forensic Psychology Flashcards
what is offender profiling?
a behavioural and analytical tool that is intended to help investigators accurately predict and profile the characteristics of unknown offenders
what are the 2 approaches involved with offender profiling?
top-down approach, bottom-up approach
what experiment was carried out to establish the top-down approach in America?
FBI carried out interviews with 36 sexually motivated serial killers
concluded that data could be catagirised into organised and disorganised crimes with certain characteristics
What are the characteristics of an organised offender?
Evidence of planning
have a type of victim they seek out
high levels of control
above average intelligence
skilled/ professional employment
socially n sexually competent
could be married, possibly with kids
leave no clues/ evidence,
What are the characteristics of disorganised offenders?
little evidence of planning
spontaneous: little control, crime scene reflects impulsive behaviour
blow average intelligence
unskilled work/unemployed
history of sexual/relationship dysfunction
live alone/close to the crime scene
what are the 4 stages of constructing an FBI profile?
- DATA ASSIMILIATION: profiler reviews evidence (crime scheme photos, pathology reports, witness reports)
- CRIME SCENE CLASSIFICATION: disorganised or organised offender
- CRIME RECONSTRUCTION: hypotheses in terms of sequence of events, behaviour of the victim
- PROFILE REGENERATION:
hypothesis related likely to the offender e.g demographic of background, physical characteristics, behaviour
eval: how is it a strength of the top-down approach that there is support for a distinct organised category of offender?
canter et al. (2004): smallest space analysis used on 100 US understand committed by a different serial killers (assessed co-occurrence of 39 aspects of serial killings e.g torture, form of murder weapon, cause of death etc)
revealed there is a subset of features of serial killings that matched FBI’s typology for organised offenders, suggesting the approach has VALIDITY
eval: what is a counterpoint to the strength that there is support for a distinct organised category of offenders?
SUGGESTS ORGANISED-DISORGANISED TYPOLOGY IS MORE OF A CONTINUUM
studies suggest organised disorganised typologyy are not mutually exclusive
Godwin (2002) argues it is difficult to classify killers as one type. (may be if high intelligence and sexual competence but commit a spontaneous murder, leaving body at crime scene)
eval: how is it another strength that it can be adapted to other kinds of crime e.g burglary?
WDIER APPLICATION: critics say technique only applied to sexually motivated murder
Meketa (2017) reports TD profiling has been applied to regularly
retains organised-disorganised distinction but adds 2 new ones: INTERPERSONAL (offender knows victim and steals smth of significance) and OPPORTUNISTIC (generally inexperienced young offender)
eval: how is it a limitation that Top-down profiling is the evidence on which it is based?
SUGGESTS TOP-DOWN PROFILING DOES NOT NOT HAVE A SOUND, SCIENTIFIC BASIS
canter et al. argued that sample was poor (FBI did not select a random or large sample)
no standard set of questions so each interview was different, therefore not comparison
what is the aim of the bottom-up approach?
to generate a picture of the offender: their likely characteristics, routine behaviour and social background though systematic analysis of evidence at the crime scene
profile = data-driven
What are the 2 types of bottom up profiling?
Investigative psych
Geographical profiling
What is investigative psychology?
An attempt to apply statistical procedures and psychological theory to the analysis a crime scene
what is the aim of investigative psychology?
To establish patterns of behaviour that are likely to occur across crime scenes
what is the aim of investigative psychology?
To establish patterns of behaviour that are likely to occur across crime scenes
