Images of Black people being killed or brutalised by the police have a special meaning for Black people. These images trigger anxiety and memories of police brutality in victims and their families.

Many Black people have experienced brutality by the police directly or know someone who has experienced it.

BBC News Interview with Dr Bernard Horsford on the Psychological Trauma of Witnessing Police Violence on Social Media

Anxiety and trauma can be caused because many Black people will think they may also be subject to violence by the police.

The mental health problems caused by witnessing racist violence has been recognised by both the American Psychiatric Association ― who state that psychological trauma including PTSD has been caused by seeing images of Black people suffering abuse by the police.

There is a similar statement published by the American Psychological Association (APA). The APA statement deals with the ongoing psychological trauma caused to Black communities by seeing people repeatedly killed by the police. The President of the American Psychological Association said we are living in a racism pandemic.

The research is clear that repeated viewing of images of violence by the police and authorities can lead to acute stress symptoms and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and depression. Tynes et al. (2019) found viewing images of police killings leads to worse mental health outcomes.

Witnessing racist incidents harms mental health ― when we see these distressing images, the trauma can lead to anxiety disorders or exacerbate conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

Images of Black people killed by the police may stay in the mind of those who view them for many months.

There is a strong sense of community and shared experience of discrimination in Black communities, so these images have a much stronger meaning for Black people. Other communities have also been outraged by these incidents.

Unfortunately, there were many incidents of Black people being killed by the police before George Floyd was murdered. For example:

• Ahmed Arbury (was shot by ex-police officers when he was out jogging);


• Breonna Taylor (shot and killed at home in error when the police raided the wrong house);


• Eric Garner (killed by the police in a hold similar to George Floyd where he could not breathe);


• Rodney King (was beaten by the police, the incident was filmed but the police acquitted); and


• Philando Castile, (shot by police while driving).

In the UK there have been deaths of Black people following police intervention which have sparked outrage by Black communities such as Sean Rigg, Joy Gardner, Mark Duggan, Edson da Costa, and Rashan Charles.

African American’s are twice as likely to be shot by the police as White people. Black people are more likely to have force used against them (particularly Tasers). A Home Office report in 2018 found that Black people experienced 12% of incidents of police force despite being made up of only 3.3% of the population in England and Wales.

History has told us that when communities see these injustices this frequently leads to civil unrest. Incidents of excessive and unlawful police violence led to unrest in the 1960s in the 1980s and 1990s in the USA.

It was also said that the Brixton uprising in 1981 in the UK was triggered by heavy-handed policing under the stop and search laws. A young person was said to have died because of police brutality.

WHAT CAN BE DONE?

For the Authorities:

Act swiftly against deaths of Black people ― take the most serious action against the perpetrators. Prosecute and ensure that there is robust evidence to secure convictions. This will help the community see that justice is being done.

Follow the rules that the police are employed to enforce. It is hard to get respect when police do not follow the rules and kill Black people.

Ensure greater accountability; there needs to be more Black people in positions of power to drive change and ensure equality, diversity and inclusion.

For Black People Who See Images of Police Violence:

Seek professional help from psychologists or therapists with an in-depth understanding of Black communities and how racism and discrimination affect Black people.

If it can be shown that an incident that they witnessed caused a recognised psychological condition, then seek legal advice to determine if they have sufficient evidence to make a legal claim for personal injury.

Seek community support and talk about your experiences; this can be very therapeutic.

Try strategies which support distraction from the worry. Take physical exercise and focus on positive thinking.

Use online mental health resources (for example, on our website) on cognitive behavioural therapy and counselling and online mental health diagnosis.

Think positively and use your experience as a positive driver for change.

Work with community groups to address change.

Revisit the place of your trauma to try to reduce the fear associated with the place.

Do not keep on looking at the images of police violence which cause you distress.

Carry evidence so you can record any instances of police violence, most of the cases will be unsuccessful without photographic evidence or evidence of other people.

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Find out More About Community Psychological Trauma and Police Violence

• 'We Are Living in a Racism Pandemic,' Says APA President

• People keep sharing the video of George Floyd. Some activists and mental health professionals are calling it 'pain porn' and begging them to stop.

• Race-Related Traumatic Events Online and Mental Health Among Adolescents of Color

• Nightmares, anxiety, trauma: what watching police shootings does to us

• George Floyd death homicide, official post-mortem

• George Floyd death: Trump threatens to send in army
• What happened on the night of George Floyd's arrest

• Three videos show the final moments of George Floyd's life

• Who was George Floyd? The 'gentle giant'

• George Floyd death was homicide and asphyxiation

• 8 Minutes and 46 Seconds: How George Floyd Was Killed

• Death of George Floyd - Wikipedia

What Is Medical Negligence?

