Forensics Flashcards
Provide three characteristics of the organised offender.
Above average intelligence, controlled even in the attack that looks frenzied, in a skilled/professional job, mostly married with kids, well thought of in the community, organised about the attack, bring instruments, escape plan etc.
Provide three characteristics of the disorganised offender.
Spontaneous, impulsive, lower than average IQ, in unskilled work/unemployed, history of sexual dysfunction and failed relationships, tend to live alone and near where the offence took place.
What are the four stages of an FBI profile?
- Data assimilation.
- Crime scene classification.
3 Crime reconstruction. - Profile generation.
What is the top down approach?
Profilers start with a pre-established typology and work down to lower levels in order to assign
offenders to one of two categories based on witness accounts and evidence from the crime scene.
What is a strength of the top-down approach?
+Research support: 100 serial killings (smallest space analysis) supported organised category (Canter
et al).
+Wider application: Applied to burglary, 85% rise in solved cases in the US (Meketa)
What is a weakness of the top-down approach?
-Counterpoint: most killers have multiple contrasting characteristics, don#t fit into one #type#
(Godwin).
-Flawed evidence: Interview sample small, not random, similar kinds of offender, non-standard
questions (Canter et al)
What is the bottom-up approach?
Profile emerges from analysis of the crime and comparison with other crimes in a database, using
investigative psychology and geographical profiling.
What is the difference between a marauder and a commuter?
A marauder operates in close proximity to their home whereas a commuter travels to commit their
crime.
Which approach uses the organised/disorganised categories?
Top-down
Which approach uses investigative psychology and geographical profiling?
Bottom-up
Provide a strength of the bottom up approach
+Evidence for investigative psychology – 66 sexual assaults, smallest space analysis, consistent
pattern of behaviours = case linkage (Canter and Heritage)
+Evidence for geographical profiling – 120 US serial killer cases, place where bodies left created a
circle of gravity, pointing to home base (Lundragin and Canter)
What two parts of the body form the atavistic form?
Cranial and facial
Provide a strength of the atavistic approach.
+Lombroso’s legacy –’Father of modern criminology’ (Hollin) moved from moralistic to scientific discourse and
marked the beginning of offender profiling.
Provide a weakness of the bottom-up approach.
-Counterpoint- database of solved crimes using case linkage which may have been easy to link.
-Geographical information insufficient – recording of crime inaccurate (75% of crimes not reported), age and
experience matter (Ainsworth)
What are the two genes involved in the genetic explanation of offending?
MAOA-L and CDH13
What is interpersonal coherence?
The way an offender acts the crime scene, including how they interact with the victim.
What are the three levels of Kohlberg’s model?
Pre conventional morality, conventional morality, post conventional morality.
What type of crimes are likely to show pre conventional moral reasoning?
Crimes committed for financial gain eg. Burglary
What is a strength of Kohlberg’s model?
Research support – Palmer and Hollin compared moral reasoning between 332 offenders and
126 non-offenders by getting them to answer 11 moral-dilemma related questions. The
offender groups showed less mature moral reasoning than the non-offender group
What is minimalisation?
Downplaying the significance of a crime.
What are the 6 stages in Kohlberg’s theory of moral
reasoning?
Punishment orientation, instrumental orientation, good
boy/girl orientation, maintenance of the social order,
morality of contract and individual rights, morality of
conscience.
What is a limitation of cognitive distortions?
-Type of offence: Non-contact sex offenders used more
cognitive distortions.
Outline the differential theory of offending.
Individuals learn the values, attitudes, techniques and motives for offending behaviour, through interactions with others.
What is the difference between a learning attitude and a learning technique?
A learning attitude forms the values and attitudes towards the law. These can either be
pro-crime or anti-crime. Learning techniques are ways of committing offences; eg.
Pickpocketing or using a hair grip to pick a lock.
