Human Behavior
Human Behavior
Human Behavior
Crime committed by man has an explanation socially, morally, and psychologically. More importantly, the
psychological and social aspects are considered by criminologist in addressing the problem of crime and determining their
cause. In this guidebook a compendium of the important topics to be discussed are included. Since the guidebook is for
student use, the student must seek the guidance of the teacher for better understanding of the topics herein.
Basic Concept
Human behavior is the study of human conduct; the way a person behaves or acts; includes the study of human
activities in an attempt to discover recurrent patterns and to formulate rules about man’s social behavior.
Modern Criminologists regard crime as social phenomenon: meaning – an individual’s criminal behavior could be
attributed directly or indirectly with his experiences and interactions to his social environment. Thus, one’s knowledge of
human behaviors will give him better understanding as to the causes of normal and abnormal behaviors which eventually
lead to criminal behaviors.
Definition of Terms:
Behavior - any act of person which is observable; any observable responses of a person to his environment; manner
of ones conduct.
Attitude - position of the body, as suggesting some thought, feeling, or action; state of mind, behavior, or conduct
regarding some matter, as indicating opinion or purpose; internal processes.
Human Behavior - the acts, attitudes and performances of flesh and blood individuals according to their
environment; properly the subject matter of psychology.
Psychology - the science that studies behavior and mental processes.
Personality - that which distinguishes and characterizes a person.
Character - the combination of qualities distinguishing any person or class of persons; any distinctive trait or mark,
or such marks or traits collectively belonging to any person, class or race.
Psychology – is the totality or sum of all actions, attitudes, thoughts, mental states of a person or groups of
persons, it is the science dealing with the mind of human being including animal behavior.
Individual Differences:
No two people are alike.
Men differs from women - qualitative differences; and physical differences
People differ from day-to-day activities.
Nature of Differences:
1. Physical
2. Ability/Skill
3. Personality
4. Intelligence
1
Psychology and Common Sense
Psychology is worthy of particular attention. Moreover, a deeper understanding of the psychological principles
and their application to the field of law enforcement would indeed be of assistance to police officers. Most successful
police investigators attribute their achievements on their practical knowledge of psychology.
Psychology is the science pertaining to the mind, the sum of all human actions, attitude, thoughts, and mental
states. It covers common sense and the development of the ordinary good senses. It examines existing facts of a problem
before a conclusion is drawn, it uses scientific method and therefore judgment is suspended until all facts had been
analyzed.
Common sense is the commonly health notion where truth is not dependent on judgment which is based purely on
observations, thus it lacks the organization of thoughts and jumps to conclusion immediately. Microsoft Encarta regards
common sense as synonymous to good judgment. Further, Microsoft Encarta defines it as sound practical judgment
derived from experience rather than study.
This is to show that what often passes for a commonsense conclusion concerning behavior is not always true, and
that the science of behavior has as one of its goals the elimination of widespread misconceptions and wrong judgment.
Thus, it is our responsibility to further advance our knowledge so that we can replace myths with facts and learn to
recognize errors (Wicks, 1974).
Both are of course useful in understanding criminal behavior because they provide the opportunity to reflect on
how it affects the person’s present view of life.
Aspects of Behaviors
1. Intellectual Aspect – way of thinking, reasoning, solving problem, processing info and coping with the
environment.
2. Emotional Aspect – feelings, moods, temper, strong motivational force with in the person.
3. Social Aspect – people interaction or relationship with other people.
4. Moral Aspect – conscience, concept on what is good or bad.
5. Psychosexual Aspect – being a man or a woman and the expression of love.
6. Political Aspect – ideology towards society/government.
7. Value/ Attitude – interest towards something, likes and dislikes.
2
Distinction of Molecular Behavior from Molar Behavior:
Molecular behavior refers to such things as isolated muscular movements or glandular secretion or to the
movements of the nerve cells or muscles. Molar behavior on the other hand refers to the behavior organized into
meaningful sequences or patterns into activities that satisfy the organism’s needs, bring it closer to its goals or help to
avoid danger.
Libido - the instinctual craving of drive behind all human activities, especially sexual, the repression of which leads to
neurosis.
3
Assessing Human Behavior (Measures)
1. Descriptive Method (describing the behavior)
a. Naturalistic observation - observes the behavior in the natural setting of the person’s background, e.g. home,
school, church, etc.
b. Systematic observation - making use of the adjective check lists, e.g. skills rating (inventories and
questionnaires) test given by the guidance counsel.
2. Clinical Method - diagnose and treatment of serious emotional or mental disorders or disturbances.
3. Experimental Method - relationship between variables by way of experimental (laboratory). Specimens are
required for comparison and for contrast.
4. Statistical Method - making use of researches that were conducted; measures of central tendencies, mean,
median, mode tests; (the use of the Uniform Crime Report (UCR))
Determinants of Behavior
1. HEREDITY – genetic inheritance
2. ENVIRONMENT – socio-cultural inheritance
3. SELF – fundamental functioning of the self structure that we make about ourselves and our world. These
assumptions are based on learning and of three kinds:
a. Reality assumptions – assumptions about how things really are and what kind of person we are.
b. Possibility assumptions – assumptions about how things could be, about possibilities for change,
opportunities and social progress.
c. Value assumptions – assumptions about the way things ought to be, about right and wrong.
The answer to these questions requires the study and understanding of the influences of HEREDITY and
ENVIRONMENT.
A. Heredity/Biological Factors (nature) - are those that explained by heredity, the characteristics of a person acquired
from birth transferred from one generation to another. It explains that certain emotional aggression, our intelligence,
ability and potentials and our physical appearance are inherited.
Or the pre-arranged patterns as a result of a process of transmission of genetic characteristics from parents to the
offspring, includes the influences present in the reproductive cells prior to the time of conception.
It influences all aspects of behavior, including intellectual capabilities, reactions, tendencies and stress tolerance.
This will also explain the conditions that genes, diseases, malnutrition, injuries and other conditions that interfere with
normal development are potential causes of abnormal/criminal behavior.
It is the primary basis of the idea concerning criminal behavior, the concept that “criminals are born” - Theory of
Atavism - born criminal.
It also considers the influences of genetic defects and faulty genes, diseases, endocrine imbalances, malnutrition
and other physical deprivations that can be carried out form one generation to another.
B. Environmental Factors (nurture) – refers to anything around the person that influences his actions. Some
environmental factors are:
1. The family background is a basic consideration because it is in the family whereby an individual first experiences
how to relate and interact with another. The family is said to be the cradle of personality development as a result
of either a close or harmonious relationship or a pathogenic family structure: the disturbed family, broken family,
separated or maladjusted relations.
2. The influences of childhood trauma, which affect the feeling of security of a child undergoing development,
processes. The development processes are being blocked sometimes by parental deprivation as a consequence of
parents or luck of adequate maturing at home because of parental rejection, overprotection, restrictiveness, over
permissiveness, and faulty discipline.
3. Pathogenic family structure – those families associated with high frequency of problems such as:
a. The inadequate family – characterized by the inability to cope with the ordinary problems of family living. It
lacks the resources, physical or psychological, for meeting the demands of family satisfaction.
4
b. The anti-social family – those that espouses unacceptable values as a result of the influence of parents to
their children.
c. The discordant/disturbed family – characterized by unsatisfaction of one or both parent from the
relationship that may express feeling of frustration. This is usually due to value differences as common
sources of conflict and dissatisfaction.
d. The disrupted family – characterized by incompleteness whether as a result of death, divorce, separation or
some other circumstances.
4. Institutional influences such as: peer groups, mass media, church and school, government institutions, NGO’s,
etc.
5. Socio-cultural factors such as war and violence, group prejudice and discrimination, economic and employment
problems and other social changes.
6. Nutrition or the quality of food that a person intake is also a factor that influence man to commit crime because
poverty is one of the many reasons to criminal behavior.
Further, environment as factor affecting behavior pertains to all conditions inside and outside of an organism that is
in any way influence behavior, growth, development of life process.
1. Physical environment (external forces) - all things in this world that affect man directly and stimulates the sense
organs; social environment are physical influences steaming from outside contact with other people.
a. Primary Social Group
1) Home
2) neighborhood, etc.
2. Internal Environment - the immediate environment within which the genes exist and function.
a. biological condition of the body
b. exist in the intercellular and extracellular
Note: Heredity and environment become so inextricably joined in producing growth and development, it becomes
impossible to segregate the influence of these two factors.
WILLIAM JONES (Psychologist) stated that minds inhabit environment which act on them and which they react.
NOTE: Personality is a social phenomenon which is unique in every person. Personality is influenced more by
reactions of other people to us, and by our reactions to other people than by any factor ...... the face, voice, hands, feet,
etc., in which we employ these various characteristics in relation to other people will determine what others think of
us. And their reactions to us, insofar as we are sensitive to them, will influence the opinions we hold concerning our
own personality.
5
Mental Health and Mental Illness
It is difficult top define mental health and mental illness because these concepts are for the most part culturally-
determined and are defined differently in different parts of the world. Behavior that might be considered as abnormal or
mentally-sick in one culture may be accepted and encouraged in another culture. Generally, however, when a person’s
behavior is adaptive to his environment, we say that he is healthy, and when his behavior is maladaptive, we say he is ill.
6
OEDIPUS COMPLEX
Stage when young boys experience rivalry with their father for their mother’s attention and affection. The father
is viewed as a sex rival. This conflict is resolved by the boy’s repression of his feelings for his mother.
There are four primary theories of child development: psychoanalytic, learning, cognitive, and sociocultural. Each
offers insights into the forces guiding childhood growth. Each also has limitations, which is why many developmental
scientists use more than one theory to guide their thinking about the growth of children.
A. Psychoanalytic Theory
At the end of the 19th century, Austrian physician Sigmund Freud developed the theory and techniques of
psychoanalysis; it formed the basis for several later psychoanalytic theories of human development. Psychoanalytic
theories share an emphasis on personality development and early childhood experiences. In the psychoanalytic view, early
experiences shape one’s personality for an entire lifetime, and psychological problems in adulthood may have their origins
in difficult or traumatic childhood experiences.
In addition, psychoanalytic theories emphasize the role of unconscious, instinctual drives in personality
development. Some of these drives are sexual or aggressive in quality, and their unacceptability to the conscious mind
causes them to be repressed in the unconscious mind. Here, they continue to exert a powerful influence on an individual’s
behavior, often without his or her awareness.
Most psychoanalytic theories portray development as a series of stages through which all children proceed.
According to Freud, child development consists of five psychosexual stages in which a particular body region is the focus
of sensual satisfactions; the focus of pleasure shifts as children progress through the stages.
During the oral stage, from birth to age 1, the mouth, tongue, and gums are the focus of sensual pleasure, and the
baby develops an emotional attachment to the person providing these satisfactions (primarily through feeding). During the
anal stage, from ages 1 to 3, children focus on pleasures associated with control and self-control, primarily with respect to
defecation and toilet training. In the phallic stage, from ages 3 to 6, children derive pleasure from genital stimulation.
They are also interested in the physical differences between the sexes and identify with their same-sex parent. The latency
phase, from ages 7 to 11, is when sensual motives subside and psychological energy is channeled into conventional
activities, such as schoolwork. Finally, during the genital stage, from adolescence through adulthood, individuals develop
mature sexual interests.
An American psychoanalyst, Erik Erikson, proposed a related series of psychosocial stages of personality growth
that more strongly emphasize social influences within the family. Erikson’s eight stages span the entire life course, and,
contrary to Freud’s stages, each involves a conflict in the social world with two possible outcomes. In infancy, for
example, the conflict is “trust vs. mistrust” based on whether the baby is confident that others will provide nurturance and
care. In adolescence, “identity vs. role confusion” defines the teenager’s search for self-understanding. Erikson’s theory
thus emphasizes the interaction of internal psychological growth and the support of the social world.
7
Psychoanalytic theories offer a rich portrayal of personality growth that emphasizes the complex emotional—and
sometimes irrational—forces within each person. These theories are hard to prove or disprove, however, because they are
based on unconscious processes inaccessible to scientific experimentation.
B Learning Theories
Classical Conditioning
Classical conditioning is a type of learning in which an animal’s natural response to one object or sensory stimulus
transfers to another stimulus. This illustration shows how a dog can learn to salivate to the sound of a tuning fork, an
experiment first carried out in the early 1900s by Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov. For conditioning to occur, the pairing
of the food with the tuning fork (step 3 in the illustration) must be repeated many times, so that the dog eventually learns
to associate the two items..
Learning theorists emphasize the role of environmental influences in shaping the way a person develops. In their
view, child development is guided by both deliberate and unintended learning experiences in the home, peer group,
school, and community. Therefore, childhood growth is significantly shaped by the efforts of parents, teachers, and others
to socialize children in desirable ways. According to learning theories, the same principles that explain how people can
use a bicycle or computer also explain how children acquire social skills, emotional self-control, reasoning strategies, and
the physical skills of walking and running.
B. F. Skinner
8
One kind of learning occurs when a child’s actions are followed by a reward or punishment. A reward, also called
a reinforcer, increases the probability that behavior will be repeated. For example, a young child may regularly draw
pictures because she receives praise from her parents after completing each one. A punishment decreases the probability
that behavior will be repeated. For example, a child who touches a hot stove and burns his fingertips is not likely to touch
the stove again. American psychologist B. F. Skinner devoted his career to explaining how human behavior is affected by
its consequences—a process he called operant conditioning–and to describing the positive and constructive ways that
reinforcement and punishment can be used to guide children’s behavior.
Learning by Observation
People learn much of what they know simply by observing others. Here a child learns to use a lawnmower by observing
his father’s behavior and imitating it with a toy lawnmower.
Spencer Grant/Liaison Agency
Another kind of learning, classical conditioning, occurs when a person makes a mental association between two
events or stimuli. When conditioning has occurred, merely encountering the first stimulus produces a response once
associated only with the second stimulus. For example, babies begin sucking when they are put in a familiar nursing
posture, children fear dogs whose barking has startled them in the past, and students cringe at the sound of school bells
that signal that they are tardy. Classical conditioning was first studied by Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov in the early
1900s and later by American psychologist John B. Watson.
9
Learning Aggression Through Observation
Pygmy Mammoth Productions
A third kind of learning consists of imitating the behavior of others. A boy may acquire his father’s style of
talking, his mother’s tendency to roll her eyes, and his favorite basketball player’s moves on the court. In doing so, he also
acquires expectations about the consequences of these behaviors. This type of learning has been studied extensively by
American psychologist Albert Bandura. His social learning theory emphasizes how learning through observation and
imitation affects behavior and thought.
Learning theories provide extremely useful ways of understanding how developmental changes in behavior and thinking
occur and, for some children, why behavior problems arise. These theories can be studied scientifically and practically applied. Critics
point out, however, that because of their emphasis on the guidance of the social environment, learning theorists sometimes neglect
children’s active role in their own understanding and development.
