Forensics- Top down profiling Flashcards
Combo whopper, strength and limitation
MIXED RESEARCH SUPPORT
Canter found evidence of a distinct organised type.
He analysed data from 100 USA murders using smallest space analysis where details of each case were examined with reference to 39 characteristics thought to be typical of organised and disorganised killers.
This provides some support for the top down profiling approach.
However, this was not the case for the disorganised offender, there was no evidence for a distinct disorganised type. This undermines the classification system as a whole as it questions its validity.
Limitation, double whopper
ONLY WORKS FOR PARTICULAR CRIMES
Top down profiling only applies to particular crimes.
It is best suited to crime scenes that reveal important details about the suspect such as rape, arson and cult killings.
This method of profiling does not help when the crimes are more common such as burglary and destruction of property the crime scenes reveal little information about the offender.
This reduces the ability for this method of profiling to be used to identify a criminal.
Limitation, double whopper
BASED ON INCORRECT ASSUMPTIONS
Top down profiling is based on the idea that people’s behaviour remains the same across situations and contexts.
E.g. that personality drives behaviour and is not impacted by external factors.
Several critics have argued that this is incorrect and that behaviour is driven by aspects other than personality which are more changeable.
This reduces the validity of top down profiling as it might not be possible to “predict” an offenders next move.
Limitation, double whopper
CLASSIFICATION IS TOO SIMPLISTIC
Top-down profiling is too simplistic. The behaviours that describe organised and disorganised types of offenders are not mutually exclusive.
For example, a crime scene can have a combination of organised and disorganised characteristics.
This suggests that top down profiling may not be a valid way to categorise offenders.
It has led to other researchers to propose more detailed typological models such as Holmes who said that there were 4 types of serial killer.
Limitation, hamburger
LIMITED ORIGINAL SAMPLE
The sample used to create top down profiling is too small and unrepresentative.
It was developed using interviews with 36 killers in the US – 24 were serial killers, the other 11 were single or double murderers.
Critics have suggested that it is not sensible to rely on self-report data with convicted killers when constructing a classification system because the information that they provide could be inaccurate leading to an invalid classification system.
