2. WHAT IS THE CRIMINAL PSYCHOLOGY ?
IS THE STUDY OF THE WILLS, THOUGHTS, INTENTIONS AND REACTIONS
OF CRIMINALS, ALL THAT PARTAKES IN THE CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR.
IT IS RELATED TO THE FIELD OF CRIMINAL ANTHROPOLOGY. THE STUDY GOES
DEEPLY INTO WHAT MAKES SOMEONE COMMIT A CRIME, BUT ALSO THE
REACTIONS AFTER THE CRIME, ON THE RUN OR IN COURT. CRIMINAL
PSYCHOLOGISTS ARE OFTEN CALLED UP AS WITNESSES IN COURT CASES TO
HELP THE JURY UNDERSTAND THE MIND OF THE CRIMINAL. SOME TYPES
OF PSYCHIATRY ALSO DEAL WITH ASPECTS OF CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR.
3. ROLE IN THE
LEGAL SYSTEM
• PSYCHIATRISTS AND PSYCHOLOGISTS ARE LICENSED
PROFESSIONALS THAT CAN ASSESS BOTH MENTAL AND
PHYSICAL STATES. PROFILERS LOOK FOR PATTERNS IN
BEHAVIOR TO TYPIFY THE INDIVIDUAL(S) BEHIND A CRIME. A
GROUP EFFORT ATTEMPTS TO ANSWER THE MOST COMMON
PSYCHOLOGICAL QUESTIONS: IF THERE IS A RISK OF A SEXUAL
PREDATOR RE-OFFENDING IF PUT BACK IN SOCIETY; IF AN
OFFENDER IS COMPETENT TO STAND TRIAL; WHETHER OR NOT
AN OFFENDER WAS SANE/INSANE AT THE TIME OF THE OFFENSE.
• THE QUESTION OF COMPETENCY TO STAND TRIAL IS A QUESTION
OF AN OFFENDER’S CURRENT STATE OF MIND. THIS ASSESSES
THE OFFENDER’S ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND THE CHARGES
AGAINST THEM, THE POSSIBLE OUTCOMES OF BEING
CONVICTED/ACQUITTED OF THESE CHARGES AND THEIR ABILITY
TO ASSIST THEIR ATTORNEY WITH THEIR DEFENSE. THE
QUESTION OF SANITY/INSANITY OR CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY IS
AN ASSESSMENT OF THE OFFENDERS STATE OF MIND AT THE
TIME OF THE CRIME. THIS REFERS TO THEIR ABILITY TO
UNDERSTAND RIGHT FROM WRONG AND WHAT IS AGAINST THE
LAW. THE INSANITY DEFENSE IS RARELY USED, AS IT IS VERY
DIFFICULT TO PROVE. IF DECLARED INSANE, AN OFFENDER IS
COMMITTED TO A SECURE HOSPITAL FACILITY FOR MUCH
LONGER THAN THEY WOULD HAVE SERVED IN PRISON.
THEORETICALLY, THAT IS.[3]
4. PROFILING
• A MAJOR PART OF CRIMINAL PSYCHOLOGY, KNOWN AS OFFENDER PROFILING, BEGAN IN THE 1940S WHEN THE UNITED
STATES OFFICE OF STRATEGIC SERVICES ASKED WILLIAM L. LANGER'S BROTHER WALTER C. LANGER, A WELL RENOWNED
PSYCHIATRIST, TO DRAW UP A PROFILE OF ADOLF HITLER. AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR BRITISH PSYCHOLOGIST
LIONEL HAWARD, WHILE WORKING FOR THE ROYAL AIR FORCE POLICE, DREW UP A LIST OF CHARACTERISTICS WHICH
HIGH-RANKING NAZI WAR CRIMINALS MIGHT DISPLAY, TO BE ABLE TO SPOT THEM AMONGST ORDINARY CAPTURED
SOLDIERS AND AIRMEN.
• A RENOWNED ITALIAN PSYCHOLOGIST CESARE LUMBROSO (1835-1909) WAS THOUGHT TO BE ONE OF THE FIRST
CRIMINOLOGIST TO ATTEMPT TO FORMALLY CLASSIFY CRIMINALS BASED ON AGE, SEX, GENDER,PHYSICAL
CHARACTERISTICS, EDUCATION, AND GEOGRAPHIC REGION. WHEN COMPARING THESE SIMILAR CHARACTERISTICS HE
BETTER UNDERSTOOD THE ORIGIN OF MOTIVATION OF CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR. PUBLISHED HIS BOOK CALLED THE CRIMINAL
MAN. LUMBROSO STUDIED 383 ITALIAN INMATES. BASED ON HIS STUDIES, HE SUGGESTED THAT THERE WERE THREE TYPES
OF CRIMINALS. BORN CRIMINALS WHICH MEANT THESE PEOPLE ARE DEGENERATES AND THE INSANE CRIMINALS ARE ONES
THAT SUFFER A MENTAL ILLNESS. ALSO HE STUDIED AND FOUND SPECIFIC PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. A FEW EXAMPLES
INCLUDE ASYMMETRY OF THE FACE, EYE DEFECTS AND PECULIARITIES, AND EARS OF UNUSUAL SIZE AND ETC.
• IN THE 1950S, US PSYCHIATRIST JAMES A. BRUSSEL DREW UP WHAT TURNED TO BE AN UNCANNILY ACCURATE PROFILE OF
A BOMBER WHO HAD BEEN TERRORIZING NEW YORK.
