Questions tagged [criminology]

For questions about the scientific study of the nature, extent, management, causes, control, consequences, and prevention of criminal behavior, both on the individual and social levels. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioral and social sciences, drawing especially upon the research of sociologists, psychologists, philosophers, psychiatrists, social anthropologists, as well as scholars of law.

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How effective is court imposed therapy compared to self-initiated therapy?

People are frequently court ordered to some form of therapy, whether it be in the form of a course, group therapy or individual therapy. Some examples being; road rage, anger management, drunk ...
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11 votes
1 answer
793 views

Are Sex Offender Treatment Programmes (SOTPs) effective?

Background to my question on SOTPs NOMS is the UKs National Offender Management Service, which is now called Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service. If you look at the UKs official website on ...
Chris Rogers's user avatar
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9 votes
2 answers
669 views

Are there advantages of psychopathic traits?

After watching a fairly engaging 2016 TEDx talk titled "Psychopaths and three reasons why we need them" I was hoping to read more systematic/traditional research output from its author, Armon Tamatea. ...
the gods from engineering's user avatar
7 votes
3 answers
497 views

Why do people tend to put stigma on victims of offences against the person such as rape or bullying?

Introduction: Blame against victims, regarding offences against the person, such as rape or bullying, seems to be a generally consistent social phenomenon, regardless of cultural or historical context....
drabsv's user avatar
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6 votes
3 answers
215 views

Why are mass shooters in America so much more likely to be male than female?

Is there any scientific research on why this is so? I got this statistic from an article titled "Why Are Almost All Mass Shooters Men?" on The Violence Project. However, their reasoning for ...
tryst with freedom's user avatar
6 votes
3 answers
465 views

Why do battered persons love their partners?

Many persons who have been beaten by their partner, no matter how violently, claims that they do not want to leave their abusive partner because they still love them. A common phrase is: "I love him/...
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6 votes
1 answer
126 views

Is there a correlation between online and offline vandalism?

I did some searching but I was not able to find anything substantial on this topic either for or against. I am mainly trying to figure out whether online trolling is a way of redirecting otherwise ...
asheeshr's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
154 views

Do widespread brain toxins explain violence rates?

Saw this: http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/01/lead-crime-link-gasoline Lead emissions from tailpipes rose steadily from the early '40s through the early '70s, nearly quadrupling over ...
Jesvin Jose's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
64 views

Does CBT help with non-sexual crime recidivism rates?

In the same vain as a previous question I asked, (Are Sex Offender Treatment Programmes (SOTPs) effective?) I am wondering if CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) based therapies and interventions have ...
Chris Rogers's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
198 views

Lunar cycles linked with mental health issues?

From what I can find... Anecdotally, my mother used to work in nursing homes for the elderly and found that around the full moon, patients slept less and were more agitated. Anecdotal evidence ...
Chris Rogers's user avatar
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5 votes
0 answers
223 views

What are the necessary preconditions for the emergence of a conscience?

I am aware of 2 brain anomalies that seem to be associated with the non-emergence of a conscience. One is associated with psychopathy. The other is associated with narcissism. psychopathy: My ...
Alex Ryan's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
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Country records about criminal recidivism rates

I find myself doing a work on criminal psychology, I understood that recidivism rates were registered by government agencies although it seems not to be that way (some projects were famous in the past ...
hexadecimal's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
444 views

What makes some criminals glamorous to others?

Some murderers are glamorized by society while others labeled monsters. In both cases, they can commit the same terrible crimes and cause the same amounts of pain - yet one can be romanticized the ...
Greg McNulty's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
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What does it mean to "control for differences in factors" when looking at gun ownership and homicide rates?

What does it mean "with control for differences in factors" in the sentence : "Several studies used cross-sectional analyses to detect a positive relationship between the prevalence of gun ownership ...
Bert's user avatar
  • 41
3 votes
2 answers
178 views

How to test for malingering in criminals trying to deny capacity for criminal responsibility?

Psychiatrists and psychologists are often tasked with assessing a criminal defendant's competency to stand trial or his capacity for criminal responsibility. What objective tests are useful for ...
GAS4's user avatar
  • 31
3 votes
1 answer
563 views

Do female victims of rape have an increased risk of becoming a sex offender?

It's said that men who are molested as children often become molestors when they get older. Is the same true of women who are raped? Is a female victim of rape more likely to become sexually warped in ...
whitewings's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
115 views

littering more often in dirty places?

I'm now doing some city management related research and wondering about the idea of high crime areas. Well, the above phrase is a bit extreme. Say, littering, will this kind of behavior occur more ...
Maul Seil's user avatar
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3 votes
0 answers
98 views

Is the Stanford Prison Experiment considered valuable by modern psychologists?

