Forensic Psychology Flashcards
What is offender profiling?
- used by the police to narrow down the list of likely suspects
- based on the idea that you can deduce characteristics of offenders from the crime scene
- involves careful scrutiny of the crime scene, analysis of evidence including witness
- evidence used to generate hypothesis about probable characteristics of offender
- characteristics include age, background, occupation ect.
what is top-down approach? and what are the two types of offenders?
- templates of the two types of offenders pre-existing in the profiler mind-
-evidence from the crime scene and other details e.g crime, victim, context used to fit offender into either of the two pre-existing categories and determine offender as one or the other - the two types of offenders are organized offenders and disorganized offenders
what are the characteristics of organised offenders?
- show evidence of planning crime in advance
- victim is deliberetly targeted
- victim reveals fact that offender (killer/rapist) has a preference for a certain type of victim
- maintain high level of control during crime
- operates with an almost detached surgical precision
- little evidence left behind in the crime scence
- tends to be above avarage intelligence
- in a skilled , profassional occupation
-socially and sexually competent - Often married and have children
what are the characteristics of disorganised offenders?
- show little evidence of planning, suggesting offence might be spontaneous
- crime scene tends to show impulsive nature of attack
- body is usally left behing in the crime scene, and appears to be little control from the part of the offender
- Offender tends to be lower than average intelligence
- unskilled work, or unemployed
- has a history of sexual dysfunction or failed relationship
- tend to live alone
- tend to often live relatively close to where the offence took place
what are the strengths of the top-down approach?
- supporting evidence: Gregg McCrary and Ed Grant (1 point)
used offender profiling to find man responsible for murders of several women prositutes in the late 1980s (1 points). The profile ended up being a close match for offender Arthur Showcross who was eventually found guilty which suggest the top-down approach works (1 point) - based on evidence: organised and disorganised offender profile were developed by the FBI from interview and data (1 point ) from 36 US murderers including Ted Bundy and Charles Manson (1 point)
What are the weaknesses of the tow-down approach to offender profiling
- conflicting evidence: Pinizotto and Finkel (1990) accuracy of profiles created by 6 US-trained (using top-down approach) against profiles created by a control group. (creating profiles for a sexual assault case). The results showed that profiles created by trained professionals were no more accurate than the control group.
- It has limited application. The approach only works for certain types of crimes such as rape or murder which have a modus opperandi (way of commiting crime) in which case the appoach is useful. However for crimes like burglary or other financial crimes there is not much evidence in the crime scene that can be used to create a profile
- It is overly simplistic: the disticiton is overly simplistics and likely that many offender won’t fit into either catagorie neatly (e.g high IQ person commiting crime in a fit of rage which is spontaneous). Holmes (1989) suggested that there are
What is the Bottom-Up approach?
- It was developed in the UK, with the aim of generating a picture of the the offender including likely characteristics, routine behaviour and social background. (1 point)
- This is achieved through systematic analysis of evidence left behind in the crime scene (1 point)
- it does not begin with fixed typologies like top down does (1 point)
- the profile is data driven and emerges as the profiler engages in rigours scrutiny of the details of the offence. (1 point)
-Bottom-up approach is far more grounded in psychological theory than the top-down approach (1 point)
What is the aim of investigative psychology?
Establish behaviour that are likely to occur at certain crime scenes.
What is the purpose of investigative psychology?
To create a statistical database which can then act as a baseline for comparison
How is investigative psychology used in the bottom-up approach
Specific details of an offence are matched against the database in order to reveal statistically probably details about the offence (2 point) such as their personal history family background etc. (2 point) This can also help determine whether multiple offences are linked and likely to have been committed by the same individual (1 point)
Bottom-Up Apporoach
What is interpersonal coherence?
The way in which an offender behaves at the crime scene (1 point) including how they interact with the victim (1 point) may reflect their behaviour in everyday situations (1 point). For example whilst some raps it want control and humiliate their victim others can be apologetic. (1 point). This might tell the police how the offender relates to women more generally (1 point)
Bottom-Up Apporoach
How is the significance of time and place of crime a key variable in offender profiling?
