appreciation of range and nature of possible penalties and defences 3) Communicate with counsel example: defendants ability to plan legal strategy
Insane defendants of often given a sentence of:
Indeterminate sentences only to be released with again sane. Insane defendants often spend more time in a mental institute then their prison sentence would have been following a guilty verdict.
General Aggression Model components:
Inputs (biological, environmental, social, psychological) the influence aggression are grouped into person factors and situation factors. Input variables are thought to influence cognition, emotions and arousal. These internal states them in turn influence behavioural outcomes, which reflect automatic, impulsive actions or controlled, thoughtful ones.
Capping def:
Introduced with bill c30 where there is a maximum period of time a person with a mental illness could be affected by their disposition
Does childbirth trigger mental illness?
It is assumed the infanticide happens in women who are suffering from some mental illness related to childbirth (postpartum depression, blues, and psychosis)
First insanity defence 1800
James Hatfield, tried to assassinate King George, lawyer argued he was not in touch with reality as he suffered a brain injury while fighting the French
Will jurors disregard evidence when told to?
Kassin and Sommer 1997 found that whether the jurors will follow a judge's instructions to disregard inadmissible evidence is the related to the reason for the instruction rather than to the instruction itself In mock trial, when jurors were asked to disregard evidence because it was illegally collected, their verdicts were similar to the jurors who received the ruling that the tape was admissible Conclusion: jurors will disregard evidence when they are provided with a logical and legitimate reason for the judge's decision to regard it.
How common is the insanity defence
Less than 1% of all felony cases will argue insanity, 25% of defendants who argue it succeed
Understanding judge's instructions
Liberman and Sales 1997, concluded jurors only understood about 50% of what judges asked of them
Zapf and Roesch (1998) conclusions
Long stays in mental facilities are not necessary, many fitness decisions can be made quickly via screening instruments = more cost effective system
Do many victims of sexual assault report it?
Majority don't. Victims feel that they don't matter, matter is to personal, don't want to involve the police,
Second major criticism
Many profiles contain ambiguous information and this may cause problems when police are asked to interpret the profile. Ambiguous profiles can in fact be interpreted to fit more than one suspect even when those suspects are quite different from each other
1992 enactement of Bill C30 made these changes to the justice system
1) the term not guilty by reason of insanity changed to not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder 2) no person is criminally responsible for an act committed or an omission made while suffering from a mental disorder that rendered the person incapable of appreciating the nature and quality of the act or omission or of knowing that it was wrong 3) review boards were created, these legal bodies mandated to oversee the care and disposition of defendants found unfit and/or criminally responsible on account of a mental disorder. Review boards are required to review each unfit and NCRMD case every year
Criminal profiling is used for
1) to help set traps to flush out an offender, 2) to determine whether a threatening note should be taken seriously, 3) to give advice on how best to interrogate a suspect, 4) to tell prosecutors how to break down defendants in cross examinations
Typology classification proposed by Groth
1)Anger rapist: a rapist as defined by Groth, who uses more, high levels of anger directed solely at women, not motivated primarily by sexual gratification 50% fit this type 2)Power rapist: seeks to establish dominance and control over the victim, motivated primarily by sexual gratification, frequent rape fantasies. 40% fit this type 3)Sadistic rapist: obtains sexual gratification by hurting the victim, frequent violent sexual fantasies torture and sometimes death. 5% fit this type
Five big personality dimensions for persuasiveness
1)Extroversion 2)Agreeableness 3)Conscientiousness 4)Emotional stability 5)Openness to experience Those exhibiting high levels of extroversion were most persuasive. Extroverted tall males were more persuasive then extroverted short males
Three broad types of maternal filicide
1)neonaticides: typically young women who have concealed their pregnancy, unmarried, scared of familial or societal disapproval 2)committed by battering mothers: highest rates of social and family stress, often act impulsively as a response to child's behaviour, 3)committed by those with mental illness: tend to be older, married, may have killed many children, may be diagnosed with psychosis or depression
Atkinson 1996 suggests there are four types of female sexual offenders
1. Teacher/lover 2. Male-coerced: these offenders are coerced into sexual abuse by an abusive male 3. Male-accompanied: engage in sexual abuse with a male partner however they are more willing then the male-coerced type 4. Predisposed: often experienced severe childhood sexual abuse themselves, having deviant sexual fantasies accompanied by physically abusing and neglecting their victims
Jury Functions
1. To use the wisdom of 12 rather than the wisdom of 1 to reach a verdict 2. To act as the conscience of the community 3. To protect against out of date laws 4. To increase knowledge about the justice system
When evaluating challenge for a cause, must consider:
1. process happens in open court, some jurors may learn to alter their answers so they give a desired response 2. may be difficult to answer questions honestly when it may reflect in an unflattering light 3. must be aware of their biases and how their biases may influence their behaviour
In studies of community samples ____ percent of men admit to sexually assaulting women or children
10-20
The homicide rate is Canada increased between ____ and ____ reaching its highest point in a decade
2004-2005, *generally appears to be decreasing again
Roesch et al (1997):
61% of a sample from a remand facility in BC underwent fitness evaluations, 24% were held for assessments of fitness and criminal responsibility
In the year following disclosure of abuse up to ___ percent of children experience significant psychological symptoms.
