Criminal Psychology

What is criminal psychology?

The application of psychological principles to criminal activity. Involves:

•Criminal behavior•Risk assessment •Crime prevention •The criminal justice system

What is meant by “criminal behavior?

Conditions resulting in criminal behavior include:

•Antisocial personality disorder•Sociopathy•Psychopathy•Conduct Disorder•Borderline personality disorder

Antisocial Personality Disorder

•Manipulates, exploits, or violates the rights of others.

•Behavior is often criminal •Chronic behavior that begins in

childhood•Fire-setting and cruelty to

animals during childhood are often present

Anti-social Personality DisorderSymptoms:

•Breaks the law repeatedly •Lies, steals, and fights often •Disregards the safety of self

and others •Demonstrates a lack of guilt •Had a childhood diagnosis (or

symptoms consistent with) conduct disorder

Sociopath

•Person having antisocial personality disorder

•Physical aggression•Disregard for others• Inability to keep a job or form

relationships•Violates the rights of others•Lack of regret for

inappropriate actions

Psychopath:

• No concerns for the feelings of others• Complete disregard for social obligation. • Egocentric• no sense of responsibility or consequence. • Emotions are superficial, shallow, or

absent• Callous• Manipulative• Incapable of forming lasting relationships• Incapable of meaningful love. • Acts only for personal benefit

Sociopath vs Psychopath•Psychopaths are

– More organized in crimes– Less easily recognized – appear

“normal”– More cunning

•Sociopaths are – More agitated/nervous– Act more spontaneously– More socially inadequate – don’t fit in

Anti-social Personality Disorder

vsPsychopathy

All psychopaths have antisocial personality disorder, but not all

patients with ASPD are psychopaths

Hmmmm……

Conduct Disorder

•The childhood equivalent of Antisocial personality disorder

•Characterized by:– Aggression to people/animals– Destruction of property– Deceitfulness, lying, stealing– Serious violation of rules

Borderline Personality Disorder

•Pattern of instability in:– Interpersonal relationships– Self image– Affect (emotion) and mood– Impulsiveness – Anger and ability to control anger

•Often leads to self-damaging behavior

•Frequent history of physical fights and abuse.

Types of criminal behavior

•Arson •Stalking•Rape•Murder

– Mass murder– Serial killers

•Gang Activity

Arson

• Arson is usually for profit, or from anger

• Most arsonists are young, white males

• Most arsonists have unstable family history & background of humiliation

• Other motivations are excitement, revenge, thrills, sexual gratification

Firefighters and Arson•Arson is sometimes perpetrated

by firefighters•Firefighters looking for a way to

achieve glory and “hero-status”•Firefighter arsonists may have

few other ways to build self-esteem

•Many work for slow departments and are eager for action

Firefighter Arsonists• White male, age 17-26 • Product of a disruptive, harsh, or unstable

home • Poor relationship with dad, overprotective

mom • If married, poor marital adjustment • Lacking in social and interpersonal skills • employed in low-paying jobs • Fascinated with fire service• May be facing unusual stress (family,

financial, or legal problems • Average to above-average intelligence but

poor to fair academic performance

Red Flag Behavior for children

• Children who start playing with matches or fire as early as age 3

• Children who frequently engage in "daredevil" behavior, especially near fire

• Children who mix chemicals or engage in "secret" fire settings in which they try different mixtures

• Those who are noticeably excited while watching fires

Stalking Repeated harassment or other

forms of invasion of a person's privacy in a manner that causes fear to its target. Statutes vary between jurisdiction but may

include such acts as:

• repeated physical following • unwanted contact • observing a person's actions closely for

an extended period of time • contacting family members, friends, or

associates of a target inappropriately • Cyberstalking

Stalking Psychology

• Some stalkers believe they can make the victim love them

• Stalkers often manipulate through threats of suicide or intimidation

• Stalkers often objectify the victim so they will feel less guilt about actions

• Most stalking doesn’t lead to violence

Types of Stalkers

•Rejected: want to revenge some rejection

•Resentful: have some grievance with victim & want to frighten them

• Intimacy: “loves” the victim & wants them

Types of Stalkers

•Eroto-maniac: imagines the victim is in love with them (common with celebrities)

• Incompetent: feel entitiled to imtimacy despite poor social skills

•Predatory: stalk to plan an attack (often sexual) on the victim

Rape Definition: an act of sexual

violence which is accompanied by threat and intimidation, and which is imposed upon a victim against his/her will

Rape is about power, control, domination.