C Cognitive Theories
Understanding how children think is crucial to understanding their development because children’s perceptions of
life events often determine how these events affect them. For example, a five-year-old who believes that her parents’
marital problems are her fault is affected much differently than an adolescent who has a better understanding of marriage
and relationships. Cognitive theorists focus on the development of thinking and reasoning as the key to understanding
childhood growth.
The best-known theory of cognitive development was developed by Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget, who became
interested in how children think and construct their own knowledge. Based on his studies and observations, Piaget
theorized that children proceed through four distinct stages of cognitive development: the sensorimotor stage, the
preoperational stage, the concrete-operational stage, and the formal-operational stage.
During the sensorimotor stage, which lasts from birth to about age 2, understanding is based on immediate
sensory experience and actions. Thought is very practical but lacking in mental concepts or ideas. In the preoperational
stage, which spans the preschool years (about ages 2 to 6), children’s understanding becomes more conceptual. Thinking
involves mental concepts that are independent of immediate experience, and language enables children to think about
unseen events, such as thoughts and feelings. The young child’s reasoning is intuitive and subjective. During the concrete-
operational stage, from about 7 to 11 years of age, children engage in objective, logical mental processes that make them
more careful, systematic thinkers. Around age 12 children attain the formal-operational stage, when they can think about
abstract ideas, such as ethics and justice. They can also reason about hypothetical possibilities and deduce new concepts.
According to Piaget, children progress through these four stages by applying their current thinking processes to
new experiences; gradually, they modify these processes to better accommodate reality. This occurs not through direct
instruction, but rather through the child’s own mental activity and internal motivation to understand.
10
Information-processing theories are based on similarities between the human mind and a computer, both of which
are high-speed information-processing devices. These theories describe cognitive growth as the gradual acquisition of
more sophisticated strategies for organizing information, solving problems, storing and retrieving knowledge, and
evaluating solutions. Like Piaget, information-processing theorists believe that children acquire these skills through their
everyday efforts to understand and master intellectual challenges.
Cognitive theories provide insights into how a child’s mental processes underlie many aspects of his or her development.
However, critics argue that Piaget underestimated the sophistication of the cognitive abilities of young children. Information-
processing theorists have also been faulted for portraying children as little computers rather than as inventive, creative thinkers..
D Sociocultural Theory
Many developmental scientists believe that children do not proceed through universal stages or processes of
development. To sociocultural theorists, children’s growth is deeply guided by the values, goals, and expectations of their
culture. In this perspective, children acquire skills valued by their culture—such as reading, managing crops, or using an
abacus—through the guidance and support of older people. Thus, developmental abilities may differ for children in
different societies, and development cannot be separated from its cultural context.
One of the pioneers of sociocultural theory was Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky, whose writings in the 1920s
and 1930s emphasized how children’s interaction with adults contributes to the development of skills. According to
Vygotsky, sensitive adults are aware of a child’s readiness for new challenges, and they structure appropriate activities to
help the child develop new skills. Adults act as mentors and teachers, leading the child into the zone of proximal
development—Vygotsky’s term for the range of skills that the child cannot perform unaided but can master with adult
assistance. A parent may encourage simple number concepts, for example, by counting beads with the child or measuring
cooking ingredients together, filling in the numbers that the child cannot remember. As children participate in such
experiences daily with parents, teachers, and others, they gradually learn the culture’s practices, skills, and values.
Sociocultural theory highlights how children incorporate culture into their reasoning, social interaction, and self-
understanding. It also explains why children growing up in different societies are likely to have significantly different
skills. Theorists like Vygotsky are sometimes criticized, however, for neglecting the influence of biological maturation,
which guides childhood growth independently of culture.
ELECTRA COMPLEX
The stage when a girl sees her mother as a rival for her father’s attention but for fear for her mother is less.
Note: Both attachment to the mother and father, the Electra complex is gradually replaced by a strengthened
identification with the mother.
1. Pyknic - they have broad head, long trunk, short legs, narrow shoulders, broad hips and much flesh; with violent
emotions .... when carried to extreme manifest depressive psychosis.
Stupor - the condition of the body in which the senses and faculties are suspended or greatly dulled, as by
drugs or intoxicants.
He is easily irritated and angered and becomes abusive whenever his desires are blocked....in which
moods of wild, energetic and grandiose (showy) elation are succeeded by periods of profound depression and
inactivity....the most extreme manifestations are in the manic phase, violence against others and in the depressive,
suicide....the current term is derived from folic maniaco-melancholique (melancholic) - morbidly gloomy; sad;
dejected; suggesting or promoting sadness; low spirit.
2. Asthenic - they have long head, short trunk, long legs, narrow hips and shoulders and very little fat; they have the
tendency to develop seclusive personality patterns that may result to dementia praecox or schizophrenia.
He supported the thesis that all behavior is goal-directed; specific personal goal of the individual and his methods
of trying to achieve that goal constituted the individual’s “life style”. Change in a life style that has resulted in
maladaption could be accomplished by changing the life goal.
Karen Horney
He developed a school of thought that utilizes the process of adaptation of life situations as an explanation for
personality development. She believed that the prime motivating factor is the need for security, which is not universal
factor but one that operates when security is threatened.
Erick Fromm
He believed that the major need of man is to find meaning of life through the use of his own powers. The basic
human conflict lies between the security given by the rigid social mores and the use of reasoned solutions to the problems
of existence.
Adolf Meyer
Founder of Psychobiology ( a study not only the person as a whole, or as a unit but also as a whole man) and
greatly influenced American psychiatry. He emphasized the importance of considering the total individual from all points
of view biologically, psychologically and socially. This approach is sometimes called holism or the holistic approach.
Erik Erickson
A psychoanalytical theorist identified eight (8) developmental stages throughout the whole life cycle. In his view,
for each stage of development some kind of psychological and social (psycho-social) crisis is likely to occur.
If a person is provided with a social and psychological environment that is conducive to development, he will be
able to deal adequately with the crisis and problems at each stage. If he fails to develop the strength and skills needed at
each stage, he will subsequently find difficulty in dealing with psycho-social crises in the succeeding stages of
development.
They can also be psychological (psychogenic or sociogenic) needs. These are influenced primarily by the kind of
society in which the individual is raised. Psychological motives are those related to the individual happiness and well
being, but not for the survival, unlike the biological motives that focuses on basic needs – the primary motives. Examples
of these are:
1. love and affection
2. for security
3. for growth and development and
4. recognition from other human beings.
A.H. Maslow
Accordingly, there is a hierarchy of needs (Fig. 1) ascending from the basic biological needs present at birth to the
more complex psychological needs that become important only after the more basic needs have been satisfied.
According to Maslow’s formulation, the level that commands the individual’s attention and effort is ordinarily the
lowest one on which there is an unmet need. For example, unless needs for food and safety are reasonably well-met
behavior will be dominated by these needs and higher motives are of little significant. With their gratification, however,
the individual is free to devote time and effort to meet on the higher levels. In other words, one level must be at least
partially satisfied before those at the next level become determiners of action.
Figure 1
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Human needs however, can not always be satisfied. Obstacles and difficulties sometimes stand in the way
between the individual and his goal. These obstacles may lie in the individual’s environment or they may be in the
individual himself.
Some of the reasons why some people fail to reach their goal are:
14
1. Unrealistic goals - when the person’s level of aspiration is much higher than his level of achievement, he is bound
to fail.
2. Harmful or Anti-social goal.
3. Conflicting goals.
4. Environmental difficulties, including force majeure.
Reactions to Frustrations - People differ in the way the react to frustrations. An individual’s way of reacting to
frustrations is sometimes known as his coping mechanism. Generally, people faced with frustration react it in one of two
ways:
1. by fighting the problem in a constructive and direct way by breaking the obstacles barring him from his goal, or
by getting angry and become aggressive; and/or
2. by running away (flight) from the problem, by sulking, retreating, becoming indifferent, and by giving up without
a fight.
15
Defense Mechanism
Defense mechanisms are the unconscious techniques used to prevent a person’s self image from being damage. When
stress becomes quite strong, an individual strives to protect his self-esteem, avoiding defeat. We all use ego defense
mechanism to protect us from anxiety and maintain our feeling of personal worth. We consider them normal adjustive
reactions when they are use to excess and threaten self-integrity.
Further, defense mechanisms are unconscious psychological processes that act as safety valves to provide relief from
emotional conflict and anxiety. They are forms of self-deception, which the person may not be aware of, and are resorted
to whenever psychological equilibrium is threatened by severe emotional injury arising from frustration. Among the more
common defense mechanisms are:
1. Denial of reality – protection of one self from unpleasant reality by refusal to perceive or face it. Simply by
avoiding something that is unpleasant. Or in denial, the ego shuts itself off from certain realities.
2. Fantasy – the gratification of frustration desires in imaginary achievement. Paying attention not to what is going
on around him but rather to what is taking place on his thoughts.
3. Projection – placing blame for difficulties upon others or attributing one’s own unethical desires to others in an
effort to prevent ourselves being blamed. A mother may deny her hatred for the child is through projection. That
is the mother’s ego may pretend that the child actually hates her. The mother thus projects her unacceptable
emotions onto the child.
4. Rationalization – the use of excuses an individual to him and to others. Attempting to prove that one’s behavior is
justifiable and thus worthy of self and social approval. It is also an elaborate justification for what were obviously
illogical or immature actions.
5. Reaction Formation – it occurs when someone tries to prevent his submission to unacceptable impulses by
vigorously taking an opposite stand. Preventing dangerous desires from being expressed by exaggerating opposed
attitudes and types of behavior and using them as barriers. A step beyond denial is reaction formation, in which
the ego changes unacceptable love into acceptable hate (or vice versa). If a mother hates her child - a feeling she
must deny conscious awareness of - the mother may
6. Displacement – discharging pent-up emotion on objects less dangerous than those that initially aroused the
emotion.
7. Emotional Insulation - withdrawal into passivity to protect self from hurt.
8. Isolation/Intellectualization – serves to cut off the emotions from a situation which is normally is full of feeling.
9. Regression – revert from a past behavior or retreating to earlier developmental level involving less mature
responses and usually a lower level of aspiration. Example is falling back to childish behavior patterns; some
respond to stress by overeating or by drinking too much.
10. Sublimation – a process by which instinctual drives, consciously unacceptable, are diverted into personally and
socially accepted channels. Example is gratification of frustrated sexual desires in substitutive men sexual
activities.
11. Identification – increasing feeling of worth by identifying self with person or institution. The person can associate
himself with something or someone to elevate position. Or it is a process whereby an individual without
conscious awareness, satisfied frustrated desires by psychologically assuming the role or some of the traits of
another person.
12. Introjection – incorporating external values and standards into ego structures so individual is not at their mercy as
external threats. The acceptance of others’ values even they are contrary to one’s own assumption.
13. Undoing – Apologizing for wrongs, repentance, doing penance and undergoing punishment to negate a
disapproved act.
14. Sympathism – striving to gain sympathy from others. The person seeks to be praised by relating faults or
problem.
15. Acting-out – reduction of the anxiety aroused by forbidden desires by permitting their expression. The individual
deals with all his impulses by expressing them.
16. Substitution (displacement) - a process by which an unattainable or unacceptable goal, emotion or object is
replaced by one that is more attainable or acceptable.
17. Repression - the ego blocks off threatening thoughts or desires and thus keeps them from sweeping into the
spotlight of consciousness.
16
B. Conflict refers to the simultaneous arousal of two or more incompatible motives resulting to unpleasant emotions. It
is a source of frustration because it is a threat to normal behavior.
Types of Conflicts
1. Double Approach Conflict – a person is motivated to engage in two desirable activities that can not be pursued
simultaneously.
2. Double Avoidance Conflict - a person faces two undesirable situations in which the avoidance of one is the
exposure to the other resulting to an intense emotion.
3. Approach-Avoidance Conflict – a person faces a situation having both a desirable and undesirable feature. It is
sometimes called “dilemma”, because some negative and some positive features must be accepted regardless of
which course of action is chosen.
4. Multiple Approach- Avoidance Conflict – a situation in which a choice must be made between two or more
alternatives each of which has both positive and negative features. It is the most difficult to resolve because the
features of each portion are often difficult to compare.
C. Anxiety is an intangible feeling that seems to evade any effort to resolve it. It is also called neurotic fear. It could be
intense; it could be low and can be a motivating force.
HUMAN VALUES
Human values are relevant in understanding human behavior. It is the standard which people uses to cognize,
express, and evaluates behavior as right or wrong, just or unjust, appropriate or inappropriate. Values are also guides
which people use to evaluate their behavior thus it gives direction to their life. They are the enduring preferences for
mode of conduct or state of existence.
How are values acquired? They are acquired through the influenced by the rewards and punishments meted out
by our parents, teachers and peers. For instance, at home – there is the teaching of control, cleanliness and good manners,
in school – there is competition and learning in conformity with a bigger group, morality and the teachings of the church,
the exposure to mass media and the government influences. The accumulations of these values continue to change as we
continue to face different experiences.
Feelings, aspirations, attitudes and belief are also considered values if they are chosen freely, chosen from
alternatives, prized and cherished, publicly affirmed, and acted upon repeatedly.
17
UNIT 2
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CRIME
(Criminal Psychology)
In explaining the birth of a criminal act or criminal behavior, we must thus consider three factors: criminalistic
tendencies (T), the total situation (S), and the person’s mental and emotional resistance to temptation (R). These factors
then can be put into a formula as:
The formula shows that a person’s criminal tendency and his resistance to them may either result in criminal act
depending upon, which of them is stronger. This means that a crime or criminal behavior exists when the person’s
resistance is insufficient to withstand the pressure of his desire or intent and the opportunity (Tradio, 1983).
In understanding these, the environmental factors such as stress and strains are considered because they contribute
in mobilizing a person’s criminal tendency and the individual’s psychological state while resistance to temptation arises
from the emotional, intellectual and social upbringing and are either the manifestation of a strong or weak character.
* Normal and abnormal behaviors depend relatively on the culture of people since a normal behavior to one
society may not be accepted or allowed to other societies or individuals.
18
Who are abnormal?
When a person fails to meet the criteria enumerated above, he is deemed to be an abnormal person.
2. Deviation from the ideal (from social norms). One that measures behavior against the standards toward which
most people are striving - the ideal.
A behavior that deviates from the accepted norms of society is considered abnormal. However, it is
primarily dependent on the existing norm of such society.
This is abnormality in terms of the individual subjective feelings of distress rather than the individual
behavior. This includes mental illness, feeling of miserably, depression, and loss of appetite or interest, suffering
from insomnia and numerous aches and pains.
