Forensics Flashcards
Offender profiling - Top down approach
Offender profiling - a set of investigative techniques used by police to identify perpetrators of serious crime and it involves working out an offenders characteristics by looking at the characteristics of the crime scene and crime itself
Top down approach:
- adopted by the FBI
- looking at a crime scene and drawing conclusions about the offender (characteristics) and looking at other cases (interviews) to build a profile of this typical offender type
Organized - high intelligence, socially competent, monitors media coverage, inconsistent discipline as a child
- weapon absent
- body hidden
- orderly crime scene
- victim targeted, aggressive
Disorganized - average intelligence, socially immature, lives alone, no interest in media coverage, harsh discipline as a child
- weapon present
- sexual activity
- body left in view
- random victim
Constructing a profile: aim to narrow list of suspects
Data assimilation - data is collected (crime scene description, background info of victim, details of crime)
Crime scene classification - organized or disorganized
Crime reconstruction - hypothesis (sequence of events, behavior of offenders and victim)
Profile generation - constructed with hypothesis (background, habits, beliefs)
AO3:
P: It only applies to particular cases
E: It is best suited to crime scenes that reveal important info about the suspect (rape, arson)
T: The sample is too limited in identifying all criminals as not all crimes reveal details about the offender
P: The data collected from interviews was largely based on self-reported info
E: Offenders may have misrepresented their actions or motivations, intentionally or due to distorted self perceptions.
T: this lowers the validity
P: The research the model is based on involved a small sample
E: Those interviewed by the FBI included incarcerated, high profile serial killers who may not accurately represent the wider population
T: The sample is too limited to generalize across the criminal spectrum
P: The method was developed by the FBI
E: they used to it identify perpetrators
T: it has high ecological validity as it arose out of practice
Offender profiling - Bottom up approach
- starts with raw data about the crime and works up to a conclusion about the criminal
- assumes offender leave a psycholigical fingerprint of unique behaviour
Investigative psychology:
- explores patterns that occur across crime scenes used to generate data about the offender
1- interpersonal coherence - looking for correlations in behavior (is how they behave at the crime how they behave ordinarily)
2- Significance of time and place - indicate where the offender lives/ works
3- Criminal characteristics and career - crimes follow a pattern, enabling predictions for future behavior
4- Forensic awareness - certain behaviors may reveal an awareness of particular police techniques
5- Small space analysis - data about many crime scenes and offender characteristics are correlated so the most common can be identified (CATCHEM)
Geographical profiling:
- analysing the locations of crimes to determine the most probable area of an offenders residence
Crime mapping - Geographic information systems to map, visualize and analyse crime patterns
AO3:
P: useful applications
E: the capture and conviction of John Duffy shows how the approach is effective in narrowing the scope of suspects
P: uses case studies
E: cases of serial killers can be very unique and have different characteristics
T: may not be generalizable to the wider population
P: based on data and relies on statistical analysis
E:
T: very scientific and reliable
P: can be used on a variety of crimes
E: Geographical profiling has been used on property crimes as well as violent crimes
T: highlights its usefulness in society (better than top down)
Atavistic form - AO1
- Lombroso proposed that criminals were genetic throwbacks and that they were biologically different to non criminals
- offenders lack evolutionary development (their untamed nature made it impossible to adjust to todays civilized society)
- criminals posses physiological markers linked to specific types of criminals (atavistic characteristics)
- he studied hundreds of Italian convicts cranial and facial features and concluded 40% of criminal acts could be accounted for by atavistic characteristics
– 60% unaccounted for - majority did not meet criteria
– culturally biased - Italian convicts - cannot generalize
- narrow, sloping brow
- prominent jaw
- high cheekbones
- facial asymmetry
- dark skin/ extra toes, nipples, fingers
– socially sensitive - targets certain groups of individuals and is offensive to those who have atavistic features who aren’t criminals
Murderers - bloodshot eyes, curly hair and long ears
Sexual deviants - glinting eyes, fleshy lips and projecting ears
Atavistic form - AO3
P: Lombroso is credited for moving towards a more scientific realm (evolutionary basis and genetics)
E: His work of how particular types of people are likely to commit certain types of crime led to the beginning of offender profiling
T: major contribution to science of criminology and highlights its usefulness in society
P: several critics have drawn attention to the racist undertones of his work
E: many features identified as criminal and atavistic such as dark skin and curly hair are most common amongst those of African descent
T: socially sensitive as these groups of people could face discrimination
P: There are issues with causation
E: even though people may have atavistic features, it does not necessarily mean that this is the cause of their criminality. Instead these features could be caused by other factors such as poverty, diet.
T: cause and effect cannot be established
F: deterministic - says we are determined by nature (genes) as it states possessing innate atavistic characteristics is likely to lead to crime
genetic and neural explanations - AO3
P: Research from twin studies was poorly controlled and may lack validity
E: Langes research was based on looks rather than DNA testing
T: lacks internal validity and suggests causal conclusions about the genetic explanations of criminality may be invalid
P: issues with adoption studies
E: many children experience late adoption meaning most of their infancy and childhood would have been spent with biological parents
T: cannot exclude factor of biological parents
P: biologically reductionist
E: reduces the complex phenomena of criminal behavior down to nerual and genetic explanations…
T: too simplistic
P: dilemmas with the idea of a criminal gene
E: our legal system is based on the idea that criminals have moral responsibility for their crimes and only in extreme cases can they claim they were not acting under their own freewill (mental illness)
T: provides an excuse for criminals and is deterministic as it says all people who have the gene will eventually become criminals