Rape is not about sex, though it is a violent crime that is expressed sexually.

Types of Rape

•Stranger rape (by a person unknown)

•Date or associate rape (by a relative, colleague, husband, or friend)

•Gang rape (by a number of men during one incident)

Patterns of Rape• Most rapists show no sign of

psychopathology• Most rapes occur indoors• Most victims know their attackers• Most rapes are planned• Most rapes are about humiliation,

domination and degradation• Violence is an effective tool

against most rapists

Rapists Of 41 convicted serial rapists Interviewed:

•  85% were white• 54% had generally stable employment• 71% had been married• 78% lived with a partner • 87% had average or above IQ scores• 76% had been sexually abused as children• 54% were socio-economically average or + • 51% had served in the armed forces

Four Types of Rapists

• Type 1: thinking about violence against women causes sexual arousal

• Type 2: mistakenly believes that some women enjoy being raped, or want to be raped; uses rape to show masculinity. Most date rapists are Type 2s.

Four Types of Rapists

• Type 3: uses sex to deal with their anger (especially against women). This is the most violent and most dangerous.

• Type 4: the repeat offender. most likely to have been abused as a child. difficulty establishing enduring relationships, and a history of chronic problems in schools or with family.

Rape Techniques•The ‘Con’: openly approaches

victim with request or offer of assistance (police officer, injury, helpful bystander)

•The ‘Blitz’: overpowers the victim with a direct, physical assault

•The ‘Surprise’: pre-meditated approach while victim is asleep or distracted; rarely involves injury

Multiple Murderers

• Multiple murderers are people who have killed more than one victim.

• multiple killers are classified into three basic categories – – mass murderers– spree killers– Serial killers

Mass Murderers•kills four or more people at

one location during one continuous period of time, whether it is a few minutes or over a period of days. –Make no attempt to hide–Often die by suicide or police after incident

Three Types of Mass Murderers:

• Family annihilators• Paramilitary/political enthusiasts• Revenge/Disgruntled workers

Family Annihilators• In 2007, A man in LAYTONSVILLE,

Md., shot and killed his ex-wife, their three children (12 y/o boy, 10 y/o girl, 6 y/o boy) and himself after winning custody of the kids in a divorce.

• Ronald Lee Simmons: the father of his daughter's son, killed fourteen members of his family on Christmas in 1987 when his wife threatened to divorce him.

Paramilitary/Political Murderer

• Adolf Hitler blamed & killed the Jews for Germany's problems

• The terrorists who attacked the World Trade Center perceive the victims as violating the terrorists' political or religious goals.

• Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols bombed the federal building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, because they were angry at the federal government over the Waco, raid against the Branch Davidians

Revenge/Disgruntled Worker

• David Burke, a fired airline employee, followed his boss onto a plane in 1987, shot him, and caused the plane to crash, killing forty-three people.

• Pat Sherrill, fearing that he might be fired from his postal job, killed fourteen coworkers and wounded six others in 1986.

• In 1999, Mark Barton, a day trader, killed his family and entered two brokerage firms, slaying nine and wounding twelve after losing a great deal of money .

Another type of revenge mass murder: School Shootings

• In 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold murdered 12 classmates, 1 teacher, and wounded 24 others at Columbine High School before shooting themselves.

• In 1998, Kip Kinkel, 15, killed 2 classmates and wounded 25 others at Thurston HS (Oregon) after killing his two parents in their home.