70% Longer term problems can include substance abuse, depression, eating disorders and prostitution
Organized-disorganized model
A profiling model used by the FBI that assumes the crime scenes and backgrounds of serial killers can be categorized as organized or disorganized - Little research for examining the usefulness of this method
Actus Reus
A wrongful deed
Types of offences committed by people with mental illnesses
Mentally disordered offenders are not distinguishable by offence type. May be slightly more likely to commit murder or attempted murder but in general commit a wide variety of crimes
What happens when a defendant found NCRMD?
Absolute discharge: when the defendant is released into the community without restrictions to his or her behaviour Conditional discharge: released with conditions Failure to meet conditions may result in incarceration or placement in a psychiatric facility
Archives
Also have high external validity. can be reviewed to uncover relationships between variables. Problems? Researcher is unable to go back and be aware of how information was collected, get more information.
Burgess and Holmstrom identified two phases after rape:
An acute crisis phase: few days to several weeks, symptoms are often quite severe, fear, anxiety, depression, question themselves, lots of self blame and self doubt. A long term reaction phase: anywhere from a few months to several years. A quarter of women who have been raped do not significantly. Developed phobias, sexual problems, depression
Criminal profiling
An investigative technique for identifying the major personality and behavioural charateristics of an individual based upon an analysis of the crimes he or she has committed
Geographic profiling
An investigative technique that uses crime scene locations to predict the most likely area where an offender resides - Often used to prioritize suspects by rank ordering them based on the proximity of their residence to the predicted home location - geographic profiling systems, computer systems that use mathematical models of offender spatial behaviour to make predictions about where unknown serial offenders are likely to reside. - The locations of linked crime sites are input into these systems and are represented as points on a map.
PTSD
Anxiety disorder that can develop in response to exposure to an extremely traumatic event. Symptoms include frequent distressing and intrusive memories of the event, avoiding stimuli associated with the traumatic event and persistent anxiety or increased arousal symptoms
Average length of time for evaluation
Approx. 3 weeks
Marshall and Barbaree 1990 integrated model
Argue that males typically learn in childhood to inhibit sexually aggressive behaviour. If they experience abuse themselves or grow up in dysfunctional families, may not learn that inhibition
Personality Traits for Predicting Verdicts
Authoritarianism - people with this trait have right wing political views and are conservative rigid thinkers who acquiesce to authority Dogmatism - also rigid and closed minded but without the political overtones.
How is fitness restored?
Most common: medication, raised the issue whether or not the defendant has the right to refuse medication. Court must grapple with having a heavily medicated defendant and whether it serves justice
Significant demographic variable of unfit defendants
Never married
Is child murder common in Canada?
No, it is uncommon. Accounts for about 9% of national homicides. The majority of these homicides were committed by a family member and 85% were committed by a parent
Are dissociative states grounds for an automatism defence?
No. More consistent with diseases of the mind and applicable for an insanity defence
Does the presence of a psychotic disorder always mean unfit?
