Forensics Flashcards
What did Holmes and Holmes (1996) investigate?
Murder of a young girl and boyfriend and step father was main suspect but no forensics evidence available
Conventional questioning-he denied
Profiler suggests that he has great need for control so ask for his help to solve the crime
Suspect shown photographs of crime scene and believing himself to be in control of investigation, therefore became engrossed in talking about the murder
Showed his familiarity with the crime and gave himself away
What are the additional cues that criminal profilers look at?
- type of victim
- type of crime
- location
- time of day and night
- specific features of the crime
- what is taken or left behind
What is the top down approach also referred to as?
- the American approach
- the fbi approach
- Crime scene analysis
- typological profiling
What is the top down approach?
FBI researchers wanted to improve their profiling techniques and make it more exact. To do this profilers decided to interview 36 convicted serial killers and see if there were any common patterns behind their killings.Using this, they devised a classification system for several serious crimes
What are the two classifications of Offenders?
Organised offenders
Disorganised offenders
What are the possible characteristics of an organised offenders?
- intelligent
- skilled occupation
- socially competent
- angry/depressed
What are the possible crime features of an organised offender?
- planned crimes
- self control
- covers tracks
- victims are usually strangers
- victims are of a usual type
Who is an example of organised offender?
Ted Bundy
What are the possible characteristics of an disorganised offender?
Socially inadequate Unskilled First/last born child Lives alone Knows victim Confused/frightened
What are the crime features of a disorganised offender?
Unplanned crimes
Haphazard
Leaves clues
Who is an example of a disorganised offender?
Richard Trenton Chase
Who came up with the four step process of making a profile?
Jackson and Beckerian (1997)
What are the four steps of making a profile?
- Data Assimilation
- crime scene classification
- crime reconstruction
- profile generation
What is Data assimilation?
Looks at evidence from the crime scene e.g. photos
What is crime scene classification?
Either organised or disorganised offender
What is crime reconstruction?
What happened?, Who did what?, How did they behave?
What is profile generation?
Using the above to create the profile of the likely offender
What is the bottom up approach?
It is the opposite of the top down approach
It is more scientific and starts with the bare basics and adds more to their profile as the evidence grows
What is geographical profiling?
Use information from locations of linked crime scenes to make inferences about the offender
Who developed geographical profiling?
Rossmo (1997)
Who expanded on Rossmos ideas?
Canter and Larkin (1993)
What is the circle theory?
People operate within a limited spatial mindset that creates imagined boundaries in which crimes are likely to be committed. Using this profile can create a ‘jeopardy surface’
What is jeopardy surface?
Showing likely closeness to the offenders residence
What is crime mapping?
Looking at locations of linked crimes can help us make inferences about the likely home or operational base of the offender. This can be used along side investigative psychology to work out clues about how the offender operates