• IT WAS FIRST INTRODUCED TO THE FBI IN THE 1970S WHEN SEVERAL CLASSES WERE TAUGHT TO THE AMERICAN SOCIETY
OF CRIME LAB DIRECTORS. MOST OF THE PUBLIC AT THAT TIME KNEW LITTLE IF NOT ANYTHING ABOUT HOW PROFILERS
WOULD PROFILE PEOPLE UNTIL TV CAME INTO PLAY. LATER FILMS BASED ON THE FICTIONAL WORKS OF AUTHOR THOMAS
HARRIS THAT CAUGHT THE PUBLIC EYE AS A PROFESSION IN PARTICULAR MINDHUNTER (1986) AND SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
(1991). THE FASTEST DEVELOPMENT OCCURRED WHEN THE FBI OPENED ITS TRAINING ACADEMY, THE BEHAVIORAL
ANALYSIS UNIT (BAU), IN QUANTICO, VIRGINIA. IT LED TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR THE
ANALYSIS OF VIOLENT CRIME AND THE VIOLENT CRIMINAL APPREHENSION PROGRAM. THE IDEA WAS TO HAVE A SYSTEM
WHICH COULD PICK UP LINKS BETWEEN UNSOLVED MAJOR CRIMES.
5. PROFILING
• IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, PROFESSOR DAVID CANTER WAS A PIONEER HELPING TO GUIDE POLICE DETECTIVES FROM
THE MID-1980S TO AN OFFENDER WHO HAD CARRIED OUT A SERIES OF SERIOUS ATTACKS, BUT CANTER SAW THE
LIMITATIONS OF "OFFENDER PROFILING" - IN PARTICULAR, THE SUBJECTIVE, PERSONAL OPINION OF A PSYCHOLOGIST.
HE AND A COLLEAGUE COINED THE TERM INVESTIGATIVE PSYCHOLOGY AND BEGAN TRYING TO APPROACH THE
SUBJECT FROM WHAT THEY SAW AS A MORE SCIENTIFIC POINT OF VIEW.
• CRIMINAL PROFILING, ALSO KNOWN AS OFFENDER PROFILING, IS THE PROCESS OF LINKING AN OFFENDER'S ACTIONS
AT THE CRIME SCENE TO THEIR MOST LIKELY CHARACTERISTICS TO HELP POLICE INVESTIGATORS NARROW DOWN
AND PRIORITIZE A POOL OF MOST LIKELY SUSPECTS. PROFILING IS A RELATIVELY NEW AREA OF FORENSIC
PSYCHOLOGY THAT DURING THE PAST 20 YEARS HAS DEVELOPED FROM WHAT USED TO BE DESCRIBED AS AN ART TO
A RIGOROUS SCIENCE. PART OF A SUB-FIELD OF FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY CALLED INVESTIGATIVE PSYCHOLOGY,
CRIMINAL PROFILING IS BASED ON INCREASINGLY RIGOROUS METHODOLOGICAL ADVANCES AND EMPIRICAL
RESEARCH.
• CRIMINAL PROFILING IS A PROCESS NOW KNOWN IN THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (FBI) AS CRIMINAL
INVESTIGATIVE ANALYSIS. PRO-FILERS, OR CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE ANALYSTS, ARE TRAINED AND EXPERIENCED LAW
ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS WHO STUDY EVERY BEHAVIORAL ASPECT AND DETAIL OF AN UNSOLVED VIOLENT CRIME
SCENE IN WHICH A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY HAS BEEN LEFT AT THE SCENE. THE CHARACTERISTICS
OF A GOOD PRO-FILER ARE DISCUSSED. FIVE BEHAVIORAL CHARACTERISTICS THAT CAN BE CLEANED FROM THE
CRIME SCENE ARE DESCRIBED: 1) AMOUNT OF PLANNING THAT WENT INTO THE CRIME, 2) DEGREE OF CONTROL USED
BY THE OFFENDER, 3) ESCALATION OF EMOTION AT THE SCENE, 4) RISK LEVEL OF BOTH THE OFFENDER AND VICTIM,
AND 5) APPEARANCE OF THE CRIME SCENE (DISORGANIZED VERSUS ORGANIZED). THE PROCESS OF INTERPRETING
THE BEHAVIOR OBSERVED AT A CRIME SCENE IS BRIEFLY DISCUSSED.
6. • THE EFFECT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL
FACTORS ON THE FUNCTIONING OF OUR BRAIN IS
THE CENTRAL QUESTION FORENSIC OR CRIMINAL
PSYCHOLOGIST DEAL WITH BECAUSE IT IS THE SEED
OF ALL OUR ACTIONS. FOR FORENSIC
PSYCHIATRY THE MAIN QUESTION IS WHICH PATIENT
BECOMES AN OFFENDER OR WHICH OFFENDER
BECOMES A PATIENT AND WHAT CAME FIRST THE
CRIME OR THE MENTAL DISORDER. QUESTIONS THAT
THESE PSYCHIATRIST CONSIDER ARE: 1. IS A MENTAL
DISORDER PRESENT NOW AND WAS IT PRESENT
DURING THE TIME OF THE CRIME? 2. WHAT IS THE
LEVEL OF RESPONSIBILITY OF THE OFFENDER FOR
THE CRIME? 3. WHAT IS THE RISK OF REOFFENDING
AND WHICH RISK FACTORS ARE INVOLVED? 4. IS
TREATMENT POSSIBLE TO REDUCE THE RISK OF
REOFFENDING? ACCORDINGLY INDIVIDUAL
PSYCHIATRIC EVALUATIONS ARE RESORTED TO
MEASURING PERSONALITY TRAITS
BY PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING THAT HAVE GOOD
APPLIED CRIMINAL
PSYCHOLOGY
7. TEST YOUR
KNOWLEDGE
1. is a feeling of strain and pressure
2. Bring something to the memory
3. Part of medicine that aims to treat
diseases
4. is the science that deals with the
behavior and mental processes of
individuals
5. characterized by an intense fear
and disproportionate to objects or
situations
6. physical function abnormality or
mental
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