Forensic Psychology Flashcards
What is offender profiling?
an investigative tool used by the police when solving crimes
the main aim of this is to narrow the field of enquiry and the list of likely suspects
there are two main methods and although they differ, they both involve careful scrutiny of the crime scene and analysis of the evidence
What is the Top down approach?
An overview
originated in the US as a result of FBI carrying out interviews with 36 sexually motivated serial killers
AKA the typology approach, profilers attempt to match details of crimes to pre-existing templates of offenders
There are 2 categories ; organised and disorganised
What are the two types of offender?
Organised and disorganised
What are the characteristics of organised offenders?
- evidence of a planned crime
- victim deliberately targeted
- little evidence left at scene (body not there)
- a high degree of control and surgical precision is shown
- they have above average intelligence and usually in
What is an Organised offender?
- organised offenders show evidence of planning
- they leave little evidence at the scene i.e. not leaving the body at the scene
- usually in a skilled profession and have a higher than average IQ
- usually married and sometimes has kids
- victim deliberately targeted
- has a high degree control, performs with almost surgical precision
What is a disorganised offender?
- little evidence of planning
- a “messy” crime scene, reflecting a spontaneous. impulsive crime; body left at scene
- they tend to have a history of sexual dysfunction and failed relationships
- probs lives alone and near the crime scene
- lower than average IQ
How is a FBI profile (of the criminal) constructed?
- Data Assimilation - evidence is reviewed by profiler
2.Crime scene classification
as either organised or disorganised
3.The crime is reconstructed
hypotheses in terms of sequence of events, behaviour of the victim etc
- Profile generation-
hypotheses related to the likely offender
Strengths of the Top Down approach
(+) It’s a holistic approach,
it takes into account many factors surrounding the actual crime and it aims to truly understand the individual
Limitations of the Top Down Approach
(-)It’s not suitable for all types of crimes
its really only suitable for crimes that have plenty of evidence that also reveal details about the suspect so crimes like rape and arson but crimes like bulgary and even murder, it may not be suitable
(-)the sample used isnt representative - it was too small only 36 killers(25serial+11murderers)
it was also self reported and canter argued that, that its not sensible to rely on that
(-)classification is too simple. many offenders may possess characteristics from both types
GODWIN asked how would you classify a killer w/ high intelligence who commits a spontaneous murder
encouraged other psychologists to propose other models ; e.g Holmes suggested there are 4 types(visionary, missionary,hedonistic +power/control)
(-) Canter analaysed 100 murders in the USA using smallest space analysis, w/ reference to 39 characteristics typical of of organised + disorganised types
he found evidence for an organised type but none for a disorganised type
What is the Bottom Up approach?
An overview
- Aim of this approach is to generate a picture of offender through systematic analysis and evidence
- does not begin w/ fixed typologies
- instead, profile is ‘data-driven’ + emerges as investigator engages in deeper
- 2 forms of this approach are INVESTIGATIVE PSYCHOLOGY + GEOGRAPHICAL PROFILING
Describe Investigative psychology
Canter developed this form that matches details from crime scene w/stat analysis of typical offender behaviour patterns based on psychological theory, there are 3 main features; interpersonal coherence, forensic awareness and statistical analysis
Describe interpersonal coherence
It refers to the way an offender behaves at the crime scene and how it may reflect their everyday behaviours
Describe Forensic awareness
This refers to any certain behaviours that may indicate past experience with the police
e.g. Davies et al found that rapists who concealed their fingerprints had a previous bulgary conviction
Describe the use of statistical analysis
Statistical procedures are used to detect patterns of behaviour that are likely to occur across crimes
This develops a statistical database that can act as a baseline for comparison
Features of the crime can be matched against this database to reveal details about the offender
Describe Geographical profiling
- technique where locations of offences are used to infer the likely residence/operational base of offender (their centre of gravity)
- location can be used to create hypotheses about offender and their MO
- Canter and Larkin developed the Circle Theory (where the locations of offences make a circle around the residence)
What is a Marauder?
Offenders who operate close to their home
What is a Commuter?
An offender who travels away when committing a crime
Strengths of the Bottom Up approach
(+)wider application than Top Down approach, techniques such as smallest space analysis can be used for more crimes
(+)canter argues that this approach is more scientific and objective
It’s more grounded in science and psychological theory
(+) evidence support for geographical profiling
Canter and lundrigan analysed 120 murders in USA using smallest space revealing spatial consistency
The body location was in a different direction from the last and created a centre of gravity with the offenders location in the middle
(+)evidence support for investigative psychology
Canter + heritage conducted a content analysis of 66 murder cases and the day was analysed using smallest space analysis s
Several characteristics were identified as common such as use of impersonal language. It also showed how these can change over time leading to understanding of how an offender can change with different offences
Weakness of bottom up
There are mixed results
Although there have been many successes after using this approach there have also been failures
E,g case of Rachel Nickell,Was stabbed 47 times and Paul Britton was the profiler assigned to this case and identified a man as the offender and attempted to “trap” him but it was later revealed the wrong man was targeted and acc the right offender was someone who was ruled out bc he was too tall
What is a biological explanation?
Biological explanations of offending share the common assumption that crime is an innate tendency which may be genetically determined or arose from abnormalities
Describe The atavistic form
A biological approach to offending that attributed criminal activity to the fact that offenders are genetic throwbacks or a primitive sub-species that are ill-suited to confirming to the rules of modern society
Such individuals are distinguishable by facial and cranial characteristics
Lombroso proposed this theory
What was Lombrosos Research
He examined facial + cranial features of 383 dead Italian convicts and 3839 living convicts
Found that 40% of criminal acts could be accounted for by atavistic charceteristics
What Do the atavistic characteristics include?
General characteristics
- thin narrow sloping brow
- strong prominent jaw
- asymmetrical face
- high cheekbones
- extra toes,nipples or fingers
Murderers
- bloodshot eyes
- long ears
- curly hair
Sexual deviants
- projecting ears
- swollen fleshy lips
Fraudsters
-thin “reedy” lips
Strengths of the Atavistic form
(+) lombroso is considered father of modern criminology as he shifted emphasis away from moralistic discourse to more scientific realms of evolution and genetics
Linking types of people to types of crime was the beginning of criminal profiling
