Psychology and

Crime

David Putwain and

Aidan Sammons

Routledge Modular Psychology

Psychology and Crime

What does a criminological psychologist do? The popular image is that

of a modern-day Sherlock Holmes helping the police to solve crimes
and mysteries, but the reality is much more complex. Psychology and
Crime is a new introduction to the topic of criminological psychology
that helps dispel these popular myths by providing a comprehensive
overview of the topic of criminological psychology.
The book includes both classic and contemporary psychological
theory and research on a range of criminological issues including the
nature, measurement and causes of crime, police work and offender
profiling, eyewitness memory, trial procedures, jury decision making
and the treatment of crime. Putwain and Sammons have produced an
introductory text which covers the material on this topic in the A2
components of the AQA-B, OCR and Edexcel A-Level specifications.
Psychology and Crime is also ideal for undergraduate students looking
for an introduction to criminological psychology and for students
studying psychology and media. It will also be useful for those who
work in fields related to criminology such as the police and probation
services, social workers and therapists.
David Putwain is Principal Examiner for the Edexcel Foundation and
a regular contributor to Psychology Review. Aidan Sammons is Head
of Psychology at Abbey College in Birmingham. They are both
experienced teachers of psychology.

Routledge Modular Psychology

Series editors: Cara Flanagan is a freelance academic author and an
experienced teacher and examiner for AS and A2 level psychology.
Philip Banyard is Associate Senior Lecturer in Psychology at
Nottingham Trent University and has 20 years experience as a Chief
Examiner for AS and A2 level Psychology.

The Routledge Modular Psychology series is a completely new

approach to introductory level psychology, tailor-made to the new
modular style of teaching. Each short book covers a topic in more detail
than any large textbook can, allowing teacher and student to select
material exactly to suit any particular course or project.
The books have been written especially for those students new to
higher level study, whether at school, college or university. They
include specially designed features to help with technique, such as a
model essay at an average level with an examiners comments to show
how extra marks can be gained. The authors are all examiners and
teachers at the introductory level.
The Routledge Modular Psychology texts are all user friendly and
accessible and use the following features:
practice essays with specialist commentary to show how to achieve
a higher grade
chapter summaries to assist with revision
progress and review exercises
glossary of key terms
summaries of key research
further reading to stimulate ongoing study and research
cross-referencing to other books in the series
For more details on our AS, A2 and Routledge Modular Psychology
publications visit our website at www.a-levelpsychology.co.uk

Also available in this series (titles listed by syllabus section):

ATYPICAL DEVELOPMENT AND
ABNORMAL BEHAVIOUR
Classification and Diagnosis of
Psychological Abnormality
Susan Cave

Debates in Psychology
Andy Bell

Psychopathology
John D. Stirling and Jonathan
S.E. Hellewell

Introducing Research and Data in

Psychology: A guide to methods and
analysis
Ann Searle

Therapeutic Approaches in
Psychology
Susan Cave
BIO-PSYCHOLOGY
Awareness: Biorhythms, sleep and
dreaming
Evie Bentley

Ethical Issues and Guidelines in

Psychology
Cara Flanagan and Philip Banyard

Theoretical Approaches in
Psychology
Matt Jarvis
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Interpersonal Relationships
Diana Dwyer

Cortical Functions
John Stirling

Pro-Social and Anti-Social Behaviour

David Clarke

Motivation and Emotion

Phil Gorman

Social Cognition
Donald C. Pennington

The Physiological Basis of Behaviour:

Neural and hormonal processes
Kevin Silber

Social Influences
Kevin Wren

COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
Attention and Pattern Recognition
Nick Lund
Language and Thought
Nick Lund
Memory and Forgetting
John Henderson
Perception: Theory,
development and organisation
Paul Rookes and Jane Willson
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
Adulthood
Evie Bentley
Early Socialisation: Sociability and
attachment
Cara Flanagan
Social and Personality Development
Tina Abbott
PERSPECTIVES AND RESEARCH
Cognitive Development
Lisa Oakley
Controversies in Psychology
Philip Banyard

