forensic psychology Flashcards
offender profiling:
background of top-down approach
4 points xx
- described as qualitative as it looks at the overall picture and uses typologies
- based on police experience and case studies rather than psychological theory
- suitable for extreme/unusual cases
- based on in-depth interviews with the FBI and 36 sexually motivated serial killers.
offender profiling:
how does the top-down approach work?
4 steps x
- data assimilation - data is compiled from the police reports, post mortems, crime scene photos etc.
- crime classification - profilers decide whether the crime scene is organised or disorganised
- crime reconstruction - hypotheses about crime sequence, offender and victim behaviour
- profile generation - offenders physical, demographic and behavioural characteristics
behaviour towards victim, crime scene detail and characteristics
organised vs disorganised crime
two for each category
behaviour towards victim:
organised
* victim targeted
* controls conversation
disorganised
* victim selected at random
* crime unplanned
crime scene detail:
organised
* weapon absent
* attempts to clean up
disorganised
* weapon present
* sexual activity after death
characteristics:
organised
* high intelligence
* socially and sexually competent
disorganised
* socially and sexually incompetent
* average intelligence
AO3
AO3 of top down approach
3 weaknesses 2 strengths x
strengths:
* greater clarity - results in clear, well-organized processes that leaves little room for confusion
* more accountability - clearly defined teams that have their own responsibilities makes it easier to locate, diagnose and solve problems quickly and efficiently
weaknesses:
* too simplistic - having only two categories is too simplistic, some offenders may not fit neatly into any of the two
* only useful for crime scenes that reveal info about the offender e.g rape scene. not useful for crimes such as burglary
* issues with sample - sample of 36 killers is too small, and the charactersitics of a kille wont necessarily be the same as that of a serial burglarer. they also used sel report methods which could be unreliable consideringthey are criminals
offender profiling:
bottom-up approach: investigative psychology
uses computer databases and statistical procedures to look for similarities and differences in patterns between offences and offenders
offender profiling: bottom-up approach
what does investigative psychology look for?
3 things
- interpersonal coherence: the way an offender behaves at the scene, how they interact with victim may determine how they are in their everyday life
- significance of time and place: this may indicate where the offender is living if the crime takes place within the same forensic “centre of gravity”
- forensic awareness: focuses on who has been the focus of police attention before, their behaviour may give away whether they are mindful of covering their tracks
offender profiling:
bottom-up approach: geographical profiling
Rossmo(1997) stated an offender’s operational base is revealed by the geographical location of their previous crimes
offender profiling: bottom-up approach
Canter’s circle theory
Canter and Larkin (1993) proposed two models of offender behaviour. people operate within a limited spatial mindset that creates imagined boundaries in which crimes are likely to be committed
the offending pattern will most likely form a circle around their home and give investigators an idea of their ‘mental maps’ etc.
offender profiling: bottom-up approach
the two models of offenders according to Canter and Larkin
the marauder: the offender operates in close proximity to their home base
the commuters: offender is likely to have traveled a distance away from usual residence
AO3
AO3 of bottom-up approach
two for each
strengths:
* unlike top down, bottom up can be used for a wide range of crimes and so has wider application for use
* more scientific than top down through its use of evidence and is now used in suspect interviews and court trials
weaknesses:
* other factors - location is important but there are other factors that need to be taken into account such as psychological characteristics
* supporting evidence - 120 murder cases were examined involving serial killers, the analysis revealed spatial consistency in the behaviour of the offenders. more noticeable for marauders and supports Canter’s claim
* mixed results - 48 police forces were surveyed and it was found that the advice provided by the profiler was useful in 83% of cases but in only 3% did it lead to accurate identification of the offender
biological explanations of offending behaviour:
Lombroso’s atavistic form
two bullet points xx
- He suggested that criminals were genetic throwbacks to a primitve sub-species who were biologically different to non-criminals
- savage, untamed and lacking in evolutionary development
biological explanations of offender behaviour:
Lombroso’s study of skulls
- examined 383 dead criminals skulls and 3839 living criminals
- it was concluded that 40% of crimes could be explained by the atavistic form
biological explanations of offender behaviour:
features of the atavistic form
murderers, sexual deviants and fraudsters
murderers: bloodshot eyes, curly hair, long ears
sexual deviants: swollen fleshy lips, projecting ears, glinting eyes
fraudstars: thin lips
AO3
AO3 of atavistic form
one strength and two weaknesses x
strengths:
* father of modern criminology - Lombroso was first to use a scientific method in classifying criminals
weaknesses:
* scientifically racist theory - most of the features described belong to african descent
* causation - poverty or poor nutrition could cause facial and cranial differences
biological explanations: genetic explanations
candidate genes
two genes and one study
- study of 900 Finnish offenders revealed two abnormalities that may be associated with violent crime
- MAOA gene (associated with dopamine and serotonin) CDH13 (linked to substance abuse and attention deficit disorder)
- individuals with both are 13x more likely to have a history of violent behaviour
