Full Ebook of Introduction To Forensic and Criminal Psychology 7Th Edition Dennis Howitt Online PDF All Chapter

Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 69

Introduction to Forensic and Criminal

Psychology 7th Edition Dennis Howitt


Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://ebookmeta.com/product/introduction-to-forensic-and-criminal-psychology-7th-e
dition-dennis-howitt/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...

Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods in


Psychology: Putting Theory Into Practice 4th Edition
Dennis Howitt

https://ebookmeta.com/product/introduction-to-qualitative-
research-methods-in-psychology-putting-theory-into-practice-4th-
edition-dennis-howitt/

Research Methods in Psychology 6th Edition Dennis


Howitt

https://ebookmeta.com/product/research-methods-in-psychology-6th-
edition-dennis-howitt/

Understanding Statistics in Psychology with SPSS 8th


Edition Dennis Howitt

https://ebookmeta.com/product/understanding-statistics-in-
psychology-with-spss-8th-edition-dennis-howitt/

Introduction to forensic psychology: Research and


application 6th Edition Bartol

https://ebookmeta.com/product/introduction-to-forensic-
psychology-research-and-application-6th-edition-bartol/
Forensic Psychology and Neuropsychology for Criminal
and Civil Cases 2nd Edition Harold V. Hall

https://ebookmeta.com/product/forensic-psychology-and-
neuropsychology-for-criminal-and-civil-cases-2nd-edition-harold-
v-hall/

DiMaio's Forensic Pathology, 3rd Edition (Practical


Aspects of Criminal and Forensic Investigations)
Vincent J.M. Dimaio

https://ebookmeta.com/product/dimaios-forensic-pathology-3rd-
edition-practical-aspects-of-criminal-and-forensic-
investigations-vincent-j-m-dimaio/

Forensic and Legal Psychology: Psychological Science


Applied to Law Fourth Edition Costanzo

https://ebookmeta.com/product/forensic-and-legal-psychology-
psychological-science-applied-to-law-fourth-edition-costanzo/

Criminalistics: An Introduction to Forensic Science


Richard Saferstein

https://ebookmeta.com/product/criminalistics-an-introduction-to-
forensic-science-richard-saferstein/

Forensic Psychology 1st Edition Neil Gredecki

https://ebookmeta.com/product/forensic-psychology-1st-edition-
neil-gredecki/
Introduction to
Forensic and Criminal
Psychology

F01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 1 09/02/2022 12:44


At Pearson, we have a simple mission: to help people
make more of their lives through learning.

We combine innovative learning technology with trusted


content and educational expertise to provide engaging
and effective learning experiences that serve people
wherever and whenever they are learning.

From classroom to boardroom, our curriculum materials, digital


learning tools and testing programmes help to educate millions
of people worldwide – more than any other private enterprise.

Every day our work helps learning flourish, and


wherever learning flourishes, so do people.

To learn more, please visit us at www.pearson.com/uk

F01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 2 09/02/2022 12:45


Introduction to
Forensic and Criminal
Psychology

7th Edition

Dennis Howitt Loughborough University

Harlow, England • London • New York • Boston • San Francisco • Toronto • Sydney • Dubai • Singapore • Hong Kong
Tokyo • Seoul • Taipei • New Delhi • Cape Town • São Paulo • Mexico City • Madrid • Amsterdam • Munich • Paris • Milan

F01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 3 09/02/2022 12:45


Pearson Education Limited
KAO Two
KAO Park
Harlow CM17 9NA
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)1279 623623
Web: www.pearson.com/uk

First published 2002 (print)


Second edition published 2006 (print)
Third edition published 2009 (print)
Fourth edition published 2011 (print)
Fifth edition published 2015 (print and electronic)
Sixth edition published 2018 (print and electronic)
Seventh edition published 2022 (print and electronic)

© Pearson Education Limited 2002, 2006, 2009, 2011 (print)


© Pearson Education Limited 2015, 2018, 2022 (print and electronic)

The right of Dennis Howitt to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in
accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

The print publication is protected by copyright. Prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage
in a retrieval system, distribution or transmission in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, recording or otherwise, permission should be obtained from the publisher or, where
applicable, a licence permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom should be obtained
from the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, Barnard’s Inn, 86 Fetter Lane, London EC4A 1EN.

The ePublication is protected by copyright and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred,
distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically
permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which
it was purchased, or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised
distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and the publisher’s
rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

All trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners. The use of any trademark
in this text does not vest in the author or publisher any trademark ownership rights in such
trademarks, nor does the use of such trademarks imply any affiliation with or endorsement of this
book by such owners.

Pearson Education is not responsible for the content of third-party internet sites.

ISBN: 978-1-292-29578-7 (print)


978-1-292-29579-4 (PDF)
978-1-292-29580-0 (ePub)

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data


A catalogue record for the print edition is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data


Names: Howitt, Dennis, author.
Title: Introduction to forensic and criminal psychology / Dennis Howitt,
Loughborough University.
Description: 7th edition. | New York : Pearson Education Limited, 2022. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021062747 | ISBN 9781292295787 (hardback)
Subjects: LCSH: Criminal psychology. | Forensic psychology.
Classification: LCC HV6080 .H69 2022 | DDC 364.3--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021062747

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
26 25 24 23 22

Image on cover and chapter titles: maxkabakov/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images


Panuwat Sikham/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images
Print edition typeset in 9.5/12 pt Times LT Pro by Straive
Printed in Slovakia by Neografia

NOTE THAT ANY PAGE CROSS REFERENCES REFER TO THE PRINT EDITION

F01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 4 09/02/2022 13:53


To the continued memory of Professor Marie Jahoda who died in
2001. I have a big personal debt. Not only did she let me study on the
psychology degree course she had set up at Brunel University, but also
she showed me that some things in life are worth getting angry about.

F01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 5 09/02/2022 12:45


F01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 6 09/02/2022 12:45
Brief contents

List of figures, tables and boxes xix


Preface xxvi
Author’s acknowledgements xxviii

1 What is forensic and criminal psychology? 1


2 The social context of crime 16
3 Crime and the public 29
4 Victims of crime 44
5 Theories of crime 66
6 Juvenile offenders and beyond 85
7 Theft and other crimes against property 114
8 Violent offenders 137
9 Sexual offenders 1: rapists 166
10 Sexual offenders 2: paedophiles and child molestation 193
11 Police psychology 221
12 Terrorism and hostage-taking incidents 255
13 Eyewitness testimony 280
14 Profile analysis 1: FBI-style offender profiling 307
15 Profile analysis 2: investigative psychology, statistical
and geographical profiling 324
16 False allegations 343
17 False and true confessions 365
18 Lies, lie detecting and credibility 1: the psychology
of deception 383
19 Lies, lie detecting and credibility 2: the polygraph test,
statement validity analysis and SCAN 403
20 Children as witnesses 425

vii

F01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 7 09/02/2022 12:45


Brief contents

21 Mental disorders and crime 450


22 Mental, personality and intellectual problems in court 470
23 Judges and lawyers 487
24 Juries and decision making 509
25 Effective prison 533
26 Psychological treatments for prisoners and other offenders 550
27 Risk, recidivism and desistance 572

Glossary 601
References 615
Name Index 698
Subject Index 720
Publisher’s acknowledgements 729

viii

F01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 8 09/02/2022 12:45


Contents

List of figures, tables and boxes xix


Preface xxvi
Author’s acknowledgements xxviii

1 What is forensic and criminal psychology? 1


Overview 1
Introduction 2
Researcher-practitioners 5
History of forensic and criminal psychology 6
Conclusion 14
Further reading 15

2 The social context of crime 16


Overview 16
Introduction 17
The extent of crime 20
The extent of criminality 21
Crime rates compared internationally 22
Estimating the amount of crime 24
Life-time likelihood of being a crime victim 25
Conservative and radical interpretations 25
COVID-19 and crime 25
International variations in justice systems 26
Conclusions 28
Further reading 28

3 Crime and the public 29


Overview 29
Introduction 30
Knowledge of crime 30

ix

F01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 9 09/02/2022 12:45


Contents

What is fear of crime? 33


What influences fear of crime? 35
Theories of fear of crime 39
Conclusions 43
Further reading 43

4 Victims of crime 44
Overview 44
Introduction 45
Victim–offender overlap 45
Psychology and the victims of crime 46
PTSD and the victims of crime 47
What leads to a greater likelihood of PTSD? 50
PTSD and re-victimisation 52
PTSD among offenders 53
Post-traumatic anger 53
Psychological help for victims 54
Victim decision making 55
Counterfactual thinking 56
Victim resistance to crime 57
Restorative justice 59
Conclusions 65
Further reading 65

5 Theories of crime 66
Overview 66
Introduction 67
Neuropsychology of offending 69
Intelligence and crime 71
Psychoanalysis and crime 73
Addiction to crime 74
Eysenck’s biosocial theory of crime 76
Social learning theory 80
The social construction of crime 83
Conclusions 84
Further reading 84

6 Juvenile offenders and beyond 85


Overview 85
Introduction 86
International comparisons 86
Adolescents, crime and the family 87
Criminogenic factors in childhood 89

F01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 10 09/02/2022 12:45


Contents

Continuity of childhood and adult antisocial behaviour 91


Biological factors in antisocial behaviour 92
Two types of delinquents 97
Specific explanations of antisocial behaviour
in childhood 100
Social interventions to reduce delinquency 109
Diversion from the criminal justice system 111
Conclusions 112
Further reading 113

7 Theft and other crimes against property 114


Overview 114
Introduction 115
Illegal downloading 115
Shoplifting 116
Burglary 121
Expertise among criminals 127
Arson and pyromania 130
Conclusions 136
Further reading 136

8 Violent offenders 137


Overview 137
Introduction 138
Are violent criminals specialists? 139
Alcohol and violent crime 141
Anger and its management in violent crime 143
Media influences on violent crime 146
Theories of homicide 150
Domestic violence: forensic issues 156
Domestic violence by women against men 158
Stalking: what sort of crime? 160
Desistance from violent crime 163
Conclusions 164
Further reading 165

9 Sexual offenders 1: rapists 166


Overview 166
Introduction 167
Frequency of rape 167
Youthful sex offenders 169
Sex offenders as specialists and generalists 172
Is rape a sexual orientation? 176
Anger and hostility and sex offending 177

xi

F01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 11 09/02/2022 12:45


Contents

Patterns in rape 178


The nature of rapists 179
Rape myths 182
Rape myths and policing 184
Socio-cultural factors and sexual violence 184
More on the theory of rape 188
Synthesising explanations of sex offending 190
Offence Seriousness Escalation 191
Conclusions 192
Further reading 192

10 Sexual offenders 2: paedophiles


and child molestation 193
Overview 193
Introduction 194
Classifications of child molesters 198
How common is paedophilia? 200
The normal sex lives of paedophiles 202
The nature of paedophile offences 203
Theories of paedophilia 203
Denial and sex offending 214
Internet paedophile offenders 217
Conclusions 220
Further reading 220

11 Police psychology 221


Overview 221
Introduction 222
Police culture 223
Explaining police bias 227
The cognitive interview 230
Other types of police interview 236
Forensic hypnosis 238
Police as eyewitnesses: how accurate are they? 240
The police caution 242
Use of lethal force 244
Stress and other impacts of police work 247
Conclusions 254
Further reading 254

12 Terrorism and hostage-taking incidents 255


Overview 255
Introduction 256
The consequences of terrorism 257

xii

F01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 12 09/02/2022 12:45


Contents

The nature of terrorism 258


Mental health and personality problem issues and terrorism 262
The problem of terrorist risk assessment 265
What makes a terrorist? 267
Planning terrorist attacks 271
The end of terrorist organisations 272
Hostage barricade incidents 272
Hostage negotiation 274
Conclusions 279
Further reading 279

13 Eyewitness testimony 280


Overview 280
Introduction 281
Eyewitness testimony as a central issue in forensic
and criminal psychology 281
The accuracy of witness evidence 282
Later intrusions into eyewitness memory 283
Eyewitness evidence in court 287
Improving the validity of the line-up 290
The importance of eyewitness evidence research 298
Facial composites, age progression and identification 304
Conclusions 306
Further reading 306

14 Profile analysis 1: FBI-style offender


profiling 307
Overview 307
Introduction 308
The origins of offender profiling 309
The FBI profiling process 310
The methodology of the FBI profilers 312
Profiling and police investigations 314
An example of FBI profiling 315
What research says about profiles 316
Does profiling work? 317
Conclusions 323
Further reading 323

15 Profile analysis 2: investigative psychology,


statistical and geographical profiling 324
Overview 324
Introduction 325
Geographical profiling 325

xiii

F01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 13 09/02/2022 12:45


Contents

Criminal profiling – the research-based approach 328


The homology issue and basic theory 335
Consistency in offending 335
Crime linkage 338
Profiling and personality 340
Conclusions 342
Further reading 342

16 False allegations 343


Overview 343
Introduction 344
The police approach to false allegations 344
Pathways to false allegations 346
The recovered memory/false memory debate 348
False claims of abuse and children 355
Suggestibility 357
The diagnosticity of signs of abuse 360
In what ways are genuine allegations different? 362
Conclusions 363
Further reading 364

17 False and true confessions 365


Overview 365
Introduction 366
Methods of inducing confessions 368
Police interrogation and false confessions 370
Demonstrating different types of false confession 375
Distinguishing between true and false confessions 377
Consequences of a false confession 377
Can evidence of a confession be disregarded in court? 379
Conclusions 382
Further reading 382

18 Lies, lie detecting and credibility 1:


the psychology of deception 383
Overview 383
Introduction 384
Ekman’s theory of lie detection 384
Are professional lie detectors really no better? 387
Reliance on invalid cues to deception 390
The quest for lie detection wizards 392
Improving lie detection hit rates – cognitive overload 394
What offenders say about lying 397
Talking more for better lie detection 397

xiv

F01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 14 09/02/2022 12:45


Contents

Strategic questioning and the Strategic Use of


Evidence (SUE) technique 397
Verifiability approach to lie detection 400
Wider uses of deception research 401
Training in lie detection 402
Conclusions 402
Further reading 402

19 Lies, lie detecting and credibility 2:


the polygraph test, statement validity
analysis and SCAN 403
Overview 403
Introduction 404
The polygraph 404
Problems with the polygraph 405
Studies of the validity of polygraphy 407
Polygraphy and the post-conviction sex offender 411
Alternatives to the polygraph 413
Statement validity analysis: criterion-based content
analysis and the validity checklist 414
The validity of statement validity analysis 418
The status of criterion-based content analysis 420
Scientific content analysis (SCAN) 421
Conclusions 424
Further reading 424

