FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY Flashcards
what is offender profiling
a behavioural and analytic tool that is intended to help investigators accurately predict and profile the characteristics of unknown criminals
what type of data does top down approach produce
qualitative
what does the top down approach use
a pre-established typology and FBI method of profile generation
what categories does the top down approach assign offenders to
organised and disorganised
what 4 steps does profile generation include (top down)
crime scene classification, crime reconstruction, data assimilation and profile generation
what is data assimilation
data compiled from police reports, post mortems, crime scene photos, witness reports, pathologists reports
what is crime classification
profilers decide whether the crime scene is organised or disorganised
what is crime reconstruction
hypotheses about crime sequence, offender and victim behaviour etc - criminal profiler will form a hypothesis for the purpose of trying to catch the offender
what is profile generation
offenders physical, demographic and behavioural characteristics
what type of crimes is the top down approach suitable for
more extreme and unusual crimes such as murder, rape and ritualistic crimes
how was the top down approach formed
FBI in America - 36 interviews carried out with criminals, most on death row
give the characteristics of an organised killer
operates with detailed precision, little evidence left behind, planned in advance, socially and sexually competent, above average intelligence, victims reflect a ‘type’
give the characteristics of a disorganised killer
unskilled or unemployed, social and sexual dysfunction, lower than average IQ, body usually found at scene of crime, no evidence of planning, leave clues at scene, marauders
what is the aim of offender profiling
by reducing the list of suspects, the police can investigate a narrower field of enquiry and so increase the likelihood that the case will be solved
limitation of top down (can only explain certain types of crime)
these are crimes that reveal certain details about the suspect such as torture, rape, arson and killing, it cannot be used for burglary or destruction
describe the bottom-up approach
uses no pre-established typology but develops a profile as the crime scene and ewt are increasingly analysed
what are the two hallmarks of the bottom up approach
investigative psychology and geographical profiling
what is investigative psychology
the process where each crime is recorded on a database, then the details of each new crime are matched with the database in order to develop hypotheses about the likely characteristics, social demographic and motivations of the culprit
what is there more emphasis on in bottom up approach
scientific method and statistical analysis
what is geographical profiling
each offender has an operational base which can be inferred through mapping the locations of previous crimes - this should form a circular shape where the operational base or ‘centre of gravity’ is at the centre, and can also be used to predict future crimes
who was the atavistic form proposed by
lombroso
how do genetic explanations explain crime
suggest that would-be offenders inherit a gene, or combination of genes, that predispose them to commit crime
three things that make up genetic explanations for crime
twin studies, adoption studies and candidate genes
researcher for twin studies on offending behaviour
lange