4. Abnormality as the inability to function effectively (maladaptive behavior). This views abnormality when people
who are unable to function effectively and adapt the demands of society are considered abnormal like an
unemployed, homeless woman living on the street might be considered unable to function effectively.
Further, maladaptive behavior is the effect of the well-being of the individual and or the social group.
That some kind of deviant behavior interferes with the welfare of the individual such as a man who fears crowds
or can’t ride a bus. This means that the person can not adopt himself with the situation where in it is beneficial to
him.
When a person is frustrated in his attempts to adjust himself to difficult situations over a long period of time, he may try to
escape from these conflicts by doing one of several things:
1. He may compromise with reality by developing imaginary ailments, phobias, obsessions, or compulsions. This is
known as neurosis.
2. He may withdraw from the real world into the world of fantasy and make-believe where his hidden or
unexpressed desires can be fulfilled. In this stage of mind, the person becomes psychotic.
3. Instead of compromising with reality or withdrawing into his well-being, the person may go to the other extreme
and may become very aggressive and cruel in his behavior towards others. He is then known as an anti-social
personality or a psychopath or sociopath, and when his anti-social behavior becomes in conflict with the law, he
becomes a criminal.
Neurotic Behaviors
20
The group of mild functional personality disorders in which there is no gross personality disorganization and the
individual is not required for hospitalization.
People with neurotic behaviors are sometimes called psychoneurotic. These are persons who are in the twilight
zone between normality and abnormality. They are not insane, but neither are they normal. They are always tense,
restless and anxious. Frequently, they have obsessions, compulsions, phobias and in some cases, amnesia. Anxiety is the
dominant characteristics.
Further, neurosis embraces a wide range of behaviors that are considered the core of most maladaptive life style.
Basic to this neurotic life-style are:
1. Neurotic Nucleus – the faulty evaluation of reality and the tendency to avoid rather than to cope with stress. It is
characterized by anxiety, avoidance instead of coping, and blocked personal growth.
2. Neurotic Paradox – the tendency to maintain the life style despite its maladaptive nature. It is characterized by
unhappiness and dissatisfactions.
c. Phobic Disorders – the persistent fear on some objects or situation that present no actual danger to the
person.
Example of Phobias (for complete list, see appendix)
Acrophobia - high places
Agoraphobia - open places
Algophobia - pain
Asthraphobia - storms, thunder, lightning
Claustrophobia - closed places
Hematophobia - blood
Hydrophobia - water
Mysophobia - contamination/germs
Monophobia - being alone
Nyctophobia - darkness
Ocholophobia - crowds
21
2. Somatoform Disorders - Complains of bodily symptoms that suggest the presence of physical problem but no
organic basis can be found. The individual is pre-occupied with his state of health or diseases. Somatoform
disorders are grouped as:
a. Hypochondriasis – the excessive concern about state of health or physical condition (multiplicity about
illness).
A Hypochondriacally person tend to seek medical advises, but their fears is not lessened by their
doctor’s reassurances, and they maybe disappointed when no physical problem is found.
b. Psychogenic Pain Disorder – characterized by the report of severe and lasting pain. Either no physical basis
is apparent or the reaction is greatly in excess of what would be expected form the physical abnormality.
c. Conversion Disorders (Hysteria) – a neurotic pattern in which symptoms of some physical malfunction or
loss of control without any underlying organic abnormality.
b. Multiple Personality – also called “dual personalities”. The person manifests two or more symptoms of
personality usually dramatically different.
4. Affective Disorders - The affective disorders are “mood disorders”, in which extreme or inappropriate levels of
mood – extreme elation or extreme depression. Forms of affective disorders:
a. Milder forms of affective disturbances
Sadness
Discouragement
Sense of hopelessness
Grief and the grieving process
1) death of loved one
22
2) financial loss
3) break up of a romantic affair
4) separation/divorce
5) separation from an important friend, job, etc.
6) disappearance of anything very important
b. Neurotic affective – also called “neurotic mania”, characterized by overactive, dominating, and deficient in
self-criticism.
c. Neurotic depression – sadness and dejection (grave sadness). The individual often fails to return to normal
after a reasonable period of time resulted to high level of anxiety and lowers self-confidence and loss of
initiative.
d. Major depressive disorders – also called “severe affective disorders” with the following classifications:
1) Sub-acute major depressive disorders – symptoms of this depressive disorder includes loss of enthusiasm,
feeling of dejection, feeling of failure and unworthiness, fatigue and loss of appetite.
2) Acute major depressive disorder – symptoms includes mild hallucinations, feeling of guilt, want to be
alone, and increasingly inactive.
3) Depressive stupor – a severe degree of psychomotor retardation, almost unresponsive, refuse to speak,
and confusions or hallucinations.
The second groups of abnormal behaviors typically stemmed from immature and distorted personality
development, resulting in persistent maladaptive ways of perceiving and thinking.
Further, they are generally called “personality or character disorders”. These groups of disorders are composed
of the following:
1. Personality Disorders – disorders of character, the person is characterized as a “problematic” without psychoses.
This disorder is characterized by disrupted personal relationship, dependent or passive aggressive behavior. The
types of personality disorders are:
a. Paranoid Personality – characterized by suspiciousness, rigidity, envy, hypersensitivity, excessive self-
importance, argumentativeness and tendency to blame others for one’s own mistakes.
b. Schizoid Personality – characterized by the inability to form social relationship and lack interest in doing so.
The person seem to express their feelings, they lack social skills. They are the so called “loners”.
c. Schizotypal Personality – characterized by seclusiveness, oversensitivity, avoidance of communication and
superstitious thinking is common.
d. Histrionic Personality – characterized by immaturity, excitability, emotional instability and self-
dramatization.
e. Narcissistic Personality – characterized by an exaggerated sense of self-importance and pre-occupation with
receiving attention. The person usually expects and demands special treatment from others and disregarding
the rights and feeling of others.
f. Borderline Personality – characterized by instability reflected in drastic mood shifts and behavior problems.
The person usually display intense anger outburst with little provocation and he is impulsive, unpredictable,
and periodically unstable.
23
g. Avoidant Personality – characterized by hypersensitivity to rejection and apprehensive alertness to any sign
of social derogation. Person is reluctant to enter into social interaction.
h. Dependent Personality – characterized by extreme dependence on other people – there is acute discomfort
and even panic to be alone. The person lacks confidence and feels helpless.
i. Passive-Aggressive Personality – characterized by being hostile express in indirect and non-violent ways.
They are the so called “stubborn”.
j. Compulsive Personality – characterized by excessive concern with rules, order, and efficiency that everyone
does things their way and an ability to express warm feeling. The person is over conscientious, serious, and
with difficulty in doing things for relaxation.
k. Anti-social Personality – characterized by continuing violation of the rights of others through aggressive,
anti-social behavior with out remorse or loyalty to anyone.
Anti-social Personality is actually the “psychopathic behavior”. The person lacks of ethical or moral
development and the inability to follow approved models of behavior. They are the un-socialized persons, which
often brings them conflict with the society. They may be refer to mixed groups of individuals such as unprincipled
business people, crooked politicians, imposters, drug pushers, quack doctors, prostitutes, etc.
2. Criminal Behavior - The disorder used to describe the behavior of a person who commits serious crimes from
individual to property crimes and the disobedience of societal rules in general.
“Dyssocial personality” is the term used to refer to these individuals, particularly those who violate law
and practice “crime as a profession”.
As a study, criminal behavior refers to the human conduct focused on the mental processes of the
criminal: the way he behaves or acts including his activities and the causes and influences of his criminal
behavior.
24
Criminals are classified as:
A. Based on Etiology
1. Acute Criminal – a person who violate a criminal law because of the impulse or fit of passion
2. Chronic Criminal – person who acted in consonance of deliberated thinking
C. Based on Activities
1. Professionals
2. Accidental – situational crimes
3. Habitual – continue to commit crime because of deficiency of intelligence, lack of control
Types: Consist of characteristics which have empirical reference. Reduce phenomena to a more systematic observation
and assist in the formulation of hypothesis.
Typology (consist of types) - These are classifications which in addition to specify the ways in which attributes
or variables are empirically connected.
A. INDIVIDUALISTIC CLASSIFICATION - overt act which is based solely on the individual’s attributes.
1. Lombroso
a. atavism (born criminal)
b. insane criminal
c. criminaloids
d. criminal by passion
e. occasional criminal
2. Garofalo
a. typical criminals/murderers who kill for enjoyment
b. violent criminals
c. criminal deficient in pity and probity
d. lascivious criminals
3. Ferri
a. insane
b. born criminals
c. habitual criminals
d. passionate criminals
25
4. Clinical Psychologists and Psychiatrists
a. immature
b. emotionally insane
c. dependent
d. hostile
e. anti-social
f. non-conformist
g. aggressive
INDIVIDUAL FACTORS
1. Sex - most crimes are committed by men.
2. Age - most common offenders are juveniles.
3. Rural and Urban Background
4. Personal Attributes
2. Lindesmith and Dunham - Differentiated individual criminal from social criminal. Individual criminal is based
on diverse and personal reason while social criminal is product of support and prescribed by group norms. e.g.
fraternity, racketeers
Note: Social criminal through his criminal behavior achieves status and recognition within a group. He sees
illegitimate means to achieve his goal. e.g. economic gain and security.
3. Gibbons and Gavity - stated that the chronological age at which offenders are determined by the society as a
criminal.
a. Group offenders - from time to time of their first act (life orientation is guided by criminal group)
b. Group offenders not defined as criminals until late in life (life orientation is largely guided and re-enforced by
non-criminal group) e.g. graft and corruption
4. Reckless - identified criminal careers - crimes are committed because of a vocational aspect (for living)
a. ordinary
b. organized
c. professional
Note:
These three types of criminal careers are similar in that they usually involved property offenses for the purpose of gain; criminals tend to specialize in
particular violations, the commission of the offenses requires various degrees of skill and experience; crime is pursued as a way of life, and career criminals continue
for a long period of time, possibly for a lifetime.
26
Table 2
Comparison Table
Typology Description Specific Acts
Ordinary Career engage in conventional crimes; with limited skills, robbery, larceny and
Criminals and lack the organization to avoid arrest and burglary
conviction
Organized Career have a high degree of organization; specialize in racketeering, gambling
Criminals activities which can be operated as large-scale and prostitution, and
business; uses force, violence, intimidation and illegal drugs
bribery to gain and maintain control over
economic activities.
Professional highly skilled, thus able to maintain or obtain counterfeiting,
Criminals considerable amounts of money without being shoplifting
detected; usually avoided conviction because of
connections and contacts; specialize in offenses
which require skills rather than violence.
Gibbons – He identified role careers (self-image, normative orientation and social psychotic characteristics).
DEFINITIONAL Dimensions
1. The nature of the offense.
2. The intellectual setting with others in which the offense takes place.
3. Self-concept of the offender.
4. Attitudes toward society and agencies of social control.
5. The stages or steps in the role career of the offender.
BACKGROUND Dimensions
1. Social class.
2. Family background.
3. Peer group associations.
4. Contact with defining agencies such as the police, courts and prisons.
Cavan. He identified the types of criminal behavior, gave principle consideration to the public’s reaction to crime and the
criminals’ reaction to the public.
1. Criminal Contra-culture - professional criminals, robbers, burglars, etc.
2. Extreme Under-conformity - occasional drunkenness
3. Minor Under-conformity - embezzlement
4. Average Conformity - minor pilferage
5. Minor Over-conformity - exactness in obeying laws and codes.
6. Extreme Conformity - attempts to reform society by persuasion and legal norms.
7. Ideological Contra-culture - strenuous efforts to model society possibly through the use of illegal means.
Genocide - systematic killing of people or nation committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part a nation, ethnical,
racial or religious group.
1. Killing members in the group.
2. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group.
3. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction in whole or in
part.
4. Impossible measures intended to prevent birth within the group.
5. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
28
LEGALISTIC CLASSIFICATION
Stresses on the seriousness of the offense as indicated by the kind of punishment provided for the behavior.
1. Most serious offenses - felonies (delitos) - these are acts and omissions punishable by law under RPC. These are
committed by means of fault (culpa) and by means of deceit (dolo).
Culpa - through imprudence, negligence, lack of foresight, or lack of skill (as a result of the act)
Dolo - with deliberation or deliberately done
2. Less serious offenses are called misdemeanors and are usually punishable by fines or by confinement in local jail
(a.k.a. petty crimes or minor offenses)
MALA INSE - acts are bad in themselves, forbidden behaviors for which there is wide scale consensus in the mores for
prohibition.
MALA PROHIBITA - acts that are bad because they are prohibited by law. Or these are acts as inherently not bad in
themselves but are violations because the law defines them as such. e.g. traffic violations, City/Municipal
Ordinances violations
Elements of Crime:
1. There must be an act or commission;
2. The act or omission must be voluntary - voluntariness presupposes freedom and will, intelligence and intent; and
3. The act or omission must be punishable by law.
Note: As a general rule, there is no criminal liability unless the two requisites above-mentioned are present; another
Latin maxim says:
“Actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea”- or the act does not make a person a criminal unless his mind is criminal.
Psychotic Behavior
The group of disorders involving gross structural defects in the brain tissue, severe disorientation of the mind thus
it involves loss of contact with reality.
People suffering from psychotic behaviors (psychosis) are also called psychotic. They are regarded as the most
severe type of mental disorder. A psychotic has tensions that disturb thinking, feeling and sensing; the perception of
reality is distorted. He may have delusions and hallucinations.
1. Organic Mental Disorders - this occurs when the normal brain has been damage resulted from any interference
of the functioning of the brain.
2. Disorders Involving Brain Tumor - A tumor is a new growth involving abnormal enlargement of body tissue.
Brain tumor can causes variety of personality alterations, and it may lead to any neurotic behavior and
consequently to psychotic behavior.
3. Disorders Involving Head Injury - Injury to the head as a result of falls, blows, and accidents causing sensory
and motor disorders; and mental disorder such as:
a. Retrograde Amnesia – the inability to recall events preceding immediately the injury.
b. Intra-cerebral Hemorrhage – gross bleeding at the site of damage.
c. Petechial Hemorrhage – small spots of bleeding at the site of damage.
30
These injuries may also impair language and other related sensory motor functions and may result to brain
damage such as:
1) Auditory Asphasia – loss of ability to understand spoken words.
2) Expressive Asphasia – loss of ability to speak required words.
3) Nominal Asphasia – loss of ability to recall names of objects.
4) Alexia – loss of ability to read.
5) Agraphia – loss of ability to express thoughts in writing
6) Apraxia – loss of ability to perform simple voluntary acts.
5. Mental Retardation - A mental disorder characterized by sub-average general functioning existing concurrently
with deficits in adaptive behavior. It is a common mental disorder before the age of 18. The person is suffering
from low I.Q, difficulty in focusing attention and deficiency in past learning.