20 Children as witnesses 425


Overview 425
Introduction 426
What is difficult about forensic interviews
with children? 427
The ground rules for interviews 432
Improving forensic questioning of children 434
Interviewing very young children 435
The problem of non-compliance with good questioning 436
The trade-off of accuracy against completeness 437
What do we know about interviewing children? 437
Rapport 438
Children and lying 440
Errors of omission and commission 441
Long-term influences of questioning 443
Children and line-up identifications 444
Facial fit construction 445
Interviewers and child witness testimony 445

xv

F01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 15 09/02/2022 12:45


Contents

Conclusions 449
Further reading 449

21 Mental disorders and crime 450


Overview 450
Introduction 451
Mental disorders and the criminal justice system 451
Controlling for confounding factors 452
Psychosis and criminal violence 452
Violence in the mentally ill and national trends 453
Confounding by overlapping definitions 454
The confounding effects of medication 454
The clinical sample problem 454
Misclassification of the mentally ill and violence 455
Effects of general social trends 455
Mental illness and violent crime in community samples 458
Post-traumatic stress disorder and crime 459
Clinical aspects of violence 460
Who among the mentally ill is violent? 463
Mental illness and crime in general 463
Why should there be greater criminality among
the mentally ill? 464
Violent victimisation of the mentally ill 464
The special issue of psychopaths and crime 465
Reconviction and mental illness 467
The police and mental illness 468
Conclusions 468
Further reading 469

22 Mental, personality and intellectual problems


in court 470
Overview 470
Introduction 471
Competence/capacity/fitness to stand trial 472
Psychopaths and mental illness 478
Post-traumatic stress disorder as a defence 481
Conclusions 486
Further reading 486

23 Judges and lawyers 487


Overview 487
Introduction 488
The adversarial and inquisitorial types of trial 488
Are trial outcomes predictable? 491
The presentation of evidence in court 492

xvi

F01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 16 09/02/2022 12:45


Contents

Underlying narrative of legal arguments 493


Other lawyer tactics 496
Is expert evidence understood in court? 500
Judgements 501
Decision making in court 502
Theories of judicial decision making 502
Conclusions 508
Further reading 508

24 Juries and decision making 509


Overview 509
Introduction 510
Scientific jury selection and litigation consultation 510
Simple improvements to aid jurors 514
The effect of jury size and decision rules 518
How real juries make decisions 519
Non-evidential evidence 531
Conclusions 532
Further reading 532

25 Effective prison 533


Overview 533
Introduction 534
Prison as a therapeutic community 535
Violence in prison 536
Therapeutic fixes for prison violence 539
A quick fix for prison aggression? 539
Suicide in prison 540
The effectiveness of prison 545
‘Nothing works’ 545
Prison work works 547
The many dimensions of psychology in prison 549
Conclusions 549
Further reading 549

26 Psychological treatments for prisoners


and other offenders 550
Overview 550
Introduction 551
Sex offender therapy in prison 552
Does treatment work? 554
Treating violent criminals 559
The Aggression Training Programme (ART) 561
Other treatments for violent offending 562

xvii

F01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 17 09/02/2022 12:45


Contents

Anger and violence 563


Manualisation 563
The high-risk offender problem 565
Conclusions 571
Further reading 571

27 Risk, recidivism and desistance 572


Overview 572
Introduction 573
Risk assessment 574
Just what are dynamic risk factors? 576
What does research say about risk factors? 579
Clinical judgement versus statistical assessment 580
Some structured clinical methods 582
Predictors may be specific rather than general 584
Statistical or actuarial prediction 584
Predictive factors 587
Issues in the assessment of risk and dangerousness 593
Offence paralleling behaviour 596
Protective factors in risk assessment 599
Conclusions 600
Further reading 600

Glossary 601
References 615
Name Index 698
Subject Index 720
Publisher’s acknowledgements 729

xviii

F01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 18 09/02/2022 12:45


List of figures, tables
and boxes

Figures
1.1 Major components of forensic psychology 6
1.2 Different components in the historical origins of forensic and criminal psychology 7
2.1 Crime as estimated from victimisation survey data 18
2.2 Crime as shown in police recorded crime data 19
2.3 Different ways of estimating levels of crime 19
3.1 Stages in the process of crime described by Ainsworth 31
3.2 Media effects on viewer’s worldview according to the cultivation analysis model 39
3.3 Winkel’s model of the fear of crime 42
4.1 Some diagnostic features of PTSD 48
4.2 Affectivity types and effects of trauma 50
4.3 Counterfactual thinking and victim self-blame 57
4.4 Elements of rational choice theory 58
4.5 The relationship of procedural justice to compliance with the law 61
5.1 How crime can be explained at different levels of analysis 67
5.2 Levels of explanation of crime 68
5.3 Changes and developments in Eysenck’s theory of crime as outlined by Rafter (2006) 77
5.4 Basics of Agnew’s Strain Theory 82
5.5 Agnew’s main categories of strain 82
6.1 Criminal behaviour in the parent and offspring generations of groups of repeat
homicide offenders and matched controls 88
6.2 Kohlberg’s Model of Moral Development 101
6.3 Widely established psychological model of aggression according to Haapasalo
and Tremblay (1994) 104
6.4 Isomorphism versus generalised pathology as a consequence of abuse 105
6.5 Psychological models of the cycle of violence 105
6.6 How anger partially mediates between being a victim of bullying and non-violent
delinquency (based on the work of Sigfusdottir, Gudjonsson and Sigurdsson (2010)) 107
6.7 Theory summary: Agnew’s Strain Theory applied to bullying and its victims 108
7.1 The relationship between personal morality and situational morality and shoplifting 116

xix

F01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 19 09/02/2022 12:45


List of figures, tables and boxes

7.2 DSM criteria for a diagnosis of kleptomania (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) 119
7.3 Some of the main theories concerning the drugs–crime relationship according to Bennett,
Holloway and Farrington (2008) 122
7.4 The Matching Heuristic Model applied to a burglar’s decision-making process 127
7.5 Background factors in male arsonists 132
7.6 The different trajectories leading to firesetting 133
7.7 Gannon et al.’s model of firesetting 134
8.1 The life-course persistent offenders 140
8.2 Triggers to violence in coding scheme 142
8.3 The relation between threat and violence 144
8.4 Contrasting conceptualisations of anger 144
8.5 Leyton’s epochs of murder 151
8.6 Multi-factorial model of serial killing 155
8.7 The relationship between cycles of abuse and economic stress 156
8.8 Psychopathic stalkers are uncommon but they show some of the characteristics above 162
8.9 The main factors leading to desistance 164
9.1 The process of attrition in the processing of rape allegations 168
9.2 The General Theory of Crime 172
9.3 Rapists and child molesters as versatile and specialist offenders 174
9.4 Crossover behaviours in offenders showing the percentage of crossovers of various types
in the total sample of offenders 175
9.5 Some aspects of criminal careers 175
9.6 Internalisation, externalisation and sexualisation as concepts in the explanation of
sex offending 191
10.1 The main groups of attitude to sex offender items with examples 196
10.2 The preconditions model of molestation 204
10.3 The clinical/cognitive model 205
10.4 Vulnerability factors in the childhoods of young sex offenders 207
10.5 The sexualisation model 209
10.6 Major themes and sub-themes in sex offender denial 215
10.7 Characteristic patterns of offender types 219
11.1 The basic procedural steps for the revised cognitive interview according to Wells,
Memon and Penrod (2007) and Fisher and Geiselman (1992) 233
11.2 Police officers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of different aspects of the cognitive
interview 235
11.3 The sequence of interviews in a police investigation 237
11.4 A model for the effects of police stress 248
11.5 The components of emotional regulation in police officers 251
12.1 Types of terrorist attack according to Yokota et al. (2007) 259
12.2 The process of terrorist identity formation 270
12.3 The sequence of activities planned by the ‘attackers’ 271
12.4 The Behavioural Influence Stairway Model 277
12.5 The four phases proposed by Madrigal et al. (2009) 277
13.1 A model of the effects of CCTV loosely based on Williams (2007) 285
13.2 The perfect calibration between confidence and accuracy 289

xx

F01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 20 09/02/2022 12:45


List of figures, tables and boxes

13.3 How to plan a satisfactory line-up according to the suggestions of Brewer


and Palmer (2010) 294
13.4 The no-cost view of eyewitness procedure reform 295
13.5 The trade-off view of eyewitness reform 296
14.1 Major stages of FBI crime scene profiling 310
14.2 Features of FBI-style clinical profiling and statistical profiling 312
14.3 Comparing profilers with others in terms of accuracy 321
14.4 The homology hypothesis that there is a convergence between characteristics
of the crime scene and the characteristics of the offender 322
15.1 The basics of geographical offender profiling 326
15.2 The statistical approach to profiling 328
15.3 Schematic representation of crime scene characteristics 329
15.4 Some of the different types of consistency between the crime scene characteristics
and the offender 335
15.5 Consistency of crime scene themes over serial killings 336
15.6 The different typologies of rape evaluated in Goodwill et al.’s (2009) study 337
15.7 Behaviour involves personality characteristics plus situational characteristics 341
15.8 Illustrating the negative relationship between victim and sex offender age 341
15.9 Age of victim and offender relationships taking into account the moderating
effects of planning and gratuitous violence 342
16.1 Possible mechanisms of repressed memories 351
16.2 Two types of recovered memory claims (Geraerts et al.) 2008 352
17.1 Kassin’s argument concerning the power of confession evidence 366
17.2 The major types of reasons given for confessing based on Gudjonsson and
Sigurdsson’s (1999) analysis 367
17.3 The Reid steps during the interrogation process 369
17.4 Some of the differences between false confessors and other youngsters
according to Gudjonnson et al. (2007) 374
17.5 Interrogation tactics and the percentage believing that they would lead
to false confessions 379
18.1 Showing the tendency to invent a ‘false’ postcode but which reveals
the place lived in 386
18.2 Illustrating how false postcodes do not correspond to real ones 386
18.3 Signal detection theory applied to lie detection 388
18.4 The lie detection process according to the RAM model 388
18.5 Possible circumstances where lie detection would be good 394
18.6 The cognitive load approach to making lie detection easier 394
19.1 The phases of the FBI polygraph process 405
19.2 The basic polygraph equation 406
19.3 Possible outcomes of the polygraph test 408
19.4 The accuracy of the CQT polygraph technique based on past studies 410
19.5 The components of a statement validity analysis 414
19.6 The structure of a statement validity analysis 415
19.7 Criterion-based content analysis: some aspects of truthful narratives 416
20.1 Open-ended versus focused/closed questions as they might appear in a child
sexual abuse interview 434

xxi

F01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 21 09/02/2022 12:45


List of figures, tables and boxes

20.2 Types of question 442


20.3 The inverted pyramid of questioning 442
20.4 The design of London, Bruck and Melnyk’s (2009) study of the long-term effects of
suggestive interviewing 443
20.5 The proposed underlying dimensions of professional attitudes to child protection decisions 448
21.1 How the concept of mental disorder includes mental illness and mental incapacities 452
21.2 The five axes of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 456
21.3 The World Health Organization’s system for classifying mental and related disorders 457
21.4 The Four Factors underlying the PCL-R Measure of Psychopathy 466
22.1 Possible relevance of mental health considerations at the various stages of the criminal
justice system 471
22.2 Varieties of intellectual disability 483
23.1 Adversarial versus inquisitorial trial systems 489
23.2 The stages of examination and cross examination 498
23.3 The four conditions of Jones and Harrison’s (2009) study 499
23.4 What cards need to be turned over to test the rule that if there was a vowel on one
side there is an even number on the other? 505
23.5 The basic signal detection problem applied to judicial judgements 506
23.6 The dangerous decisions theory of how assessments of credibility are used in
the courtroom 507
24.1 Scientific jury selection 512
24.2 The key features of Horowitz’s design to investigate scientific jury selection 513
24.3 Different levels of jury deliberation in psychological research 520
24.4 Kuhn, Weinstock and Flaton’s 1994 theory of juror decision making 523
24.5 When extra-legal or legally irrelevant information may affect jury decisions 528
24.6 Epstein’s Cognitive Experiential Self Theory 529
25.1 A comparison of deprivation theory and importation theory as explanations of
prison violence 537
25.2 Prisoners in general compared with those identified as being a suicide risk on some
clinical indicators 544
26.1 Components of the National Anger Management Package 560
26.2 A summary of the RNR principles 568
26.3 Features of treatment programmes aimed at different offender risk levels 569
27.1 Aspects of the assessment of dangerousness 581
27.2 Some well-known structured risk assessment methods 583
27.3 The key stages in constructing a recidivism prediction instrument 585
27.4 Some of the good predictors of sexual recidivism and some of the poorer ones 588
27.5 The unlikely steps in a juvenile sex offender’s thinking which would lead to a
deterrent effect of sex offender registration and notification laws 593
27.6 One-year and five-year recidivism for sexual offences 598

xxii

F01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 22 09/02/2022 12:45


List of figures, tables and boxes

Tables
2.1 Generational and racial trends in the likelihood of imprisonment in the United States
by the age of 30–34 years 21
2.2 Prevalence rates of crime for England and Wales, the United States, Australia and
Canada in 2003/4 23
2.3 Some international comparisons of criminal justice systems 27
3.1 Some international comparisons for indicators of fear of crime 33
5.1 Some theories of crime and the types of psychology they involve 69
6.1 Diagnostic criteria for childhood conduct disorder and antisocial personality disorder 91
6.2 Major predictors of antisocial personality at different ages 92
8.1 The growth of violent and other crime in the twentieth century 138
9.1 The family and social characteristics of different types of youthful male sexual offenders
obtained from meta-analysis 170
14.1 The relationship between crime scene type and aspects of investigation 311
15.1 The relationship between crime scene theme and offender characteristics 331
15.2 Crime scene characteristics at three different murders 332
15.3 A simple matrix of the co-occurrence of crime scene characteristics 333
16.1 The outcomes of using an indicator (or sign) to predict abuse 361
19.1 The different types of polygraph test question 409
25.1 Treatment strategies associated with criminality 535
27.1 Predicting recidivism 585
27.2 Theoretical accuracy in a sample of 200 recidivists and 200 non-recidivists using a
90 per cent accurate test 585
27.3 Theoretical accuracy in a sample of 40 recidivists and 360 non-recidivists using a
90 per cent accurate test 586
27.4 A simple prediction table based on Gretenkord’s data 587

