FP- Bottom Up Approach

Question 1

What is the bottom-up appproach?

Answer 1

• The aim of this approach is to generate a picture of the offender, including their likely characteristics, routine behaviour, and social background.
• This is achieved through systematic analysis of evidence left at the crime scene.

Question 2

What is the aim of investigative psychology?

Answer 2

The aim of investigative psychology is to establish behaviours that are likely to occur at certain crime scenes.

Question 3

How is investigative psychology carried out?

Answer 3

1) A statistical database is created which then acts as a baseline for comparison.
2) Specific details of an offence can then be matched against this database in order to reveal statistically probable details about the offender (their personal history, family background etc.).
3) This can also help determine whether multiple offences are linked and likely to have been committed by the same individual.

Question 4

What is the concept of interpersonal coherence?

Answer 4

The way in which an offender behaves at the crime scene, including how they interact with the victim, may reflect their behaviour in everyday situations.

Question 5

What is geographical profiling?

Answer 5

• Geographical profiling is the study of spatial behaviour in relation to crime and offenders.
• It focuses on the location of the crime as a clue to where the offender lives, works and socialises.

Question 6

What assumption is made in geographical profiling?

Answer 6

A serious offender will restrict their criminal activities to an area that they are familiar with, and the offender’s base will therefore be in the middle of the spatial pattern of their crime scenes.

Question 7

What two models of offender behaviour did Canter and Larkin propose?

Answer 7

• The marauder

- The commuter

Question 8

What is the “marauder” offender behaviour?

Answer 8

Offenders who operate close to their home

Question 9

What is the “commuter” offender behaviour?

Answer 9

The offenders who are likely to have travelled a distance away from their home.

Question 10

Evaluate the bottom up approach. (ADVANTAGES)

Answer 10

1) Canter argues that bottom-up profiling is more scientific than top-down profiling because it is more grounded in evidence and psychological theory and less driven by speculation and hunches than top-down profiling.
2) Bottom-up profiling, unlike top-down profiling, can be applied to a wide variety of offences, such as burglary and theft, as well as murder and rape.

Question 11

Evaluate the bottom-up approach. (DISADVANTAGES)

Answer 11

1) There have been some significant failures when using bottom-up profiling. In 1992, 21 year old Rachel Nickell was stabbed 47 times and sexuallyassaulted in a frenzied attack on Wimbledon Common. In 2008, following examination of forensic evidence, Robert Napper was convicted of the murder. He had been ruled out early on in the initial investigation because he was several inches taller than the profile had claimedthe offender would be.
2) Copson (1995) surveyed 48 police forces and found that the advice provided by a profiler was judged to be useful in 83% of cases, but in only 3% of cases did it lead to the accurate identification of the offender.
3) Kocsis et al. (2002) found that chemistry students produced a more accurate offender profile than experienced senior detectives. This implies that the bottom-upapproach is little more than common sense and guess work.