COMPARATIVE PSYCHOLOGY
Animal Cognition
Nick Lund
Determinants of Animal
Behaviour
Jo-Anne Cartwright
Evolutionary Explanations of Human
Behaviour
John Cartwright
OTHER TITLES
Health Psychology
Anthony Curtis
Psychology and Crime
David Putwain and Aidan Sammons
Psychology and Education
Susan Bentham
Psychology and Work
Christine Hodson
Sport Psychology
Matt Jarvis
STUDY GUIDE
Exam Success in AQA-A Psychology
Paul Humphreys (forthcoming)

Psychology and Crime

David Putwain
and Aidan Sammons

First published 2002 by Routledge

27 Church Road, Hove, East Sussex BN3 2FA
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business
2002 Psychology Press
Typeset in Times and Frutiger by Keystroke,
Jacaranda Lodge, Wolverhampton
Cover design by Terry Foley
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Putwain, David.
Psychology and crime / David Putwain and Aidan Sammons.
p. cm. (Routledge modular psychology)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0415252997 ISBN 0415253004 (pbk.)
1. Criminal psychology. 2. CrimePsychological aspects. 3. Criminal justice,
Administration ofPsychological aspects. 4. Criminology.
I. Sammons, Aidan. II. Title. III. Series
HV6080 .P87 2002
364.3dc21
2001058923
ISBN 9780415253000 (Pbk)
ISBN 978 0415252997 (Hbk)

Contents

List of figures and tables

Acknowledgements

xiii
xv

1 Introduction
WHAT IS CRIMINOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY? 2
Applying psychological principles to crime 3
Different types of criminological psychology 4
Forensic psychology 5
Offender profiling 7

2 The nature and measurement of offending

WHAT IS A CRIMINAL? 13
The legalistic approach 14
The deviance approach 15
Variables associated with criminality 16
Socio-economic status 16
Age 17
Gender 17
MEASURING CRIME 18
Official crime statistics 18
Victimisation surveys 19
Offender surveys 20
VICTIMISATION 22

13

vii

CONTENTS

Burglary 22
Vehicle theft 23
Violent crime 23
The effects of victimisation 23
Belief in a just world 24
Locus of control 25
Fear of crime 25
Chapter summary 26
3 Biologically oriented explanations of
criminal behaviour
CONSTITUTIONAL THEORIES OF CRIMINALITY 30
Lombrosos theory of criminal types 30
Evaluation of Lombrosos theory 30
Sheldons theory of somatotypes 31
Evaluation of Sheldons theory 31
RECENT GENETIC RESEARCH INTO CRIMINALITY 32
Family studies 33
Twin studies 33
Adoption studies 34
Evaluation of genetic research 36
BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH INTO CRIMINALITY 37
Structural brain abnormalities 37
EYSENCKS PERSONALITY THEORY 38
Evaluation of Eysencks theory 39
Chapter summary 40

29

4 Psychologically oriented explanations of

criminal behaviour
43
PSYCHOANALYTICAL THEORIES OF CRIME 43
Psychoanalytical conceptions of crime 44
Evaluation of psychoanalytical research into crime 45
Bowlby: maternal deprivation and delinquency 45
Evaluation of Bowlbys theory 46
LEARNING THEORIES OF CRIME 46
Differential association theory 47
Evaluation of differential association theory 47
Social learning theory 48
Evaluation of social learning theory 49
viii

CONTENTS

The media-aggression hypothesis 50

Laboratory research 51
Correlation studies 51
Evaluation of the media aggression hypothesis 52
COGNITIVE THEORIES OF CRIME 53
Yochelson and Samenows criminal personality 53
Evaluation of Yochelson and Samenows theory 53
Moral development and crime 54
Evaluation of Kohlbergs theory 55
Rational choice theory 57
Evaluation of rational choice theory 58
SOCIAL THEORIES OF CRIME 59
Labelling theory 59
Evaluation of labelling theory 59
Self-fulfilling prophecy 60
Chapter summary 61
5 The police and crime
POLICING 63
The police personality 64
Determining and processing suspects 65
Factors influencing arrest 65
Disposal following arrest 66
INTERVIEWING 67
Interview techniques 68
Interrogation 70
False confessions 74
NEGOTIATION 76
Chapter summary 79