Boxes
1.1 Forensic psychology in action: The expert witness 4
3.1 Key concept: Moral panics 32
3.2 Key concept: Meta-analysis 34
4.1 Key concept: Procedural justice 60
6.1 Key concept: Factors protecting against delinquency 95
6.2 Controversy: Do predictors predict participation in crime or frequency of participation? 109
7.1 Controversy: Are shoplifters kleptomaniacs? 118
9.1 Forensic psychology in action: Phallometry (also known as plethysmography) 180
9.2 Controversy: Sexual fantasy and sex offending 185
10.1 Controversy: Pornography and sex offending 196
10.2 Key concept: Cycles of abuse 206
10.3 Controversy: Cognitive distortions 211
11.1 Controversy: False facts and forensic psychology 226
11.2 Forensic psychology in action: Why investigations go wrong 251
12.1 Controversy: Is fingerprint evidence unreliable? Confirmation bias in legal settings 259

xxiii

F01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 23 09/02/2022 12:45


List of figures, tables and boxes

12.2 Key concept: The Stockholm syndrome 274


13.1 Forensic psychology in action: CCTV video evidence 284
13.2 Controversy: Critiques of expert evidence in court 299
14.1 Key concept: Crime signature and modus operandi 313
14.2 Controversy: Is criminal profiling just common sense? 316
15.1 Key concept: Facet theory and smallest space analysis 331
16.1 Forensic psychology in action: Testing for suggestibility 358
17.1 Forensic psychology in action: Who confesses falsely? 373
18.1 Forensic psychology in action: Are people good at telling lies to the police? 385
19.1 Controversy: Statement validity analysis in forensic settings 423
20.1 Controversy: Anatomical dolls and the diagnosis of abuse 429
20.2 Controversy: Communicative competence in the courtroom and those working
with children 438
21.1 Controversy: Psychiatric diagnosis 455
21.2 Controversy: Does research on violence and psychosis need a change of direction? 462
22.1 Forensic psychology in action: Insanity in court 475
22.2 Forensic psychology in action: Victims and learning disability 482
24.1 Controversy: Mock jury studies 515
24.2 Forensic psychology in action: Pre-trial publicity 520
25.1 Controversy: What research designs work? 547
26.1 Forensic psychology in action: A high-risk offender treatment programme 566
27.1 Key concept: Risk management 576
27.2 Controversy: Why is clinical judgement bad at risk assessment? 586
27.3 Forensic psychology in action: Convicted sex offenders back in the community 588
27.4 Key concept: The Good Lives Model of offender rehabilitation 594

xxiv

F01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 24 09/02/2022 12:45


Pearson’s Commitment to
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Pearson is dedicated to creating bias-free content that reflects the diversity, depth
and breadth of all learners’ lived experiences. We embrace the many dimensions of
diversity including, but not limited to, race, ethnicity, gender, sex, sexual orientation,
socioeconomic status, ability, age and religious or political beliefs.

Education is a powerful force for equity and change in our world. It has the potential
to deliver opportunities that improve lives and enable economic mobility. As we work
with authors to create content for every product and service, we acknowledge our
responsibility to demonstrate inclusivity and incorporate diverse scholarship so that
everyone can achieve their potential through learning. As the world’s leading learning
company, we have a duty to help drive change and live up to our purpose to help more
people create a better life for themselves and to create a better world.

Our ambition is to purposefully contribute to a world where:

• Everyone has an equitable and lifelong opportunity to succeed through learning.


• Our educational products and services are inclusive and represent the rich diversity of
learners.
• Our educational content accurately reflects the histories and lived experiences of the
learners we serve.
• Our educational content prompts deeper discussions with students and motivates
them to expand their own learning and worldview.

We are also committed to providing products that are fully accessible to all learners. As
per Pearson’s guidelines for accessible educational Web media, we test and retest the
capabilities of our products against the highest standards for every release, following the
WCAG guidelines in developing new products for copyright year 2022 and beyond. You
can learn more about Pearson’s commitment to accessibility at:
https://www.pearson.com/us/accessibility.html

While we work hard to present unbiased, fully accessible content, we want to hear
from you about any concerns or needs regarding this Pearson product so that we can
investigate and address them.

• Please contact us with concerns about any potential bias at:


https://www.pearson.com/report-bias.html
• For accessibility-related issues, such as using assistive technology with Pearson
products, alternative text requests, or accessibility documentation, email the Pearson
Disability Support team at:
[email protected]

F01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 25 09/02/2022 12:45


Preface

The writing of this seventh edition of Introduction to the contrary, I would argue that the context of the research
Forensic and Criminal Psychology was interrupted by the is integral to a full appreciation of any research. So through-
COVID-19 pandemic, so the updating covers a four-year out the book it should generally be clear just where in the
period. It is important to me that this book reflects the world the research was carried out. This should be informa-
most significant up-to-date research and ideas in the field. tive but is never an excuse for neglecting the research. That
Our understanding of issues gradually evolves with every the research was done, say, in Poland or Australia does not
new theory and research study. Forensic and criminal psy- mean that it has no relevance to the United Kingdom. But
chology is not simply a compendium of settled facts. The its relevance will always need to be considered. Forensic
disparity of voices on a topic is essential and needs to be and criminal psychology is international in its nature and
demonstrated in any textbook. Consequently I have textbooks ought to reflect this.
endeavoured to represent this variety of views as well as The question of the amount of detail to include is a
changes in the dominant views within the field. This is not complex matter. I firmly believe that sufficient detail
entirely an orderly, even and predictable process. What should be provided to enable the reader to do something
appeared to be the case in the first edition of the text may with the material apart from merely citing it. The stimu-
no longer apply or may have substantially reversed. These lus to thought lies in the detail provided. There are many
developments exemplify not a series of errors but the way textbooks which are structured around a commentary or
in which disciplines advance. We can see this both in the linking text bolstered by numerous citations of the litera-
short term and the long term. It should also be possible to ture, with no clear relationship between the two. Some
spot the unevenness of this progress. In its simplest form, academic writing, if not a great deal, is like that. This
over the various editions once-hot topics have gradually imposes severe limits on what the student can learn and
received less attention and Cinderella topics have blos- also constrains the critical thinking which academics cher-
somed markedly. At its most mundane, this means that ish. It is impossible to form an opinion or give a critique
some chapters have been updated with lots of new mate- on something one has only read a sentence about. My
rial, while a very few have changed little. No doubt there preference is to give the reader something to think about
will be a reversal of the fortunes of some of these in future and possibly question. Just how does a particular research
years. Nevertheless, some traditional topics have been study lead to a particular conclusion and is this the only
retained simply because they were important in the early possible conclusion? How did this research develop from
days of the discipline. This is particularly the case with previous research? How does this research lead to future
FBI-style offender profiling. Nevertheless, there is a great research? The questions which the reader should be ask-
deal to be learnt from topics like this so that mistakes and ing are much more obvious when a text provides material
inadequacies are not repeated. to get one’s teeth into. Of course, the text asks critical
I am pernickety about contextualising research. Because questions where these need to be addressed – especially
legal and criminal justice systems are not the same in dif- because they are part of a debate among professionals in
ferent parts of the world, we should acknowledge this fact. the field. When deciding whether to include a new piece
It is important to understand just what this variation is. This of research, the fundamental criterion is whether it intro-
cannot be done by simply ignoring context – as has so fre- duces a significant new idea or question. In what way does
quently been done in the parent discipline, psychology. On the research change the way that we look at things? In

xxvi

F01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 26 09/02/2022 12:45


Preface

what way does the new work place established wisdom system was the six months I spent at Wakefield Prison, in
on the back foot? Yorkshire. My strongest recollection of this period was
That I rely heavily on the judgement of others when mak- the emerging realisation that, for the most part, the men
ing my decisions is not only self-evident but also unavoidable. there seemed like ordinary men despite the fact that they
What the social network of forensic and criminal psycholo- were incestuous fathers or killers or had committed some
gists collectively judge to be important is one way of defining other unfathomable crime. Nobody at university, staff or
what the discipline is, after all. I also consciously prioritise student, shared my interest in the field of crime and I had no
theory in the text for much the same reason. Theory which idea of how my fumbling research interest could be turned
synthesises what has gone before helps the text tell a coherent into good psychology. Sex offenders fascinated me and I
story. Often the theories, in themselves, are not fully testable tried to research incestuous fathers but this was not a seri-
in the empiricist tradition, but they do have something to say ous topic for research in the prevailing ethos of those days.
and they have to say it about a substantial chunk of research. A few years on and the sexual abuse of children became
Similarly, modern ways of synthesising research findings a massive area for research in several disciplines. Perhaps
such as the systematic review and meta-analysis are integral I could have been responsible for that, but I was not. The
to the presentation of research findings in the text. One rea- boat was missed. Others, a little later, had much better ideas
son is the impossibility of incorporating the vast number of of what were the important things to think about, research
research studies into the text without the compact summaries and practise. But the field of forensic and criminal psychol-
which meta-analysis, for example, provides. Of course, there ogy has, nevertheless, been a stimulus to my own work and
are problems with systematic reviews and meta-analyses but its massive development over the years a delight to watch.
they point in directions which might otherwise have been Psychology students today who study forensic and criminal
obscured by the sheer amount of the evidence. Anyway, psychology are exposed to the power of research and theory
they are part and parcel of modern research and need to be in creating understanding of one of the fundamental institu-
included if only for that reason alone. Researchers refer to tions of the state – the criminal justice system.
them and use them a lot. Better get used to them.
All of this is very different from the situation when Dennis Howitt
I was a student. My first real contact with the criminal justice

xxvii

F01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 27 09/02/2022 12:45


Author’s
acknowledgements

A curious thing about books is that only the authors’ names are all a joy to work with. Thanks to the internet they are
are to be found on the cover. However, there would be no widely spaced around the world. It is very welcome to work
book to hold in your hands if it were left to the authors with colleagues in India. Several editions of this book were
alone. Authors are dependent on numerous enormously written in Southern India though not this particular one
talented people who make them appear far more able than regrettably.
they actually are. Take proof reading as a simple example. The following is a list of those who I wish to thank but
If I am faced with this task for a manuscript I will miss it is also a list of awesome folk:
the vast proportion of the typos and, worse still, change
Catherine Yates (Portfolio Manager)
the text willy-nilly. That will never do. Fortunately help is
Michael Heritage (Cover Designer)
at hand in the form of people with the proof reading skills
Divya Sharma (Content Producer)
for which I was back of the queue. They also got ahead of
Ajanta Bhattacharjee (Managing Content Producer)
me in the clever queue. And to top it all they are so nice
Straive, Chithra Rajasekaran (Project Manager)
and polite even when exasperation with the author must be
Antonia Maxwell (Copyeditor)
beyond tolerance.
Jonathon Price (Proofreader)
Much the same is true of all of the other individuals
that I wish to thank but in their own distinct ways. They Thank you is not enough – gratitude is closer.

xxviii

F01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 28 09/02/2022 12:45


Chapter 1
What is forensic and criminal
psychology?
Overview
• The strictest definition regards forensic psychology as psychology applied to the work of courts of law.
Nevertheless, often the term is used more generally to include all aspects of criminal justice.
• The term ‘forensic and criminal psychology’ is used in this book to describe the very wide discipline of
psychology applied to the law, legal system, victims and law breakers.
• The disciplines of psychology and the law both concern human nature but they have many incompatibilities.
When lawyers and psychologists use identical words, different meanings may be intended.
• The twin skills of ‘practitioner’ and ‘researcher’ are involved in the development of forensic and criminal
psychology. Practitioners are routinely expected to pursue research.
• Histories of forensic and criminal psychology depend on the finishing point rather than the starting point.
Clinical psychologists, for example, may see the history primarily in terms of how concepts of mental illness
and other vulnerabilities developed within the legal system and the need for expert advice to inform courts
of law. On the other hand, academic psychologists may see the history as lying in the work of European and
US academics around the start of the twentieth century.
• The growth of forensic and criminal psychology became rapid in the late twentieth century and up to now.
Prior to this interest in the field was somewhat spasmodic, perhaps minimal. Nevertheless, the discipline
had much earlier roots in crucial legal changes which demanded psychological expertise.
• Forensic and criminal psychology benefits from being a truly international discipline. It unites psychologists
from a variety of fields of psychology, though it can now be regarded as a specialism in its own right.

M01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 1 07/02/2022 07:18


What is forensic and criminal psychology?

Introduction are just part. The work of psychologists in the police and
prison services is clearly relevant to courts of law, though
they may only rarely, if ever, work directly in courts. Cur-
As with many aspects of psychology, providing a con-
rently, forensic psychology is defined to also include activi-
cise definition of forensic and criminal psychology is not
ties beyond courts of law by professional associations. It
straightforward. Forensic psychology literally is psychol-
is worthwhile gleaning definitions of forensic psychology/
ogy to do with courts of law. The words ‘forensic’ and
psychologists from their websites:
‘forum’ have the same Latin origins. A ‘forum’ is merely
a room for public debate, such as a court of law is, hence Forensic Psychology is the application of psychology
the word ‘forensic’. Criminal psychology is easier to define within the legal system to create safer communities and
since it is mainly to do with psychological aspects of crim- to assist people to find pathways away from criminal
inal behaviour, such as the origins and development of behaviour.
criminality. It is a long-established term in psychology. In British Psychological Society (2021)
practice, the term forensic psychology is applied far more
Forensic psychology is a specialty in professional psy-
widely than courts of law and includes the entire criminal
chology characterized by activities primarily intended to
justice system, such as prisons and policing. The law deals
provide professional psychological expertise within the
with virtually every aspect of life and forensic and crimi-
judicial and legal systems.
nal psychology reflects this diversity. In court it is likely
American Psychological Association (2021)
that psychologists, no matter what their specialism, will be
asked to provide expert psychological evidence on all sorts Forensic psychologists are scientist-practitioners. They
of matters. Which begs the question of when is and when apply psychological knowledge, theory and skills to the
is not a psychologist a forensic and criminal psychologist? understanding and functioning of legal and criminal jus-
Currently, many psychologists work primarily in the crimi- tice systems, and to conducting research in relevant areas.
nal justice system (i.e. police, criminal courts and prisons). Australian Psychological Society (2021)
Should they all be classified as forensic psychologists?
Terminology has changed somewhat over the years. Collectively, these definitions make it clear that forensic
For example, in the 1980s and 1990s when the field was psychology is an applied, professional discipline with an
fast becoming established, some influential psychologists emphasis on practice. This is what approved training pro-
defined forensic psychology in terms of the professional grammes provide. However, there are many academic psy-
activities of practitioners working primarily or almost chologists who do pertinent research in the field without
exclusively in law courts. Gudjonsson and Haward (1998) this practitioner orientation. The contexts in which practi-
were proponents of such a viewpoint when they defined tioners work are various (Wrightsman, 2001).
‘forensic psychology’ as: Once one could find suggestions that the definition
of forensic psychology lacked consensus (e.g. McGuire,
. . . that branch of applied psychology which is con- 1997) or that the use of the term ‘forensic’ was disorderly
cerned with the collection, examination and presentation and chaotic (Stanik, 1992). Currently, as we have seen,
of evidence for judicial purposes. (p. 1) there seems to be much more agreement, perhaps because
of the very broad definitions currently employed.
Crucial to this definition is the use of the terms ‘evidence’ The organisational infrastructure of forensic psychology
and ‘judicial’. Whether or not they intended this, Gudjon- has developed substantially. It is important to differentiate
sson and Haward appear to limit forensic psychology to between the field of forensic psychology and identifying
legal evidence primarily for the use of lawyers and judges. who should be entitled to call themselves forensic psychol-
Moreover, the phrase ‘judicial purposes’ seems to be con- ogists. The first (establishing what forensic is) is essentially
ceived no more widely than the purposes of courts of law. addressed by all of the definitions discussed so far. The
Some of their contemporaries also defined forensic psy- question of who is qualified to call themselves a forensic
chology as referring to the work of psychologists working psychologist needs to be approached in a different way.
in close collaboration with officials of the court: This involves identifying the nature of the skills and knowl-
edge required by anyone working in the field, apart from a
[forensic psychology is] the provision of psychologi-
basic training in psychology itself. In the United Kingdom,
cal information for the purpose of facilitating a legal
it has been suggested that forensic psychologists (i.e. all
decision.
chartered forensic psychologists) should possess the fol-
(Blackburn, 1996: 7)
lowing knowledge and skills (DCLP Training Committee,
These are narrow and specific definitions. They exclude 1994). The list would probably be much the same else-
much of the criminal justice system of which the courts where in the world, though the precise mix of skills would

