F3. Offender Profiling: Bottom-Up Approach Flashcards
What does the Bottom-Up Approach do?
- No pre-established typology
- Develops a profile as crime scene and eyewitness testimonies are increasingly analysed.
2 main aspects of Bottom-Up Approach
Investigative Psychology, Geographical Profiling
Investigative Psychology
- crime recorded onto database
- Details of new crimes are matched with database, to form hypotheses about likely characteristics,
social demographic and motivations of the culprit. - MUCH GREATER EMPHASIS ON THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD. Emphasis also on time and place, as
well as ‘interpersonal coherence’
Interpersonal Coherence
Suggests the manner in which the offender treats the victim reflects their interpersonal functioning/understanding of real life.
Geographical Profiling
Each offender has an ‘operational base’, which can be inferred through mapping locations of previous crimes. Forms a ‘circle’, where ‘base’ is at the centre. Can help predict future crimes through use of a ‘jeopardy surface.’
Geographical Profiling (Offender Type)
- assumption that MO is consistent.
- Offenders classified as marauders (close to centre of gravity) or commuters (far from centre of gravity).
- Eval: Bottom-Up Approach
- Does NOT always lead to correct identification
- led to correct identification 3%
- narrowed field of enquiry 83% of time.
+ Eval: Bottom-Up Approach
SCIENTIFIC METHOD. Use of statistical analysis. Supporting studies have used the ‘smallest space analysis’ to establish correlations between to variables or offenders characteristics. More scientific that ‘over-simplistic’ top-down approach.
+ Eval: Geographical Profiling
Evidence to support GP as a way of narrowing field of enquiry. During Smallest space analysis of 120 serial murder cases, researchers were able to identify traits of spatial consistency, such as presence of a jeopardy surface as well as the centre of gravity - useful in establishing MO of offender.
Jeopardy Surface
- indicates the most likely residence of the offender