Find Out More About Medical Negligence

• 10 Things about Medical Negligence Claims

• Advice for claimants - NHS Resolution

"Suggestibility has been shown by psychologists to cause false confessions. Psychologists have demonstrated conformity, obedience and compliance can cause illegal behaviour. An assessment by an expert psychologist of a defendant who is considered to be suggestible or compliant is a crucial part of constructing a defence that ensures there are no miscarriages of justice."

What is a False Confession?

A false confession occurs when a defendant, admits to a crime that they did not commit. The psychological process of false confessions is complex. However, the research reviewed by our expert psychologists and their practical experience of working with defendants and in the criminal justice system demonstrates that some individuals are psychologically more likely to confess to crimes than others. There are often psychological factors which can be objectively measured in some defendants which show a propensity to make false confessions to crimes that they did not commit.

There are several reasons why an individual might make a false confession, for instance, a defendant may make a false confession to attempt to mitigate the possibility of receiving a harsher sentence when, although they are innocent, the factual evidence does not support their innocence. Sometimes, defendants may make a false confession to protect a friend or relative who committed the crime. In other instances, a defendant may confess to something they did not do because they are suffering from a mental disorder. Defendants may make a false confession in response to a bribe from a third party. False confessions also frequently occur when individuals are easily led, have low IQ or personality factors resulting in them feeling pressurised into admitting to offences they have not committed.

How Does Offender Suggestibility Impact on the Quality of Evidence?

"In legal psychology, suggestibility relates to the phenomenon that is found when a subject under interrogation yields to leading questions when pressure is applied and shifts their answers when interrogative pressure is applied. Put another way; the psychologically suggestible suspect admits facts which are incorrect under pressure. This is often called interrogative suggestibility. For lawyers, the concept of suggestibility is vital because it is critical that the court has robust evidence to show the defendant’s guilt or innocence. Suggestible defendants may, therefore, admit offences that they did not commit because of their suggestibility, the quality of their evidence under cross-examination in court is likely to be reduced, and they are unlikely to come up to proof."

Suggestible witnesses often possess one or more of the following characteristics:

• A low IQ or learning disability;
• Submissive personality;
• Conforming personality;
• Are suffering from a mental illness;
• Are juveniles; and
• A low Mental age

The leading measure of suggestibility is a psychological test called the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale (GSS). Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale Download. Elevated scores on the GSS are correlated with suspects who are likely to make false confessions under cross-examination or interrogation.

Advanced Assessments’ expert witness psychologists use the GSS in combination with other psychological tests, such as personality tests, IQ test as well as a structured clinical interview, the Wechsler Memory Scale, the Test of Memory and Learning, observations and content analysis of the relevant documents to objectively assess whether the suspect is suggestible. By using this multi-method approach, our expert psychologists can gather robust and reliable objective data to clearly show whether a subject is, in fact, suggestible. In this way, our expert psychologists can use reliable and valid evaluations of suggestibility that rule out attempts to fake suggestibility and meet the very high standards required under the expert’s overriding duty to the court.

Why is Police Suspect Suggestibility Important in Legal Proceedings?

Our expert psychologists assess police suspect suggestibility to establish whether a defendant is likely to produce false low-quality evidence and false accounts when interrogated by the police or cross-examined in court. The GSS is sometimes used along with other psychological tests to determine whether a defendant is fit to plead and fit to stand trial.

An assessment of suggestibility is also essential when determining whether eyewitness evidence is reliable in criminal, civil, employment tribunal, personal injury and other legal proceedings.

How Does Conformity, Compliance and Obedience Differ from Suggestibility?

Conformity, compliance and obedience are different to the psychological concept of suggestibility. The concept of obedience and conformity can explain why defendant’s commit offences under the orders of individuals who they regard to be authority figures. The psychological phenomenon of obedience was demonstrated by Stanley Milgram of Stanford University. Milgram's research showed that ordinary people would obey authority figures and administer lethal doses of electric shocks, which would apparently kill the person on the receiving end. This work was ultimately used to explain the war crimes committed during the Second World War.

The concept of conformity, on the other hand, is used to explain the psychological process where individuals will change their behaviour and views to fit in with the dominant view of the group, to such an extent that they may give factually wrong information because of group pressure. The leading study was carried out by Solomon Asch, who demonstrated how susceptible individuals are to group pressure.

Find Out More About the Psychology of Suggestibility, Conformity and False Confessions

Suggestibility

• Taking Responsibility for an Act Not Committed: The Influence of Age and Suggestibility

• Suggestibility and the Juvenile Offender | Psychology Today

• Suggestibility in Criminal Justice Settings

• False Memories and False Confessions: The Psychology of Imagined Crimes

• Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale – Wikipedia

• Interrogative Suggestibility In An Adolescent Forensic Population

• The Psychological Characteristics of 'False Confessors'.