No. While unfit defendants are more likely to meet the criteria, the presence of a mental disorder is not sufficient or equivalent to unfitness
Jury Nullification
Occurs when a jury ignores the law and the evidence rendering a verdict based on some other criteria. Can especially result when cases involve controversial issues such as abortion and euthanasia. Mock jurors were more likely to find the defendant not guilty when nullification was instructed and the jurors had a positive attitude to the subject. Can produce both socially favourable and socially unfavourable verdicts.
Release and parole of mentally ill vs sane offenders
Offenders with mental disorders are more likely to be conditionally released into mandatory supervision and non mentally ill offenders are more likely to be conditionally released with regards to parole/parole requirements However offenders without mental disorders were more likely to be re admitted for commuting a new offence A number of factors can be related to re arrest, not just mental illness
Unfit defendants are likely to be
Older, minority group females, with fewer marital resources
Which province has the highest number of accused ruled unfit? 1992-2004
Ontario (1151), then Quebec, then BC
Are people with mental illness more violent?
Overall the research suggests that some data finds a greater likelihood of violence when an individual is experiencing a psychotic episode with symptoms of a paranoid nature
Five scales of the R-CRAS
Patient reliability, organicity psychopathology, cognitive control, behavioural control Higher scores = higher severity
What happens after a finding of unfitness?
Proceedings against the defendant unfit to stand trial are halted until competency is restored In US, limited time a defendant may be held as unfit
Are professional profilers better at profiling than other individuals?
Professional profilers were the most accurate when it came to profiling cognitive processes (degree of planning) and social history (marital status), however psychologists were the most accurate when it came to profiling physical characteristics, offence behaviours, and personality features
Subtypes of youth killings
Psychotic (7%): youth who had severe symptoms of mental illness during the killing Conflict (42%): youth engaged in an argument or conflict with the victim Crime (51%): the killing happened during the course of another crime such as robbery or sexual assault
Two forms of automatism
R v stone 1999, Non insane: refers to involuntary behaviour that occurs because of an external factor, result would be not guilty Insane: involuntary action that occurs because of a mental disorder, result may be NCRMD
What if a defendant is unlikely to become fit any time soon? Example, permanent brain damage
R vs Demers 2004, ruled that the inability of the courts to issue an absolute discharge to defendants who are unlikely to become fit and not posing a significant threat to society are in violation of section 7 of the charter of rights and freedoms.
Case law was used to determine the criteria, historically referring to
R vs Prichard
Bimodal classification of homicide: Reactive aggression and Instrumental aggression
RA: violence that is impulsive, unplanned, immediate, driven by negative emotions and occurring in response to some perceived threat/provocation. Also known as affective violence. Happens often with killing of relatives, approx 80% of homicides IA: violence that is premeditated, calculated behaviour, motivated by some goal. Also known as predatory aggression. More often for stranger homicide
Demographic Variable for Predicting Verdicts
Racial bias: the disparate treatment of racial out groups. Participants were more likely to render a guilty verdict for other-race defendants than for defendants of their own race, particularly if the evidence is weak
Challenges when researching sexual recidivism in treated and untreated offenders
Rates of about 15% of sex offenders are detected commiting a new sexual offence after 5 years and 20% after ten years. Low base rates of detected recidivism is treated and untreated.
Unfit to stand trial
Refers to the inability to conduct a defence at any stage of a persons proceedings on account of a mental disorder
Decision of the FIT-R
Response rated on 3pt scale (0 no impairment and 2 severe impairment). Final decision involves 1) determining existence of mental disorder, 2) determining the defendants capacity for psychological abilities and 3) examining the previous information
Use of drugs to control deviant sexual behaviours
SSRI's have shown to be effective at controlling deviant sexual fantasies and not eliminated all sexual functioning
Influence of expert testimony on battered womens syndrome cases
Schuller Smith and Olsen 1994, examined the impact of 4 variables including jurors pre-existing beliefs about wife abuse, jurors beliefs in a just world, the presence or absence of expert testimony on BWS and the sex of the juror. The mock jurors who heard the expert testimony were more likely to believe the woman's account than were those who did not hear expert testimony. Those with a weak belief in a just world were more lenient, and felt expert testimony was relevant.