63

6 Offender profiling
81
PRINCIPLES OF OFFENDER PROFILING 82
The FBI approach: crime scene analysis 84
Evaluation of crime scene analysis 86
Offender profiling in the UK: investigative psychology 88
Evaluation of investigative psychology 91
Biases and pitfalls in offender profiling 92
Chapter summary 94
ix

CONTENTS

7 The psychology of testimony

COGNITIVE PROCESSES AND TESTIMONY 96
Active and selective perception 97
Reconstructive memory 98
Forgetting 99
Trace-dependent forgetting 99
Cue-dependent forgetting 99
Motivated forgetting 100
Social cognition 100
ATTRIBUTION THEORY AND BIAS IN EYEWITNESS
TESTIMONY 100
Fundamental attribution bias 101
The actor-observer effect 102
Self-serving attribution bias 103
Attribution bias and witness testimony 104
IDENTIFICATION OF SUSPECTS AND EVENTS 104
Acquisition 104
Time factors 104
Violence distraction 105
Weapon focus 106
Retention 107
Retrieval 108
Psychological research and the legal system 109
AIDS TO WITNESS RECALL AND RECOGNITION 111
Identity parades 111
Identikit and photofit 113
The cognitive interview 116
Forensic hypnosis 117
Evaluation of forensic hypnosis 119
Chapter summary 119
8 The psychology of the courtroom
TRIAL PROCEDURES 121
Persuasion techniques 123
The Yale Model of persuasion 123
Story-telling in court 124
Rhetorical strategies 125
JURY PROCESSES 126
Jury selection 126
x

95

121

CONTENTS

The number of jurors 127

Who should make up the jury? 127
Jury decision making 128
Courtroom evidence 128
Group processes in jury decision making 129
Pre-trial publicity 129
Witness confidence 131
Defendant characteristics 131
Attractiveness 131
Gender 132
Race 133
CHILD WITNESSES 134
Childhood memory 134
Problems with childrens testimony 135
Sexual abuse 136
Chapter summary 137
9 Punishing, treating and preventing crime
IMPRISONMENT 139
Does prison work? 140
Psychological effects of imprisonment 142
NON-CUSTODIAL SENTENCING 143
Fines 143
Probation 144
Reparation and restitution 145
PSYCHOLOGICAL TREATMENT PROGRAMMES 146
Token economies 146
Social skills training 148
Anger management 149
CRIME PREVENTION 150
CCTV surveillance 151
Defensible space 152
Zero tolerance 153
Chapter summary 153

139

10 Study aids
157
IMPROVING YOUR ESSAY WRITING SKILLS 157
Question One: OCR specimen question 2000 158
Question Two: Edexcel specimen question 2000 162
xi

CONTENTS

Question Three: AQA-B specimen question 2000 166

KEY RESEARCH SUMMARIES 168
Glossary
References
Index

xii

173
179
197

Figures and tables

Figures
1.1 Psychological approaches that can be applied to
crime and the legal system
1.2 The forensic psychologist in his/her clinical role
1.3 The forensic psychologist in his/her experimental
role
1.4 Brussels profile of the New York City Mad Bomber
1.5 Psychological autopsy report
6.1 The Narborough Inquiry
6.2 A fictional case study
6.3 Two major approaches to offender profiling
6.4 Canters approach to profiling: The Railway Rapist
7.1 Summary of research into the effects of misleading
questions
7.2 An example of a face reconstructed by a witness
using identikit and photofit techniques
7.3 The four stages of the cognitive interview
8.1 Some examples of two-part contrasts and threepart lists
8.2 Stereotypes of criminals and non-criminals
8.3 Characteristics of genuine and false accounts of
sexual abuse using child witnesses