• Studies on Police Suspects' Mental Health Issues

• The Suggestibility of Children

• Remembering a Crime That You Didn't Commit

• Constructing Rich False Memories of Committing Crime

Conformity, Compliance, and Obedience

• Milgram Experiment | Simply Psychology

• Milgram Experiment – Wikipedia

• Conformity, Compliance, and Obedience

• Obedience, Power, and Leadership – Principles of Social Psychology

• Social Psychology: Obedience and Authority

False Confessions

• False Confession – Wikipedia

• False Confessions & Recording Of Custodial Interrogations

• False Confessions: How Innocent People Confess to Crime in the US

• False Confessions | LegalMatch

• False Confession - An Overview

• False Confessions: Causes, Consequences, and Implications

• False Confessions: Causes and Consequences

"Parental alienation is often raised as a reason for children not wanting to see the parent who they do not live with in child contact and residence disputes. The psychological process of parental alienation is said to develop by the parent with care, and therefore with power, directly or indirectly causing the child to show unjustifiable anxiety, disrespect or hostility towards the non-resident parent. The result of the processes is that the child ultimately rejects the non-resident parent, and typically asserts that they are doing this of their own volition. The process is problematic because, in child contact and residence disputes in the United Kingdom, the family courts place the wishes and feelings of the child at the centre of their decision-making. Therefore, when a child says that it does not want to see the non-resident parent, this assertion is likely to be given considerable weight by the courts; unless it can be demonstrated that the child is a victim of parental alienation."

The UK courts often prefer to use the term implacable hostility to describe the symptoms shown by the parent with care when a child has been subject to parental alienation. Some psychologists and psychiatrists use the term pathogenic parenting to describe parental alienation by the parent with care.

It is important to note that the process of parental alienation is hugely damaging to the psychological well-being of the child that has been alienated. A good childcare lawyer will, therefore, direct the expert to consider whether the child has suffered significant harm. If a child has suffered significant emotional (psychological) harm within the meaning of the Children Act 1989, as a result of parental alienation, this can be a strong argument to reverse the current residence or child contact arrangements in favour of the parent that does not have residence or has limited contact with the alienated child. Put another way, many expert psychologists and child care mental health professionals believe that parental alienation is child abuse.

Our expert psychologists have worked with children and young people in several settings and provided advice for parents in child contact disputes.

Why Has it Been So Difficult for a Diagnosis of Parental Alienation to be Accepted in UK Courts?

Our expert psychologists are particularly familiar with the work by Richard Gardner on parental alienation syndrome, a concept that has been recognised by some in the USA but has not generally found acceptance by the family courts in the UK. The concept is controversial. Parental alienation syndrome has not received general acceptance by the courts for two key reasons:

1. an alienation syndrome is not a professionally recognised diagnosis; and
2. the absence of a reliable clinical-forensic assessment of the alienation syndrome.

"Consequently, parental alienation did not exist as a discrete category in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in the American Psychological Association DSM-IV (which is now obsolete). However, this does not mean that such a process does not exist. Our expert psychologists have observed the process in several family settings."

This explains why the assessment of parental alienation does not form part of the formal training of psychologists or psychiatrists. Formal training in the area is, therefore, by self-directed learning and practical experience of dealing with such cases.

How is Parental Alienation Diagnosed?

Dr Craig Childress, one of the leaders in this field, teaches that parental alienation is a two-person diagnosis. Childress believed it is necessitated by the child’s primary diagnosis of a shared psychotic disorder (DSM-IV TR Code 297.3) when the child effectively shares the delusional belief system of the alienating parent.

Central to this model is the view that the alienating parent has a personality disorder with borderline, narcissistic and antisocial features. Emerging from the personality disorder of the alienating parent is an “encapsulated” delusional disorder (a fixed belief system that is impervious to facts, reason or evidence) involving the inadequacy of the targeted parent (often the parent without care). The fixed belief system represents an intransigent psychological re-enactment dynamic of early childhood relationship trauma consistent with the development of personality disorder.

In when the DSM-5 was developed, Dr Childress refined his model it fits with the following DSM-5 diagnosis:

• 309.4 Adjustment disorder with mixed disturbance and emotions and conduct
• V61.20 Parent-Child Relational Problem
• V61.29 Child Affected by Parental Relationship Distress
• V995.51 Child Psychological Abuse, Confirmed (pathogenic parenting)

Richard Gardener believed that parental alienation syndrome appears mainly in child custody dispute where the child turns massively against the parent without care without reasonable grounds for doing so. This action of the child is a result of the parent with care’s emotionally abusive attempts to incite the child against the non-custodial parent. Gardener believed that where a child’s rejection of the parent is based on some real experience, a diagnosis of parental alienation should not be made.