M01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 2 01/02/2022 13:24


Introduction

vary according to the area of practice within the field of individuals that is distinct from the social context of crime
forensic psychology: and the criminal justice system. Thus criminal psychology
involves knowledge and skills which substantially overlap
• An understanding of the conceptual basis of their work
with those of forensic psychologists described above. Per-
context in terms of:
haps the main difference between the two is that forensic
• the psychology relevant to the study of criminal psychology may involve the civil law as well as the criminal
behaviour; law. The phrase ‘forensic and criminal psychology’ used in
• the legal framework including the law and structure this book tacitly acknowledges difficulties in defining the
of the criminal justice system, for example, of the ambits of both ‘forensic’ and ‘criminal psychology’. There
country in which they practise. is no rigid distinction between the two.
• An understanding of the achievements and potential Other terms sometimes used for this field of psychology
achievements of the application of psychology to: include ‘psychology and the law’ and ‘legal psychology’.
• criminal investigation processes; These more clearly hint at an interface between the two
• legal processes; disciplines and practices – psychology and the law. Again,
• custodial processes; there is some merit in a designation of this sort. In par-
• treatment processes (for both offenders and victims). ticular, it stresses the two disciplines in combination. The
implication is that both lawyers and psychologists may be
• A sufficiently detailed understanding of the psychology
interested in similar issues but from their differing perspec-
relevant to the following individuals, including adults
tives. While the terms suggest that researchers/practitioners
and children where appropriate:
should be knowledgeable about both psychology and the
• offenders (whether or not mentally disordered); law, this is also a stumbling block. Very few researchers/
• victims; practitioners are trained in both disciplines in depth. Terms
• witnesses; like ‘psychology and the law’ imply a comfortable relation-
• investigators. ship between the two. In the USA, forensic psychology is
• An understanding of the practical aspects of forensic differentiated from what is termed ‘correctional psychol-
psychology in terms of the following: ogy’ which is essentially psychology applied to the prison
or correctional system (Neal, 2018). Prison psychology
• different demands for assessment;
is the term used essentially for this elsewhere. In recent
• processes of investigation, prosecution and defence;
years there has been a movement to define a field known
• decision making in respect of innocence, guilt, sen-
tencing, custody, treatment and rehabilitation; as investigative psychology, which seems to embrace quite
• approaches to assessment;
a substantial chunk of what forensic psychology covers. So
• professional criteria for report production and giving
topics such as eyewitness testimony and deception detec-
of testimony. tion are included alongside the more statistical forms of
profiling (Granhag and Vrij, 2010) – matters relevant to
• This is combined with an additional requirement of hav- police investigations.
ing had extensive practical experience in at least one Attempts at a marriage between psychology and the
area of forensic psychology. law face difficulties. Both psychologists and lawyers face
Underlying this list is the view that the education and problems with each other’s discipline. Psychology is not a
training of all psychologists working in the forensic field compact discipline united by a single theory or approach –
should be broad and comprehensive, encompassing a wide it is a broad church which psychologists themselves often
range of knowledge, skills and abilities. It is not enough to find lacking in coherence. Clifford (1995) suggested that
know the minimum to function on a day-to-day basis. lawyers should be excused for regarding psychology as a
Defining criminal psychology is not straightforward ‘bewildering confederacy’ (p. 26). Eastman (2000) wrote
because it is not a title that is claimed by any significantly of the two disciplines as if they were different countries –
large or influential group of psychologists. Nevertheless, like Legaland and Mentaland. These differ, as countries do, in
forensic psychology, criminal psychology may be defined terms of their culture, language, history and terrain. When
relatively narrowly or somewhat broadly. The narrow defi- the inhabitants of these two lands mix, things are difficult
nition would merely suggest that it concerns all aspects of because they have big differences of purpose. Neverthe-
the psychology of the criminal. A difficulty with this is that less, there are times when the people of Legaland need the
it seems to concentrate solely on the offender. Does it or help of people from Mentaland but Legaland language is
should it also include psychological aspects of the wider confusing to the people of Mentaland – and vice versa.
experience of the criminal, for example, in courts of law or Baron (2019) characterises the way that legal people under-
prison? Criminality, as we shall see, is not a characteristic of stand human behaviour as being a form of folk psychology.

M01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 3 01/02/2022 13:24


What is forensic and criminal psychology?

This, she suggests, is a belief that the causes of a person’s might suggest. Too much emphasis is placed in forensic
behaviour are primarily regarded as being the result of psychology, the argument goes, on the narrow focus of what
mental states. So beliefs, emotions and desires are seen as happens in courts of law. This is to neglect the wider range
commonsense psychological explanations of what causes of settings in which psychologists may have a lot to offer
people to do things. These are attributes of the mind. This in collaborations with lawyers. For example, there might be
form of folk psychology explanation tends to minimise the a great deal to gain when psychologists and lawyers work
importance of other possible causes of our actions such as together and promote legal reforms, both in terms of the
our social environment. contents of the law and the legal procedures through which
For others, such as Carson (2011), ideas of the incom- the law is administered. In addition, civil and criminal cases
patibility of psychological thinking and legal thinking can both involve investigations and psychologists may have a
be overstated. Although the two value different sorts of lot to offer in terms of improving such investigations. That
knowledge and argument differently, this is less serious is, psychology and the law might make better bedfellows
than the general view among psychologists and lawyers away from legal decision making in court.

BOX 1.1 Forensic psychology in action

The expert witness


Given that psychologists are experts in many different The Daubert decision currently influences which
aspects of human nature and behaviour, it is not ‘experts’ may be allowed to give evidence in American
surprising that their knowledge is frequently applicable courts. The Daubert case was about a child, Jason
in court. The extent of their involvement is dependent Daubert, who was born with missing fingers and bones.
on a number of factors. According to Groscup, Penrod, His mother had taken an anti-morning-sickness drug and
Studebaker, Huss, and O’Neil (2002), a quarter of sued the manufacturers. Principles designed to exclude
expert witnesses in American criminal appeal hearings ‘junk’ science were formulated as a consequence of
were from the social and behavioural sciences. Different what happened in court. What is interesting is that the
legal jurisdictions have different requirements of decision stipulated what should be regarded as proper
expert witnesses and certain expert evidence may not scientific methodology. That is, it should be based on
be admissible in all legal systems. An expert witness the testing of hypotheses that are refutable. Furthermore,
differs from any other witness in court since they are in assessing the admissibility of the expert evidence,
allowed to express opinions rather than simply report attention should be paid to issues such as whether the
facts. Expert witnesses are required to establish their research had been subject to review by others working in
scientific credentials in court and their opinions will the field (Ainsworth, 1998). Perry (1997) lists Daubert
normally be supported by scientific evidence. The criteria as including:
expert witness should not offer evidence outside the • whether the technique or theory is verifiable;
range of their expertise. These matters are normally • whether the technique or theory is generally accepted
determined at the stage of the voir dire (usually within the scientific community;
described as a trial within a trial but essentially a • what the likelihood of error in the research study is.
preliminary review of matters related to the trial, such
as jurors and evidence, before the trial proper begins) in This obviously causes problems for expertise that is not
the Anglo-American system. part of this model of science: for example, therapists
giving evidence on the false memory syndrome which
Legal jurisdictions vary in terms of how the expert
involves a fierce debate between practitioners and
witness is employed. In the Anglo-American system,
academics (see Box 16.1).
the adversarial system, this is normally the decision
In England and Wales, the main guidelines according
of the prosecution or the defence. Inquisitorial legal
to Nijboer (1995) are as follows (see also Crown
systems such as those common in Continental Europe
Prosecution Service, 2014):
(Stephenson, 1992) are likely to use experts employed
by the court itself (Nijboer, 1995) and, furthermore, they • Matters that the judge believes are within the capacity
will be regarded much as any other witness. Guidelines of the ordinary person – the juror – in terms of their
for expert witnesses are available (e.g. Brodsky, 2013, knowledge and experience are not for comment by the
British Psychological Society, 2017a). expert witness.

M01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 4 01/02/2022 13:24


Researcher-practitioners

• The expert witness cannot give evidence that ‘usurps’ of psychologist expert witnesses to reduce complex
the role of the judge and jury in connection with the matters to fixed characteristics of the individual. So the
principal issue with which the trial is concerned. idea of fitness to plead is regarded in the thinking of
• Expert opinion is confined to matters that are some psychologists as a characteristic of some
admissible evidence. individuals – that is, it is a feature of their personality.
A survey of American lawyers (including judges) But the legal definition of fitness to plead (see
investigated how mental health experts were selected to Chapter 22) concerns whether an individual has the
give evidence (Mossman and Kapp, 1998). Their intellectual resources to contribute effectively to their
academic writings and national reputation were rarely own defence. Naturally, this means that fitness to plead
criteria – nor was the fee that they charged. Apart from evaluations should take into account the complexity of
knowledge in a specific area, the key criteria for the trial in question. Someone may be perfectly fit to
selection were their communicative ability and local plead where the trial is simple but unfit to plead in a
reputation. There may be reason to be concerned about complex trial. Furthermore, they may appear competent
the value of some expert testimony since there are many in one area but not in another area. An individual may
examples of what might be described as pseudo-science. be perfectly capable of communicating with their lawyer
Coles and Veiel (2001) took issue with the willingness but unable to understand the purpose of the trial.

Researcher-practitioners another phrase – evidence-based practice – which became


established in the 1990s in medicine and is increasingly
used to describe an ideal relationship between practitioners
The concept of the ‘scientist-practitioner’ originated in
in any discipline and research in that discipline. It means
psychology in the late 1940s among clinical psycholo-
gists seeking to improve both research and practice. Some that practice should be based on what research has shown
argue that the synergy resulting from combining research to be effective.
and practice has not been achieved (Douglas, Cox and So in forensic and criminal psychology, the division
Webster, 1999), though this may be disputed on the basis between researcher and practitioner is breached. It is a gen-
of the extensive research contributed currently by forensic erally accepted principle that training in both research and
psychology practitioners. Historically and traditionally in practice is crucial to effective practice. Practitioners who
psychology, researchers and practitioners were seen as at understand research methods well are much more likely
odds with each other – each side being dismissive of the to be able to incorporate the findings of other research-
contribution of the other. Academics criticised practition- ers into their therapies, assessments and when giving their
ers for their lack of knowledge of the pertinent research; professional advice to clients and colleagues. Furthermore,
practitioners criticised academics for their ignorance of practitioners know what sorts of research are needed by
clinical needs and practices. Such polarised views seem them possibly unlike some academics, whose knowledge of
somewhat old-fashioned and inaccurate from a modern practitioner requirements cannot be so direct. Indeed, aca-
perspective. More and more, employers of forensic and demic researchers may have academic and theoretical pri-
criminal psychologists require that practitioners should orities that are different from those of practitioners. There
participate fully in a research-led discipline. Practitioners is nothing wrong with this. Many academic psychologists
do not just apply psychological knowledge; they help create make important contributions despite lacking the practical
it. Appropriately for an applied discipline such as forensic experience and training of practitioners.
and criminal psychology, the usual and preferred term is Figure 1.1 illustrates some of the major components of
researcher-practitioner rather than scientist-practitioner. forensic and criminal psychology. Notice how widely they
The latter reflects a view of the nature of psychology which are drawn from the discipline of psychology. Also note
many practitioners have difficulty relating to. For some, the the underlying dimension of applied research/practice as
purpose of psychology is not to develop scientific laws of opposed to the academic. The distinction is not rigid but
human behaviour but to ground the discipline in social real- nevertheless must be considered as an essential feature of
ity through the effective use of empirical research. There is the field (e.g. British Psychological Society, 2007/8; 2011).

M01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 5 01/02/2022 13:24


What is forensic and criminal psychology?

Police Biological
psychology psychology
Recruitment
Stress
Investigative Developmental
psychology psychology

Clinical
psychology Cognitive
Assessment psychology
Prediction
Prison
psychology Social
psychology
Juries

Figure 1.1 Major components of forensic psychology

History of forensic and incorporate. Important events in this history are to be found
in Figure 1.2. Some of them occurred long before psychol-
criminal psychology ogy emerged in broadly its modern form towards the end
of the nineteenth century.
History is written from the viewpoint of the teller and serves
a purpose (Quinsey, 2009). It is almost inevitably partial in
both meanings of the term. It is made up of accounts which Changes in the law
are written through the lens of the present. American and
European academics may give rather different versions of A number of crucial developments in the law that occurred
forensic and criminal psychology’s history – each offering centuries before modern psychology was founded were
versions that stress the contribution of their traditions to vital to the development of forensic and criminal psychol-
the discipline. The self-serving nature of history cannot be ogy. These, in particular, were to do with legal principles
escaped. The history as written by a psychiatrist will be concerning the mentally ill and other vulnerable individu-
different from that of a psychologist, since it may ignore als. The earliest recorded legal principle about the mentally
the contribution, for example, of cognitive psychology. ill was that of Marcus Aurelius in ad 179 (Spruit, 1998;
And the history written by a lawyer will be different again. Quinsey, 2009) when dealing with a question posed by
Although the history of forensic and criminal psychology a Roman governor. Aurelius suggested that the governor
tends to be brief, the history of certain topics which are now should not be concerned about punishing an offender who
considered aspects of forensic psychology is quite exten- had murdered his own mother. The man was permanently
sive. For example the history of fire-setting/pyromania insane and there was no evidence that he was feigning his
(Umanath, Sarezky and Finger, 2011) and post-traumatic disturbance. According to Aurelius, insanity itself was suf-
stress disorder (Miller, 2012) is substantial. However, ficient punishment. But there was a need for the man to be
many of the important contributions are by psychiatrists kept in custody for his own protection and that of the com-
and medical professionals rather than psychologists. Prob- munity. Had the crime occurred during a period of sanity,
ably most accounts of the history of forensic and criminal then the full punishment would have been appropriate.
psychology dwell more on the experimental/laboratory Madness was not always an issue in law, although it was
tradition in psychology than anything else. Perhaps this a consideration as long ago as Roman times, as we have
reflects a bias towards the academic rather than practice. just seen. Before the thirteenth century, in English law,
With caveats such as these, it is nevertheless worth- the doing of something evil was sufficient to establish the
while to highlight some of the features that a defini- individual liable for that evil. The offender’s mental condi-
tive history of forensic and criminal psychology should tion was simply irrelevant to sentencing (Eigen, 2004). In

M01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 6 01/02/2022 13:24


History of forensic and criminal psychology

C14th C16th C18th C19th C20th C21th


The acceptance into
law of psychological
aspects of offending,
such as insanity.

