This is the first draft of my undergraduate dissertation. Looking back on it now, I cringe! But this was my first real piece of research on a topic that I wanted to explore.
Investigative Psychology (IP) is a relatively new area in psychology, that aims to question and improve all aspects of criminal investigation for all involved- including the management, investigation and prosecution of crime (Canter and Youngs, 2005.) Therefore, an investigative psychologist comes into contact with a wide range of people- victims, witnesses, suspects, police officers, and various legal professionals. IP also looks at the psychological principles that support criminal investigations, such as problem solving, evaluating eyewitness testimony, and suspect prioritisation, alongside exploring the psychological significance of how offenders operate (Canter, 2018.) Therefore, the potential impact IP can have on criminal investigations is huge, both to specific investigations and to managing crime as a whole.
Self-selection policing (SSP) is an evidence-based form of policing that has been pushed by several researchers to be used in mainstream UK policing for nearly two decades (Roach, 2018). SSP has huge legal and moral advantages compared to the current form of policing, which is especially important with police scrutiny in the public eye. Although it would take a while for police officers to be appropriately trained in SSP and a large amount of funding would need to be invested into research, the positives certainly outweigh the negatives and SSP should therefore be used routinely by UK police.
The effect of the presence of a weapon on eye witness testimony (EWT) has been debated thoroughly throughout the past five decades of psychological research. There is a general consensus that the presence of a weapon greatly effects the reliability of eyewitness evidence (Loftus, Loftus & Messo, 1987; Pickel, 2009), but the direction of this effect is affected by many other factors such as age, gender, and racial bias (Davies, Smith, & Blincoe, 2007; Pickel, 2009; Pickel & Sneyd, 2017). Understanding the potential impact of unreliable EWT is of key importance to the criminal justice system, given that in the absence of a confession EWT is one of the greatest sources of evidence leading to a conviction (Kassin & Gudjonsson, 2004; Yarmey, 2001). Thus, the factors that can influence the accuracy of EWT are of key importance, particularly given the involvement of a weapon usually means a more serious crime.
Research surrounding social smoking has mainly focused on teenagers at high school age, and college students in America; yet university students in Britain seem to have been overlooked despite their unique social position (financial freedom for the first time in an atmosphere that encourages drinking and other social activities, but yet involves the stress of deadlines and familial expectations.) Therefore, this study aimed to investigate what influences social smoking among university students (particularly first year undergraduates) and what they perceive influences them.
Current research surrounding court processes and juries, witnesses, and defendants suggests that a court is extremely stressful for all involved; which can lead to juries dismissed, witnesses misunderstood, and defendants given harsher sentences. Critically, more changes are needed universally in particular areas to make court less alienating to laypeople- such as making changes in juror comprehension, witness preparation, and gender perception to make court less distressing and unfair for all parties involved.
Joanna Dennehy is the third woman in British history to receive a life imprisonment sentence, after killing 3 men in March 2013 and attempting to kill several others (Keenan, 2014). Dennehy was diagnosed with psychopathic anti-social personality disorder after a stunt in prison a year she began killing (Dodd, 2014), which has led many to speculate that a psychiatric explanation for her crimes focusing on psychopathy would be most fitting (Morris, 2014). At age 16, Dennehy moved out from her familial home with her partner John Treanor after frequent attempts at running away, and had two children (Morris, 2014). Treanor left Dennehy in 2009 and took the children with him (Morris, 2014), giving rise to a developmental explanation of her extreme behaviour given the lack of attachment to her relatives that may have skewed her internal models. However, it is hard to ignore the fact that Dennehy is a female in a patriarchal society and therefore feminist explanations have strong credence, especially as all her victims were male. An integrated approach of all three theoretical perspectives therefore would be the most fitting and explain the most of her abnormal behaviour.
Freud’s psychodynamic theory fundamentally suggests that ‘Das Ich’– the self, is created through conflict and resolution in childhood, and is hugely influenced by the unconscious. Individual differences rise from parental attachment, trauma, and how the psychic apparatus develops. This is similar throughout all of psychodynamic theory but is particularly crucial in the development of the self, as it is critically to psychoanalysis.
Psychometric testing may be used to determine capacity, comprehension, disability and resilience in individuals in clinical settings (Lichtenberger & Kaufman, 2013.) In the context of psychological and neuropsychological assessment, psychometric tests assess the suitability of therapies or interventions and availability of resources- although psychometric tests can be used in many other settings, such as in educational or work contexts (British Psychological Society, 2019; American Psychological Association, 2019). Clinicians use the results of psychometric tests to influence care planning, overall assessment of needs, for legal purposes, and potentially as evidence in court (Lichtenberger & Kaufman, 2013), but must be used in conjunction with other tools to give a bigger picture. The biggest issues with psychometric tests are; that they are not always appropriate for certain individuals with low motivation, they struggle to compete with physiological tests where comparable, and sometimes lack construct validity- particularly in the case of intelligence tests. Therefore, it cannot be overstated that psychometric tests can only be used as part of a wider assessment to cope with individual differences (British Psychological Society, 2019; American Psychological Association, 2019.)
This was my first ever essay at degree level. It has a lot of issues and some strengths, but overall it is a fun read!
BDSM has been defined in many ways, with the clearest definition of the term from a modern perspective specifying that “there are three different terms, there is S & M [sadism and masochism], B & D [bondage and discipline], and D & S [dominance and submission]”(Musafa,1988). Over the years, these interchangeable acronyms have formed the umbrella term of BDSM, and have been operationalised differently by different researchers. Recently, BDSM has come into mainstream consideration due to the popular ‘50 Shades of Grey’ franchise, leading some psychologists to delve deeper into the BDSM community and support the notion that BDSM is healthy and can have many benefits. However, older research condemns sadomasochistic activity; labelling them as unhealthy and psychotic. This notion is still held by much of the public, shown by the Governments ‘Digital Economy Bill’ and the debate over the influence of aggressive erotica.