Spree Killers

•kill two or more victims, but are in more than one location.

• the spree is considered a single event, because there is no "cooling off" period between the murders.

Example of Spree Killer: George Banks

• In George Banks, a prison guard, went hunting for his loved ones in various locations at 2 am. The following were killed in the spree:

• three girlfriends • his five children (ages 1 – 11)• two neighbors who were trying to flee• A former girlfriend & their 5-year-old son• his Former girlfriend’s mother• His former girlfriend’s 7-year-old nephew• Two brothers of the former Girlfriend

(survived)

Serial Killers

•murder three or more victims, but each is killed on separate occasions – usually select their victims– cooling off periods between

murders– plan their crimes carefully

Serial Killers• Most serial killers will fall into a pattern,

either of modus operandi, location, victim type, motive, etc.

• The patterns of activities often allow police to apprehend the killer.

• Serial killers are often described as ‘normal’, ‘very chatty’ and ‘a good neighbor’.

" We are your sons, and we are your husbands, and we grew up in regular families” Serial Killer Ted Bundy

Serial Killers

Typical serial Killers are: •Predominantly male•White•Within their twenties or

thirties•Middle class•Kill within their ethnic group

Types of serial killers (patterns)Organized

• Characteristics: Socially competent, intelligent , a planner, generally targets strangers, someone who uses restraints, has sex with their victims and uses a vehicle.

• Typical behaviors: living with a partner, follows the crime in the media, plans the killing, the victim’s body is hidden, evidence is often absent, may return to the crime scene and anticipates police questioning. 

• Very difficult to catch

Example of organized killers

•Ted Bundy: fake cast on arm, gained sympathy and then beat victims with a metal post

•Harold Shipman: a physician who killed over 250 elderly patients by making it look like death from natural causes

Types of serial killers (patterns)

Disorganized• Characteristics: socially immature, may

know his victims, kills spontaneously, often sexually inhibited, harsh childhood discipline.

• Typical behaviors: lives alone, knows victim, sloppy crime scene, evidence present, shows no interest in the media, and does not change lifestyle as a result of the killing.

• Easier to catch than the organized killer

Examples of disorganized killers

•Ed Gein: collected parts and displayed them around the house. He got the parts both from women that he killed and from exhumed graves

•David Berkowitz: stabbed or shot couples sitting in their cars, and then ran away

Types of Serial Killer (motives)

•Visionary type: “visions” or “voices” guide their actions

•Mission-orientated type – want to remove a certain group from society

•Hedonistic type - derive pleasure or gain from the killing

•Power/ control-orientated type - enjoy controlling their victims with some sexual satisfaction

The Psychology of Gangs

•Gang Membership is associated with antisocial behaviors

•Gangs can result in death or injury of victims

•Gang members are also at risk for injury, death, incarceration

•Most gang members are young, African American males, but females and other ethnic groups are also common

Gangs

In groups, divide a piece of paper into four parts. Do each of the following in one corner:

•Who joins gangs (characteristics)•Why people join gangs•Advantages of being in a gang•Disadvantages of being in a gang

Who joins gangs?

•Low socio-economic status•Single parent homes •Homes with heavy discipline

but minimal supervision•Have delinquent friends•Attend school with gang

members

Why Kids Join Gangs• drawn by parties, girls, & drugs.

• looking for respect, and power.

• want to be associated with a ‘family’ or community.

• want to make money , to have nice clothes, etc.

• join for self protection.

• grow up in a neighborhood where it is almost a way of life.

• prefer the streets to problems at home.

“Advantages” of being in a gang

• Provide protection from other gangs

• Provide a sense of family or instant friends

• Provide income through drug sales

• Provide respect and recognition

Disadvantages of being in a gang

• Most don’t get rich – just the leaders• Dealing results in Long hours and

dangerous work• Risk of death or incarceration is high• Most gangs have severe initiation

rituals– Females are beat or ‘sexed’ in– Boys are beat or must commit some

crime

Secret SymbolsDo you know how to spot it?