Find Out More About Parental Alienation

• Parental Alienation - Cafcass - Children and Family Court Advisory

• Parental Alienation - Wikipedia

• Parental Alienation - Families Need Fathers

• Parental Alienation Syndrome: What Is It, and Who Does It

• Analysis: Parental Alienation and the New Cafcass Assessment

• Warning Signs of Parental Alienation and What To Do About Them

• I Was The Victim Of Parental Alienation, And This Is What It's Like

• Parental Alienation: Courts Ensure Children Won't Be Caught In The Middle

To determine whether a Defendant is fit to plead and fit to stand trial the information gathered during the expert witness psychologist assessment must be analysed in the context of the fitness to plead and fitness to stand trial test developed from the case of R v Prichard (1836) 7 C. & P. The test has developed over the years but can be stated as follows:

Does the Defendant Understand the Nature of the Offence?

Part of the assessment of fitness to plead is to test whether an individual understands the nature of the charges they face.

Is the Defendant Able to Comprehend the Evidence?

Defendants may have significant literacy and mental health problems. However, they may be still fit to plead with an intermediary to break the evidence down into a digestible form.

Is the Defendant able to Provide Advice to His or Her Legal Team?

Our expert psychologist evaluates whether a defendant can provide a coherent explanation of events. A defendant may be fit to plead if jury would be able to make adequate sense of the defendant’s evidence.

Additional time and additional support may need to be provided when a defendant is giving his evidence in court.

Typically, our expert psychologists consider whether there are any no apparent signs of delusions or hallucinations. If a defendant can instruct his legal advisers, even with considerable assistance they may be fit to plead.

Is the Defendant able to Understand the Course of Proceedings, So as to Make a Proper Defence?

Connected with this, under the Pritchard criteria, is the defendant’s ability to make a proper defence. Whether or not his version of events is accepted is an issue for the jury to determine.

Does the Defendant Understands the Advice, He or She is Being Given?

If the defendant is able to understand the advice and understand the information necessary to consider that advice properly, they are likely to be fit to plead.

Does the Defendant Understand the Legal Process?

Finally, one must as if the defendant understands the legal process. This means do they understand what the function of a judge is and the judge’s role? If the defendant also understands the role of the prosecution and defence barrister they are likely to be fit to plead and fit to stand trial.

Find Out More About Fitness to Plead and Fitness to Stand Trial

• Fitness to Plead – Wikipedia

• Fitness to Plead and Suggestibility Assessments - Advanced Assessments Ltd

• Unfitness to plead - Law Commission

• Unfitness to Plead | Law Commission

• Fitness to Plead

• 'Fitness to Plead'– Vigorous Representation Needed for Defendants

• Fitness to plead: Development and Validation of a Standardised Assessment Instrument

• Establishing a Test of 'Fitness to Plead' in Criminal Court – LSE

• Fitness to Plead - King's College London

What is Dyslexia?

Dyslexia is characterised as a lifelong reading disorder caused by a neurological difference in the brain. People with dyslexia’s intelligence does not match up to their performance in academic areas such as reading, spelling and writing. It is important to get a diagnosis of dyslexia quickly because with the right support people with dyslexia can achieve outstanding results in education, employment and other areas of life. The right support can address the problems often associated with dyslexia.

Dyslexia Diagnosis

Dyslexia can be diagnosed through a series of approved test which are memory, processing speed, ability to reason with words and the ability to reason without words. Our expert psychologist will compare the client’s underlying cognitive ability (as measured by these tests) with their performance on literacy test measuring, reading, spelling, and handwriting. Where the expert psychologist finds the client’s, academic achievement is inconsistent with their underlying ability (IQ) a diagnosis of dyslexia may be made. To read more about dyslexia symptoms click this link

Dyslexia Assessments

Our dyslexia assessment can take up to are completed at the client’s pace, we do not set dictate that the assessment must be completed within three hours. The assessment can be conducted at home or in the Advanced Assessments Assessment Centres. The Dyslexia Diagnostic Assessment will measure reading, writing and spelling, measure handwriting and fine motor skills, and observe the learner’s ability such as speed of processing language, memory and speech. Through this assessment, the client will be formally diagnosed. Must important we will provide strategies and an action plan for the client the reach their full potential.

Find Out More About Dyslexia and the Law

• Dyslexia Laws: What They Are and How They Work

• Dyslexia Legislation by State

• Dyslexia Laws 2019 | Dyslexia | Dyslexic Advantage

• Understanding the Law - Yale Dyslexia

• Equality Act and Dyslexia - The Dyslexia Association

• How to Avoid Dyslexia Discrimination - Guide for Employers

• Guide for Dyslexic Students - Complete University Guide

What is Psychology?