4
6
7
8
9
81
83
84
90
110
114
117
125
132
136

xiii

FIGURES AND TABLES

Tables
1.1 Coverage of the different A-level specifications
in this book
4.1 Thinking errors in Yochelson and Samenows
criminal personality
4.2 Levels and stages of moral development in
Kohlbergs theory
5.1 Inhibitors and facilitators of effective communication
in interviews
5.2 Interrogation techniques
5.3 Police interview tactics
5.4 Types of false confession
5.5 Important factors in assessing the reliability of
confessions
6.1 Organised and disorganised murderers
6.2 Different types of rapist
7.1 Ways in which witnesses may assist the police
8.1 Comparison of adversarial and inquisitorial trial
procedures
8.2 Summary of the Yale Model of persuasion
8.3 Stages in jury decision making
8.4 Group processes which may affect jury decisions

xiv

10
54
56
69
71
73
75
76
85
87
96
122
124
129
130

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Phillip Banyard

for providing examiners comments to the OCR specimen question and
Donald Pennington for examiners comments to the AQA-B specimen
question. We would also like to thank Nicola Simpson for reading draft
chapters and making helpful comments, Cara Flanagan for invaluable
editorial assistance and the reviewers for their insightful criticisms.

xv

1
Introduction

What is criminological psychology?

The aim of this book is to provide a general introduction to a range

of psychological research into crime. It is chiefly aimed at students
studying the various A2-Level courses which include criminological
psychology as an option topic, but, it is hoped, will be useful to any
reader requiring basic information on criminological psychology. The
authors have attempted to cover all of the topics in which students
will be interested. This chapter introduces the subject and describes
some of the ways in which psychology can be used to understand crime.
Chapter 2 examines a range of different approaches to defining and
measuring crime. Chapters 3 and 4 discuss a number of different
psychological explanations for offending, including biological, personality and social theories of crime. Chapter 5 examines the police
and looks at a range of issues such as police bias and interviewing
techniques, whilst Chapter 6 examines a more direct application of
psychology to policing in the form of offender profiling. The focus
of Chapters 7 and 8 is the courtroom and a range of research is discussed
concerning witness testimony, trial procedures and jury processes.
Chapter 9 examines the ways in which the judicial system responds
to crime and looks also at the effectiveness of psychological treatments for crime and crime prevention programmes. Finally, Chapter
1

PSYCHOLOGY AND CRIME

10, which is aimed specifically at A2-Level students, gives guidance

on answering exam questions and includes comments from senior A2Level examiners.

WHAT IS CRIMINOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY?

Imagine asking a member of the general public the following questions:
What is a criminological psychologist?
What does a criminological psychologist do?
What type of clients do criminological psychologists work with?

The answers to these questions are likely to be informed by high-profile

media cases and successful films and TV programmes. This leads to a
distorted view of the criminological psychologist as some kind of
modern-day Sherlock Holmes, helping the police solve crimes and
mysteries. In reality, psychologists working with the police do much
more than help solve crimes. Psychologists are involved in rehabilitating offenders, providing expert advice in court cases, assessing both
offenders and victims, preventing crime and much more.
Psychological methods have been used by the police and legal system
since the early 1900s but it was not until the 1960s that criminological
psychology as a specific branch of psychology emerged. It is just one
of a number of disciplines devoted to policing and legal practices which
include criminology, sociology, psychiatry and law.
The contribution that psychology can make to criminological issues
tends to reflect the strengths and weaknesses of psychology as a
discipline. On the positive side, psychologists undergo rigorous training
in research methodology, and are therefore well placed to carry out their
own investigations and experiments and to comment on and evaluate
the work of others. On the negative side, psychology tends to emphasise
individual factors at the expense of social factors. For example,
psychological explanations of criminal behaviour tend to concentrate
on why individuals become offenders by considering factors such as
personality and brain function. In contrast, sociological approaches
tend to emphasise social factors such as poverty and social class.
Consequently, psychological approaches tend to underestimate the
2