On a piece of paper, draw a local gang symbol or write a method of identifying gang

members that you have seen or heard. Fold the paper up and

put it in the box.

Recognizing Gang Involvement

• Special hand signals • Unique symbols and lettering on tattoos • Clothing (hats, bandannas, sagging

pants, etc.) suggesting group or gang involvement

• Possession of unexplained large sums of money

• Changes in attitude: violent reactions, disruptive behavior, refusal to respond to authority (teachers, police, parents) etc.

Recognizing Gang Involvement

• Secretive behavior regarding activities and locations

• Change in friends or friends who are not brought home

• Truancy or poor school performance • phone callers that refuse to identify

themselves or use nicknames only• problems with school officials and police

officers • Involvement with known or suspected

gang members • Interest in or possession of weapons

Recognizing Gang Involvement

• Wearing one particular color of clothing or a particular logo excessively

• Wearing jewelry with distinctive designs only on the right or left hand of the body

• Drawing gang symbols and using gang handwriting (usually grafitti-like, hard to decipher, and characterized by crossed out, and upside-down letters, and gang symbols)

• Using strange language or slang, especially when certain letters of words are substituted (like "flue" for blue, in Blood slang)

Chattanooga Gangs

•Bloods•Crips•Gangster disciples•Vice lords•Mara salvatrucha (mostly

nashville)

Risk Assessment:How are criminals ‘made’?

• Genetics/DNA/chromosomes• Environmental factors• Biochemistry• Family traits• Economic circumstances• Neurological damage

A combination of these factors can be devastating

How are criminals made?Genetics

• Criminals have a genetic predisposition

• Genetic anomaly limits the function of the amygdala, leaving psychopath with inability to understand & feel emotion

• Studies show similar tendencies in twins raised apart

• Extra chromosomes have been linked to some serial killers

How are criminals made?Environmental

The roots of antisocial behavior lie in early childhood events:

• insecure attachment• a weak sense of self• a dysfunctional family• coercive or indifferent parenting• physical, sexual or emotional abuse or

neglect• the death of a parent• low family income• Separated or divorce• low academic achievement

How Criminals are madeEnvironmental

Henry Lee Lucas’ mother beat him with a broom

handle for years, dressed him as a girl, and made him

watch her have sex with men who later beat him.

How are criminals made?Biochemistry

•Reduced glucose levels•Reduced seratonin levels

(seratonin mellows us out)• Increased testosterone

(creates need to dominate)•Sometimes have high traces

of toxic metals

How are criminals made?Brain traits

Psychopaths have abnormal brain activities:

  •Less active pre-frontal cortex

(impulse control)•Overactive limbic system

(aggression, sexual desire)•Overactive temporal lobes (temper

outbursts and mood disturbances)

How are criminals made?Economic factors

•The purpose of the kill is to gain financially

•Female killers often murder for insurance money

•Arsonists often burn for profit

How are criminals made?Neurological Damage

•Frontal Lobe damage causes lack of social behavior and self-control

•Phineas Gage•Albert Fish (Brooklyn

vampire) had frontal lobe damage at age 7

Risk Assessment: McDonald’s Triad

Three traits in children that may show a tendency to become a serial killer:

• Fire-starting: destroying for thrills

• Cruelty to animals: particularly larger animals (dogs, cats)

• Bedwetting: beyond the normal age

Crime Prevention

•Criminal psychology is used to predict, identify, find, and convict criminals

•Criminal profiling is the primary tool

What is Criminal Profiling?

Study and prediction of criminal behavior used to indicate:

• How the criminal thinks• Motivation for crime• Modus operandi •Signature

How is Profiling Used?