Psychology is the science of mental life. The discipline is of relevance to professionals working in various areas of the legal profession.

How Expert Witness Psychologists Assist in Criminal Proceedings

Expert Witness Psychologists are often called on by criminal law experts to advise on whether an individual needs an intermediary to participate fairly in the proceedings as either a defendant or a witness for the prosecution. Psychologists often indicate whether an individual needs further evaluation to determine whether they are fit to plead. Additionally, psychologists may be able to advise the court whether an individual was culpable of an offence that they have been charged with because of an underlying psychological condition.

Psychologist expert witnesses are often called to give evidence in parole hearings, and advise parole boards whether a prisoner is suitable for parole.

How Expert Witness Psychologists Assist in Employment Tribunal Proceedings

Psychologist expert witnesses also assist in employment tribunal proceedings. They are often called on to advise on whether an assessment selection process or redundancy process was discriminatory. They also advise Employment Tribunal is on whether or not the claimant before the tribunal had a disability within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010. Individuals in the workplace often suffer from a wide range of disabilities including, depression, anxiety, dyslexia, and ADHD. These disabilities are often hidden but in certain situations can adversely affect individuals gaining employment and staying in a job.

How Expert Witness Psychologists Assist in Personal Injury Proceedings

In personal injury proceedings, expert witness psychologists are often called on to assess the cause of psychological trauma, determine how long it will take the claimant to recover. Expert psychologists working in this area frequently carry out neuropsychological assessments of brain injury. In all areas where psychological is carried out expert psychologists will often see to validate the findings by using a range of psychological techniques to detect malingering, and symptom exaggeration.

How Expert Witnesses Psychologists Help In Care Proceedings and in The Family Court

Psychologist expert witnesses are often called upon by social services departments and families in private and public law care proceedings. They carry out assessments of fitness to parent, whether the child subject to the proceedings has been harmed or is likely to be harmed by the parents or the likely disputes that have taken place between the parents. They are frequently asked by both social services departments, fathers and mothers to determine the level of attachment and to advise whether the child has suffered parental alienation (pathogenic parenting).

In family law cases, expert psychologists often carry out risk assessments to determine whether the child would be at risk if there was unsupervised contact unsupervised contact

How Expert Witness Psychologists Assist In Housing Law and Possession Proceedings

Individuals who are subject to possession proceedings, frequently lack the capacity to make a proper defence and conduct their own affairs including issues that might put them at risk of being evicted. Such action can be discriminatory under the Equality Act 2010. Expert psychologists can often advise in these cases, for example where depression or conditions such as hoarding disorder impacts on the ability of the tenant to manage their property.

How Expert Witness Psychologists Help In Education Law

In education cases, expert witness psychologists often assist parents by carrying out assessments to ensure the relevant child has an appropriate Educational and Health Care Plan. Additionally, Expert witness psychologists appear in Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal’s, and also provide evidence in judicial review proceedings when parents challenged the educational provision offered to the child.

Find Out More About Psychologists

• What's Psychology?

• What is Psychology?

• Psychology

• Psychology Today

• Psychology Wiki

• Types of Psychologists and What They Do

Deportation may have many adverse psychological effects; it can result in trauma and stigma which is caused by hardship and being unable to maintain contact with key family members.

Many people may be returned to harsh environments where they may be subject to torture and psychological and physical harm.

There is typically psychological stress, depression and anxiety associated with deportations. The trauma also adversely affects academic performance with children often becoming withdrawn after the deportation. Children might start to engage in self-destructive behaviours, inflict self-harm, become distressed, and exhibit other mental health conditions. There may be disturbances in sleeping patterns; some children may become more aggressive. The psychological effects include mistrust, fearfulness and becoming hypervigilant. Children often experience a sense of shame and secrecy.

Individuals who feel targeted may stop participating in community life; they may move away from the support systems that kept their families psychologically healthy.

These negative psychological consequences may continue even after the children are reunited with their families. Family members often must take on jobs to make up for the lost income of the primary breadwinner.

Our expert psychologists can help by assessing families who are subject to immigration proceedings and providing evidence to the tribunal on how deportation may impact on the psychological well-being of those affected by immigration and deportation proceedings.

Immigration Psychological Assessments

Life in the UK Test – Reasonable Adjustments and Exemptions

Dyslexic people may be able to receive reasonable adjustments for The Life in the UK Test. To receive such an adjustment, one would need to provide evidence of your dyslexia. Reasonable adjustments include:

• Hundred per cent extra time;

• An online test with a reader and scribe who will select the answers as given by the examinee;

• A British Sign Language Interpreter;

• A session alone with no other candidates;

• The use of a coloured overlay on the screen; and

• Special equipment such as a larger screen and ergonomic mouse.