Different levels of sexual assault
Simple sexual assault, maximum sentence 10 years Sexual assault with a weapon or causing bodily harm, maximum 14 years Aggravated sexual assault, maximum life imprisonment
Influence and defendant characteristics
Small relationship between the attractiveness of the defendants and jury verdict. Plain looking defendants were more often found guilty when mock jurors did not deliberate, when mock jurors did deliberate the attractive defendant was more likely to be found guilty Male defendants received higher guilt ratings than female defendants. Female jurors found the victim more accurate and believable than male jurors
Inadmissible evidence more or less memorable?
Some research suggests that the instruction to disregard actually makes it more memorable than if no instruction was given, known as the back fire effect
1995, Bill C72
Stated that intoxication was not recognized as a defence for violent crimes
Winko vs British Columbia 1999
Supreme Court stated that a defendant who is NCRMD should be detained only if poses a criminal threat to the public
The burden if proving unfitness lies on:
The party (crown or defence) which raises the issue
The case is dropped and the defendant found not guilty if:
The sufficient evidence is no longer available
Does a defendant have to go to a psychiatric facility?
They need not comply with treatment, only if their mental health has deteriorated to the point where they cannot make decisions
1843 R vs McNaughton
Three critical elements emerged from McNaughtons found not guilty due to insanity: 1) a defendant must be found to be suffering from a defect of reason/disease of the mind, 2) must not know the nature and quality of the act he or she is performing, 3) must not know what they are doing is wrong
When does an insanity defence get used?
Typically occur when both sides agree to such a verdict
Automatism
Unconscious, involuntary behaviour such as the person committing the act unaware of what he or she is doing
Mathematical models of jury decision making
View jurors as conducting a set of mental calculations regarding the importance and strength of each piece of evidence. The verdict is a function of the calculation of all the relevant evidence. Ellsworth and Mauro found that a mathematical approach was inconsistent with how jurors report that they reach verdicts, do not appear to place value on each piece of evidence presented
Criteria delineated in R vs Prichard
Whether the defendant is mute of malice, whether the dependent can plead to the indictment, whether the defendant had sufficient cognitive capacity to understand the trial
If the defendant remains unfit:
Will be reassessed in 45 days, in the event that they become fit they must return to court. After 90 days if still unfit referred to a review board for assessment and disposition, may be reviewed on an annual basis
Communication with counsel specified by R vs Taylor
With regard to cognitive capacity, ability to state the facts with relation to the offence
Impartiality
a characteristic of jurors who are unbiased 1)a juror must ignore the defendants ethnicity, set aside previous attitudes, only taking into account the information given by a judge 2)must ignore anything that is not admissible evidence 3)the juror have no connection to the defendant so that the juror does not view the evidence subjectively or unduly influence the other jurors
Fixated child molester
a child molester, as defined by Groth who has a long standing, exclusive sexual preference for children. Offences are planned, feel no remorse, have no history of drug/alcohol abuse, emotionally immature, starts in adolescence, mostly male children
Jury summons
a court order for a prospective juror that states a time and place to go for jury duty In Canada, 12 person juries, if you ignore a summons may receive a fine or jail time
Hybrid Offences
a cross between indictable offences and summary offences, maximum sentence is five or more years in prison
Summary offences involve
a fine of less than $2000 and a sentence of less than 6 months, does not have a right to a trail by jury
Rape trauma syndrome
a group of symptoms or behaviours that are frequent after effects of having been raped
Representativeness
a jury composition that represents the community where the crime occurred
Penile phallometry
a measurement device placed around the penis to measure changes in sexual arousal, phallometric assessments have been used to differentiate between extra familial and non offenders
Relapse prevention for offenders
a method of treatment designed to prevent the occurrence of an undesired behaviour. Some researchers argue that treatment does not work. It is agreed upon that incarceration does not appear to be a deterrent for sexual or other offenders, but for high risk offenders is the only way to contain them.
Visionary serial murderer
a murder who kills in response to voices or visions telling them to kill
Hedonistic serial murderer
a murderer who is motivated by self gratification. Three subtypes: 1) Lust serial murderer: a murder who is motivated by sexual gratification 2)Thrill serial murderer: motivated by the excitement associated with the act of killing 3)Comfort serial murderer: motivated by material or financial gain *Little research supports these subtypes
Power/control serial murderer
a murderer who is motivated not by sexual gratification but by wanted to have absolute dominance over the victim
Linkage blindness
an inability on the part of the police to link geographically dispersed serial crimes committed by the same offender because of a lack of information sharing among police agencies
Sexual assault is defined as
any nonconsensual sexual act by either a male or female person to either a male or female person, regardless of the relationship between the people involved.