The Stanford Prison Experiment (see also the Wikipedia article) is taught to many psychology students because of its infamy and the media coverage around it at the time of the experiment. There have ...
user28983's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
35 views

Objectively defining the image parameters for facial detection, recognition, and identification in digital imagery

Axis communications have given guidelines on minimum operational requirements of a camera to allow a human observer to identify, recognise, and detect human subjects (https://www.axis.com/en-ca/...
Johnoldinho's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
223 views

Is it really possible to "go too deep inside the killer's mind"?

We've all seen it in film and hour-long format TV dramas, a brilliant criminal profiler, seen as the best in his field by their peers, delves 'too deeply' into the mind of the killer/rapist/...
Adam's user avatar
  • 31
2 votes
1 answer
893 views

Does neuroticism cause people to hurt others?

Is neuroticism related to harming others? Is neuroticism related to increased criminal behaviour? And in this case, would it be useful to coach / help a neurotic person through psychotherapy?
Revious's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
443 views

Why is solitary confinement used so widely?

Prison isolation is likely so hard for inmates because people are sociable creatures. Yet, isolation is still used in prisons ('supermax prisons'), in mental hospitals, but also as a strategy to ...
Dan Frman's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
74 views

How can we determine the authenticity of an online psychologist's credentials?

I have come across an online psychologist who claims to be licensed and a member of the USA Psychology community. I would like to verify the authenticity of their credentials and ensure that they are ...
k06ynzea0w_plancetose.com's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
69 views

are there any critiques of the concept of "minimisation" in offender treatment?

Minimisation is when an offender believes their punishment is or was disproportionate. this is often said to be a counterproductive mentality because it lessens the responsibility from offenders. is ...
StateofDecay's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
19 views

Would this situation/mindset fall under the Just World Hypothesis? [duplicate]

Consider this situation: A boy gets injured due to a bully. Instead of blaming the bully, people say it's the boy's fault because he should've stood up for himself. A similar situation can be made ...
No Name's user avatar
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2 votes
0 answers
33 views

Term for someone that makes themselves sad to pass it onto others?

Is there a term for somebody that will purposely make themselves feel sad, and perhaps other negative feelings, with the intention of making another person feel them too? This would be a way of ...
securityauditor's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
152 views

Do people who serially commit heinous crimes (murder, rape, etc...) know that what they are doing is wrong?

Do serial killers and other heinous-crime-comitters know that they are committing horrible acts that are wrong, but just do so anyway because it fulfills them somehow? Or do they view their actions as ...
Runeaway3's user avatar
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2 votes
0 answers
70 views

What is the effect of movies and TV series on criminals?

In whole genres of movies and TV series, criminals and criminal organizations have a central role, either in the role of villains or anti-heroes. And I think it is safe to assume that, given the broad ...
boringggggg's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
152 views

What is involved in a Mental Competency Evaluation in the criminal justice system?

I am very curious as to what exactly is done during a mental competency evaluation. (Not too sure if this is a good question for this forum- apologies if not!) In this instance, a criminal defendant ...
user14581's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
58 views

Are armed offenders ready to use their weapons? [closed]

Are there any statistics about what proportion of armed attackers are willing to hurt or kill as opposed only using their weapons as a threat? E.g. There were cases when a self-confident victim ...
zeller's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
187 views

So why might people post seemingly excessive concerns regarding the danger in their neighbourhood?

Background: The reason for this post is that I have noticed that many people have a desire to make that which is pretty safe seem dangerous. It is very perplexing to me. Despite holding a master's ...
Pete B.'s user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
42 views

How to talk down a suicidal person when time is of the essence

From what I gather, the standard tactic for talking down someone who wants to kill themselves is to play for time (until help arrives, until the person changes their mind, etc.). But what about ...
user5860831's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
87 views

Has criminal-related research been conducted regarding critical childhood experiences/adverse turning points for individuals who commit murder?

I've conducted some basic research regarding criminology and the work of criminal psychologists. From what I've concluded, the focus of these studies are primarily related to determining why specific ...
tc30041's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
34 views

Could a serial killer continue undiscovered by friends, family, work colleagues? [closed]

Or would they invariably show signs that psychologically they weren't right? I'm watching The Fall, where a serial killer is in the middle of his spree, but without his wife or work colleagues ...
Oliver Walters's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
26 views

How retribution that is too harsh affects society?

When a criminal law is created it is usually designed so it balances retribution among other factors to be effective. From what I can imagine, too lenient retribution long term may contribute to the ...
Mateusz Charytoniuk's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
76 views

How useful are the psychological profiles of serial killers?

Recently I've watched Netflix's "Mindhunters" show where the agents do "criminal-personality profiling" on serial killers to try and predict what they are going to do next. I'm ...
John-Henry's user avatar
-3 votes
2 answers
2k views

How would a masochist experience rape?

To quote wikipedia Masochism involves receiving of pleasure—often sexual—from acts involving the .. reception of pain or humiliation. How would a masochist experience rape? Would they find it any ...
cameron's user avatar
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