If you have a mental health condition, you may be exempt from completing the whole of the Life in the UK Test. Our expert psychologists would need to carry out an assessment to determine whether the candidate has a qualifying mental health condition

Find out More About the Psychology of Deportation

• Immigration Assessments

• Effects of Deportation on Families and Communities

• Psychological Effects of Deportation

• American Psychological Association Deportations

• Psychological Effects on Children of Deportation

• The Toxic Health Effects of Deportation

• Insidious Prison

• Life in the UK Test Exemption for Mental Conditions

• Life in the UK Reasonable Adjustments Dyslexic People

• Removal from the UK Toolkit

• The Psychology of Immigration

• American Psychological Association Immigration Report

Geographical profiling is the study of criminal spatial behaviour, the development of decision support tools that incorporate research findings, studies of the effectiveness of these applications and exploration as to how such tools can help the police investigation. There are two fundamental approaches to geographic profiling (a) that individuals have a mental map of the areas and (b) route finding ability.

How Can Geographic Profiling Help the Police?

Geographic profiling:

• helps with prioritisation of offenders;

• gives guidance on where to seek intelligence;

• links crime to a common perpetrator;

• predicts where the next crime is likely to take place; and

• possibly links the geographical style to an offender.

Geographical Offender Profiling Map

The relevant theories underlying geographic profiling, as they apply to offender profiling are now discussed.

Routine Activity Theory (Cohen & Felson, 1979).

‘Routine Activity Theory (R.A.T.)’ proposes that for a crime to occur there are three necessary components, which must converge in time and space:

1. the presence of a likely offender (an individual who is motivated to commit a crime);

2. a suitable target (e.g. something valuable and accessible); and

3. the absence of a capable guardian (e.g. security guard, policeman, citizen).

The movement of people throughout their daily routine activities generates such convergences, and thus influences the likelihood and risk of crime over time. The approach focuses on the discovery of “opportunities” in the form of victims and targets during non-criminal activities.

Crime Pattern Theory (Brantingham & Brantingham, 1981).

Brantingham & Brantingham drew heavily from R.A.T. to propose that individuals develop an awareness of space; an area of familiarity, during their day-to-day activities, and that this governs the geographic patterning of their criminal and non-criminal behaviour. Awareness spaces include nodes (the places that people travel to and from, e.g. home, work or friend’s house), paths (the routes between the nodes) and edges (the boundaries of the region of familiarity).

Rational Choice Theory (Cornish & Clarke, 1986)

Rational Choice Theory’ proposes that the decision to offend is purposeful and rational, and is made by weighing up the pros or gains (e.g. personal, financial) associated with a crime against the cons or costs (e.g. the risks involved). These decisions are governed by environmental cues, and the rational consideration of the efforts, rewards and costs associated with potential crime locations. Lundrigan & Canter (2001a) assert models of rational choice are concerned with offences such as burglary and robbery, which are instrumental. Lundrigan & Canter (2001a) also state that the rational choice explanation of spatial behaviour involves the making of decisions and choices which exhibit a trade-off between increased opportunity and greater reward the further an offender travels from home, as well as the cost of time and effort and risk. The benefits of a criminal action are the net rewards of crime and include not only material rewards but also intangible benefit such as emotional satisfaction. The costs or risks of crime are those associated with formal punishment should the offender be apprehended. Lundrigan & Canter (2001a) note the concept of limited rationality best explains spatial behaviour of offenders. Offenders do not consider all the relevant factors every time an offence is considered, other influences (moods, motives, perceptions of opportunity, alcohol, and their appetite for risk) apparently unconnected to the decision at hand take over. Offenders are, therefore, behaving rationally as they see at the time. What is considered rational may change over time.

Propinquity and Morphology

Canter, Hammond, Youngs, & Juszezak (2012) say there are two fundamental aspects of offenders’ geographical activities that allow inferences of their most likely home base or location to be inferred from mapping the locations of their offences. The first is propinquity, which is the tendency for the probability of the crime locations to reduce incrementally as the distance from the offender’s home/base increases, often depicted as an aggregate decay function. The other factor is morphology; this is the tendency for offences to be distributed around the offender’s home or base. Morphology relates to structure whereas propinquity relates to closeness. Propinquity deals with the proximity of crime locations to the main places in the offender’s life, notably his/her home, or base.

The Circle Hypothesis

The Circle Hypothesis builds on the idea of there being a simple starting point and to see if the offender would have a base within this area. It is not always clear how large the circle is, and it does not always follow that the offender has a base at the centre of the circle. However, the circle hypotheses is a predictor of the home location. Outliers have a significant impact on the size of the circle. The home base is typically where the individual sleeps, but this ultimately depends on the type of offender. Circle theory proposes that geographical profiling and individual offender profiling behaviour assumes that an offender’s home base will be central to their crimes.