Levels of Mental Retardation
a. 1. Mild Mental Retardation (I.Q. 52-67)- “educable”
b. 2. Moderate Mental Retardation (I.Q. 36-51) - “trainable”
c. 3. Severe mental Retardation (I.Q. 20-35) - “dependent retarded”
b. Profound Mental Retardation (I.Q. under 20) – “life support retarded”
Schizophrenia – refers to the group of psychotic disorders characterized by gross distortions of reality,
withdrawal of social interaction, disorganization and fragmentation of perception, thoughts and emotion. It also refers
to terms such as “mental deterioration”, “dementia praecox”, or “split mind”.
Types of Schizophrenia
1. Simple Schizophrenia (Undifferentiated Type) – the schizophrenia in which symptoms are rapidly changing
mixture of all the primary indicators of schizophrenia. The varying combinations of delusions, hallucinations,
thought disorders, and gross bizarreness.
2. Paranoid Schizophrenia – it is the illogical, changeable delusions frequently accompanied by vivid
hallucinations, with a resulting impairment of critical judgment, unpredictable and occasionally dangerous
behavior.
3. Catatonic Schizophrenia – it is the altering period of extreme withdrawal and extreme excitement. The
individual may talk or shout incoherently and engage in uninhibited, impulsive behavior. The person may be
dangerous.
4. Hebephrenic Schizophrenia (Disorganized Type) – there is emotional distortion manifested in inappropriate
laughter, peculiar mannerism, and bizarre behavior.
Paranoia – the same as “delusions”, “impaired contact with reality”. A psychotic behavior characterized by
delusion of apprehension following a failure or frustration.
Symptoms of the Disorder include feeling of being mistreated, ignored, stolen from, spied upon, and over
suspicious. The Disorder is characterized by: (sequence of events in paranoia)
a. Suspiciousness – the individual mistrust the motives of others and fear that he will be taken advantage.
b. Protective thinking – blame others for one’s own mistake
c. Hostility – respond to alleged mistreatment with anger and hostility, the person becomes increasingly
suspicious.
d. Paranoid illumination – strange feelings of events being experienced.
e. Delusion – feeling of persecution.
31
Other Groups of Human Disorders
A. Addictive Groups of Disorders - This group of disorders includes substance use, obesity and pathological gambling.
1. Substance Use (Alcohol and Drug Abuse)
Alcoholism or “problem drinking” is an addictive source of human disorders. It is evident by its general effects
as follows:
a. It serves as a depressant
b. It numbs the higher brain center
c. It impairs judgment and other rational
d. It lowers self-control
e. Deterioration of perception
Drug abuse or the inappropriate/misuse is a threat to normal behavior. It is an addictive disorder, the fact that
causes both physical and psychological dependency to the drug.
2. Extreme obesity – also known as “habitual over eating” is an addictive form of disorder. It is a life threatening
disorder, resulting in such conditions as diabetes, high blood pressures and other cardiovascular diseases that can
place an individual at high risk of heart attack.
3. Pathological gambling – is an addictive form of disorder, which does not involve chemically addictive
Abnormal sexual behaviors usually lead to sex crimes. The following are classifications of abnormal behaviors
involving sex.
a. SEXUAL REVERSALS
1) Homosexuality –a sexual behavior directed towards the same sex; “lesbianism or tribadism” for female
relationship
2) Transvestism –the achievement of sexual excitation by dressing as a member of the opposite sex such a
man who wears female apparel.
3) Fetishism – sexual gratification is obtained by looking at some body parts, underwear of the opposite sex
or other objects associated with the opposite sex.
Sigmund Freud stated that perversions are sexual activities which either:
(a) extend, in an anatomical sense, beyond the regions of the body that are designed for sexual union, or
(b) linger over the immediate relations to the sexual object which should normally be traversed
(c) rapidly on the path towards the final sexual aim.
33
UNIT 3
INTRODUCTION TO FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY
An Overview of the Forensic Aspects of Psychology
Bartol & Bartol (2004) define forensic psychology as "the research endeavor that examines aspects of human
behavior directly related to the legal process and the professional practice of psychology within, or in consultation with, a
legal system that embraces both civil and criminal law." The author go on to say that the practice of forensic psychology
includes: "investigations, studies, evaluations, advice to attorneys, advisory opinions, and depositions or testimony which
assist in the resolution of disputes relating to life or property in cases before the courts or other lawful tribunal, and
encompasses situations before they reach the court as well as those situations following the court decision." The basic
issue involved in the "narrow v. broad" definitional debate is that criminal justice people, who advocate a broad definition,
want the field to reflect more "research" and less "practice," the former being something practitioners are far too busy to
be interested in, and the latter being to avoid calling someone a forensic psychologist who happens to just be a clinical
psychologist working in some legal capacity.
In the Philippines, forensic science has not yet attained the recognition in courts for it is seldom applied.
Historical Development
Forensic psychology is an entrenched, yet often misapprehended, practice area of psychology, criminal justice and
law. The idea of forensic psychology was conceived by Hugo Munsterberg in 1908 (the founder of applied psychology)
when he published the book On the Witness Stand, mostly about eyewitness testimony and juries. This was the pioneer
book in forensic psychology. Others cite historical benchmarks in Germany with the psychiatrist Albert von Schrenck-
Notzing offering testimony in court about pre-trial publicity as far back as 1896 or William Stern's publication (also in
Germany) of the first journal or periodical dealing with forensic psychology, called Betrage zur Psychologie der Aussage
(O’ Connor, 2007).
In the United States, the first psychological experiment on the psychology of testimony was conducted by J.
McKeen Cattell of Columbia University. The history of the insanity defense goes back to England, to the case of Daniel
M'Naghten in 1843, who shot and killed the secretary of the prime minister, and the M'Naghten test for insanity was used
in many countries, including the U.S., up until 1962. In American criminology, one can trace the origins of a clinical or
psychological criminology to the psychiatrist William Healy, who in 1909, created the Juvenile Psychopathic Institute to
assist the newly created juvenile court in Illinois, and his classic work called Pathological Lying, Accusation, and
Swindling. Numerous other people figured prominently in the development of forensic psychology, and it would be a
mistake to overlook the mental testers of the 1912-1917 period, the polygraph pioneers of the 1920s, personality theorists
such as Hans Eysenck (1916-1997), and a variety of other prominent people and organizations who contributed to prison
psychology and police psychology, most notably Hans Toch, founder of the SUNY-Albany school of criminal justice in
the late 1960s, and the John Jay college of criminal justice which has broadened doctoral education in this field.
34
Recognition in Courts
The courts overwhelmingly recognize and accept psychologists of all stripes as expert witnesses in all U.S.
courtrooms (Jenkins v. U.S. 307 F.2d 637 1962). When certification programs sprang up in the late 1980s, the field
continued to be a growth industry.
Since Jenkins v. U.S. (1962), the general rule has been that every psychologist is a potential expert witness, and
must be prepared to interact with the legal system unless they have ethical grounds not to do so. This rather broad sweep
of the psychology discipline includes all of its subfields: cognitive, physiological, developmental, social, abnormal,
clinical, counseling, industrial, and school. However, educational programs in psychology haven't yet geared up for
training students in their forensic duties. Such training is noticeably absent at the undergraduate level, and only a dozen or
so graduate programs in forensic psychology exist. Many academic psychologists resent being placed in the position of
being, shall we say, "whores" (do anything for money) of the legal profession. Therefore, ethics rather than legal
principles have played a larger role in guidelines for forensic psychologists. We'll talk about ethics again in a minute, but
the main problem is that once a psychologist gets on the stand, they're fair game for almost every dirty lawyer trick in the
book, and they're expected to respond to all things psychological, not just their specialty area.
Since Frye v. U.S. (1923), and it must be remembered that representatives from psychology were intimately involved in
testimony when the Frye standard was developed, most states either follow a Frye-like rule or the FRE relevancy rule in
admitting psychological evidence. An interest in meeting the Daubert standards characterizes many in the psychology
profession, but there are plenty of practitioners who do not like Daubert for many reasons. Let's first look at the field in
terms of Daubert, then the Frye-like standards, then the FRE relevancy test:
In terms of Daubert:
1. Testability: The clinical theories and techniques relied upon by psychiatrists have had as much (if not more)
epidemiological follow-up in the form of "natural history" studies as those in any other branch of clinical
medicine.
2. Peer review and publication: Forensic psychiatrists regularly discuss their methods in peer-reviewed professional
journals.
3. Known or potential error rate: Error rates are specified in psychiatric diagnosis as in any other branch of clinical
medicine.
4. Standards controlling operation: Standards governing the practice of forensic psychiatry are articulated in Ethical
Guidelines, which provide methodological as well as ethical benchmarks.
5. General acceptance: Courts have acknowledgment that well-established propositions in a particular subfield of
psychology may be less challengeable and more easily defended than less well-established opinions. At the same
time, by ruling out a rigid and absolute "general acceptance" test, courts have allowed for "reasonable minority"
opinions.
1. Certain theories and ideas have more credibility in the field of psychology than other theories and ideas. For
example, the theory of atavism has long been refuted, and drive theories have more general acceptance than
instinct theories. (See the online forensic psychology dictionary).
2. In most cases, psychologists should not be allowed to testify on the issue of intent or motive, as these have the
same effect as testimony on the ultimate issue of guilt or innocence. For example, a psychologist cannot testify to
premeditation, but can state the defendant is impulsive. However, sometimes testimony on the lack of a specific
intent is appropriate, as is testimony in support of a self defense claim.
3. Under no circumstances should psychologists be used to argue whether a witness is truthful or lying. The rule is
that courts are prohibited from ordering witnesses to submit to psychological examinations or therapy for
repressed memories in the case of eyewitnesses.
35
4. Unimpeached psychological testimony, except in the case of a serious mental disorder rendering the defendant
incapable of understanding their action, can be contradicted by contrary lay witness testimony, and juries should
be instructed that they can disregard psychological evidence if they want to.
1. Psychological testimony should be relevant in making some fact in the case more or less probable that it would be
without the testimony. In short, psychology should assist the trier of fact, and not be involved in assisting the trier
of law. Insanity is a legal concept, for example.
2. Psychological testimony should be related to mental state, personality, or character of the defendant, and either of
these should be at issue in the case before admitting such testimony.
3. The probative value of psychological testimony should outweigh its prejudicial impact. Juries are often impressed
by an expert's qualifications or psychometric testing, so the court must be assured that the value of the testimony
is greater than the expert's influence on the jury.
4. The expert should have expertise in the area in question in the particular case. This means that a mix of education and
experience qualifies one as an expert. If one expert has a master's degree but little experience (a one-year internship), they are
less qualified than another expert with only a bachelor's degree but who has testified as an expert in 40 similar cases.
Eyewitness Testimony
A few psychologists try to carve out a specialty area where it's understood that this is the one and only area they'll
testify about. This work is typically unpaid work, as opposed to all-purpose psychologists who usually get paid.
Eyewitness science is one such area. It's estimated that there are over 4,250 wrongful convictions each year due to sincere,
yet inaccurate eyewitness identification. This has led many courts to consider inviting forensic psychologists to offer
testimony about perception and memory. Forensic psychologists are not permitted to testify on the accuracy of a
particular witness, only on the inherent unreliability of eyewitnesses in general. They are allowed to explain the
mechanisms of perception, processing, memory, and recollection, and to describe the empirical research which has been
conducted on these subjects. With victims, the rule is that a psychologist can testify about how victims of child abuse,
domestic violence, or rape often have trouble remembering the incidents in their past, but they cannot state whether a
particular victim was abused, battered, or raped (but juries usually get the idea).
Several states do not allow forensic psychologists to testify about eyewitness identification at all, the reasoning being
that it invades the province of the jury. Some jurisdictions don't consider it Frye-compatible; others seriously limit its
scope to general circumstances under the FRE, and it's a common subject matter in Daubert pretrial hearings.
The expert testimony involves a discussion of event factors (duration, complexity, and violence). Eyewitnesses
normally overestimate duration. Personal factors are also involved (stress, weapon focus, and expectation). Psychologists
have termed the relationship between stress and memory the Yerkes-Dodson Law. Expectation involves personal bias,
cultural bias, and stereotypes. Over half of victims who didn't even see or hear their assailant think it was a black man.
Memory is also affected by storage factors. One psychologist, Elizabeth Loftus, has pioneered research in this area, which
demonstrates the gap-filling process of the mind (with certain words and inaccuracies). There's actually a negative
correlation between witness confidence and accuracy. Finally, recall factors play a part, and psychologists are especially
critical of police line-ups, being quick to spot suggestive procedures or other social forces at work.
If a defendant's irrational behavior is known to either side or observed in court, this raises doubts as to competency (a
legal concept) and ability to assist his/her attorney. In such cases, a special competency hearing must be held. Forensic
psychologists often testify at these hearings. Incompetency is separate from insanity. If the defendant is found
incompetent (IST), no trial is held. If the defendant is found competent, then a trial will commence at which time the issue
of insanity will be raised. Competency is all about mental state at the time of trial; insanity is about mental state at the
time the offense was committed.
Determination of competency normally takes place during an examination at a state mental hospital or a forensic
psychiatric unit of a correctional facility. Other times, private facilities are involved. The inmate is interviewed for a
36
period of days, sometimes weeks. Psychometric and neurological testing will also be done. Mental retardation, amnesia,
and mild forms of mental disorder are not considered proof of incompetency by the courts. In general, the courts will
often take persons to trial that psychiatrists think are incompetent. If the person is declared incompetent, the court will
order them, under civil commitment, to undergo rehabilitation with drugs and/or therapy so that they can be restored to a
point where they are able to stand trial. Psychologists often get paid for restoring someone to competency so they can
stand trial, which in many ways is a direct conflict of interest if they testified previously about someone's need for
treatment, and referred them to their own clinic or that of a colleague's.
Forensic treatment programs fall into three categories: traditional (medication, family therapy, substance recovery);
contemporary (cognitive therapy, biofeedback, psycho education); and targeted (behavioral approaches to restoring
competency, including role playing and mock trials). Somewhere around 50-75% of the time, the treatment is effective in
raising them to a higher level of functioning so that they can stand trial.
Judges are often uncertain about how high to set bail or what sentence to impose; convicted inmates often come before
various boards or committees asking for release; schoolchildren with tendencies toward violence often come to forensic
attention from mandated reporters; and police often call the mental health center for assistance in dealing with a mentally
disordered offender. These are some of the situations in which a forensic psychologist or mental health professional is
legally obligated to assess the risk of further, or future violence.
A standardized risk assessment interview or instrument is given to the mentally disordered criminal at some point.