•As a tool to identify possible suspects

•As a tool to point investigators in the right direction

•As a tool to open new leads•As a tool to help investigators

know what evidence to look for•Not as a tool for conviction –

conviction requires evidence, not speculation

Elements of a criminal profile• Probable AGE, sex, and race

• Probable residence and living arrangements

• Intelligence level• Probable occupation • Probable marital status • Psychosexual maturity• Probable type/condition of vehicle • Probable motivating factors• Probable arrest record• Provocating factors to incite the suspect• Recommended interrogation techniques

Modus Operandi and Signature

• Modus operandi (MO): the method commonly used by the criminal– Victim/location selection, means of

attack, use of weapon, planning, means of transport

– Valuables taken– Evidence left behind

• Bundy: approach victim in daylight, gain their trust, lure them to his car, and hit them in the head with a crowbar, disposal in one specific dump site.

Ritual and Signature• Signature: what the criminal does

beyond the crime; the acting out of a fantasy– Wound patterns, sex acts, means of

control, rituals, talk, staging the body

– Souvenirs taken– Evidence destroyed

• Bundy: Post-mortem rape, applying make-up to corpse, decapitation, photo keepsakes, cremating body parts to prevent capture

MO vs. Signature

•MO can change or evolve over time as criminal becomes more experienced

•Signature is the ‘calling card’ or Trademark

•Signature points to personality traits, hang-ups, and compulsions

•Signatures do not change, but may worsen over time

Steps in Profiling a Case

1. Determine the physical, behavioral and demographics of the unknown offender

2. Identify post-offense behavior of the offender and strategies for apprehension

3. Develop interview strategies once the offender is apprehended

4. Determine the signature of the offender

5. Determine where evidence can be located

Input Needed by Profiler

A. Crime scene video, photos, sketches, evidence logs

B. Autopsy video, photos, hospital, forensics, reports

C. Neighborhood data, Maps, victim's travels, lifestyle

D. Investigative reports, witness statements

Criminal Psychology and Crime Prevention/Intervention

Criminal psychologists may:•Provide victim or witness

evaluation and treatment•Assess and treat individuals in

the workplace who are high risk for aggression

•Screen and treat police officers• Juvenile Assessment,

intervention, and crime prevention

Criminal Psychology and the Criminal Justice

System •A criminal psychologist May:•perform psychiatic evaluation for

insanity or trial competency•Provide expert testimony for trial•Consultation for jury selection,

child testimony, or expert witness•Determine treatment or

intervention for mentally ill defendents

Visionary type examples:Ed Gein

• Ate the corpses of women who looked like his deceased mother to preserve his mother's soul inside his body.

• Used the flesh of exhumed female corpses to fashion a "woman suit" so that he could "become" his mother.

• After his arrest he was placed in a mental facility for the remainder of his life.

Visionary type ExamplesHerbert Mullin

• Voices told him that killing people in California would prevent an earthquake

• Killed a total of 13 people• After capture, he pointed out

repeatedly that he had, indeed, prevented the earthquake

Missionary Type Examples

• Jack the Ripper: in 19th century London, he killed 5 prostitutes and removed their organs

•Gary Ridgway (Green River Killer): in 2001, confessed to the murder of 48+ prostitutes

Missionary Type Examples

•Ted Kaczynski (Unibomber) sent mail bombs to create leverage for a set of demands in his “manifesto”

•Zebra Killers: (1970’s) black supremacist group who killed ‘inferior whites’ with a machete to earn points towards heaven

Hedonistic type examples

•Yang Xinhai: china’s most notorious serial killer murdered 65 people from 1999-2003:

•David Berkowitz: Got a thrill out of shooting young couples in their car and then running away

Hedonistic Quote

"When I killed people I had a desire sexual excitement. This inspired me to kill more. I don't care whether they deserve to live or not. It is none of my concern“

Yang Xinhai

Power/control type examples

• John Wayne Gacy: raped and murdered 33 boys and young men between 1972 & 1978, then buried them underneath his house. He called his victims “worthless little queers and punks” even though his victims were mostly heterosexual.