Canter & Gregory (1994) found that individuals tend to offend close to locations in which they live. Offenders when travelling around their home area find places where crimes can be committed. Brantingham & Brantingham (1981) argue that the concentration of criminal activity around the home is influenced by biased information flows. More information will be available at locations close to the home base it is, therefore, more probable that offenders will be aware of criminal opportunities in these areas.

Brantingham & Brantingham (1981) contend that the security of the offender’s home range and the familiarity of the area outweighs the risk of recognition in regions that are not in the immediate area of the offender’s home base. Familiarity is thus a determining factor of where criminals will commit crimes. There are both maximum and minimum distances from an offender’s home/base to the area in which they offend. According to Canter & Gregory (1994), the literature supports the idea that a criminal forms a mental map of his home range. This mental map probably influences criminal and non-criminal spatial activity of offenders.

Criminals tend not to travel far to commit the first offence; a ‘buffer zone’ exists around the offender’s home where the offender is unlikely to engage in criminal acts because of the risk of identification (Brantingham & Brantingham,1981; Canter & Larkin,1993). Fritzon (2001) argues that the spatial behaviour of burglars is more random because essentially opportunity to commit burglary exists everywhere. The location of their crime site, therefore, might be expected to be more dependent on concerns about detection or opportunistic factors such as coming across a house which is unoccupied and does not present environmental or psychological obstacles against being burgled.

Canter and Larkin (1993) found that the home was a location within the crime circle and is likely to be close to the centre of that circle. The average distance of offences to home for offenders studied by Canter and Larkin (1993) was 1.53 miles. Criminals typically travel further away from home at some stages of their offending careers.

Canter and Larkin found that the diameter of the circle was the distance between the two furthermost crimes to define the area found in most the cases the offender lived in the area circumscribed by their crimes. The circle consists of the smallest area incorporating all the crimes. This research has been extended so that a prediction of the offender home location can be derived from any given series by:

1. defining the criminal range for that series using the smallest possible circle that encapsulates all the crime locations; and

2. treating the centre of that circle as the most probable location for the offender’s residence.

Marauders and commuters.

Commuters commit crime around an area that they have some familiarity with but this is well away from their home location. Marauders commit crimes that are more spread out. The assumptions underlying the marauderer model are:

1. the opportunity for crimes is evenly distributed;

2. the offender does have a base within the area of the crimes;

3. the tendency to put distance between adjacent offences;

4. offender feels vulnerable in the area of previous offences; and

5. no very precise targeting.

The Consistency Hypothesis.

The consistency hypothesis posits that criminals will carry out similar level crimes. They are more likely to live near the centre of the crime because they are more likely to know the area quite well and, therefore, there are more crimes committed in the area. The Spatial Consistency Hypothesis is that offenders will only commit an offence in an area that they know.

References and Recommendations for Further Reading

Find Out More About Offender Profiling

• Offender Profiling
• Offender Profiling and Crime Analysis
• Offender Profiling a Review and Critique of Approaches

Mental Health Care Law: 10 Basic Principles - World Health Organisation

• The promotion of mental health and prevention of mental disorders.
• Access to basic mental health care.
• Mental health assessments in accordance with internationally accepted principles.
• Provision of the least restrictive type of mental health care
• Self-determination
• Right to be assisted in the exercise of self-determination
• Availability of review procedure
• Automatic periodical review mechanism
• There must be a qualified decision-maker to detain the person
• Respect for the rule of law.

Psychology and the Law

The Mental Health Act 1983

How is Section 2 of the Mental Health Act 1983 Used?

How is Section 3 of the Mental Health Act 1983 Used?

What Does it Mean to be Sectioned Under the Mental Health Act?

Figure 1: Autism Spectrum

Autism Symptoms

ASD Assessment

A. Autistic Language and Communication

Speech Abnormalities

Repetition

Stereotyped/Idiosyncratic Use of Words or Phrases

Conversation

Pointing

Descriptive Gestures

Offers Information

Asks for Information

Reports Events

Conversation

Descriptive Gestures

Emphatic or Emotional Gestures

AUTISM SPECTURM DISORDER

B. Reciprocal Social Interaction

Some Individuals Display Poor Eye Contact

Ability to Direct Facial Expressions Appropriately

Ability to Show Pleasure and Shared Enjoyment and Interaction

Ability to Communicate Own Effect

Ability to Link Speech to Non-Verbal Communication

Ability to Communicate Feelings and Emotions Using Words

Ability to Understand of The Emotions of Others and Show Empathy to Others

Ability to Show Insight into Social Situations and Relationships

Ability to Show Responsibility for His or Her Own Actions

Quality of Attempts to Initiate Social Interaction

Frequency of Attempts to Get an Maintain Attention of Others

Quality of Social Responses

Frequency of Reciprocal Social Communication

C. Imagination

Imagination/Creativity

D. Stereotyped Behaviours and Restricted Interests

Unusual Sensory Interest in Play Material

Hand to Finger and Other Complex Mechanisms

Self-injury

Rituals and Compulsions

Other Abnormal Behaviours

Autism Meltdowns, Aggression and Disruption

Anxiety

ASD CHECKLIST - HOW MUCH DO YOU REALLY KNOW ABOUT AUTISM?