Many states have mandated particular forms in their statutes. An individual's score is then compared to national norms
that have been put together from longitudinal or cohort research. A review of that research is beyond the scope of this
lecture, but suffice it to say that predictive validity and actuarial norms are quite well-known. A few jurisdictions use
Hare's PCL-R (Psychopathy Checklist Revised) where a score of 30 out of 40 tends to predict violence. Other
jurisdictions rely upon the MMPI, the Rorschach, or some combination of both.
The official position of the APA is that neither psychologists nor psychiatrists have any special abilities to predict future
dangerousness. Despite this, both kinds of experts are frequently called upon by the legal system for just such services.
The error rates in predicting dangerousness are quite high, on the order of 80-90%, regardless if actuarial or clinical
methods are used. Past criminal behavior is actually the best predictor of future dangerousness. Also, many of the risk
markers that are used in the legal system are sociological, not psychological. Things such as "bond with community"
might be a legal criteria which a psychologist may or may not be able to ascertain.
Insanity
Both "sanity" and "insanity" are legal terms, and forensic psychologists and psychiatrists must relate their scientific
language to them. Various legal jurisdictions define insanity differently and require different tests. There are at least five
(5) different tests:
1. The M'Naghten Test (1843) - this is the hardest one for the defense to satisfy. It really consists of two tests: one, a
determination that the defendant was suffering from a mental defect; and two, proof that at the time of offense, the
defendant could not tell the difference between right and wrong.
2. The Irresistible Impulse Test (1844) - this is intended to tap into the defendant's powerlessness to do otherwise, as
with compulsive disorders or syndromes. It covers the things people do anyway even when they know it is wrong.
3. The Durham Test (1954) - this is a largely abandoned test that asks if the offense was a product of a mental
disease.
4. The A.L.I. Test (1970) - this one, formulated by the American Law Institute, asks whether at the time of offense, as
a result of mental disease, the individual lacked substantial capacity to appreciate their criminality or conform to
the requirements of law.
37
5. The Federal Test (1982) - this one was codified in the 1984 Insanity Defense Reform Act, and involves
determining if a severe mental disease made the person unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of their act.
UNIT 4
SERIAL KILLING AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Serial killer is a person who murders usually two or more people over a period of more than 30 days with a "cooling off"
period between each murder, whose motivation for killing is largely based on psychological gratification. There is often a
sexual element to the murders. The murders may have been attempted or completed in a similar fashion and the victims
may have had something in common, for example occupation, race, appearance, gender or age group.
Coinage of the English term serial killer is commonly attributed to former FBI Special Agent Robert Ressler in the 1970s.
Serial killer entered the popular vernacular largely due to the widely publicized crimes of Ted Bundy and David
Berkowitz in the middle years of that decade.
Characteristics
Psychosis is rarely noted among serial killers. The predominant psychiatric diagnosis noted in the group tends toward the
psychopathic, meaning they suffer from traits within a specific cluster of dysfunctional personality characteristics, those
most commonly associated with Antisocial Personality Disorder or Dissocial personality disorder.
Psychopaths lack empathy and guilt, are egocentric and impulsive, and do not conform to social, moral and legal norms.
They may appear to be quite normal and often even charming, a state of adaptation that psychiatrist Hervey Cleckley
named the "mask of sanity".
The FBI's Crime Classification Manual places serial killers into three categories: "organized", "disorganized" and
"mixed"—offenders who exhibit organized and disorganized characteristics. Some killers descend from being organized
into disorganized behavior as their killings continue. They will carry out careful and methodical murders at the start, but
become careless and impulsive as their compulsion takes over their lives.
38
As to nature of commission:
Organized/nonsocial offenders
Organized/nonsocial offenders are usually of high intelligence, have an above average IQ (>110 range), and plan their
crimes quite methodically, usually abducting victims, killing them in one place and disposing of them in another. They
will often lure the victims with ploys appealing to their sense of sympathy. For example, Ted Bundy would put his arm in
a fake plaster cast and ask women to help him carry something to his car, where he would beat them unconscious with a
metal bar (e.g. a crowbar), and carry them away.
Others specifically target prostitutes, who are likely to voluntarily go with a serial killer posing as a customer. They
maintain a high degree of control over the crime scene, and usually have a solid knowledge of forensic science that
enables them to cover their tracks, such as burying the body or weighing it down and sinking it in a river. They follow
their crimes in the media carefully and often take pride in their actions, as if it were all a grand project. The organized
killer is usually socially adequate, has friends and lovers, and sometimes even a spouse and children. They are the type
who, when captured, are most likely to be described by acquaintances as kind and unlikely to hurt anyone. Some serial
killers go to lengths to make their crimes difficult to discover, such as falsifying suicide notes, setting up others to take the
blame for their crimes, faking gang warfare, or disguising the murder to look like a natural death. David Berkowitz, Ted
Bundy, and John Wayne Gacy are examples of organized serial killers.
Disorganized/asocial offenders
Disorganized/asocial offenders are often of low intelligence, have a below average IQ (<90), and commit their crimes
impulsively. Whereas the organized killer will specifically set out to hunt a victim, the disorganized will murder someone
when the opportunity arises, rarely bothering to dispose of the body but instead just leaving it at the same place where
they found the victim. They usually carry out "blitz" attacks, leaping out and attacking their victims without warning, and
will typically perform whatever rituals they feel compelled to carry out (e.g., necrophilia, mutilation, cannibalism, etc.)
once the victim is dead.
They rarely bother to cover their tracks but may still evade capture for some time because of a level of cunning that
compels them to keep on the move. They are often socially inadequate with few friends, and they may have a history of
mental problems and be regarded by acquaintances as eccentric or even "a bit creepy". Usually they are very introverted
people, too. They have little insight into their crimes and may even block out memories of committing the murders.
As to Motives:
The motives of serial killers are generally placed into four categories: "visionary", "mission-oriented", "hedonistic" and
"power/control"; however, there is often considerable overlap among these categories.
Visionary
Visionary serial killers suffer from psychotic breaks with reality, sometimes believing they are another person or are
compelled to murder by entities such as the devil or God. The two most common subgroups are "demon mandated" and
"God mandated."
Herbert Mullin believed the American casualties in the Vietnam War were preventing California from experiencing an
earthquake. As the war wound down, Mullin claimed his father instructed him via telepathy to raise the amount of "human
sacrifices to nature" in order to delay a catastrophic earthquake that would plunge California into the ocean.
David Berkowitz is an example of a demon-mandated visionary killer. He claimed a demon transmitted orders through his
neighbor's dog, instructing him to murder.
39
Mission-oriented
Mission-oriented killers justify their acts on the basis that they are getting rid of a certain type of person, such as
homosexuals, prostitutes, blacks or Catholics, whom they find undesirable; however, they are not psychotic.
Ted Kaczynski, the "Unabomber", targeted universities and the airline industry. He wrote a manifesto that he distributed to
the media, in which he claimed he wanted society to return to a time when technology was not a threat to its future,
asserting that "the Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race."
Hedonistic
This type of serial killer seeks thrills and derives pleasure from killing, seeing people as objects for their enjoyment.
Forensic psychologists have identified three subtypes of the hedonistic killer: "lust", "thrill" and "comfort".
Lust
Sex is the primary motive of lust killers, whether or not the victims are dead, and fantasy plays a large role in their
killings. Their sexual gratification depends on the amount of torture and mutilation they perform on their victims. They
usually use weapons that require close contact with the victims, such as knives or hands. As lust killers continue with their
murders, the time between killings decreases or the required level of stimulation increases, sometimes both.
Kenneth Bianchi, one of the "Hillside Stranglers", murdered women and girls of different ages, races and appearance
because his sexual urges required different types of stimulation and increasing intensity.
Jeffrey Dahmer searched for his perfect fantasy lover—beautiful and eternal. As his desire to find the perfect lover
increased, he experimented with drugs, alcohol and exotic sex. His increasing need for stimulation was demonstrated by
the dismemberment of victims, whose heads and genitals he preserved. He experimented with cannibalism to ensure his
victims would always be a part of him.
Thrill
The primary motive of a thrill killer is to induce pain or create terror in their victims, which provides stimulation and
excitement for the killer. They seek the adrenaline rush provided by hunting and killing victims. Thrill killers murder only
for the kill; usually the attack is not prolonged, and there is no sexual aspect. Usually the victims are strangers, although
the killer may have followed them for a period of time. Thrill killers can abstain from killing for long periods of time and
become more successful at killing as they refine their murder methods. Many attempt to commit the perfect crime and
believe they will not be caught.
Robert Hansen took his victims to a secluded area, where he would let them loose and then hunt and kill them. Lee Boyd
Malvo and John Allen Muhammad, the DC Snipers, killed random victims, often at gas stations, shooting them and
leaving the scenes unnoticed. In one of his letters to San Francisco Bay Area newspapers, the Zodiac Killer wrote
"[killing] gives me the most thrilling experience it is even better than getting your rocks off with a girl".
Comfort
Material gain and a comfortable lifestyle are the primary motives of comfort killers. Usually, the victims are family
members and close acquaintances. After a murder, a comfort killer will usually wait for a period of time before killing
again to allow any suspicions by family or authorities to subside. Poison, most notably arsenic, is often used to kill
victims. Female serial killers are often comfort killers, although not all comfort killers are female. Dorothea Puente killed
her tenants for their Social Security checks and buried them in the backyard of her home. H. H. Holmes killed for
insurance and business profits.
40
Power/control
Their main objective for killing is to gain and exert power over their victim. Such killers are sometimes abused as
children, leaving them with feelings of powerlessness and inadequacy as adults. Many power/control-motivated killers
sexually abuse their victims, but they differ from hedonistic killers in that rape is not motivated by lust but as simply
another form of dominating the victim. Ted Bundy traveled around the United States seeking women to control.
Medical professionals
Some people with a pathological interest in the power of life and death tend to be attracted to medical professions. These
kinds of killers are sometimes referred to as "angels of death" or angels of mercy. One example is Harold Shipman, an
English family doctor, who made it appear that his victims died of natural causes. Between 1975 and 1998, he killed at
least 215 patients. Dr John Bodkin Adams, meanwhile, though acquitted in 1957 of the murder of one patient, is believed
to have killed around 163 patients in Eastbourne, England.
Victims
Criminologists have long recognized that there are links between most serial killers and their chosen victims.
Demographically, serial murderers tend to target more women than men, and kill strangers more often than family or
acquaintances, as opposed to single-homicide offenders, who tend to kill men and women equally, while killing friends
and family more often.
Serial murderers’ killings are often sexually motivated. The sexual motivation supports the theory that serial murderers
tend to have specific criteria and specific sexual interests that motivate their selection of certain victims. This victim
selection process sets serial murderers apart from other types of killers.
In the United States, serial killers prefer to target victims ages 18–50. The majority of victims are White, supporting
researchers' claims that serial murder is intra-racial.
Approximately one out of every six serial killers is a woman. Female serial killers tend to murder men and women, with a
preference for elderly victims, and prefer to kill with poison. They generally need to have a relationship with a person
before killing them. Females derive their excitement by killing intimately, such as poisoning a husband or smothering a
child. Most commit killings in specific places, such as their home or a health-care facility, or at different locations within
the same city or state.
A notable exception to these characteristics is Aileen Wuornos, who killed outdoors instead of at home, used a gun instead
of poison, killed strangers instead of friends or family, and killed for personal gratification.
Historical criminologists have suggested that there may have been serial murders throughout history, but specific cases
were not adequately recorded. Some sources suggest that legends such as werewolves and vampires were inspired by
medieval serial killers.
Liu Pengli of China, cousin of the Han Emperor Jing, was made king of Jidong in the sixth year of the middle period of
Jing's reign (144 BC). According to the Chinese historian Sima Qian, he would "go out on marauding expeditions with 20
or 30 slaves or young men who were in hiding from the law, murdering people and seizing their belongings for sheer
sport". Although many of his subjects knew about these murders, it was not until the 29th year of his reign that the son of
one of his victims finally sent a report to the Emperor. Eventually, it was discovered that he had murdered at least 100
people. The officials of the court requested that Liu Pengli be executed; however, the emperor could not bear to have his
own cousin killed, and Liu Pengli was made a commoner and banished.
41
In the 15th century, one of the wealthiest men in France, Gilles de Rais, is said to have abducted, sexually assaulted and
killed at least 100 children, mainly boys, whom he had abducted from the surrounding villages and taken to his castle. The
Hungarian aristocrat Elizabeth Báthory was arrested in 1610 and subsequently charged with torturing and butchering as
many as 600 young girls. Like Liu Pengli, they were not immediately brought to justice because they were rich, powerful
and, most importantly, royalty. Although their crimes were known or suspected, official refused to believe any allegations
until they could no longer be denied. After his arrest, de Rais confessed to his crimes, which also included delusions of
demon worship.
Chronicles of the times dealt largely with the affairs of the powerful; moreover, there was a lack of established police
forces, at least in Europe, during those centuries. Therefore, there may have been many other classical or medieval serial
killers who were either not identified or not publicized as well. Many incidents that were probably the work of serial
killers were blamed on werewolves and demonic spirits.
Thug Behram, a gang leader of the Indian Thuggee cult of assassins, has frequently been said to be the world's most
prolific serial killer. According to numerous sources, he was believed to have murdered 931 victims by means of
strangulation with a ceremonial cloth (or rumal, which in Hindi means handkerchief), used by his cult between 1790 and
1830, thus holding the record for the most murders directly committed by a single person in history.
In total, the Thugs as a whole were responsible for approximately 2 million deaths, according to Guinness World Records.
The notoriety of the Thugs eventually led to the word thug entering the English language as a term for ruffians,
miscreants, and people who behave in an aggressive manner towards others. Recent scholarship has cast doubt on the
Thuggee cult and suggested that the British in India were confused by the vernacular use of the term by Indians, and may
also have used fear of such a cult to justify their colonial rule.
In his 1886 book Psychopathia Sexualis, psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing noted a case of a serial murderer in the
1870s, a Frenchman named Eusebius Pieydagnelle who had a sexual obsession with blood, and who confessed to
murdering six people.
The unidentified killer Jack the Ripper killed prostitutes (the exact number of victims is not known) in London in 1888.
Those crimes gained enormous press attention because London was the world's greatest centre of power at the time, so
having such dramatic murders of financially destitute women in the midst of such wealth focused the news media's
attention on the plight of the urban poor and gained coverage worldwide. He has also been called the most famous serial
killer of all time.
American serial killer H. H. Holmes was hanged in Philadelphia in 1896 after confessing to 27 murders. Joseph Vacher
was executed in France in 1898 after confessing to killing and mutilating 11 women and children
42
UNIT 5
CRISIS MANAGEMENT
Crisis is a state provoked when a process faces obstacle/hazard to important life goals that is far a time insurmountable
through the utilization of customary method of problem solving. It comes from the Greek word “crisis” which means to
separate. Webster describes it as an unstable or crucial time or state of affairs in which a decisive change is impending; a
situation that has reached critical phase.