High victimization rates are reported among:
children, youth and adult women
Treatment of sexual offenders are designed to address
denial, minimizations, cognitive distortions, victim empathy, modification of deviant sexual interest, development of relapse prevention
Cognitive distortions
deviant cognitions, values, or beliefs that are used to jusitfy or minimize deviant behaviours. Sex offenders often try to shift the blame or justify their actions. Some treatment programs refuse to accept deniers .
Rapist typologies: sadistic type
differentiated from the sexual type in that there must be a sadistic element can be further subdivided into overt or muted sadists depending on the level of gratuitous violence
Rapist typologies: sexual type
distinguished from other types in that these offenders crimes are motivated by sexual preoccupation and sexual fantasies
Explanation models of jury decision making
evidence is organized as a story model
Postpartum depression
experienced by 7%-19% of women usually lasts for several months, extremely similar to clinical depression. Recent studies have proposed that postpartum depression is not a mental illness that occurs as a consequence of childbirth
Canadian criminal law recognizes 4 different types of homicide
first degree murder (planned and deliberate), second degree murder (not quite as planned and methodical as FDM) , manslaughter (heat of passion, impulsive, may occur suddenly without even realizing) and infanticide (killing an infant)
Evolutionary theory of sexual offenders
focus on how behaviour is a product of our ancestral history and features are related to reproductive success, view rape as a consequence of a mating strategy that was selected because it resulted in a reproductive advantage for males *theories have been criticized for having a limited scope and lacking explanatory depth
Rapist typologies: opportunistic type
generally impulsive, void of sexual fantasies, controlled primarily by contextual factors Ex. breaks into a home wanting to steal and rapes a female occupant
Postpartum blues
happens in 85% of women, crying anxiety and irritability rarely lasting more then 12 days, short so not really thought to cause infanticide
Female serial killer characteristics
have an accomplice, no prior criminal record, use poison, kill for money, and kill a family member or someone they know
Rapist typologies: pervasively angry type
high level of anger is directed toward both men and women, use unnecessary force, cause serious victim injury, be void of sexual fantasies
Field studies
involves using actual jurors while they are on jury duty, the court may agree to let the jurors take notes while the evidence is being presented. Compare note taking jurors with non note takers. High external validity, can be very hard to get court approval
Deliberations
jury reviews the evidence and determines the most consistent match between the verdict options provided.
Social skills and substance abuse in offenders
lack social skills, self confidence, capacity for intimacy, dealing with anger. it is likely that some sexual offenders use alcohol to facilitate offending as it lowers their inhibitions.
Trauma-control model of serial murder
model suggesting that a multitude of actors are involved in predicting who may be predisposed to commit serial murder
Major criticism, lack of a strong theoretical base underlying the approach
o Classic trait model - a model of personality that assumes the primary determinants of behaviour are stable internal traits. These traits are assumed to result in the expression of consistent patterns of behaviour across situations o Many people in the field of personality psychology disagree on account of that traits are not the only, or even the primary determinant of behaviour, must account for situational influences with can create behavioural inconsistencies
Female sexual offenders
only 2-5% of incarcerated sex offenders are female , thought that prevalence is higher than previously believed.