INTRODUCTION

amount of crime and sociological approaches tend to overestimate the

amount of crime (Harrower 1988). Neither approach is foolproof and
each complements the other. When taken in isolation, each approach
can only provide part of the whole picture, but when taken together they
provide a more comprehensive understanding of crime.
Applying psychological principles to crime
Criminological psychology, along with clinical and organisational
psychology, is an example of applied rather than pure psychology.
Pure psychology usually refers to the type of research carried out
by academics in universities (although this is not always the case).
Academic psychologists may be investigating topics with direct relevance to the real world (e.g. can children provide reliable eyewitness
accounts?) but the majority of this type of research is carried out in
the laboratory. This has the advantage of controlling for the kinds of
confounding variables encountered in real-life research. However, a
drawback of this approach is that the external validity of conclusions
drawn from such studies can be questionable. That is, it is not always
appropriate to generalise from laboratory research to the real world.
Researchers usually belong to a theoretical tradition that determines
both the type of research they carry out and the research methods they
employ. For example, cognitive psychologists may use lab experiments
to investigate mental processes such as memory and problem solving
without necessarily considering how such processes might operate in
real-life settings.
In criminological psychology, research findings and theories
from areas of pure psychology are applied to the questions raised by
real-life legal and criminal problems. Figure 1.1 shows the approaches
studied in AS-Level Psychology, all of which can be applied to criminological psychology.
These pure psychological approaches could be applied to
criminological psychology in a number of ways. For example:
Cognitive psychology is concerned with the internal mental
processes, such as memory and attention, which underlie behaviour.
Laboratory research showing that memory is prone to reconstructive
memory errors has been applied to the way in which witnesses
of crimes may recall events.
3

PSYCHOLOGY AND CRIME

The cognitive approach

The learning approach

The social approach

The physiological approach

The developmental approach

The psychodynamic approach

Figure 1.1 Psychological approaches that can be applied to crime and the
legal system

Social psychology is concerned with how people interact and the

ways in which situational and group influences can affect behaviour.
For example, research into conformity has been applied to the way
in which juries may reach their verdicts.
Developmental psychology is concerned with the development
of psychological attributes such as morality and personality in
childhood and later life. Research into child-rearing styles has been
applied as an explanation of criminal behaviour. For example,
children whose parents use severe and inconsistent punishments are
more likely to become offenders.
The learning approach is concerned with how the environment can
shape our behaviour. Behaviourist principles of learning have been
applied to the treatment of offenders, for example, as techniques of
behaviour modification.
Physiological psychology (or biopsychology) is concerned with
the influence of the nervous system, hormones and genetics on
behaviour. Family and twin studies have been applied to criminal
behaviour in order to establish whether genetics play a role in
criminality.
Psychodynamic psychology is concerned with the influence of the
unconscious on behaviour and, in particular, how early childhood
experiences may have an effect later in life. These ideas have been
used by psychologists to assist police with investigations of serial
murder and rape. An important question in offender profiling is
whether the choice of victims is influenced by an earlier episode in
the offenders life.
Different types of criminological psychology
The terms criminological, forensic, legal and criminal psychology are
often used interchangeably, which can seem confusing. Even within
4

INTRODUCTION

the profession itself, there is debate and confusion over definitions

and the boundaries between them. For the purpose of an introduction,
it is helpful to look at two different types of criminological psychology:
forensic psychology and offender profiling. Forensic psychology
refers to any psychologist who provides expertise in legal matters. This
could include working with offenders in remand centres, prisons and
the probation service and providing expert advice on legal procedures
such as questioning children or allowing rape victims to provide
evidence via a video link. Psychologists involved in offender profiling
assist police investigations through developing profiles of the likely
characteristics of an offender.
Forensic psychology

There is some debate over what the term forensic psychology actually
refers to. It has been taken by some to refer to clinical psychologists
who primarily work with offenders. This is not surprising when it is
considered that a substantial number of people who call themselves
forensic psychologists are clinical psychologists working in the prison
and probation services and in special hospitals (Blackburn 1996). In
this capacity they may be involved in the assessment and treatment
of particular types of offender, for example, sex offenders. They may
also play a role in assessing the risks that may be involved when an
offender is released. The Committee on Ethical Guidelines for Forensic
Psychologists (1991) defines forensic psychology as:
All forms of professional psychological conduct when acting,
with definable foreknowledge, as a psychological expert on
explicitly psycho-legal issues, in direct assistance to courts,
parties to legal proceedings, correctional and forensic mental
health facilities.
Although it is rather longwinded, this definition captures a broader
range of activities than the simple definition of clinical psychologists
working with offenders. In fact, any kind of psychologist (clinical,
educational or social, to name but a few) could be considered to be a
forensic psychologist when they apply their expertise to legal questions.
According to Blackburn (1996), no matter what kind of background
5