The acceptance
into law of expert
witnesses – especially
medical experts.

Development
of systematic
criminology.

Professionalisation of medicine, medical


concepts of mental illness and social problems.

Development out of
Wundt’s laboratory at
Leipzig, i.e. in the origins
of modern psychology.

Great founding ‘father’


theory – Munsterberg in
Germany, then USA.

Development of the
profession of clinical
psychology to vie with
psychiatry.

Massive expansion of
academic psychology
and psychological
practice after World War 2.

Figure 1.2 Different components in the historical origins of forensic and criminal psychology

1230, Bartholomaeus Anglicus, a professor of theology in or curable. Legal changes allowing the detention of danger-
France, published De Proprietatibus Rerum. This contained ous lunatics emerged at about the middle of the eighteenth
descriptions of a wide variety of mental conditions such as century. Such persons could be held in workhouses, pris-
melancholie. In England, legal categories classifying the ons or madhouses. By the end of the nineteenth century,
mentally disordered first appeared in the Statutes at Large legal categories such as idiot, insane, lunatic and person of
in 1324. These distinguished between lunatics and idiots. unsound mind were well entrenched (Forrester, Ozdural,
In both cases the property belonging to the individual could Muthukumaraswamy and Carroll, 2008). Other notable
be transferred to the Crown or some entrusted person. The points are:
difference was that the idiot lost his or her property forever
but the lunatic might have their property returned when • The first English trial in which the accused was acquit-
they recovered from their lunacy. Thus the law enshrined ted on the basis of insanity occurred as early as 1505.
the possibility that some mental disorders were temporary However, not until the eighteenth century did courts

M01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 7 01/02/2022 13:24


What is forensic and criminal psychology?

begin to develop criteria to assess insanity. The crite- principles in the seventeenth century: Sir George Macken-
rion developed at this time essentially held that insane zie, a Scottish legal scholar, compared a sleepwalker to an
persons are equivalent to wild beasts – which, of course, infant and reserved punishment for sleepwalkers who had
are not capable of committing crime. Such a definition previously shown enmity for their victim. Sleepwalkers,
was a difficult one to meet but nevertheless required somnambulists or nightwalkers, then, were not seen gener-
no degree of psychiatric knowledge to apply – ordinary ally as sinning if they killed or injured in their sleep without
members of the jury could identify such an extreme sign of malice.
case as this. So expert advice from the medical profes- The first known trial of a somnambulistic killer was that
sion, such as it would have been at this time, was not of Colonel Cheyney Culpepper in 1686 at the Old Bailey in
needed. Insanity became an important issue in the nine- London. Fifty witnesses were lined up to testify about the
teenth century when deluded reasoning became part of strange deeds that the colonel had previously done in his
the legal test of insanity. Such a definition required the sleep! Although the jury found him guilty, he was pardoned
advice of experts much more than the wild beast cri- by the crown almost straight away. The Albert Tirrell case
terion had. In the nineteenth century the M’Naughten in 1846 was the first successful defence of a sleepwalking
case (see Chapter 22) and numerous books about the killer in the USA. It used what is known as the automatism
nature of insanity stressed the belief that a person suf- defence – the idea that the sleepwalker is unaware of what
fering from a disease of the mind and reasoning should they are doing.
not be held responsible for their crime. Expert witnesses Quinsey (2009) makes the observation that there has
were required with increasing frequency and, as a con- been little progress in concepts of how to deal with crimes
sequence, lawyers became ever more concerned that committed by the mentally ill over the centuries. This could
evidence of experts might replace the jury in deciding be broadened to make a more general point. Progress in
the verdict. forensic and criminal psychology cannot be described as
• The notion that some individuals were unfit because of being equal on all fronts. Some areas of research have
their limited intellectual ability had entered into legal progressed enormously and have been studied in depth for
considerations quite early historically during the four- many years. Yet there are other topics which have scarcely
teenth century in England. The issue of competence to been contemplated, let alone tackled systematically in any
stand trial (see Chapter 22) was a development origi- detail. Throughout this book you will find examples of
nating in eighteenth-century English common law (i.e. impressive research traditions alongside much briefer dis-
law not laid down by statutes but essentially by tradi- cussions of topics which are only just emerging.
tion). The basic idea was that the defendant must be
competent at certain minimal levels in order to have a
fair trial (Roesch, Ogloff and Golding, 1993). Although Links with the parent discipline
competence is a legal matter and one to be defined by
It is not possible to separate developments in forensic and
the courts and not psychologists or psychiatrists, the
criminal psychology from developments in psychology in
emergence of the expert witness encouraged the even-
general. To fully study the history of forensic and criminal
tual use of medical and other practitioners to comment
psychology, it is necessary to understand the changes that
on the mental state of the defendant.
have occurred in psychology in general as no branch of
All of this boils down to the question of the extent to which psychology has been unaffected. The following examples
mentally impaired people (and also children) can be held illustrate this:
responsible for their criminal acts and punished. Umanath,
• The new emphasis in social psychology on group
Sarezky and Finger (2011) review this especially from the
dynamics in the 1960s was associated with a rise in
viewpoint of somnambulism and crimes committed in such
interest in research on the dynamics of decision making
a state of night walking or sleepwalking. Umanath et al. see
in juries.
formal law dealing with somnambulism beginning at the
latest in 1313. At this time, the Council of Vienne resolved • Many of the psychological assessment techniques, tests
that a sleepwalker, an insane person, or a child ought not to and measurements used especially in the assessment
be found guilty of a crime if he or she attacked or murdered of offenders for forensic purposes have their origins in
someone while in that state. Other examples of such think- other fields of psychology. In particular, their availabil-
ing can be found in the declaration of the Spanish canonist ity to forensic and criminal psychologists is contingent
Diego de Covarrubias, Bishop of Segovia, who claimed in on developments in academic, educational and clinical
the sixteenth century that sleepwalkers who killed commit- psychology.
ted no sin so long as they did not know of the risk that they • The study of memory has been common in psychology
might kill when they were asleep. Others developed similar since the pioneering work of Ebbinghaus. Obviously,

M01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 8 01/02/2022 13:24


History of forensic and criminal psychology

the psychology of memory is very relevant to eye-wit- tend to look for funding where there is political interest
ness testimony. Not until the 1960s and later did psy- and governments fund research into changes they are
chologists properly begin to address the important issue planning.
of memory for real events. This set the scene for expan-
We can now turn from the broad societal and legal
sion of research into eyewitness testimony beginning in
framework in which forensic and criminal psychology
the 1970s.
developed to consider some of the key events in the history
of research and theory in forensic and criminal psychology.

Social change
Both the law and psychology are responsive to changes in
Early work in the disciplines
society in general, as can be seen in the following examples: of criminology, sociology and
• Child sexual abuse: although nowadays concern about
psychiatry
child sexual abuse (and rape and domestic violence The intellectual origins of forensic and criminal psychol-
for that matter) is extensive and ingrained, this has not ogy are to be found in related disciplines, especially crimi-
always been the case. The history of the radical change nology, sociology and psychology in general. Indeed, some
in the way in which professionals regard child sexual of the earliest criminological contributions seem unques-
abuse victims makes fascinating reading (e.g. Myers tionably psychological in nature. There are a number of
et al., 1999). Dominant themes in early writings on sex- aspects to consider:
ual abuse contrast markedly with modern thinking. For
example, a century or so ago, children were regarded as • One of the first examples of forensic and criminal psy-
being the instigators of their own victimisation, moth- chology is in the work of Italian Cesare Beccaria in the
ers were held to blame for the fate of their children and late 1700s. Beccaria regarded humans as possessing free
sexual abuse was perceived as rare. The massive social will, which is subject to the principles of pleasure and
impact of feminism during the 1960s and 1970s focused pain. This is an ‘economic’ model in which we are seen
concern on a number of issues. Among them was child to evaluate the costs and benefits (pleasures and pains)
sexual abuse, which was found to be more common than of our actions prior to engaging in them, such as when
had been previously thought. This interest brought to we decide to commit a crime. He believed that punish-
forensic and criminal psychology a need to understand ment for criminal behaviour is not desirable in itself, but
and deal better with matters such as the effects of child is important in order to deter people from crime. Thus
sexual abuse, the treatment of abusers and the ability of punishment needs to be proportionate or commensurate
children to give evidence in court. This does not mean with the crime – and inflicted as a means of deterrence.
that prosecutions for sexual offences against children It is argued by some that Beccaria’s ideas led directly
were unknown prior to this. In the United States at least, to the abandonment of barbaric torture of prisoners in a
they increased steadily during the twentieth century, number of European countries (McGuire, 2000).
although Myers et al. describe the rates as modest by • The publication of the first official crime statistics in
modern standards. It is worth noting that countries may France in 1827 was a crucial development. Statistical
experience apparently different patterns. For example, data allowed the development of investigations into the
Sjogren (2000) claimed that the rates of child sexual geographical distribution or organisation of crime. This
abuse in Sweden were as high in the 1950s and 1960s, continues in criminology today, and geographical profil-
before concern about sexual abuse rose due to American ing of crime is important in areas of forensic and crimi-
influences, as they were in the 1990s. nal psychology. The Frenchman André-Michel Guerry
• Government policy: the work of forensic and criminal and the Belgian Adolphe Quetelet began the tradition
psychologists is materially shaped by government pol- of crime statistics. Modern computer applications have
icy on any number of matters. For instance, government refined this approach enormously. It is now possible to
policy on the treatment of offenders (say, to increase study databases specifying the geographical locations of
the numbers going to prison and the length of their sen- crime down to the household level, for example.
tences) is critical. Similarly, the issue of the provision • The idea of the biological roots of crime was an impor-
of psychiatric/psychological care (say, increasing the tant late-nineteenth-century idea in the work of the
numbers managed within the community) profoundly Italian doctor Cesare Lombroso. He took groups of
changes the nature of the work of practitioners. Fur- hardened criminals and carried out what might be called
thermore, changes in research priorities may well be an anthropological study of their features. He compared
contingent on such developments as researchers often the criminals’ features with those of soldiers on whom

M01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 9 01/02/2022 13:24


What is forensic and criminal psychology?

he practised his medicine. Lombroso believed that cer- popular throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
tain structural anomalies of the skull were more com- Its explanation, though, was difficult since kleptomania
mon among criminals. These abnormalities, he said, was not fuelled by poverty – the things stolen were of lit-
were indications that criminals represented an earlier tle economic worth – and frequently the thief would not
stage of evolution of humanity than the rest of society even unwrap the stolen item or use it. The motive was
had achieved. Lombroso stated that criminal charac- sexual, according to some, and the psychoanalytical psy-
teristics include a lack of skull-space for brain tissue, chiatrist Wilhelm Stekel held it to be suppressed sexual
pronounced structural differences between the two sides desire (Stekel, 1911). Women, it was argued, suffered from
of the skull, ears that stick out, a bent or flat nose, col- penis envy (envy at not possessing a penis) so might seek
our blindness, left-handedness and a lack of muscular to replace their missing penis through symbolic objects
strength! Different characteristics distinguished murder- that they stole (Fenichel, 1933). Kleptomania is not an
ers from sex offenders. Murderers’ eyes are bloodshot, outmoded concept in the sense that it continues to be a
cold and glassy, whereas the eyes of sex offenders glint. diagnostic category in the American Psychiatric Associa-
Lombroso is largely remembered for being wrong and tion’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disor-
few give his ideas any credence. For example, Lom- ders DSM-V (see Box 21.1).
broso’s findings could not be replicated just a few years Early interest in lie detection through hidden emo-
later in Britain by Charles Goring. Harrower (1998) tions (an idea which relates directly to the modern work
argues that the observation that some criminals are discussed in Chapter 19) can be found in the writings of
mentally deficient is indirect support for Lombroso’s Charles Darwin (1872). He suggested that an angry person
point of view. Her idea is that in Lombroso’s time bio- can control their body movements but not the facial mus-
logical defects, including mental deficiency, were seen cles which are not under wilful control. These ideas reflect
as linked, though Goring’s evidence was that criminals very much the approach to the detection of lies through
had low intelligence, not that they showed the cranial facial expression offered by Paul Eckman in his theory (see
characteristics Lombroso claimed. Just to confirm how Chapter 18). Anyone wishing to find further evidence of
wrong the theory was, Lombroso claimed that it could be the British roots of forensic and criminal psychology could
used even to explain the lack of criminality in women. draw on the fact that Sir Francis Galton, Darwin’s cousin,
It was not that women are socially more evolved than tried to find a word association test for lie detection. In
men. Quite the reverse. They were so backward in terms this, the truth assessor would say a word such as ‘thief’
of human development that they had not evolved to the and study the response from the ‘suspect’ (Matte, 2002).
stage at which it was possible to be criminal! More important was the development of modern psy-
chology at the University of Leipzig in the late nineteenth
century, which quickly led to an interest in forensic issues.
Generally speaking, it is accepted that the origins of mod-
European psychology’s early ern psychology lie in the establishment of the psychologi-
contribution to forensic and cal laboratory at this university in 1875. This was part of
criminal psychology the legacy of Wilhelm Wundt to psychology. Some refer
to this as a convenient ‘creation myth’ for psychology, but
One of the earliest concepts related to forensic and criminal it was a number of his students, colleagues and co-workers
psychology was that of kleptomania. The term appears in who took the initial steps in developing forensic and crimi-
modern dictionaries and has some popular currency today nal psychology. Other influences include:
among the general public. Mathey, in 1816, coined the
term klopemania, which means ‘stealing insanity’, whereas • Albert Von Schrenck-Notzing (c. 1897): in 1896, Von
Marc, in 1840, used the term kleptomania, to mean exactly Schrenck-Notzing appeared at a Leipzig court in a role
the same thing (Fullerton and Punj, 2004). The main char- that some might describe as the first true forensic psy-
acteristics of kleptomania for these early physicians were chologist. His was early testimony into the effects of
as follows: the media on matters relevant to the courtroom. He
argued that witnesses at a murder trial confused their
• impulses to steal things of negligible value; actual memories of events with the pre-trial publicity
• economic necessity was not a reason; given to the event in the media. They were not able to
• the theft was accompanied by an elated state of exhilara- distinguish between what they had witnessed and what
tion together with relief from feelings of tension; they had read in the newspapers. Von Schrenck-Notzing
described this memory effect as ‘retroactive memory
• kleptomaniacs tend to be women.
falsification’. Similar issues are still being researched by
Given its emergence at a time of great economic growth psychologists, although they do not necessarily concur
from industrialisation and commerce, the concept was with Von Schrenck-Notzing – for example, Roberts and