In short it is defined as a dangerous or critical moment of development.
a period of disorganization.
period of upset during which may different abortive attempts at solution are made.
Emergency on the other hand, is defined as sudden condition or state of affairs calling for immediate action.
There are two types of crisis and emergency that is: natural and manmade.
1. Man Made Crisis
Civil Disturbance Revolt
Revolution War
Kidnapping Hijacking
Hostage-Taking Terrorist Activities
2. Natural Crisis
Fire Marine/Air Disasters
Structural Collapse Hazardous Spills
Utilities Failure (Power, Water, Tel.) Nuclear Accidents
Food Scarcity/Famine Flood
Crisis management or intervention – assistance or help extended to the individual with the problem. He is helped to
clarify source of this problem. The resource which may be available for him within himself and the environment and
decision to solve problems becomes his responsibility.
Aims or goals
It Involves
TYPES OF CRISIS
1. Individual crisis
2. Economic or financial crisis – when a person is deprived of the basic necessities of life, foods, material things
and opportunities for comfort and survival.
3. Emotional crisis - emotion which can be defined as a state of arousal something expressed, accompanied by
physiological changes in the body a motivating force and ranges from pleasant to unpleasant to feelings is the
source of the hardest kind of individual crisis.
4. Social crisis – lack of interest, confidence and social skills to relate meaningfully, harmoniously and fruitfully
with others.
5. Moral crisis – irrational or distorted concept of what is right or wrong good or bad. Underdeveloped conscience
and lack of moral values and integrity as a person
43
The crisis theory
Definition of crisis – it is provoked when a person faces an obstacle (hazard) to important life goals that is for a time
insurmountable through the utilization of customary methods of problem-solving (coping).
Crisis process
Crisis model – defines crisis as the disturbance of an existing equilibrium as a result of rapidly occurring significant
changes in forces affecting that equilibrium.
Model: involves an individual psychological process in balance with social, physical and psychological environment.
2. Analyze the Crisis: crisis here will be referred to as the period of disorganization and upset involves painful
feelings of anxiety, depression, hopelessness and helplessness. It is also time-limited (prolonged CRISIS is not
tolerable)
3. Outcome or result of the crisis. This refers to the termination of the crisis and it may happen that a new
adaptation occurs.
1. Recognition that definitive crisis intervention is the treatment of choice for the majority of persons in crisis.
2. Acceptance of limited goals-major areas of pathology may be identified but not be dealt within the
intervention and remain unchanged although the intervention is complete.
3. Recognition that there are precise steps that to be carried out in order to bring about successful outcome.
Weighing the pros and cons of a particular therapeutic action will be encountered for less often in crisis
intervention.
4. It is important that those in crisis intervention must adopt a willingness and ability to work in only a single
sharply circumscribed area. There is a need for focusing the problem
5. Willingness to accept an obligation to the person for the course of the intervention.
- The intervention might take such outcomes as bringing in key family members placing the person in a
more controlled situation for a period of time making arraignment for medical evaluation.
6. Through assessment or diagnostic evaluation is neither dicated nor desirable in crisis management.
44
Levels of intervention
1. Assessment of treatability
- Determining whether or not the individual is safely treated in such a setting.
- Treatable in an outpatient basis.
2. Identification of Precipitating Event
- Precipitating event: the one leading the person to discomfort.
- Essential for determining or differentiating the crisis phenomenon from long-term psychopathological
processes.
3. How to identify
a. Practitioner focuses upon the exact moment at which the persons first made the decision to seek help.
a.g. Precisely what happened just before you decided to come here.
Identify the other influential antecedents of the person’s coming for help (outline a time line).
4. Identification of the area of Impact:
- determine the area of functioning that has been impacted
- formulation of the reason unique to particular individual why the precipitating event resulted in crisis and
could not be warded off by the available coping mechanism.
5. Formulation of Crisis Package
- package involves: information about antecedent events
time-line
area of impact
areas of symptomology
- this is communicated to the person ion a way it will he understable.
- A cognitive grasps of the crisis and events will lead to the achievement of the individual to a master the
situation.
6. Emotional Aspects
- identify the feelings that go with the crisis.
- Need to be in touch with all the underlying feelings
- effective grief work (to identify specifically in what area of the person’s life the loss is most experienced)
7. Coping Mechanism
- the intervener helps the person to bring into play adaptive coping mechanisms.
- This includes classically ego-defenses and a full range of problem solving behaviors the individual may
attempt to use with the dilemma.
- Involves the introduction of new significant others
- What a new persons might be brought into the life space to help replace these losses.
8. Summarization and Anticipating Planning
- Summarizing of what has occurs on the individual’s life since coming for help and the change that have
been made.
45
Crisis Management Model (PNP Manual)
It basically involves two phases:
A. Pro-active Phase- designed to predict or prevent the probability of occurrence of crises at the same time prepare to
handle them when they occur. The Proactive phase is further divided into different stage. These are
a. Prediction
i. Foretelling the likelihood of crisis,
ii. through-
1. Continuous assessment of all possible threats and threat groups.
2. Analysis of developing or reported events and incidents.
3. Updated inputs from intelligence reports
b. Prevention
i. Institution of passive and active security measures
ii. Remedy or solution of destabilizing factors or security flaws to such crisis or emergency
iii. Vigilance and alertness to signs or manifestations of developing crisis or emergency
iv. Establishment of alert systems
c. Preparation
i. Planning, organizing, training and stockpiling of equipment, supplies needed
ii. Simulated drills at unspecified days
c. Post Action
i. Begins as soon as the perpetrators surrender, or when they are captured or neutralized and the crisis situation
is deemed clear
ii. Restore normalcy and bring responsible to court
46
GENERAL TASKING AS A MATTER OF POLICY
1. POC - PEACE AND ORDER COUNCIL
- Organizational body that shall primarily act on crises that arise out of man-made emergencies
- Addresses various aspects of national security particularly those affecting peace and order.
– Concerned with the formulation of crisis management procedures, integration and orchestration of government,
military/police and public efforts towards the prevention and control of crisis incidents.
47
SPECIAL ACTION UNITS CAPABLE OF HANDLING CRISIS SITUATIONS
a. PNP Aviation Security Group (ASG)
b. PNP Special Action Force (SAF)
c. PNP Maritime Group (MG)
d. PN Special Warfare Group (PN SWG)
e. PA Special Action Group, SF
f. PAF Special Operations Wing
48
49
POLICY
- Coordinated and Calculated Response Against Terrorism
- Terrorism Considered a Criminal Act
- Lawful Means and Peaceful Resolution of Crisis
- Graduated Armed Response
- No Compromise with Terrorists
- Respect for Human Rights
- Handling of Crisis at the Lowest Levels Possible
1. In political terrorism, reasons include showing the public that the government is unable to protect its own
citizens.
2. Hostage-taking guarantees immediate media coverage, and after repeated hostage incidents, it is the hope of
the terrorist that the government might overreact and become excessively restrictive with its own citizens,
thus causing civil discontent and a grassroots movement to overthrow the government
3. Law enforcement officers will most likely encounter hostage incidents that involve either criminals or the
mentally-disturbed
a. If the hostages are taken in a criminal situation, it is usually because the criminal is unable to
complete the crime and escapes before the police responds thus making hostage-taking a spontaneous
event
b. The criminal’s primary reason for taking hostages is to ensure his own safety
c. The demands are invariably for safe passage and a means of escape in return for the hostages lives
d. It is also very common for hostage-takers to demand ransom
1. Persons in Crisis - are people who take hostages during a period of prolonged frustration, despair and
problems
2. Psychotics - are mentally-ill people who take hostages during a period of psychiatric disturbance
3. Common Criminals - are people who take hostages for personal, rather than ideological reasons
4. Prisoners - are people who take hostages because of dissatisfaction and discontent regarding their living
conditions in prison
5. Political Terrorist - are ideologically-inspired individuals or groups of people who take hostages because of
political and ideological beliefs.
50
Three Generic Categories of Hostage-Takers
a. The common criminals will generally concede to police negotiations if there is no way out and
hostages will generally be unharmed
b. This type is classified as a rational creative thinker, is able to reason, and can discriminate on how
much force is to be used against him
2. The Psycho
Characteristics of Psycho:
a. This person is unpredictable and may resort to violence depending on his mood
b. The enforcement officer should try to gain as much information as possible concerning motives, past
history, medical and arrest records, etc..
c. This type of person is generally described as full of inner conflict and frustrations which are transferred to
his immediate reality, distorted to suit his own illusions
d. Bringing a priest, wife or a sweetheart may plunge the psycho right back into the environment from which
he is desperately seeking refuge and the reaction may result to killing the hostages and himself
3. The Fanatic
Characteristic of Fanatic:
a. This category includes the one who falls on the extreme side of violence
b. He is the most dangerous because the law, in his mind has no legal basis
c. This mental orientation only sees misdirected social justice
d. This type will rationalized deviance in terms of revolutionary zeal often parlayed by feelings of inadequacy
a. The more time elapses, the more time the hostage-taker will have to think about his predicament
b. With little persuasion, the hostage-taker may feel downright uncomfortable
c. Time reduces anxiety for as long as overt acts are committed
d. The hostage-taker can be starved out and sleep will eventually catch up on him
e. The hostages might even take advantage of such lapses and may attempt to escape on their own
51
Four Major Activities in Managing Hostage Situations
1. Planning consists of work to be performed in order to predetermine a course of action. Planning to manage a hostage
situation involves
a. Forecasting
Anticipating conditions, problems and opportunities that may be confronted during, and after, the incident
b. Establishing Objectives
Determine desired result
c. Establishing Priorities
Creating a sequence of steps to be followed in reaching the objective
d. Scheduling
Establishing action commitment
e. Allocating Resources
Identifying manpower and equipment required to reach objectives and to effectively utilize available
resources
f. Establishing Procedures
Standardizing ways of performing specified work.
g. Establishing Policy
Providing answers to important questions and problems which are anticipated and which provide for
action that is in the interest of the police
2. Organizing - Organizing consist of work to be performed in order to arrange and relate work so that it can be
accomplished effectively. Organizing work in managing a hostage situation involves:
a. Structuring Work
Identifying and classifying work that needs to be performed, and seeing to its proper implementation
b. Delegating
Entrusting responsibility and authority to others and establishing accountabilitY
c. Developing Relationship
Creating conditions necessary for mutually cooperative effort and teamwork
3. Leading- consists of work to be performed in order to stimulate people to take effective action. Leading work in
managing hostage situations involves:
a. Making Decisions
Arriving at conclusions and judgments about results
b. Communicating
Creating understanding
c. MOTIVATING
Inspiring, encouraging and impelling people to take required action
d. Selecting People
Choosing people with the appropriate skills, attitudes and experience to perform specific work
e. Developing People
Improving the knowledge, attitudes and skills of people
4. Controlling- consist of work to be performed in order to assess and regulate work in progress and which needs to be
finished. Controlling work in managing a hostage situation involves:
1. In hostage-barricade situation, the hostage-takers have placed themselves willingly or unwillingly in direct
confrontation with the authorities and therefore they must be prepared to deal with them. Since there is a
confrontation, it is safe to conclude that the hostage-takers are willing to discuss the situation.
2. It is not in the interest of the hostage-takers to get violent. They do not take hostages with the expressed purpose
of taking their hostages’ lives. They do it in 0order to coerce the authorities to behave in certain ways and
eventually to exchange the hostages for something they want.
CATEGORIES OF HOSTAGES
The hostages could be simple civilians, government officials or military/personnel of various stages in life,
position or rank.
A. The most common disorders involved in hostage-taking are psychotics and personality disorders.
1. Types of Psychotics
a. Paranoid Schizophrenics
- They are characterized by persistent false mental perceptions or beliefs such as delusions of
persecution. Their thinking is often loose and makes no sense. They can appear normal at some
moments and psychotic at other times.
b. Psychotic Depressives
- They experience extreme sadness, hopelessness, feelings of inadequacy, worthlessness, slow thinking
and speech and indecisiveness. They have less concentration and are prone to suicide.
2. Personality Disorders
a. Anti-social Personalities- They are repeatedly in conflict with society, thus, are incapable of loyalty and
are selfish, callous and irresponsible. They feel no guilt and have a low frustration tolerance. They tend to
blame others no matter what the circumstances are. They are probably the most difficult personality type
to deal with.
b. Inadequate Personalities- They are unable to respond effectively to emotional, social, intellectual and
physical demands. They show ineptness, poor judgment, social instability and they lack physical and
emotional stamina.
53
TACTICS AGAINST HOSTAGE-TAKERS
3. OBTAIN INFORMATION
- THE NEGOTIATOR CAN USE OPEN-ENDED OR CLOSE ENDED questions depending on the initial
reactions of the hostage-takers.
- In restatement of content, the negotiator must repeat in his own words what he thinks he has heard.
- In reflection of feeling the negotiator or must pay attention to what is said and how it was said.
1. MODELING – the negotiator must talk and respond in a calm and controlled manner using a very
conversational tone.
2. VENTILATION- Give the hostage-takers time to talk without interrupting them.
3. DISTRACTION- use this to draw the attention of the hostage-takers away from whatever is bothering
them.
5. ESTABLISH RAPPORT
6. USE PERSUASION- Deal with small issues first thus creating as atmosphere
of success.
54
Sec. 2 Ground Commander- there shall be only one a ground commander in the area.
Sec. 4. Assault Team- An assault team shall be alerted for deployment in case the negotiation fails. Members of the team
shall wear authorized and easily recognizable uniform during the conduct of the operation. Bonnets shall not be used.
Sec. 5. Assault Plan- The assault shall be planned to ensure minimal threat to life for all parties.
Sec. 6 Support Personnel- An ambulance with medical crew and a fire truck shall be detailed at the incident area.
Sec. 7. Coordination- proper coordination with all participating elements shall be detailed at the incident area.
Sec. 8 Safety of Hostages- In negotiating for the release of a hostage, the safety of the hostage shall always be paramount.
1. A police force must have an established contingency plan or procedure to deal with the problem of hostage –
taking if it occurs within its jurisdiction, first of all, there should be a pre-planned procedure on how the various
elements of the police force have to be organized on the ground or at the scene of the incident. The ground
organization is an ad-hoc arrangement of police that is immediately set up when a hostage taking incident take
place. Such arrangement is pre-planned to delineate functions and responsibilities of responding police elements,
prevent confusion and successfully deal with the problem. A suggested ground organization consists of the
following groups and elements.
1. negotiating team
2. investigation team
55
3. crowd control them
4. intervention unit or assault force
5. traffic control elements
6. intelligence team
7. search and recovery team
c. Administrative group
1. Communication team
2. EODT
3. Medical Ambulance team
4. Rescue and evaluation team
5. special equipment team
2. The scale of size of the foregoing organization is flexible and should be adapted to the magnitude of the
operations. The assembly procedure of the ad-hoc organization should be subject to periodic field training
exercise (FTC) i.e., the contingency plan itself should be rehearsed from time to time.
