Forensic Psychology Flashcards
What is offender profiling?
Offender profiling is an investigative tool employed by the police when solving serious crimes. It invariably involves the appointment of a professional profiler who will essentially provide a description of the offender based on an analysis of the crime, the victim and any other available evidence.
What is the main aim of offender profiling?
The main aim is to narrow down the field of investigation and ultimately the list of likely suspects
What sort of things will a profile try to establish?
Gender, height, age,clothing,facial factors
Is the top down approach British or American?
American
Who is used as evidence for the top down approach?
Ressler(1979)
What did Ressler study?
Ressler and other members of the FBI behavioural science unit interviewed 36 sexually motivated murderers & serial killers and examined their crimes/crime scenes in detail. They then used this data to create a crime classification system where by new crimes could be categorised as organised or disorganised depending on their characteristics, which in turn would provide a description of the offender.
Give a summary of an organised offender
Show evidence of having planned the crime in advance; the victim is deliberately targeted and will often reflect the fact that the killer or rapist has a ‘type. They maintain a high degree of control during the crime and may operate with almost detached surgical precision. There is little evidence of cues left behind at the scene. They tend to be of above average intelligence, in a skilled, professional occupation and are socially and sexually competent. They are usually married and may even have children
Give a summary of disorganised offender
Show little evidence of planning, suggesting the offence may have been spontaneous, spur of the moment act. The crime scene tends to reflect the impulsive nature of the attack - the body is usually still at the scene and there appears to have been very little control on the part of the offender. They tend to have a lower than average IQ, be in unskilled work or unemployed and often have a history of sexual dysfunction and failed relationships. They tend to live alone and often relatively close to where the offence took place
What is the process of profiling by the FBI?
- Data Assimilation
- Crime scene classification
- Hypotheses in terms of sequence of events, behaviour of the victim, etc.
- Hypotheses related to likely offender (e.g. demographic background, physical characteristics, behaviour, etc.)
What is the supporting evidence for the top down approach to offender profiling?
Arthur Shawcross had murdered 11 women in the Rochester area of NY state. They key part of the profile was the belief that he would return to the dead victims later to re-experience the pleasure of the killing, so the police set up surveillance of his and he was caught masturbating on a bride near the body.
Why does the top down approach to offender profiling, have limited application?
The approach can only be used for rimes of rape and murder due to the fact that it is based on interviews with 36 sexually motivated serial killers. As a result, it cannot be used for more common offences, such as burglary. This is a weakness of the top-down approach because this lack of versatility impact its usefulness, especially compared to other approaches
Why is a strength of the top down approach usefulness?
User surveys generally indicate that it is a useful investigate tool. For example, Trager and Brewster (2001) surveyed 95 police departments in the US and found that a majority believed that criminal profiling was useful, particularly in relation to interrogating suspects and guiding the criminal investigation. Nevertheless they also found that it generally lacked usefulness in relation to identifying the suspect, therefore highlighting an issue/weakness of the top-down approach
Why is lack of support for disorganised offender a weakness of the top down approach to offender profiling
The typologies organised/disorganised offenders has been challenged by Canter(2004) who analysed the data of 1000 murders in the US using ‘smaller space analysis’. He found that there was support for the organised typology but no support for the disorganised typology. This is a weakness of the top down approach as this undermines the classification system.
What is the aim of the bottom up approach to offender profiling?
The aim of the bottom up approach is to generate a picture of the offender, their likely characteristics, routine behaviour and social background - through systematic analysis of evidence at the crime scene
Is the bottom up approach to offender profiling British or American?
British
Briefly summarise the bottom up approach to offender profiling
The profile is data driven(statistical analysis) and emerges as the investigator engages in deeper and more rigorous scrutiny of the details of the offence. Furthermore, the bottom up profiling is also much more grounded in psychological theory than the top-down approach
What are the 3 main themes of the bottom up approach to offender profiling?
- Interpersonal coherence
- The significance of time and place
- Forensic awareness
In the bottom up approach to offender profiling, what is interpersonal coherence?
The belief that people are consistent in their behaviour and therefore there will be links with elements of the crime and how people behave in everyday life or alternatively the way an offender behaves at the scene, including how they interact with the victim, may reflect their behaviour in more everyday situations
In terms of the bottom up approach to offender profiling, what is the significance of time and place about?
Both the precise location and the map of the relationship between places in which a series of offences take place may relate to where the offender is living and previous experiences (often employs geographical profiling techniques)
In terms of the bottom up approach to offender profiling, what is forensic awareness?
Certain behaviours may reveal an awareness of particular police techniques and past experiences
Give 3 strengths of the bottom up approach
- Objective
- Wider Application
- User surveys generally indicate that it is an investigate useful tool
Why is objectivity a strength to the bottom up approach to offender profiling?
It uses a statistical database whereby new offences can be matched/compared with previous offences to provide important regarding the type of offender (e.g. age, etc)
Why is wider application a strength of the bottom up approach to offender profiling?
The approach can be used for various crimes due to the fact that it is based on three varying factors that aren’t subjective. It can be used for crimes such as arson, car theft, burglary
Give a weakness of the bottom up approach to offender profiling
It has some notable failures
What are the notable failures of the bottom up approach to offender profiling?
In response to the murder of Rachel Nickell, Paul Britton produced a profile which eventually led to Colin Stagg being arrested & charged with murder. Nevertheless, it was later revealed that Colin Stagg was innocent & that the police had placed to much emphasis on the police.
What are the 3 strengths of the top down approach to offender profiling?
- Influential / application - Ainsworth suggests that offender typologies are very useful
- Supporting evidence - Shawcross
- User surveys indicate that it is a useful investigative tool - Trager and Brewster