Find Out More About Autism

• NHS Choices – Autism Spectrum Disorder

• What is Autism?

• What is Autism? Scottish Autism

• Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome

• Everything You Need to Know About Autism

• Autism

• Autism Spectrum Disorder Assessment

Autism and The Law

Autism and Criminal Defence

• Be overwhelmed by police presence;
• Fear a person in uniform;
• React with fight or flight;
• Not respond to “stop” or other commands; and
• Not respond with his or her name or other verbal commands
• May avoid eye contact.

AUTISM AND CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY

LEARN MORE ABOUT AUTISM AND THE LAW

Autism and the Criminal Justice System

• Autism Information for Law Enforcement

• Autism and the Criminal Justice System

• Autism and Oughtisms

• Autism – Youth Justice Legal Centre

• Autism, Sexual Offending, and the Criminal Justice System

• Autism and Offending Behaviour: Needs and Services

• Understanding offenders with autism-spectrum disorders: what can forensic services do?: Commentary on…..Asperger Syndrome and Criminal Behaviour

Autism and Disability Discrimination

• Asperger’s and “High Functioning” Autism – A Disability in Law?

Autism and Child Contact

• Autism and Child Arrangement Disputes

What is Pathological Demand Avoidance?

Figure 1: Pathological Demand Avoidance and its Interplay with Autism

PDA Not Yet Recognised in the DSM-5 and ICD-10

PDA as a Form of Autism Spectrum Disorder

• ASD with a PDA profile;

• ASD sub-type PDA; or

• Atypical autism with demand avoidant tendencies.

Learn more about the key Characteristics of Pathological Demand Avoidance

6 Main Characteristics Pathological Demand Avoidance Are:

1. Resisting and avoiding the ordinary demands of life;

2. Using social strategies as part of the avoidance;

3. Appearing sociable on the surface but lacking depth in their understanding;

4. Excessive mood swings and impulsivity;

5. Being comfortable in role play and pretence, sometimes to an extreme extent and often in a controlling fashion; and

6. Obsessive’ behaviour that is often focused on other people, which can make relationships very tricky.

Individuals with PDA have Many Positive Characteristics

8 Top Tips on How to Support Individuals with Pathological Demand Avoidance

Pathological Demand Avoidance Treatment

1. Flexibility

2. Control.

3. Ease Anxiety.

4. Unravel the Fear

5. Building up Self Confidence

6. Make the change outcome beneficial

7. Provide a Responsibility

8. Set boundaries

Learn More About Pathological Avoidance Syndrome

• What is Pathological Demand Avoidance?

• Pathological Demand Avoidance

• Pathological Demand Avoidance – One Family's Story

• Pathological Demand Avoidance: Behavioural Strategies

Educational Psychologists and Child Psychologists Assess Dyslexia, Autism, ADHD, Learning Disabilities & Children's Emotional Problems

Child Psychologist Near Me

Find A Child Psychologist Near Me: London + Birmingham + Nottingham

Other Psychologists who Assess Learning Disabilities and Neurodevelopmental Conditons

What is an Educational Psychologist?

• Educational Psychologist

• Training to Become an Educational Psychologist

• What is their Role - Educational Psychologists

What is A Child Psychologist?

• Starting a Career as a Child Psychologist

• When to see a Child Psychologist

• What Are the Responsibilities & Duties of a Child Psychologist?

How Child Psychologists Help

• Stopping Children Self-Harming

• What to Do When Your Child is Being Bullied

• Why Your Child Should Get a Part-time Job

Child Psychology: How to Discipline a Child the Does not Listen

We have reviewed two IQ tests the Stanford-Binet and the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence that we use to assess intellectually gifted and learning disabled under five-year olds. The problem for psychologists carrying out assessment is that there are limited psychological tests available to assess under five-year olds. Furthermore, children under five develop intellectual ability at very different rates.

The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale

Learn How to Answer the Stanford Binet Intelligence Test

• Significant
• Substantial; and
• Have a long-term effect on the individual’s normal day to day activities.

Extra Time In Examinations and Additional Support

Many Dyslexics Are Highly Intelligent Achievers

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