It indicates where the offender lives.
Bottom-Up Apporoach
What is forensic awareness?
It describes individuals who have made an attempt to ‘cover their tracks’ ( i.e. hide the body/murder weapon or clean the crime scene). Their behaviour may indicate they have been the subject of police interrogation in the last, or even that the police already have their DNA or fingerprints on file
Bottom-Up Apporoach
What is geographical profiling?
The study of spatial behaviour in relation to crime and offenders. It focuses on the location of the crime as a clue to where the offender lives, works and socialises. Relevant data includes the crime scene, local crime statistics, local transport and geographical spread of similar crimes.
Bottom-Up Apporoach
What is the assumptions in geographical profiling?
Serious offender will restrict their criminal activities to an area that they are familiar with, and the offenders base will therefore be in the middle of the spatial pattern of their crime scenes. Earlier crimes are likely to be closer to the offenders base than later crimes. As an offender becomes more confident they will often travel further from their comfort zone
Bottom-Up Apporoach
What are the two models of offender behaviour and who proposed them?
Canter and Larkin (1993) proposed two models of offender behaviour: the marauder (who operates close to their home) and the commuter (who is likely to have traveled a distance from their home). However the spatial patter of their crimes scences will still form a circle around theri home. This beomes more apperent the more oofences that are commited.
Bottom-Up Apporoach
What else can the spatial pattern of the crime scene tell the police?
Whether the crime was opportunistic or planned, as well as other important facts about the offender such as their mode of transport, employment status, approximate age ect.
Bottom-Up Apporoach
What are the strenghts of the bottom-up appraoch?
- More scietific: the bottom-up approach relies on the objective and measureable data such as plotting geopgraphic locations of the crime, uses mathematical tools such as statistical analysis, and i often based on psychological theory e.g. interpersonal coherence. Because of this Canter argues the bottom-up approach is more scientific than the top-down approach which relies on more intuition and gut feeling.
- Wider range of application: The top-down approach only works for crimes with a particular modus operandi, such as rape and murder, whereas the bottom-up approach can be applied to much wider range of crimes. For most bulgaries are similar in method and so the top-down approach won’t reveal much about the offenders profile. However the geographical profiling only requires the location of the crimes, so this bottom-up approach can be applied to every type of crime.
Bottom-Up Apporoach
What are the weakenesses of the bottom-up appraoch?
- There have been significant failures when using bottom-up profiling. In 1992, 21 year old Rachel Nickell was stabbed 47 times and sexually assualted in a frenzied attack on Wimbeldon Common. In 2008, following forensic evidence Robert Napper was convicted of the murder =. He had been ruled out early on in the intial investifation because he was several inches taller than teh profile has claimed the offender would be.
- Confilicting evidence: Capson (1995) surveyed 48 police forces and found that the advice provided by a profiler was judged to bed useful in 83% of cases, but in only 3% of cases did it lead to accurate identification of the offender.
Bottom-Up Approach
What are the 3 biological explanations of offending behaviour?
- Atvatic form
- Genentics
- Neural Factors
Biological Explanations
What is the historical approach to offending?
- In 1876, Cesare Lombroso, and Italian physician wrote a book called “L’Houmo Deliquente’ in which he suggested that criminals are biologically different from modern humans. He argued that criminals have more in common with our evolutionary ancestors than normal humans calling them a primitive sub species
What is atavism ?
Atavism is when a ansetoral genetic trait that has disappeared reappears e.g. a human that grows a vestigial tail. Hence, Lombroso’s theory is called atavistic form: The idea is that criminality represents the behaviour of earlier, more savage, pre-human species - like Neanderthals or homo habilis.
What are some of the districts facial features that criminals have according to Lombroso
Heavy brow
Strong jaw
Extra fingers/toes/nipples