10

M01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 10 01/02/2022 13:24


History of forensic and criminal psychology

Blades (1995) asked whether children confuse television ‘American’ roots of forensic
and real-life events. Their answer was that children as
young as four years are good at identifying the source of
and criminal psychology
their memories correctly. Significantly, at the lower age The timescale is short between what we may call the
studied, children can be confused into making errors by German origins of forensic and criminal psychology and
the way they are questioned. its appearance in the United States. This is because a sig-
• J.M. Cattell (c. 1895) investigated using the techniques nificant number of early American psychologists actually
of laboratory experiments into human memory on the trained at Wundt’s laboratory and either returned home
quality of eyewitness testimony. He was an American or emigrated to the United States as academic positions
who returned to the United States to research forensic became available. Thus early work in the United States
issues after studying in Wundt’s laboratory. His research involved both American researchers and European émi-
included situational influences on eyewitness accuracy grés. It is interesting that it is not uncommon to find these
as well as the issue of whether some individuals tend to migrants identified as the major figures in the history of
be resistant to error and outside influences. Binet, the forensic and criminal psychology. Hall, Cook, and Berman
originator of intelligence testing, in France, replicated (2010) trace the interdisciplinary study of psychology and
Cattell’s work. He focused particularly on the question law to Hugo Münsterberg – especially his book On the Wit-
of the amenability of testimony to outside suggestion ness Stand (1908). On the other hand, Shaw, Öhman and
in interrogations. In Germany, at about the same time, van Koppen (2013) identify Wilhelm Stern (1871–1938)
William Stern conducted research on similar themes to as the recognised originator of the tradition of witness
those of Cattell in relation to both adults and children. psychology. He had founded the first journal Beiträge zur
• Sigmund Freud did not write about legal matters Psychologie der Aussage (Contributions to the Psychology
although his ideas about human nature so profoundly of Testimony) in 1904. Whichever or whoever can best be
affected the legal system that he was given an honorary described as the founder of eyewitness research, we should
doctorate in law from an American university. Never- not overlook the convenience of naming American-based
theless, a number of the psychoanalytically influenced researchers for an America-centric view. Here are snapshot
followers of the psychodynamic psychology of Sigmund biographies of Stern, Münsterberg and other such pioneers:
Freud made contributions to the field. For example, in • L.W. Stern (c. 1910) continued the tradition of testimony
1929, Theodor Reik wrote about the compulsion to con- research in the United States. Among his achievements
fess; Erich Fromm, in 1931, discussed the psychologi- was the introduction of realism to the study of testimony
cal diagnosis of fact (Jakob, 1992). Also in Germany, in that he introduced staged events into lectures – such
around 1905, C.G. Jung experimented with using word as a student brandishing a revolver, which was wit-
association to test a criminal suspect – that is, the char- nessed by the class of students! In 1903/4, Stern was the
acteristic delay etc. when responding to a word with first to distinguish between two kinds of interview called
another word. Emotional stimulus words tend to pro- Bericht and Verhö (Myklebust and Bjørklund, 2006).
duce greater delay. Bericht allowed the interviewee to give their account
• Udo Undeutsch in 1953 presented arguments to a as a free narrative by the use of open questions. In the
German Psychological Association meeting that moved Verhö approach, the interviewees answered a set of
the issue of testimony to the question of the veracity of preset questions which are known as closed questions.
a statement rather than the credibility of the witness. Generally, modern research suggests that open questions
• Gradually, researchers have been unravelling examples lead to longer responses and greater accuracy.
of fierce debates in the early European history of foren- • Hugo Münsterberg was the first major applied psycholo-
sic and criminal psychology. Especially illuminating is gist – and one of the most resolute. He was another of
Wolffram’s (2015) account of the contentious exchanges Wundt’s students and he developed a lifelong interest
between psychiatrists and psychologists about who had in forensic issues. While still in Europe, he worked in
the expertise to advise courts of law in the early part of support of Flemish weavers who were being sued by a
the twentieth century. Perhaps the details are unimpor- customer. They were accused of supplying material of
tant at this distance in time, but such skirmishes do illus- a different shade of colour from that ordered. They dis-
trate something of the resistance which psychology had puted this. Münsterberg, with the help of the great physi-
to overcome. There is also considerable evidence that ologist of the visual system, Helmholtz, showed that the
psychologists actively sought to contribute to the educa- apparent difference in colour was a function of the dif-
tion of the judiciary in psychology (Műlberger, 2009) So ferent lighting conditions involved. The shades were not
in 1908, Otto Lipmann published in Leipzig a textbook different. After migrating to the United States, he found
which translates as Outline of Psychology for Jurists. that the adversarial Anglo-American system of law was

11

M01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 11 01/02/2022 13:24


What is forensic and criminal psychology?

not so sympathetic to hearing psychological opinion as civil rather than criminal trial. Unacceptably to current
the European system had been. Münsterberg’s interests sensibilities, Marbe also argued in court that the alleged
were wide in the field of applied psychology (Howitt, victims of child sexual abuse made unreliable witnesses
1992) and included jury decision making as well as eye- against their teacher. Society has changed a great deal
witness testimony in the domain of forensic psychol- since that time in terms of its attitudes to children.
ogy. He developed what he believed to be a test of lying • Henry H. Goddard was an American pioneer of intel-
using what was basically a timed word-association test. ligence testing. However, he is best known for his
Generally speaking lawyers at the time were interested failed work which linked feeble-mindedness (sic) with
in Munsterberg’s ideas about psychology and the law criminality. His most famous book (Goddard, 1912) The
(Dalby, 2014). According to Dalby, the lack of psy- Kallikak Family, was the study of the offspring of a sol-
chologists with the appropriate skills was responsible dier, Martin Kallikak, who fathered a son by a feeble-
for the extremely slow development of forensic psychol- minded barmaid which led to generations of criminals,
ogy until the 1970s when there was an explosion in the degenerates and deviants. Kallikak also married another
number of psychologists graduating. However, others, woman and this led to a lineage of upstanding people
including Weiss and Xuan (2015) are much more critical such as doctors, lawyers, and educationalists. Goddard
of Münsterberg suggesting, among other things, that he believed that it was low intelligence which led to the
held back the development of forensic psychology by criminality of the other line. He claimed that in excess of
alienating the legal establishment. a quarter of the people in prison were feebleminded. He
• William Marston was one of Münsterberg’s students. was much criticised and later changed his mind about
Under another name, he was the creator and cartoon- his ideas.
ist for the comic strip character Wonder Woman. He • Louis Thurstone (1922) published the findings of a
developed the lie detector test (polygraphy) in 1915. The study of the intelligence of police officers in the United
prototype for this was known as the ‘systolic blood pres- States. It was found that, in general, junior officers
sure deception test’ and employed repeated blood pres- tended to be more intelligent than older ones. Thurs-
sure measurements during questioning. Marston claimed tone suggested that the brighter officers tend to leave the
that changes in systolic blood pressure are indicative force for more rewarding and stimulating work, leav-
of lying (Grubin and Madsen, 2005). Furthermore, ing the less intelligent to be promoted within the police
Marston was the first psychologist to be appointed in an force. This, effectively, was the start of the study of
American university as a professor of legal psychology police psychology.
(Bartol and Bartol, 1999). Importantly, Marston was an
expert witness in the Frye v. The United States case in
1923. In this, the Federal Court of Appeals laid down the
principle that procedures, assessments and techniques The modern development
used in evidence should normally be well regarded in of forensic and criminal
their field. Bunn (2012) points out that the development
of the polygraph could not have occurred without the
psychology
rejection of the dominant European ideas of criminol- Psychologists’ increasing involvement as expert wit-
ogy. The criminal in nineteenth-century criminology nesses in American courts was one stimulus to forensic
influenced by Cesare Lombroso could be described psychology. Although psychologists could serve as expert
as homo criminalis since they were almost regarded witnesses, the general principle prior to this was that they
as a separate criminal species. The polygraph would should not step into areas of medical profession expertise.
be superfluous as the signs of criminality were readily However, eventually it was established that an individual’s
seen. The criminologist Frances Kellor not only refuted knowledge of the topic in question was the determining
the idea of homo criminalis but suggested that psycho- standard for an expert witness (The People v. Hawthorne,
logical and physiological tests might be the means of 1940). The mere possession of a medical qualification was
identifying deceit. That is, the idea that psychologically no longer sufficient to be an expert witness. As empiri-
normal people could be criminal meant that new ways cally based psychology developed, the judicial system
of finding criminality in them became important and the gradually became more prepared to employ the services
potential of instruments like the polygraph was evident. of psychologists in courts of law, especially following the
• Karle Marbe (c. 1911) testified in court that human reac- end of the Second World War in 1945. At this point, the
tion time latencies were such that an engine driver had profession of clinical psychology began to expand substan-
no chance of stopping his train in time to prevent a crash. tially in the USA with an obvious interest in what happens
This was possibly the first psychological testimony at a in courts of law. However, psychologists’ lack of medical

12

M01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 12 01/02/2022 13:24


History of forensic and criminal psychology

qualifications was sometimes a stumbling block as the the case in terms of its institutional basis which varies from
courts were reluctant to accept their evidence equally with country to country. For example, although universities
that of the medical profession (Bartol and Bartol, 1999). may provide the training in the legal area of psychology
Nevertheless, a series of legal decisions allowed psychol- in Western Europe, the training is more likely to be in non-
ogy to expand its interest in legal issues in both research university settings in other countries. To illustrate how
and clinical practice. For example, the important case of the origins of forensic and criminal psychology may dif-
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) relied very fer in different countries, we can consider the example of
much on the admission of psychological findings concern- Spain. The first Spanish textbook on legal psychology was
ing the effects of segregation of children into the court pro- written by a psychiatrist in 1932 (Royo, 1996). Its author
ceedings. Crucially, in Jenkins v. United States (1962), the left Spain along with many other intellectuals because of
ruling of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia the Spanish Civil War. It was not until 1971, when the
was that psychologists could act as expert witnesses on the Barcelona College of Barristers created a Department of
matter of mental illness at the time when the crime was Sociology and Legal Psychology, that the field was re-
committed. The ruling said that expertise on mental disease opened. The first international meeting on legal psychol-
was not the sole province of medics. The consequence was ogy in Spain was held in 1976. While the specific details
the increased acceptance of psychologists as expert wit- differ (see accounts of the development of the discipline
nesses on a wide range of legal matters by American courts. in Hungary in Szegedi, 1998; in Portugal in Goncalves,
So, despite the slow headway that psychology made into 1998), generally speaking, it would be a common experi-
the courtroom, the 1962 judgement changed things forever. ence in different countries that forensic and criminal psy-
Another factor was that key disciplines in the devel- chology, despite early interest, was in the doldrums until
opment of forensic and criminal psychology did not grow the 1970s (cf. Wrightsman, 2001), certainly in the United
significantly until the second half of the twentieth century. States and Western Europe. Important things were happen-
This is especially true of social psychology and clinical ing, as we have seen, but these cannot mask the relative
psychology. Hall (2007) refers to the situation in the United inattention to forensic issues until the 1970s and 1980s. It
Kingdom for psychology as being ‘bleak’ in these early should also be noted that the pattern of the steady expan-
years, owing to the small numbers of psychologists that sion of forensic and criminal psychology since that time is
were working in academic contexts. Given this, it was not characteristic of all nations, especially those in Eastern
probably inevitable that clinical psychology developed Europe (Kury, 1998).
slowly in the United Kingdom. Things were different in In the period since the 1970s and 1980s forensic and
the United States where the returning veterans from the criminal psychology has developed extensively as a disci-
Second World War led to the more rapid development of pline as well as in its institutional base. One might say it has
clinical psychology. Nevertheless, from about the 1970s burgeoned, flourished and prospered. (Heilbrun and Brooks
onwards, psychologists were increasingly, though still in (2010) date the rapid expansion of forensic psychology as
small numbers, turning their attention to matters of rele- from about 1980.) Royo (1996) suggests that there are four
vance to criminal psychology. In the United Kingdom, for basic ways in which a discipline may be consolidated.
example, Lionel Haward of the University of Surrey was These are the formation of associations, the creation of
beginning to speak of forensic psychologists and the work specialised books and journals, the legal institutionalisation
that they were doing to help, especially, defence lawyers. of the discipline as part of the process of criminal justice
As an illustration of this, Haward carried out a study into and the creation of university courses devoted to the sub-
the adequacy of a police officer’s claim in court that he ject. All of these things can be recognised in forensic and
had recorded the licence plate of a motor cycle travelling criminal psychology to varying extents. Some of the key
at speed. A hundred trained observers tried to replicate this institutional happenings include:
but none of them could identify licence numbers in such
circumstances (Smith, 1977). Although, for example, Hans • Formation of Associations: Particularly important in
Eysenck was proposing his general theory of crime in the the development of any sub-discipline are meetings
1960s (see Chapter 5), by the 1970s others were making and associations of like-minded researchers which
important contributions. For example, Ray Bull was begin- help them to form research relationships between uni-
ning to apply social psychological principles to the work of versities and other organisations both nationally and
police officers (e.g. Bull and Reid, 1975) and Philip Sealy internationally.
was applying social psychology to the jury (e.g. Sealy and 1. The American Psychology-Law Association was
Cornish, 1973). established in 1969 (Grisso, 1991) and was influen-
Forensic and criminal psychology has different histori- tial in the creation of the Psychology and Law divi-
cal antecedents in different countries. This is particularly sion (Division 41) of the American Psychological

13

M01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 13 01/02/2022 13:24


What is forensic and criminal psychology?

