What makes someone commit crime, and how can psychology improve evidence, courtrooms, prevention and punishment?
Criminal psychology option: explanations of offending, collecting and processing evidence (eyewitness testimony, interviews), psychology in the courtroom, crime prevention and the effects of imprisonment, with background, key research and application.
An OCR A-Level Psychology answer to the criminal psychology option, covering biological and social explanations of offending, eyewitness testimony and the cognitive interview, jury decision-making, crime prevention, the effects of imprisonment, key research, and application to novel scenarios for Component 3.
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What this dot point is asking
Criminal psychology is one of the four optional applications in Component 3; you study two. OCR structures each option as background, key research and application to novel situations. For criminal psychology you must know explanations of offending, the collection and processing of evidence (eyewitness testimony, interviews), psychology in the courtroom, crime prevention and the effects of imprisonment, and be able to apply them.
The answer
Explanations of offending
Collecting and processing evidence
Courtroom, prevention and imprisonment
- Psychology in the courtroom. Jury decisions are influenced by factors such as defendant characteristics, the order of evidence and persuasion, which can bias verdicts.
- Crime prevention. Situational prevention (designing out crime, surveillance) and social prevention (addressing causes such as deprivation) aim to reduce offending.
- Effects of imprisonment. Prison can cause psychological harm (institutionalisation, stress, recidivism), prompting interest in alternatives such as restorative justice and rehabilitation.
Application
OCR's criminal-psychology questions often ask you to apply this knowledge to a novel scenario (for example, improving eyewitness accuracy or reducing reoffending), justified with named research.
Examples in context
Example 1. How Loftus and Palmer informs real interviewing. Loftus and Palmer showed that a single word ("smashed" versus "hit") can change what a witness remembers and even create false memories of broken glass. In criminal psychology this justifies banning leading questions in police interviews and explains why the cognitive interview uses open prompts, directly applying a core study to the justice system.
Example 2. Why imprisonment can backfire. If prison causes institutionalisation, stress and exposure to other offenders, it may increase reoffending rather than reduce it. This evidence supports alternatives such as rehabilitation and restorative justice, and shows how criminal psychology evaluates whether a punishment actually achieves its aim, the kind of applied judgement OCR rewards.
Try this
Q1. Name the four techniques of the cognitive interview. [4 marks]
- Cue. Report everything, reinstate the context, recall in reverse order, and recall from different perspectives.
Q2. Explain one biological explanation of offending. [3 marks]
- Cue. Reduced prefrontal cortex functioning (as in Raine's work) is linked to poor impulse control and decision-making, which may increase the likelihood of impulsive or aggressive offending.
Q3. Distinguish between situational and social crime prevention. [2 marks]
- Cue. Situational prevention designs out crime (surveillance, target hardening); social prevention addresses underlying causes such as deprivation and poor education.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of OCR exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
OCR 202010 marksDescribe one psychological explanation of why people commit crime. [10 marks]Show worked answer →
A description item testing an explanation of offending (AO1).
Two acceptable approaches:
Biological explanation: offending may have biological roots, including genetic predisposition (twin and adoption studies suggesting heritability), brain differences (for example, reduced prefrontal functioning linked to poor impulse control, echoing Raine's work) and the role of neurotransmitters such as low serotonin in impulsive aggression.
Social/learning explanation: offending may be learned through social learning theory (imitating criminal models who are reinforced), differential association (learning pro-criminal attitudes from associates) and the influence of family, peers and environment. Labelling theory adds that being labelled a criminal can produce a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Markers reward an accurate, developed explanation (biological or social) with appropriate evidence or mechanisms, clearly linked to offending behaviour.
OCR 202115 marksThe police want to improve the accuracy of information they obtain from eyewitnesses. Using your knowledge of criminal psychology, suggest how this could be achieved and justify your suggestions. [15 marks]Show worked answer →
An application item: apply criminal psychology to a novel scenario (AO2) with justification (AO3).
Suggestions and justification: use the cognitive interview, because research shows it improves recall accuracy. Its techniques are report everything (mention every detail, even seemingly trivial ones), reinstate the context (mentally return to the scene), recall in reverse order, and recall from different perspectives, each designed to provide more retrieval cues and reduce reliance on schemas. Avoid leading questions, because Loftus and Palmer showed that question wording can distort memory and create false details. Interview witnesses promptly, before memory decays or is contaminated by post-event information, and separately, to avoid co-witness contamination.
Evaluation: note that the cognitive interview can also increase incorrect details and takes longer and more training, so it must be used carefully.
Markers reward practical suggestions grounded in named research (the cognitive interview, Loftus and Palmer on leading questions) with justification and some evaluation.
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Sources & how we know this
- OCR Level 3 Advanced GCE in Psychology (H567) specification — OCR (2015)