Chapter 5 the police and crime

what is the aim of this study?
to investigate whether british police officers show certain personality types on the Myers Briggs type indicator (MBTI)

what is a MBTI
psychometric test-questionnaire assessing 4 personality dimensions:
extraversion-introversion(EI),

Sensing-intuition(SN),

thinking-feeling(TF),

judging-percieving(JP)

what is the method of this study?
The MBTI was given to 304 inspectors and superintendents at the police staff college

what were the 4 questions of the MBTI?
(EI)-what is your most natural energy orientation?,

(SI)-which way of percieving or understanding is most automatic/natural,

(TF)-which way of forming judgments and making choices is most natural?,

(JP)- what is your action orientation towards the outside world?

what is the aim of this study? to investigate whether british police officers show certain personality types on the Myers Briggs type indicator (MBTI)

what is a MBTI psychometric test-questionnaire assessing 4 personality dimensions:

extraversion-introversion(EI),

Sensing-intuition(SN),

thinking-feeling(TF),

judging-percieving(JP)

what is the method of this study? The MBTI was given to 304 inspectors and superintendents at the police staff college

what are 2 strengths of this study?

- less time consuming due to psychometric tests

-representative because of large sample

what are two weaknesses of this study?

-high demand characterstics-due to psychometric tests

-Low validity-not measuring what is supposed to be measured

what were the results of this study?
the most common types found in the sample were:

ISTJ-38% and ESTJ-22%

what are these personalities described as?

practical, realistic, unemotional, organised

there were a few NF combinations which tend to bemore imaginative, what does this suggest?

that there are specificpersonalities in the police force

what does coercion mean?

the idea that if you tell someone something enough they'll eventually begin to accept it

what does coerced compliant mean?

only accepting to comply with the questioner and to end the questioning process because they're too tired to carry on even if innocent

what does coerced internalised mean?

the person being questioned begins to believe that they may have committed the crime -told something so many times you end up believing it

what is the aim of this study?
to see if canteen culture exists in the police force

what was the method of this study?
covert observation...undercover police officer

what was the procedure?
applied for a job as a officer and discovered that canteen culture does occur

what was the conclusion of this study?
evidence of canteen culture was racist, sexists, and homophobic remarks being made about offenders and victims of crime

what are 2 examples of coerced compliant/internalised?
1. Stephen Downing-confessed to the murder of Wendy Sewell
- main evidence used was his confession
- confession gained after a 8hr interrogation which he was then confused and disorientated
-he also had poor literacy skills
-was refused parole as he repeatedly claimed he was innocent and was viewed as in denial

2. The Birmingham 6
-accused of planting bombs in pubs around b'ham
-4 of the 6 confessed to the crimes
-Gudjonson claimed that the 4 that confessed to the crimes had higher suggestibility ratings to the remaining 2 who didn't confess

what are 2 strengths of this study?

low demand charactersistics-didn't know they were being observed

high EV- real police officers, real situation

what are 2 weaknesses of this study?

not ethical-deception as the officer was undercover

not generalisable-only in london and one individual observing

what is PACE?
-police and criminal evidence act

-framework for the police to follow

gives balance between the powers of the police and the rights to members of the public

what does PACE do?
-all interviews have to be recorded (protect police & suspect)

-less interviews at night -lead to less demand characteristics

-suspects allowed easier access to solicitors

-jurors can listen to interviews and make up their own minds

why is PACE positive?

the police cannot be portrayed as using coercive method of interrogation

it gives the citizen rights so be treated fairly and equally

what is the public opinion of police personality?

typical personality is thought to include authoritarianism, suspicion, racism, hostility, insecurity, conservatism and cynicism

what did the standard interview method involve?
-questioning method involves a period of FREE RECALL

what is FREE RECALL?
when the witness can freely recall the event in which specific questions arising from the free recall stage are then asked.

what are the questions focused on?
physical apperance

what is taken in to account as to whether they're lying or not?
body movement, verbal consistency and fluidity

what is wrong with this type of interview?
more intterogative and intimidating as it is clear that the officer is in charge of the situation

what happens in the cognitive interview technique(CIT)?
the shift in the balance control is given to the person being interviewed

what are the 4 categories to the CIT?
reinstating the context-how were you feeling at the time? focuses on emotional state at the time

focused concentration- put yourself back to the scene of the crime, how did it smell, what did you hear? concentrate on all their sensory detail

multiple retrieval attempts- what were you doing at the time? have another attempt to unlock uncovered detail

varied retrieval-recall events in chronological order

2 strengths of this technique?

- has improved the CIT

-more useful than the standard interview, don't feel as they're being interrogated

2 weaknesses of this technique?

unethical making a victim relive the trauma (protection)

high demand characteristics for the attention

what is the meaning of psychometric testing?

measurement of personality

what is the meaning of canteen culture?

colloquial name for the conservative and discriminatory attitudes held by some sections of the british police forces

what is the meaning of police personality?
whether police officer's personalities are suitable for thier roles or for the public citizens