Association (APA), with which it merged in 1981. of the total number of citations. In other words, not
The association began publishing the highly influ- only are there a substantial number of specialist jour-
ential journal Behavioral Sciences and the Law in nals in the field of forensic/legal psychology but there
1977. Often overlooked, however, Division 18 of the are numerous other publication opportunities available
American Psychological Association – Psychologists to researchers in mainstream and general psychology
in Public Service – formed a criminal justice section journals.
in 1975.
The field of forensic and criminal psychology is not now
2. The Division of Criminological and Legal Psychol- fixed with its foci, boundaries and future clearly defined. It
ogy was established by the British Psychological is an evolving field that will inevitably change:
Society in 1977 but renamed the Division of Forensic
Psychology in 1999. The division began publishing • Developments in both the law and psychology will
the journal Legal and Criminological Psychology ensure that new issues become incorporated into the
in 1996. field. For example, the development of the concept of
stalking and its first incorporation into law in California
3. The Australia and New Zealand Association of Psy-
in 1990 (Emerson, Ferris and Gardner, 1998) led to
chiatry, Psychology and Law was founded in 1972
considerable psychological and psychiatric effort to
and began publishing the journal Psychiatry, Psy-
understand stalking behaviour. Now it is a substantial
chology and Law in 1993.
research area in its own right. There are probably similar
4. The European Association of Psychology and the new developments currently which will generate intense
Law grew slowly from initially small meetings, research interest from forensic and criminal psychology,
such as those held at the University of Oxford in but it would take a brave soul to make predictions.
the 1980s. Dominated initially by small fledgling
• Increased employment of psychologists as personnel
research communities in countries such as Germany,
within different branches of the criminal justice system
the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK, the first Euro-
will also bring change. So too will increases in private
pean conference on psychology and the law was
practice in the field. For example, a broadening of the
held in Maastricht, Netherlands in 1988. This led to
role of psychology in police organisations – such as the
a second European meeting in Nuremberg, Germany,
recruitment of officers – will bring a shift of interest in
which led to the founding of the European Associa-
that direction.
tion of Psychology and the Law.
• Increasing numbers of students training as forensic and
5. The Nordic Network for research on Psychology and
criminal psychologists will ensure a fuller professionali-
Law began in Sweden in 2004.
sation of work and practice.
• Professional education: According to Shaw, Öhman and
van Koppen (2013), postgraduate psychology and law
programmes are to be found in many countries. There
were over 30 in the US, 20 in the UK, nine in Australia, Conclusion
four in Germany, four in Spain, three in Russia, three in
Canada and one in Sweden, for example. Such a sup- While today forensic and criminal psychology is a major
ply of qualified postgraduates contributes greatly to the sub-discipline of psychology, historically it was fairly
future of any discipline. marginal until the 1970s onwards. It has attracted growing
• Publications: The number of journals which publish numbers of psychologists to work in the field. However,
articles in the field of psychology and the law is large some of the unevenness of the coverage of forensic and
and includes important mainstream journals such as criminal psychology can be attributed to it being some-
Psychological Bulletin. Black (2012) carried out a what of a late-comer into psychology. Its growth-rate has
study of the most frequently cited articles listed in six been marked in recent years and it seems consolidated
forensic psychology journals, including Behavioral Sci- into an important sub-discipline with substantial numbers
ences and the Law and Law and Human Behavior. He of psychologists specialising in the field. Of course, this
found nearly 22,000 citations to publications in a wide leads to sub-specialisms within the broader context but
variety of journals. The top 68 most frequently cited this is no surprise given that forensic and criminal psy-
journals contained only 15 specific to legal psychol- chology recruited its personnel from other sub-disciplines
ogy. The top 68 journals only contained 47 per cent of psychology.

14

M01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 14 01/02/2022 13:24


Further reading

Further reading Crichton, D.A. and Towel, G. (2021) Forensic Psychology


(3rd edn) Chichester: Wiley.
Kapardis, A. (2014) Psychology and Law: A Critical Intro-
Bartol, C.R. and Bartol, A.M. (2014) ‘History of forensic psy-
duction (4th edn) Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.
chology’ in I.B. Weiner and A.K. Hess (eds), Handbook of
Forensic Psychology (4th edn). Chichester: Wiley (pp. 1–27).

15

M01 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 15 01/02/2022 13:24


Chapter 2
The social context of crime
Overview
• Misconceptions about crime and criminals are frequent despite a plethora of sources of information – the
media, social media, government, family, friends and acquaintances. Much timely information about crime
trends appears on the Internet. Personal experience of criminal victimisation also has a role.
• The shortcomings of criminal statistics do not make them entirely useless as they may be fit for some pur-
poses. Knowing what the limitations are is the problem.
• Surveys of personal victimisation form a useful contrast to statistics of crimes recorded by the police and
may be more accurate. However, the two are best seen as complementary.
• Crime statistics do not speak with a single voice and need interpretation. Different researchers may interpret
them differently.
• Extensive research demonstrates that criminal behaviour is quite common – sufficiently so that it might be
described as normal. Of course, relatively trivial incidents of stealing form the bulk of this criminal activ-
ity. Nevertheless, half of men and nearly a third of women admit to committing at least one crime such as
burglary, theft, criminal damage, robbery, assault or selling drugs at some stage in their lives.
• International comparisons indicate considerable variation in crime levels in different nations. Criminal statis-
tics do not invariably show increasing trends over time. At different times, crime rates may escalate, flatten,
or diminish.
• Justice is administered differently and is based on different principles in different parts of the world. Even
where the systems have the same origins (e.g. the United Kingdom and the United States), crucial differ-
ences in the practices of the criminal justice systems may mean that the principles of forensic and criminal
psychology are not universally applicable.

16

M02 Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology 95787.indd 16 07/02/2022 07:20


Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Hystereo
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where
you are located before using this eBook.

Title: Hystereo

Author: Maurice Baudin

Illustrator: Dan Adkins

Release date: March 30, 2024 [eBook #73296]

Language: English

Original publication: New York, NY: Ziff-Davis Publishing Company,


1961

Credits: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed


Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HYSTEREO


***
HYSTEREO

By MAURICE BAUDIN

Illustrated by ADKINS

A quiet concert in the evening by the lake ...


a harmless hi-fi hobbyist ... yet why did Woodard
tremble at the sound, sound, sound.

[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from


Amazing Stories November 1961.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Daytimes, Woodard wasted little speech on the other guests at the
summer hotel. Biddies and garrulous men—fools one and all, he told
himself. They had come to be with nature, they said; but the clear,
deep lake with its rocks and pointed firs, and the mountains beyond
were merely a backdrop for their inane gabble. They had come for
health and renewal, clucking of the ravages of city life. Yet scarcely a
one but had acquired some absurd malady. They had turned the
small hotel into a hospital for twitches and bor-borygms. As if,
because they were paying their way, they must give the climate work
to do. As if, thought Woodard, they were hiring the warm sunlight,
the cool, sweet air, to mend their palsies, tachycardias, facial tics or
rheumatic twinges.
Relishing the fact of being resented and the illusion of being sought
after, he kept himself to himself.
But this sort of thing must not be carried too far. Directly after dinner,
for fifteen minutes before his evening walk, he mingled with the rest
as graciously as their recollections of the day's snubs permitted. He
had settled upon this course early in the summer. Circulating, at the
breakup of the dinner hour, among as many guests as time allowed,
he fell in benignly with all topics, however foolish.
On the last of these fence-mending tours, he tuned in to elderly Mrs.
Jenson. "But why," she was asking plaintively, "has poor Mr. Ward's
body not risen?"
What a conversational god-send, that presumed drowning! The old
girl had stopped circulating romantic rumors about himself. She had
relegated her newly developed lumbago to second place. Woodard
smiled inwardly. Of course, several times in the past three weeks he
had heard her question answered. So, if she listened, had she. How
sensible of himself to budget his day's quota of chitchat. Glancing at
his watch, he saw that he had two minutes left, enough time for a
terse review.
"The lake is very deep in parts, and there the cold would prevent the
gas from forming that would raise the body...."
Mrs. Jenson fidgeted. It was one thing to repeat a question; must
one listen while someone else repeated the answer? "But no clothes
were found, Mr. Woodard!" As he flinched at her corruption of his
name, she whimpered: "On the entire shore of this big, big lake—not
a stitch of clothing!"
Woodard nodded sympathetically. "Possibly he rushed from the hotel
in a state of undress. Was he a frolicsome type?"
"He was a lovely gentleman," she said coldly.
"Ah. Possibly the lake didn't know that." His fifteen minutes were up.
He nodded curtly.
But just then, Mr. Nodus joined them. Nodus, who dined at the hotel,
was summering noisily with his hi-fi apparatus in a cottage far down
the lake. Every guest in the place had spent at least one evening
there, hearing the most incredible sound effects music can offer.
Every guest, that is, except Woodard. He had known for weeks that
the man would invite him. He had known with equal certainty that he
would decline. How often, feeling himself watched, had he glanced
toward the table where Nodus ate with his two silent house guests?
Each time he had met the impassive stare of the large baby face,
had stared coolly an instant, had looked away. And now Nodus had
the effrontery to grasp his arm.
"Interested in swimming, Woodard?" he said loudly. "Me too!
Swimming and music. Well! You're invited to a concert. Works out
tonight's the night I can fit you in. You can follow us in your car—
about five minutes?"
"Oh but Mr.—Donus, is it?—-Nodus? I'm not—not...." Woodard saw
Mrs. Jenson's lips curve in a hateful smile. He lost his nerve.
Panicking, he fumbled for words. Fumbling, he was lost.
"Five minutes," Nodus repeated.
Mrs. Jenson sighed spitefully. "Mr. Woodard doesn't know what he
has in store!"

Scarcely glancing to his right at the lake that lay calm in the hazy
twilight, Woodard drove behind Nodus and company. Hi-fi indeed!
Torturous device of a science-ridden culture—how had he let himself
in for the evening ahead? Why had he permitted this trespass upon
his privacy? But when, after some eight miles, the convertible ahead
slowed and signalled for a left, he checked the impulse to keep going
on around the lake and back to the hotel. Nodus would think him
crazy. He would think it aloud in the dining room—ostensibly to the
deferential genies, the man and woman who were vacationing with
him; but he would think it in a voice that carried.
Woodard pulled up beside the other car in the fir-fringed clearing.
Nodus stood waiting with his two shadows. "Russ will take you to the
studio," he said briskly. "The girl and I will be along in a minute." He
chuckled, his eyes scanning Woodard's face. "No neighbors here to
raise a fuss. No knocking—no kicks or squawks...."
Only from me, Woodard thought, following the leader to a two-car
garage some distance from the cottage. Inside, Russ slid shut the
door, then flipped a switch that lighted half a dozen table lamps of
the beaded fringe variety. Woodard stared in amazement. Heavily
carpeted with scatter rugs, the place was walled and ceilinged with
fiber-board. On three walls, including the door side, were stuck triple
rows of ornamental covers from long-playing records. Running the
length of the fourth wall, left of the entrance, a counter rose waist-
high, its side hung solid with more record covers. On the left end of
this counter was an elaborate system of dialled boxes which
Woodard summed up vaguely as player, amplifiers, filters, and so
on; on the right, eight open wood boxes of records. On the center of
that wall was a large clock with a sweep second hand. Directly
beneath, an empty rack of record cover size, beside which a neatly
printed sign read "NOW PLAYING".
"Quite amazing," Woodard remarked truthfully. "Well...." He dropped
into the center of three chairs right-angling the dial boxes. "Might as
well sit."
But Russ, who had been smiling dreamily, was suddenly agitated.
He shook his head. He opened and shut his mouth like a fish. As
Woodard felt his poise threatened, the door slid open. Nodus
entered, preceding Miss—Miss—But her name hadn't ever been
mentioned.
Seeing where Woodard sat, he frowned. "No, no," he said. "That
won't do. You'll be better off...."
Woodard repeated, "I'm utterly amazed by all this."
Nodus' expression softened. "It's a garage, as you can see. Four
hours at the start of the summer to convert it to a sound-room. Three
and a half hours, at the end, to reconvert it. On the nose in both
instances. Half-hour discrepancy there. We're working on that."
Woodard understood that "we" included the pair, whose life currents
evidently flowed from the master's battery.
"Job's all broken down," said Nodus. "I do certain things, Russ does
certain things. The girl"—She bridled as he jerked an elbow toward
her.—"does her little chores."
The girl! Would she see fifty again? But Woodard felt himself wanting
to placate, a sensation both new and unpleasant. "The details must
be very interesting," he said weakly.
Nodus' face had gone stern again. "—won't do," he back-tracked
curtly. "You'll be better off over there." He indicated a lone chair
directly opposite the "NOW PLAYING" sign. "Acoustically speaking,
the most effective location in the studio." Clinical and considered, his
tone brooked no protest. Woodard stumbled embarrassedly to the
chair. "You can see," Nodus stated, "if you look down, all the chalk
marks where we've experimented with positions."
And Woodard did see: dozens of white marks on the rug around the
chair legs, close together as if fractions of an inch were vital.

As Nodus moved to the dial boxes, Russ and the girl dropped like
wraiths into chairs: she nearest Woodard, he in the middle, leaving
the place by the apparatus for Nodus. Woodard thought: God, but he
has this worked out! He's a tyrant, a baby-faced ogre. And these two
goops are in bondage to him.
It came to him that Nodus was curiously untanned for a devotee of
swimming.
"What do you weigh, Woodard?"
"Why——oh——one-sixty, I guess...."
Nodus nodded. "Near enough." He selected a record from the box
nearest him. "People always like a few effects before the concert,"
he said. "Preliminaries." His expert hand pressed a switch and
turned some dials. The room was filled with a rasping hum. Now
Woodard saw what he hadn't noticed before: in the far corner, back
of the counter, an unlighted cavernous area; and in its center, black-
draped like an oracle of doom, the speaker system.
Russ and the girl looked dismayed even before Nodus snapped,
"Oh-oh! Something's not right! Russ—go outside and check the
grounding." He pulled Russ to him and whispered. Russ nodded and
slipped quietly out.
I could still go, Woodard thought. The hell with any stories he'd
spread. I'd.... But the girl was staring at him, serene and knowing as
if she read thoughts.
The rasp ceased and the room went still. After a few minutes, Russ
entered and took his seat by the girl.
Now Nodus assumed a pedagogical stance, a platform manner.
"This," he said, holding the player arm poised above the whirling
record, "is the Victoria Falls—Zambesi River—taken at 78 r.p.m.,
which I still consider the ideal speed. Perfect studio conditions not
possible, of course, though the engineer was extremely
cooperative." Nodus smiled benignly. "He tried to get rid of the
insects. They almost got rid of him. You'll notice a treble hum in the
foreground. Giant mosquitoes. Then I'll play it again, filtering out the
falls—we can do that—and you'll hear the mosquitoes as if they
were primary."
Woodard tried to look intelligently appreciative.
"This will take four and one-half minutes. Precisely. You can check
this statement against the clock. The record is longer, but I find that
people stop concentrating after four and one-half minutes."
The room filled with the massive roar of a giant river dropping four
hundred feet. Woodard clutched the arm of his chair, rejecting the
nightmare fantasy of himself taking the falls in a canoe. Nodus too
was seated now. Looking impassively straight ahead, like a
ceremonial figure on a public stage, he was talking from the side of
his mouth to Russ. He played with a pair of horn-rimmed glasses
which Woodard had never seen him wear. The girl sat raptly beating
a time of her own devising.
It was said—where did one hear these things? Why did one
remember them?—that years ago the girl and Mr. Nodus had been in
love. That the new era in electronics had alienated Mr. Nodus'
affections. Auxiliary priestess now to the monster that had dethroned
her, the girl tapped her left wrist with the fingers of her right hand and
smiled remotely....
"Four and one-half minutes, as advertised," Nodus said, raising the
player arm. "And now, the foreground of mosquitoes. Amplified by—
well, no need to be technical. Let's just enjoy it. Two and one-half
minutes will do."
Quite so. Higher than coloratura, a whirring, a hum. As if all insect
life brought out on the lake by the evening damp had swarmed into
that room. And back of the keening shrillness, unending in its
behemoth anguish was the muffled roar of the falls. Woodard
squirmed. But he wouldn't pay Nodus the homage of warding off the
insects. Forcing himself rigid, he watched the clock. His thoughts
wandered to the lake, dark and deep outside—and to Mr. Ward,
imprisoned by cold in the darkest depth.
Two and one-half minutes exactly.