Extra familial child molesters
people who abuse children not related to them
Intra-familial child molesters or Incest offenders
people who are sexually abuse their own biological children or children for whom they assume a parental role such as stepfather or live in boyfriend
Voyeur
people who obtain sexual gratification by observing people, usually strangers, who are naked, in the process of undressing or engaging in sexual activity
Rapist
person who sexually assaults victims over 16 years of age
Pedophile
person whose primary sexual orientation is towards children
Keppel and Walter classifications of sexual murder
power assertive, power reassurance, anger retaliation and anger excitation
Regressed child molesters
primary sexual orientation is toward adults but whose sexual interests revert to children after a stressful event or because of feelings of inadequacy, more impulsive, marital problems, likely to feel remorse, likely females are targets
Inductive Criminal Profiling
profiling based on what we know about other solved cases, relies largely on determination of how likely it is an offender will possess certain background characteristics among known offenders who have committed similar crimes, main disadvantage is sampling issues and the ability to construct a representative sample of serial offenders from which to draw conclusions
Deductive criminal profiling
profiling the background of an unknown offender based on the evidence left at the scenes by that particular offender, largely relies on logical reasoning, which makes the disadvantage that just because an explanation is logical it is not necessarily true
Juries Act
provincial and territorial legislation that outlines the eligibility criteria for jury service and how prospective jurors must be selected. *some professions keep individuals from jury duty, ex. lawyer, police officer
Rapist typologies: vindictive
rapist's anger is focused solely on women, goal is to demean and degrade the victim
Heuristics
simple general rules that can be used to make decisions and solve problems. In some instances, a reliance on heuristics can result in biased decisions. In some cases can result in accurate decisions.
Empathy deficits
some sex offenders appear to have general deficits in empathy, sometimes due to cognitive distortions. Empathy training typically focuses on getting the offender to understand the impact of the abuse on the victim and the pain caused.
Exhibitionist
someone who obtains sexual gratification by exposing his or her genitals to strangers
Child molester
someone who sexually molested a child
Adolescent sexual offenders
suggested that factors such as previous sexual abuse, social inadequency, lack of intimacy and impulsiveness also play a role, tend to abuse young female victims
Mission oriented serial murderer
targets individuals from a group that they consider to be undesirable
Mass murderer
the killing of 3 or more victims in a single location during one event, no cooling period. Example: school shooting
Mariticide
the killing of a husband by his wife
Serial murder
the killing of a minimum of 3 people over time. The time interval between the murders varies and has been called a cooling-off period. Subsequent murders occur at different times, have no apparent connection to the initial murder, and are usually committed in different locations
Uxoricide
the killing of a wife by her husband
Filicde
the killing of children by their biological parents or stepparents, including neonaticide (killing a baby within 24 hours of birth) and infanticide (killing a baby within the first year of life)
Femicide
the killing of women
Aversion therapy
the pairing of an aversive stimuli with a deviant fantasy for the purpose of reducing the attractiveness of these deviant fantasies *another approach is masturbation satiation, where an offender must masturbate to ejaculation to a non deviant fantasy, then is shown a deviant fantasy quickly after thus pairing it with an inability to become aroused. this method has been questioned.
Sex force child molester
threatens or uses physical force to overcome any resistance by the child
Sex pressure child molester
uses persuasion or entrapment to make the child feel obligated to participate in sexual acts
Can homicidal offenders be treated?
very few well controlled evaluations of treatment programs. Many programs are designed to target anger or empathy or social training specifically.
Familicide
when a spouse and children are killed almost always committed by a man. Despondent non hostile killer: depressed, worried about impending disaster of his family, usually kills himself also. Past acts of family violence are not characteristic of this killer Hostile accusatory killer: expresses hostility towards his wife, often related to her wanting to end the relationship, past history of violence is common
Black sheep effect
when evidence is strong, similarity between defendant and jury leads to leniency.
Polarization
when individuals tend to become more extreme in their initial position following a group discussion
Leniency bias
when jurors more towards greater leniency during deliberations
The final verdict
Canada and US - must reach unanimous verdict, the final verdict tends to be consistent with the first poll 90% of the time
Who can assess fitness?
Canada: medial practitioners only, psychologists may be brought in to evaluate or assist but must submit their results to a practitioner US: allows psychologists to conduct fitness evaluations
Prima facie case
Case in which the crown prosecutor must prove there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to trial
Review boards review the defendants disposition every year, taking into account
Charge information, trial transcript, criminal history, risk assessment, clinical history, psychological testing, hospitals recommendation.
Fitness test instruments
Competency Screening Test CST, Competency to Stand Trial Assessment Instrument CAI, Interdisciplinary Fitness Interview IFI, MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool - Criminal Adjustment MacCAT-CA
Note taking for jurors, pros cons
Cons -If some jurors take detailed notes and others don't, it may result it them exerting their opinion over others who may not remember all the details of the case Pros -help jurors keep up with evidence - serve as a memory aid - do not distort the case
Mens rea
Criminal intent