3. A small compact and special trained unit should be also organized particularly in places (usually urban areas)
where hostage – taking and kidnapping that can be called upon to assault the lair of the kidnappers or hostage
takers to rescue and liberate the hostage and neutralized/capture the terrorist /criminal elements. This unit is
specially trained in such operations, and is composed of well selected personnel who have physical, emotional
and psychological stability to withstand and stressful conditions.
a. number of offenders
b. number of hostages
c. personality of the offenders
d. motivation of the offenders
e. motivation of the offenders
f. equipment and implements of violence at the disposal of the offenders.
2. The decision to assault the lair of the hostage – takers and free the victim is the responsibility of the ground
commander, and the intervention unit commander. The decision to tactically intervene is usually given when
negotiation completely fails and it has become clear that the terrorist are about to start harming or killing the
hostages or are started to do so. That is, the government forces are left no other choice to ensure the safety of the
hostages. However, when hostage – taking has political color and/or international complication and therefore, not
simply a police problem, the higher commander and those having political authority are usually brought into the
picture in accordance with the demands of the situation.
3. In any hostage – taking incident, a priority consideration is to establish controlled communication links with the
offenders, and negotiate for the safe release of the hostage. If possible, a police personnel trained in the art of
negotiation or has such skills is assigned in this job. The principal objectives of the negotiator are:
a. To secure time and assist in intelligence gathering and tactics for a successful armed assault:
b. To secure the release of as many hostages as possible, in the process.
56
In relation to the “siege of the Iranian embassy in London the following principal about negotiation has
become clear, and is lesson learned there from:
a. The negotiator primary tasks is to save the lives of the hostage; he should be able to sole link of the
offenders with the outside world;
b. Each siege is different;
c. The negotiator should gin time, whenever possible;
d. The hostage and the hostage-takers should be isolated;
e. The negotiator is part of the incident team:
f. The negotiator should avoid exposure which might result in his becoming a hostage;
g. All negotiations must be recorded;
h. All negotiations must be conducted on the basis of referral to higher authority, thus, idly, the deciding
authority should not be the negotiator himself;
i. No single negotiator should become the sole line of communication and to avoid this danger, negotiators
should be employed a team.
F. INTELLIGENCE
1. Police operation dealing with hostage taking situation relies heavily upon the intelligence available. The
inquiries being conducted by the detectives or interrogators and the statements taken from the witnesses and
released hostages produced much intelligence.
2. Observation post should be established at a place having a commanding view over the scene of hostage
incident.
3. The specific purposes of intelligence are:
a. To assist in understanding what is taking place in the building where the hostage are kept;
b. To better conduct the police operation.
c. To prepare for any form of armed action by the police;
d. To assist negotiators in their prime task;
e. To assist in forming negotiating ploys, or ideas;
f. To provide an information weapons held by terrorist; and,
g. To assist in the event of armed intervention by the assault team.
When the hostage incident is terminated by the assault of the intervention unit, and hostages liberated, care must be
taken to prevent the perpetrators from mixing with the hostage and affording to opportunity to escape. Hence. Persons
freed from a hostage incident should be brought to an exclusion area and handcuffed until their identities are established.
When the building or scene of the hostage – taking has been cleared by the intervention unit, it is in fact a crime
scene cleared to be protected and processed for every bit of items of evidentiary value. The scene must be placed under
investigator in charge, who become the scene manager that directs search and recovery of evidence. The search and the
recovery team shall normally include evidence technicians, evidence. The search and the recovery team shall normally
include evidence technicians, evidence custodian/recorder. EOD personnel and photographer. Their purpose is to recover
the death bodies remaining in the building, to provide evidence in continuity in the conveyance of the bodies from the
building to the pathologist; to preserve and to preserve and recorded details of any potential exhibits could be material to
any court proceedings, and as a matter of records.
57
Appendices
HOSTAGE NEGOTIATION STUDY GUIDE 2009
This study guide is designed to provide the law enforcement Explorer with basic principles. The guide is not all
inclusive, and does not delineate specific techniques that must be used. The focus of this guide is to provide principals
that are flexible and adaptable to various law enforcement situations. Following the basic principals in this guide should
allow the law enforcement Explorer to successfully handle various law enforcement training activities safely and
professionally. The study guide was developed through the cooperation of International Association of Chiefs of Police
and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.
Hostage taking has occurred throughout recorded history including ancient Greek, Norse and Roman mythologies.
In recent history, political events in Algeria, Kenya and Vietnam demonstrate horrific examples. Infamous Mao Tse-tung
and Che Guevera defended the ideology. Patty Hearst’s kidnapping demonstrated the organized manipulation of the
individual and the media.
Hostages virtually guarantee media coverage showing the government’s inability to protect the public. With
repeated hostage takings, the government may become overly restrictive and provide rumor or media material for
fostering civil discontent to the media. Criminals, mentally disturbed, prisoners and terrorists are often the categories for
hostage takers. Hostage situations have occurred from escalations of family member-on-member, family member-on-
employee, intoxicated co-worker domestic dispute situations, angry client on employee and angry employee-on-client
workplace violence (such as at the VA hospitals and
clinics).
In 1993, 2.2 million people were attacked at their work, 16 million were harassed, 6.3 million were threatened
with violence and one sixth was attacked with lethal weapons (McMain, Mullens, 1996). Unlawful demonstrations at
government buildings have disrupted governmental proceedings and have escalated into hostage situations (UCLA,
Berkley, CA; Howard University, Washington, DC; and the Secretary of Agricultures office, Washington, DC).
There are generally four choices for police commanders at a hostage situation. The first traditional confrontational
response is to amass officers and massive firepower and assault. The second is to use selective sniper fire. The third is to
use chemical agents. The fourth is to contain the area and negotiate with a specially trained negotiator. The first three will
almost always result in injury. The Israeli government investigates the martyr site for intelligence information, very
58
quickly cleans it up, repairs and normalizes the trade traffic to minimize the (media publicized) effectiveness of the
“terror” of suicide bombers on the “target” general public.
The average domestic crisis negotiation team response is about 45 minutes to one hour (Spaulding, 1987).
Therefore, the most crucial moments of the situation will be with the talents of the first responding officer(s). Overseas
travel may be entirely different. Contemporary law enforcement officers responding to, arriving, during and leaving all
hostage/barricade calls must be aware of their own safety to ensure the safety of others. Identifying and properly utilizing
effective cover and/or concealment will aid personal safety. Additional tactics such as contact and cover officer roles and
responsibilities increase safety for both officers.
Upon arrival, the investigating patrol officer(s) employs the ICER concept to the call.
Isolate physical and psychological activities on the scene and keep onlookers beyond the police safety line. Contain the
hostage taker mobility to the smallest location in the building or exterior area and deny the opportunity to observe the
police presence activities. This begins the confines of the inner perimeter and also allows time for crisis stabilization.
Evaluate because the original report may or may not be what the situation actually is. Gather as much cursory information
as possible. Assess the threat(s) and estimate the location(s) of the command post(s), and the number and proposed
positions of backup officers needed to establish a temporary inner perimeter. Report the number and identities of hostage
takers and hostages and their clothing descriptions, precipitating events, size and locations of the dangerous zones, inform
responding officers of recommended entry routes, types of weapons involved and directions or line of fire.
Patrol officers recognize that hostage situations require additional backup personnel, and equipment and expertise
beyond what is required for standard patrol responsibilities. They will often request tactical specialists for this type of call.
Tactical teams may be known by many terms: Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT), Special Operation Response Team
(SORT), Special Operations Group (SOG), Emergency Response Team (ERT) or Hostage Rescue Teams (HRT) and many
other acronyms. Tactical officers arriving will replace the backup officers on the inner perimeter, allowing the uniformed
officers to report to the command post for operational debriefing and then be reassigned to reinforce the outer perimeter.
Tactical teams will immediately establish physical and organizational boundaries for their operations. Establishing
inner and outer perimeters and cordons allow containing the crisis objective into sterile zones. All personnel assigned
should be made aware of the included and excluded description of areas and reference points, police positions, command
post locations, and law enforcement support services staging areas with VIP and media briefing positions.
Access into and out of the objective, through cordons, are required for evacuating persuaded people (often not wanting to
leave homes or offices without their valuables) to predetermined debriefing locations. Cordons also limit unauthorized
personal and media communications, food, water, drink, and utilities such as water, heat, air conditioning, cable, natural
gas or oil heating and cooking fuel. These then become negotiable utilities.
The responsible decision makers Commander, Strategic Operations Command (SOC),
Commander, Tactical Operations Command (TOC), and Supervisor, Crisis Negotiations Team
(CNT), utilize the Incident Command System (ICS) management procedures by delegating authority to empower and
supervise leaders and specialists, track situations, events, and any decisions made, and produce outcome reviews including
the use of force Rules Of Engagement (ROE).
Strategic Operations Command (SOC) command post (CP) sites are generally located at
the outer perimeter. They contain and disseminate the command and control (logistics, liaison
and coordination), communications and intelligence (CCCI) requirements to support the severity
and complexity of the operation. Some examples would be site security; access control;
operational, administrative, communications, financial, supply, liaison and intelligence personnel
check in; helicopter landing sites with ground and air vehicles parking control; VIP and media
briefing areas; staff arrival and scheduling, assembly, staging and departure areas; electrical and
telephone control; toilet, medical, mental health, legal advisory, feeding and sleeping areas.
Communications equipment often includes multiple frequency and interagency radios; landline,
cellular and satellite telephones; broadband cable, internet and standard broadcast television;
teletype and NLETS/NCIC/TECS/EPIC/DOD with state criminal history and personal credit
history computer access. Recorders maintain historical events/decisions/actions chronology with
site blueprints, topographical maps and situation maps. The SOC controls all personnel on scene
and authorizes execution of tactical plan except emergency situational operations.
Tactical Operations Command (TOC) command posts are primarily located within the
inner perimeter and within proximity of the situation. The TOC formulates the tactical plan,
makes recommendations to the SOC and executes plan with SOC approval. The TOC controls
59
the inner perimeter, probing for intelligence information, enhancing the CNT/TIE/EOD and
tactical team response and counter-sniper position, and encourages continuing negotiations and
shared information developed with the CNT supervisor. Technical Investigative Equipment
teams may be attached to the TOC to provide color, monochromatic, infrared and thermal long
range observation through miniature video and auditory surveillance devices mounted to
stationary platforms, man carried, or vibration gimbled to Remotely Piloted (RPV) or Unmanned
Aerial or Ground Vehicles (UAV/UGV), and send site and environmental sensory signal
information to the SOC, TOC and CNT unit sites.
Crisis Negotiation Teams (because of their training, special skills, knowledge and police
experience) are used to resolve a myriad of incidents such as barricaded subject, trapped armed
robbers, hostage situations, stalking victims and perpetrators, high risk suicide, mental health
warrants, high risk warrants, gang violence and applying stress reducing debriefing techniques to
crisis victims, police officers and other public service employees. Equipment needed for CNT
operation will usually include service weapons and issued equipment, civilian soft clothes, duty
wear uniform or tactical utility clothing with weather support outerwear and footwear with body armor.
64
Given these circumstances I expect this negotiator will
Become fatigued, argument, angry or unsettled, thereby
exacerbating the crisis situation
5
Freeze and become irrelevant in the crisis situation 15
Become judgmental, or interpretive, losing trace of the HT’s
motivation
25
Become too probing, causing the HT to become defensive 35
Show concern, but not sufficient empathy 45
Show concern and empathy, but not be able to offer insightful
alternatives
55
Show empathy and general ability to seek alternatives 65
Show empathy and ability to guide HT to meaningful alternatives 75
INTRODUCTION:
As the probable etymology (through French ostage, modern otage, from Late Latin
obsidaticum, the state of being an obsess or hostage; Medieval Latin ostaticum, ostagium)
from the Latin hostis ('guest') testifies, it has a history of political and military use dating
back thousands of years, where political authorities or generals would legally agree to hand
over one or usually several hostages in the custody of the other side, as guarantee of good
faith in the observance of obligations. These obligations would be in the form of signing of a
peace treaty, in the hands of the victor, or even exchange hostages as mutual assurance in
cases such as an armistice. Major powers, such as Ancient Rome and the British who had
colonial vassals, would especially receive many such political hostages, often offspring of
the elite, even princes or princesses who were generally treated according to their rank and
put to a subtle long-term use where they would be given an elitist education or possibly
even a religious conversion. This would eventually influence them culturally and open the
way for an amical political line if they ascended to power after release.
The practice of taking hostages is very ancient, and has been used constantly in
negotiations with conquered nations, and in cases such as surrenders, armistices and the
like, where the two belligerents depended for its proper carrying out on each others good
faith. The Romans were accustomed to take the sons of tributary princes and educate them
at Rome, thus holding a security for the continued loyalty of the conquered nation and also
instilling a possible future ruler with ideas of Roman civilization.
The practice continued through the early Middle Ages. The Irish High King Niall of the Nine
Hostages got his epithet Noígiallach because, by taking nine petty kings hostage, he had
subjected nine other principalities to his power.
This practice was also adopted in the early period of the British occupation of India, and by
France in her relations with the Arab tribes in North Africa. The position of a hostage was
that of a prisoner of war, to be retained till the negotiations or treaty obligations were
carried out, and liable to punishment (in ancient times), and even to death, in case of
treachery or refusal to fulfil the promises made.
65
The practice of taking hostages as security for the carrying out of a treaty between civilized
states is now obsolete. The last occasion was at the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, when
two British peers, Henry Bowes Howard, 11th Earl of Suffolk, and Charles, 9th Baron
Cathcart, were sent to France as hostages for the restitution of Cape Breton to France.
In France, after the revolution of Prairial (June 18, 1799), the so-called law of hostages was
passed, to meet the royalist insurrection in La Vende. Relatives of migris were taken from
disturbed districts and imprisoned, and were liable to execution at any attempt to escape.
Sequestration of their property and deportation from France followed on the murder of a
republican, four to every such murder, with heavy fines on the whole body of hostages. The
law only resulted in an increase in the insurrection. Napoleon in 1796 had used similar
measures to deal with the insurrection in Lombardy (Correspondence de Napoléon I. i. 323,
327, quoted in Hall, International Law).
In later times the practice of official war hostages may be said to be confined to either
securing the payment of enforced contributions or requisitions in an occupied territory and
the obedience to regulations the occupying army may think fit to issue; or as a
precautionary measure, to prevent illegitimate acts of war or violence by persons not
members of the recognized military forces of the enemy.