"Amazing," Woodard said. Antagonized by Nodus' pontifical


assurance, he added spitefully, "Of course, nothing sounds like that."
Nodus shrugged aside the irrelevancy. "Hi-fi does," he said,
extracting a second record from its case. "We have many requests
for that number. Many. And now—an old-fashioned steam train. If
you think it's coming toward you—and jump—please try not to
displace your chair." About to laugh, Woodard caught himself. The
man was not joking. "We don't," Nodus explained, "want to fasten it
to the floor till we're perfectly certain that...." He looked for
confirmation to Russ and the girl. Both nodded. "We've timed this
one at three and one-half—more precisely," he announced, "three
minutes and twenty-eight seconds."

It was stupendous, terrifying. Woodard himself vibrated as the


colossus approached. But not for anything would he have stirred....
Three minutes and twenty-eight seconds it was, Nodus monologuing
from behind his hand to Russ, the girl beating a new time.
In the shattering silence, Woodard laughed tremulously. "This must
be the next thing to shock therapy."
The girl tensed. Russ looked wary.
"What makes you say that?" Nodus demanded.
"Why—I just meant...." Woodard was unnerved. He rarely minded
giving offense, but he liked to know when and how he was doing it. "I
suppose," he placated, "that atomic fission is more what I had in
mind...."
Nodus looked at him suspiciously. "There are worse things than
atoms," he said. The girl cackled, then looked blankly about as if she
hadn't done it. Nodus ignored her. "Not a family man, are you,
Woodard?"
"No." Woodard took in Nodus' quick nod. Had the admission
somehow worsened his situation?
"No one to care?" cried the girl, her dark eyes gleaming archly. "No
one to miss you?"
She was stilled by a flicker of Nodus' eye.
On with the effects. "Now this," Nodus lectured, handling the new
record tenderly, "has more surface noise than I consider excusable. I
keep it in my library only because...."
He glared at Woodard, who had been unobtrusively removing his
jacket and now dropped it hastily to the floor. "That won't do there!"
The girl roused and floated over, picked up the offending garment
and carried it with abstracted solicitude to a hook by the door.
"—than I consider excusable. I keep it in my library only because the
engineer, a really cooperative fellow, learned some very important
principles of underwater reproduction from taping these underseas
mating calls."
Woodard repressed a smile as the girl, back in her seat, doubled
over in silent laughter. Nodus threw her a disciplinary look. "Like to
sit in that chair yourself?" he muttered, indicating Woodard's place.
Instantly she sobered.
Now what does that mean? Woodard asked himself.
"Nine and one-half minutes will be right for this."
Fantastic that it could be recorded at all, Woodard had to admit,
listening incredulously to the beeps and crackles, the yips and
squeals and tiny shrieks. Undersea, Nodus had said. Was the lake
across the road a similar hotbed of solicitation? Did Mr. Ward's chill
presence cast no damper on concupiscence?
Woodard pantomimed astonishment with a wondering nod.
"Now with this one," Nodus recited, "I say nothing. Just mention that
it lasts seven seconds. Watch the clock."
Woodard counted seconds so intently that he didn't interpret the four
very loud preliminary gasps from the speaker. Suddenly, magnified a
hundred times but undistorted, crystal clear and shattering, nearly
blowing him off his chair: a monumental sneeze.
His heart stopped, then pounded achingly. He looked furiously at the
speaker. It should have been wetly splattered all over the place, but
it rested amorphous and unshaken in its dark covering.
"And," said Nodus, "that could have been magnified a thousand
times—not in this enclosure—without distortion. An epochal
recording." Deftly he switched records, turned a knob or two. "Now
here—an old-timer, a real old 78. And if I can find the right groove, a
most interesting effect." Leaning over, he whispered something to
Russ, who smiled. "I defy anybody to recognize...."
Woodard braced himself to interrupt. "I'd like to be excused for just a
minute," he begged nervously, rising. "Have you—do you happen to
have...." He fished for words and came up, hating himself, with "Do
you have a little boys' room?"
"Can't you wait?"
"Well, I just thought...." Woodard licked his lips. If the next effect
were anything like that sneeze, he feared the consequences of
delay.
The girl nodded apprehensively at Nodus. "It's the great outdoors,"
he said grudgingly. As Woodard fumbled with the door, he added
very distinctly, "We'll be waiting."

Under the half-moon and the million stars, down the drive and across
the road the lake lay darkly glowing. In the cool silence Woodard
heard it lapping its shores like the licking of lips. What did happen to
Ward? he thought suddenly.
And then he thought, Why don't I—but his keys were in his jacket
and his jacket was inside. Now he noticed that Nodus' car had been
shifted to stand behind his own. Escape was cut off in any case. He
felt a throbbing hollowness, the ache of terror. "I'm being foolish," he
said. "I'm going to cut it out." The sound of a human voice, even his
own, was oddly reassuring. He would stay just enough longer not to
give offense. He would try to make only pleasing responses to
Nodus' recital, would act reverential in this shrine to the electronic
screech. And when he left, he would point out with the most casual
little laugh of well-feigned surprise that his car was cut off—as if it
were natural but at the same time comic....
When the garage door stuck, he pulled frantically. After a moment,
Nodus opened it from inside. The girl said shrilly "You got locked in
the bathroom!" and then shook noiselessly.
"You've interrupted the sequence," Nodus stated. "I'm starting with
the last two minutes of the mating calls, then running the sneeze
again."
Woodard nodded contritely. The mating calls heard once, it turned
out, were heard for all time. But the sneeze, braced for it though he
was, retained its power to shake the inner being.
"—defy anybody to recognize this sound," challenged Nodus.
It sent a cold tickling vibration through Woodard, from the soles of
his feet to his frontal sinus. When it was over (four and one-half
seconds), he needed almost a minute to bring his shuddering to a
halt. He saw Russ take a pad and pencil from his pocket. He did not
react.
"A laugh," Nodus gloated. "A human laugh. More precisely, a
chuckle. When Marcella Sembrich produced it originally, in her
recording of 'Coming Thro' the Rye', the intent was probably coy,
but...."
In his sharp, sudden rage, Woodard forgot tact and caution. "That's
so unfair to a singer! To take her voice in one passage and distort it
—that doesn't show what she can do!"
"Could do," Nodus corrected coldly. "But it shows what the
equipment can do."
"I would never," Woodard began acidly.... A persistent tickle in his
throat was making him cough. His post-nasal drip, he recognized
grimly.
Nodus glanced at Russ, who was jotting notes. "A few more little
effects," he promised, "then the concert."
Woodard nodded, coughing viscously into his handkerchief.
"Now just to give you some further idea...." Nodus looked reproving.
"You have a very annoying cough."
"It dries up for weeks," Woodard apologized, "and then...."
"I suggest you control it." Nodus turned to the player. "—some further
idea, and no surprises this time, a factory whistle." He chuckled. "No
timing. I keep this going till I see the whites of your eyes."
Woodard was sweating copiously before Nodus turned it off. He
looked envyingly at the girl. Not enjoying the most effective acoustic
location, she had sat through the outrage in a state of catatonic
beatitude. "Incredible!" he gasped, coughing again.

And now, in the last lap of the preliminaries, effects came thick and
fast. Woodard's sensibilities were still jangled from a rattling,
polysyllabic belch (panicking the girl, but unjustifiable otherwise as
either art or science) when a powerful soprano, tweetered until it
could cut steel, emitted a blood-curdling "Good-bye fo-re-ver!" Tosti
rendered by Medea; and as Woodard tried to formulate some idea
about unseemliness, he was shaken to his bowels by the agonized
shriek of a subway rounding a curve. Next, "Tires Screeching on Hot
Asphalt"—not a surrealist poem, and anyway Woodard's critical
faculties were pretty well blasted. Then a dentist's drill. Woodard
struggled to make sense of Nodus' remarks about a gum cavity and
a midget microphone. Finally, perhaps most devastating of all
because it suggested evil in bright sunlight, the tender brooded over
by the sinister—the excited yelps of girls at play; the bouncing of a
ball and the rush of feet across a wood floor; a shrill, drawn-out
whistle and the voice of a gym instructress screaming "That's
enough, girls!" (The Pepsi-Cola Ladies' Basketball Team: eleven and
one-half seconds.)
Woodard peered uncertainly from trauma to learn that the concert
proper was at hand.
"I run through a few things, parts of things, interesting sections,"
Nodus lectured, playing idly with his glasses. "A little program most
people seem to like...."
Time was, Woodard would have snapped "I happen not to be most
people." But his pulse was pounding, his eyes watering. Racked with
coughing, trembling with post-sonic shakes, he could scarcely be
called himself. So he tried to nod appreciatively. If he could identify
more, really participate—then he might overcome the sensation of
being one with three against him. And his sinus might stop dripping.
"The violin," Nodus announced, for the first time placing a record
cover on the "NOW PLAYING" rack. "Some unaccompanied Bach
partitas."
Woodard laughed hoarsely. "It's been my theory...." He coughed.
"Yes." Nodus held the player arm poised. "Now we'll have
nineteen...."
Woodard struggled for recovery. "It's been my theory," he croaked,
"that Yehudi makes them up as he goes along."
Russ stared for a moment, then went on writing.
"Do I understand," Nodus asked with cold hatred, "that you refuse to
listen to a few unaccompanied Bach partitas?"
Woodard grovelled. The privilege of hearing partitas on this
superlative equipment? Refuse? Oh most certainly not—He
collapsed in a fit of coughing.
Mollified, Nodus said "I'll wait till you pull yourself together.
Meanwhile, you may like to know that of the records my dealer
sends me—and he knows my taste, mind you—I keep one in eight.
And that one I exchange, on the average, three times before I find a
copy I can admit...."
Woodard wanted desperately to concentrate. Here was something
solid to work on. Did Nodus keep one record in eleven, or one in
twenty-four? It depended, of course, on whether x equalled 8 plus 3
or 8 times 3. Surely one should be able—but he was straining
beyond his limit. It was as if some mental spine, which in a past
existence had sustained him, were numbed or missing.
Nodus was staring. So, with an odd, expectant smile, was the girl. To
show that his wits had never left him, Woodard blurted out, "The
composer never intended the music to sound like this!"
"Like what?"
"The partitas were all wrong!" Now his voice kept breaking. "A
composer—and a performer—should have some say—not be fed
into equipment like this and—and...." Another paroxysm prevented
his concluding: "and used to start sinuses running."
"I haven't played the partitas yet, Woodard."
That stopped the cough. Not played them? Then why did he feel—
He found himself thinking with curious gentleness of the guests at
the hotel who mocked nature with their complaints. And vast as his
sudden pity was for them, it was vaster still for himself. But he tried
to latch onto one worthwhile thought: I have nothing to fear but fear
itself.
"Nineteen and a half minutes." Relentlessly Nodus lowered the arm.

Woodard tried clinging to the worthwhile thought. But it kept


shimmering off in the dissolving world. It wouldn't come right. I have
nothing to fear but all mankind, he kept hearing.
And maybe it was better that way; at least he knew.
Finally he asked himself: How did I get into this? I who always kept
myself to myself to myself to myself.... Oh he was whirling, whirling,
and no one could count his r's p.m. ... myself to myself to....
He slumped unconscious in his chair.
Eleven minutes and thirty-one seconds of partitas had elapsed.
Nodus so remarked to Russ, who made note.
And the concert continued. But there is small point in detailing
Nodus' accounts, as sensibly delivered as before, of the various
selections: how he explained his choice of "Bendermeer's Stream"
as a follow-up to the partitas; his apologies for the surface scratches
that made the Valkyries' ride sound unlubricated; his cautionings
about what to look for in the "Romeo and Juliet Overture"; his
meticulous timing of these and the other recordings.
Thirty-six minutes and twenty seconds after Woodard's cerebral
disintegration came his impalpabilization.
"Three hours, forty-one minutes, twenty-one seconds," Nodus
intoned, and Russ jotted down the melancholy figures. The girl
emitted a small shriek of joy and started impetuously for the chair
that had been Woodard's. But Nodus raised a preventive arm. "Not
yet," he warned. "Not for a few minutes. There may be anarchic
sonic residuum. We don't know. And anyway—what's there to see
this time? Absolutely nothing left."
"Except his car," said Russ. He spoke with a lisping dreaminess.
"You'll park it by one of the fishing piers. Woodard said as he left
here that he'd stop for a late swim."
"Just lovely," sighed the girl. And Russ nodded in slow motion.
Nodus smiled almost reluctantly. Perfectionist that he was, it would
be long before he was wholly satisfied. He turned to the girl. "Your
idea of substituting the partitas for the Mahler 'Farewell' was very
sound. I'm interested in the reasoning."
Her nostrils flaring at the heady draught of his praise, she giggled
shyly. "I hoped the partitas would work, because Mahler really
fractures me. That 'Farewell' would have finished me—even where I
was sitting."
His glance rested on her as if he would bear this in mind. Then he
said "It should be safe to look closely now," and he led his
technicians to the vacant chair.
"No nasty mess to clean up!" raved the girl. "Nothing like that Ward,
with his dreadful post-distillation residuum!" And as Nodus and Russ
exchanged smiles at her woman's viewpoint—"Who's next?" she
demanded.
Russ was inspired. "That frightful old woman at the hotel!"
Nodus regarded the girl through narrowed eyes. "The one's been
spreading those half-wit tales about you and me."
She did not meet his look. "You'd never get Mrs. Jenson here alone."

You might also like