Forensic Psychology knowledge Flashcards
What is offender profiling?
A behavioural and analytical tool to help investigators predict and profile characteristics of unknown criminals
What is the main aim of offender profiling?
To narrow the field of enquiry and the list of key suspects
On what basis can characteristics of an offender be inferred?
From the offence and details of the crime scene
What does compiling a profile usually involve?
Scrutiny of the crime scene and analysis of the evidence
What characteristics of the offender can be hypothesized?
Gender, age, employment, social background
Who stated that inferences about the offender can be made from the crime scene?
Jackson and Bekerian (1997)
What is meant by ‘modus operandi’?
A particular way or method of doing something
What does the profiling process assume about criminals’ behavior?
Criminals operate in a similar way reflecting their personality
What is the foundational belief of offender profiling?
There is consistency in crime
Why is consistency in a criminal’s personality important for profiling?
It implies that their modus operandi will remain similar
What are ‘signatures’ in the context of crime scenes?
Distinctive behaviours left at the scene
What is the top-down approach in offender profiling?
Starts from a general classification of the crime scene to make judgments about likely offenders
Fill in the blank: The top-down approach goes from _______ to data.
classification
What unit originated the approach of offender profiling?
FBI’s Behavioural Science Unit
What was the primary purpose of developing offender profiling?
To produce a profile of the most likely offender
What types of characteristics are considered in offender profiling?
- Social (age, social class, profession)
- Psychological (mental capacity)
How are offenders classified in the profiling approach?
‘Organised’ or ‘disorganised’
What is the ‘typology approach’ in offender profiling?
Classifying offenders into types based on pre-existing templates
What distinguishes an ‘organised’ offender?
- Evidence of planning
- Targets the victim
- Socially and sexually competent
- Higher-than-average intelligence
What are the characteristics of a ‘disorganised’ offender?
- Little evidence of planning
- Leaves clues
- Socially and sexually incompetent
- Lower-than-average intelligence
What is the top-down approach in offender profiling?
An intuitive application of a profiler’s prior knowledge
True or False: The top-down approach relies on explicit reasoning.
False
Fill in the blank: The approach to offender profiling is based on the idea that serious offenders have signature ways of working, known as _______.
modus operandi
What kind of data was used to develop offender profiling?
In-depth interviews with sexually motivated killers
What is the first stage in the construction of an FBI profile?
Data assimilation
The profiler reviews evidence including crime scene photographs, victim background, and crime details.
What types of information are reviewed during data assimilation?
Crime scene photographs, victim background, crime details
Includes employment, habits, relationships, weapon, and pathology reports.
What is the purpose of the seven decision-making tools in data assimilation?
To analyze various aspects of the crime and the offender
Helps in understanding the nature of the crime and the profile of the offender.
What are the seven decision-making tools used in data assimilation?
- Murder type
- Primary intent
- Victim risk
- Offender risk
- Escalation
- Time factors
- Location factors
Each tool provides insight into the crime and helps in profiling the offender.
Define ‘murder type’ as a decision-making tool.
Is it an isolated incident or evidence of a serial killer, spree killer, or mass murder?
Helps determine the nature of the crime and the potential offender.
What does ‘primary intent’ refer to in the context of crime analysis?
Was it a deliberate, pre-meditated murder or a result of another crime?
Understanding intent can reveal the motivation behind the crime.
What does ‘victim risk’ indicate about the crime?
Killing low-risk targets provides insights into the offender’s focus
Certain individuals may only target high-risk victims.
How does ‘offender risk’ influence the analysis?
Indicates the level of risk involved in committing the crime
For example, daylight crimes may suggest different offender characteristics than those committed at night.
Explain the concept of ‘escalation’ in crime analysis.
Extent to which the crime has worsened compared to previous offences
Allows for predictions about future criminal behavior.
What do ‘time factors’ reveal during crime analysis?
Time of day indicates daily routines and duration of the crime
Provides context for understanding the crime’s execution.
What is the significance of ‘location factors’ in profiling?
Can provide information about the offender’s environment and transport
Helps in narrowing down potential suspects based on geographic patterns.
What is the second stage in constructing an FBI profile?
Crime scene classification
Classifies the crime as ‘organised’ or ‘disorganised’.
What does crime scene classification presume?
There is a correspondence between offences and offenders
Helps in understanding the behavioral patterns of the offender.
What is the third stage in the construction of an FBI profile?
Crime reconstruction
Involves creating hypotheses about the sequence of events and victim behavior.
What is the final stage in constructing an FBI profile?
Profile generation
Constructs a description of the likely offender for investigative strategies.
What elements are included in the profile generation stage?
- Demographic background
- Physical characteristics
- Behavior
- Habits
- Beliefs
This information is crucial for planning investigative strategies.
True or False: The profile generated is used to anticipate how the offender will respond to investigative efforts.
True
Anticipating responses helps law enforcement in their strategies during the investigation.
What is the primary focus of bottom-up profiling?
Grounded in psychological theory
What are the two techniques within the bottom-up approach?
- Investigative Psychology
- Geographical Profiling
What does Investigative Psychology analyze?
Matches crime scene details with statistical analysis of typical offender behaviour patterns
What is the aim of establishing patterns of behaviour in Investigative Psychology?
To develop a statistical database for comparison
What can matching specific details about an offence against the database reveal?
- Offender’s personality
- Offender’s history
- Offender’s family background
What might the analysis of time and place indicate about an offender?
Where the offender is living or working
What does forensic awareness in profiling suggest?
Certain behaviours might reveal awareness of police techniques and past experience with the Criminal Justice System
Define interpersonal coherence in the context of profiling.
The way an offender behaves at the scene, reflecting their behaviour in everyday situations
True or False: Profilers begin with fixed typologies.
False
What is the role of evidence collected from the crime scene in profiling?
To develop hypotheses about the likely characteristics, motivations, and social background of the offender
What principle is geographical profiling based on?
Spatial consistency
What can inferences about an offender’s operational base be made from?
Geographical location of previous crimes
How can geographical profiling be enhanced?
By using psychological theory, such as Investigative Psychology
What is the assumption regarding repeat offenders and their geographical areas?
They restrict their ‘work’ to areas they are familiar with
What does understanding the spatial pattern of an offender’s behavior provide investigators?
‘Centre of gravity’ likely to include the offender’s base
What can geographical profiling help investigators predict?
Where the offender is likely to strike next - ‘the jeopardy surface.’
What is Canter’s circle theory based on?
The pattern of offending forms a circle around the offender’s ‘home’ base
What are the two types of offenders described by psychologists based on offence distribution?
- The marauder
- The commuter
What does the marauder do?
Operates near their home base
What does the commuter do?
Travels a distance away from their usual residence
What insights can an offender’s spatial decision making provide to investigators?
- Nature of the offence (planned or opportunistic)
- Offender’s mode of transport
- Employment status
- Approximate age