During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, the Germans took as hostages the prominent
people or officials from towns or districts when making requisitions and also when foraging,
and it was a general practice for the mayor and adjoint of a town which failed to pay a fine
imposed upon it to be seized as hostages and retained till the money was paid. Another
case where hostages have been taken in modern warfare has been the subject of much
discussion. In 1870 the Germans found it necessary to take special measures to put a stop
to train-wrecking by parties in occupied territory not belonging to the recognized armed
forces of the enemy, an illegitimate act of war. Prominent citizens were placed on the engine
of the train so that it might be understood that in every accident caused by the hostility of
the inhabitants their compatriots will be the first to suffer. The measure seems to have
been effective. In 1900 during the Second Boer War, by a proclamation issued at Pretoria
(June 19), Lord Roberts adopted the plan for a similar reason, but shortly afterwards (July
29) it was abandoned (see The Times History of the War in S. Africa, iv. 402).
The Germans also, between the surrender of a town and its final occupation, took hostages
as security against outbreaks of violence by the inhabitants.
Most writers on international law have regarded this method of preventing such acts of
hostility as unjustifiable, on the ground that the persons taken as hostages are not the
persons responsible for the act; that, as by the usage of war hostages are to be treated
strictly as prisoners of war, such an exposure to danger is transgressing the rights of a
belligerent; and as useless, for the mere temporary removal of important citizens till the
end of a war cannot be a deterrent unless their mere removal deprives the combatants of
persons necessary to the continuance of the acts aimed at (see W. E. Hall, International
Law, 1904, pp. 418, 475). On the other hand it has been urged (L. Oppenheim,
International Law, 1905, vol. ii., War and Neutrality, pp. 271-273) that the acts, the
prevention of which is aimed at, are not legitimate acts on the part of the armed forces of
the enemy, but illegitimate acts by private persons, who, if caught, could be quite lawfully
punished, and that a precautionary and preventive measure is more reasonable than
66
reprisals. It may be noticed, however, that the hostages would suffer should the acts aimed
at be performed by the authorized belligerent forces of the enemy.
Article 50 of the Hague War Regulations provides that no general penalty, pecuniary or
otherwise, can be inflicted on the population on account of the acts of individuals for which
it cannot be regarded as collectively responsible. The regulations, however do not allude to
the practice of taking hostage.
In May 1871, at the close of the Paris Commune, took place the massacre of the so-called
hostages. Strictly they were not hostages, for they had not been handed over or seized as
security for the performance of any undertaking or as a preventive measure, but merely in
retaliation for the death of their leaders E. V. Duval and Gustave Flourens. It was an act of
maniacal despair, on the defeat at Mont Valrien on the 4th of April and the entry of the
army into Paris on the 21st of May. Among the many victims who were shot in batches the
most noticeable were Georges Darboy, archbishop of Paris, the Abbé Deguery, curé of the
Madeleine, and the president of the Court of Cassation, Louis Bernard Bonjean.
Taking hostages is today considered a crime or a terrorist act; the use of the word in this
sense of abductee became current only in the 1970s. The criminal activity is known as
kidnapping. An acute situation where hostages are kept in a building or a vehicle that has
been taken over by armed terrorists or common criminals is often called a hostage crisis.
Hostage taking is still often politically motivated or intended to raise a ransom or to enforce
an exchange against other hostages or even condemned convicts. However in some
countries hostage taking for profit has become an "industry", ransom often being the only
demand.
BODY / CONTENT:
HOSTAGE TAKING refers to terrorism cases in w/c a personis seized or detained w/ the threat to kill,
injure, or continue to detain the person in order to compel a third-person or governmental organization to do,
or to abstain from doing, at act as an explicit or implicit condition for the release of the person.
HOSTAGE TAKING SITUATIONS refers to a set of circumstances wherein a suspected law violator is
holding captive w/ use of intimidation while the police are in close contact w/ the suspect.
The hostage taker confronts the authorities and openly holds the victims for ransom. His demands are
often more than just material in nature. Political concessions are frequently demanded in exchange for the
hostages lives. The advantages of this new tactis are: First, because it is current, it attracts the media,
Second, the fact that live hostages are involved increases the drama of the event, thus pressure can be
applied by the terrorist to force concessions. Lastly, the hostage is a tangible-asset to the terrorist, something
w/ w/c to bargain.
67
The average domestic crisis negotiation team response is about 45 minutes to one hour (Spaulding, 1987).
Therefore, the most crucial moments of the situation will be with the talents of the first responding officer(s).
Overseas travel may be entirely different. Contemporary law enforcement officers responding to, arriving,
during and leaving all hostage/barricade calls must be aware of their own safety to ensure the safety of
others. Identifying and properly utilizing effective cover and/or concealment will aid personal safety.
Additional tactics such as contact and cover officer roles and responsibilities increase safety for both officers.
Upon arrival, the investigating patrol officer(s) employs the ICER concept to the call.
Isolate physical and psychological activities on the scene and keep onlookers beyond the police safety line.
Contain the hostage taker mobility to the smallest location in the building or exterior area and deny the
opportunity to observe the police presence activities. This begins the confines of the inner perimeter and also
allows time for crisis stabilization. Evaluate because the original report may or may not be what the situation
actually is. Gather as much cursory information as possible. Assess the threat(s) and estimate the location(s)
of the command post(s), and the number and proposed positions of backup officers needed to establish a
temporary inner perimeter. Report the number and identities of hostage takers and hostages and their
clothing descriptions, precipitating events, size and locations of the dangerous zones, inform responding
officers of recommended entry routes, types of weapons involved and directions or line of fire.
Patrol officers recognize that hostage situations require additional backup personnel, and equipment and
expertise beyond what is required for standard patrol responsibilities. They will often request tactical
specialists for this type of call. Tactical teams may be known by many terms: Special Weapons and Tactics
(SWAT), Special Operation Response Team (SORT), Special Operations Group (SOG), Emergency Response
Team (ERT) or Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) and many other acronyms. Tactical officers arriving will replace
the backup officers on the inner perimeter, allowing the uniformed officers to report to the command post for
operational debriefing and then be reassigned to reinforce the outer perimeter. Tactical teams will immediately
establish physical and organizational boundaries for their operations. Establishing inner and outer perimeters
and cordons allow containing the crisis objective into sterile zones. All personnel assigned should be made
aware of the included and excluded description of areas and reference points, police positions, command post
locations, and law enforcement support services staging areas with VIP and media briefing positions.
Access into and out of the objective, through cordons, are required for evacuating persuaded people (often not
wanting to leave homes or offices without their valuables) to predetermined
Notes or remarks:
72
Negotiator Rating Assessment
Negotiation Supervisor and MHC Rating
Safety of hostages is the primary concern
Negotiates basic human needs (to live, biological, safety, social ego and self actualization) transportation and
money to buy time
Keeps possibility of escape alive in the mind of the HT Keeps HT’s mind off killing hostages. Avoids deadlines.
Makes negotiations easier by reducing anxiety, avoids perception of superiority when adapts posture,
language and vocabulary to HT’s.
Defers decisions on HT demands to higher authority
Maintains rapport with HT by reducing emotionality increasing rationality. Reacts to changes in HT’s feelings
or demands.
Does not bargain for additional/replacement hostages
Receives something in return for something and increases hostage’s chances of escaping.
Communicates intelligence gathered with CNT coach and MHC for better decision making
General
For the purpose of this plan, hostage taking is the seizing of any person against his/her will, within the
detention center, by any person, as a security for the performance or nonperformance of specific actions.
Prevention
The prevention of a hostage-taking incident is the responsibility of each employee.
Accordingly, employees are directed to:
1. Obey and enforce all of the rules of the detention center.
2. Never compromise security for any reason.
3. Safeguard facility keys at all times and, if attacked, make every attempt not to surrender your keys.
4. Promptly report all violations of security rules to your immediate supervisor.
5. Do not create adversary relationships with inmates; remember the “fair but firm” rule.
6. Always be pro-active in your thinking.
7. Never impart any information about the security of the facility, the staff, or aspects of the operation, to any
person who does not have a need to know and who is not personally known to you to be cleared for access to
that information.
8. Do not trust any inmate or any visitor.
Mission
When faced with a hostage situation, the mission of the Allegany County Sheriff’s
Office, in priority, is:
1. The safe release of hostages
2. To protect the lives and well-being of all affected participants
3. The apprehension of hostage takers
4. The protection of property and equipment
Response
1. Staff as Hostage
A. The decision to attempt to escape remains only with the staff member concerned. It is recommended,
however, should the staff be subdued, that resistance is often times futile and leads to greater injury or death,
and that attempts of escape, once subdued, are discouraged.
B. Staff who is in danger of becoming a hostage must immediately and by any means available alert any other
staff member. If applicable, activate your duress alarm!
C. Facility keys must be protected. Staff in possession of facility keys who are in danger of becoming a
hostage must deny inmates access to the keys by any means, active or passive.
2. Other Staff
The decision to go to the assistance of another staff member, who has been taken hostage or is in immediate
danger of being taken hostage, must be weighed against the possibility that the person rendering assistance
may also be placed in similar jeopardy.
A. Keys must be retrieved if possible.
B. The affected and non-affected areas must be immediately locked down.
C. The supervisor must be alerted immediately.
73
3. Shift Supervisor-The Shift Supervisor on duty must:
A. Immediately order a lockdown of the entire facility, including removing any inmates not in the housing unit
to a secure area and turning off the inmate telephones, televisions, water, and housing unit control panel.
B. Account for all keys.
C. Direct all non-emergency movement to cease and direct that no one be permitted to enter, leave, or move
within the facility, without the authority of the supervisor.
D. Make an immediate assessment of the situation and, if outside of the control or scope of the on-duty staff,
alert the TNT and contact the Sheriff and Assistant Administrator.
E. Direct the CCO to notify the EMC if there are keys unaccounted for or if there is any danger of keys falling
into inmate control.
F. Continually observe and/or monitor the situation.
G. Never permit the release of any inmate from the facility under any circumstance or condition of duress
whatsoever!
H. Remain in command until relieved by the Sheriff, Assistant Administrator or Lieutenant, or the relieving
supervisor.
I. Attempt to make contact with the hostage takers, either personally or through a trained experienced staff
member, to determine grievances and/or demands, and to determine if anyone is injured; an attempt may be
made to establish a dialogue with the hostage takers in so far as it does not jeopardize life, limb, or
negotiations; the Supervisor must remain ever mindful of the high stresses involved and when any doubt
exists, contact should be terminated and the situation monitored; no demands or promises should be made
by the on-duty staff until a trained negotiator is on the scene to advise.
4. Control Center Officer(s) (CCO’S)
The CCO’s will:
A. On order, notify EMC and advise that a hostage-taking situation exists.
B. Notify the Sheriff
C. On order, notify the TNT CDR
D. On order, implement the ERP
E. Do not permit the release of any inmate from the facility under any condition of duress whatsoever; any
order for the release of any inmate, which is not personally communicated by the Sheriff or his designee,
should never be obeyed.
F. On order, notify the hostage negotiator(s) by contacting EMC dispatcher.
5. EMC Dispatcher
Upon receipt of the notification from the CCO, the EMC dispatcher will immediately notify MSP, CCPD, and
ACSO patrol division and request immediate response.
6. Responding Agencies
All responding agencies will report to their established posts and assume the assigned duties. All Liaisons will
report to the SEOC/CMT and await further instructions.
7. Negotiation Team
A. the Negotiation Team is under the direct supervision of the CMT CDR.
B. the Negotiation Team is comprised of a primary and alternate negotiator.
If the on-duty staff has established a rapport with the hostage takers, negotiations will continue until the
trained negotiator can be introduced into the team.
C. The negotiation team may negotiate for the safe release of hostages and may make concessions except:
i. Inmates will not be released
ii. Inmates will not be given weapons, drugs, or alcohol.
iii Hostages will not be added or exchanged.
iv. The negotiation team will report to the CMT Command Post and will be briefed and provided a separate
room with a call down phone capability.
v. Negotiation is the primary tool for resolution and will continue as long as successful resolution can be
reached.
vi. Negotiations will not be continued if, after negotiations have begun, any death or grievous bodily injury
occurs by the inmate or inmate group against any person. It is recognized that within an inmate population,
an individual or group may compete for dominance, control, or leadership, and that factions may occur. It is
with the safety of the hostages in mind that any death or grievous injury to any hostage by any inmate will
result in an armed assault.
vii. The negotiation team will not be told of any probable or anticipated assault.
8. Tactical Neutralization Team (TNT)
The TNT will be continually updated with intelligence information. The TNT
CDR will develop an initial assault plan and make adjustments as necessary.
There is no sniper option.
74
9. Intelligence Gathering
The CMT CDR will appoint one staff member to direct the all-source intelligence gathering activity. This
person will be located at the CMT Command Post.
Resolution
1. The CMT CDR announces termination of the incident and releases personnel.
2. All inmates will be searched.
3. All inmate areas will be searched.
4. All inmates will be returned to their housing units and normal operations will continue.
5. The CMT CDR will require after action reports from key personnel.
6. The Sheriff will direct an investigation into the incident and a debriefing.
7. Inmate hostage takers, ringleaders, et al, will be segregated until the close of the investigation.
Guidance to Hostages
Individuals who are detained by inmates must remember that their actions may form the basis for further
exploitation by their captors. Specific guidance for all situations is impossible, but the following general
guidance may be of assistance. It should be selectively applied considering individual circumstances and
specific situations.
1. Unless there are clear indications that your efforts stand a good chance for success, do not resist or
attempt to flee; otherwise, you may become an assassination target as an alternative objective.
2. Suppress initial panic and try to remain as calm as possible. Even though frightened, attempt to appear
calm. Keep in mind that forces are at work to secure your release.
3. While held captive, think of your oath of office, sense of duty, and personal integrity.
4. Attempt to get on a name basis with your captors. This should cause them to think of you as an individual
person rather than an object of authority, and ease tensions.
5. Do not become depressed if negotiations become prolonged. Time is on your side. The more time that
passes, the better your chances for a safe release.
6. Comply with any reasonable request of your captors, but try not to assist them in their cause.
7. Escape, unless made during the initial abduction, should be attempted only as a last resort. Generally,
there is not a good opportunity to escape and attempts should not be made unless they have been carefully
calculated. Escape efforts could impede negotiations and rescue efforts.
8. Whenever possible, note abductor characteristics. Habits, speech, mannerism, contacts, and physical
descriptions to assist in any apprehension and prosecution.
9. Do not reveal classified or sensitive information.
10. Avoid provocative remarks. Do not be belligerent. Your captors may be emotionally unstable and may
react violently to revocation.
11. Do not discuss expected actions by the government, family, friends, or the team negotiating for your
release. If asked, claim no knowledge.
12. When released, obtain and follow appropriate guidance from organizational authorities prior to any press
release.
13. File a detailed written report.
75
76