Hazelwood/Canter Et Al - Top Down Typology Flashcards
What did the VICAP allow the FBI to do?
Once cases are entered into the VICAP database, it is constantly compared continually against all other entries on the basis of certain aspects of the crime to gain the similar patterns of the modus operandi
What does the top down approach believe?
It believes that if you can identify the modus operandi associated with a crime then the motive of the perpetrator will also be able to be established
How does the top down typology describe sexual offenders for example?
It believes that the perpetrator will seek power and dominance, dissociate and commonly blend in with society and they re-enact their fantasies
What 2 types of offender do Hazelwood and Douglas categorise murderers into?
Organised and disorganised
What are five characteristics of an organised murderer?
Orderly, socially and sexually competent, skilled occupation and living with a partner
What are five characteristics of an disorganised murderer?
Disorderly, socially and sexually incompetent, unskilled/unemployed and they live alone
What does Ressler claim about the categorisation of offenders into organised and disorganised murderers?
He argues that many offenders behave in a similar way and have similar characteristics
In the UK, who was developing offender profiling techniques?
David Canter
What were some of Canters issues with the top down approach?
He argues that samples of serious offenders that were interviewed to draw up the classification were very small, the typologies are only helpful for murderers and rapists and he believes that there is some degree of subjective interpretation by the individual profiler
What was the aim of Canters study?
To test the reliability of organised/disorganised typologies
What method did Canter use, and what was the sample?
A content analysis of 100 cases of serial killers from the USA
Why did Canter use this sample?
To find out if the features said to belong to each typology would be consistently and distinctly different
What was the difference in the number of organised and disorganised crime scenes that were identified?
Twice as many disorganised as organised crime scenes were identified
What two crime scene behaviours significantly co-occurred with organised typologies?
The body was concealed in 70% of cases and sexual activity occurred in 75% of cases
What occurred in more than two-thirds of disorganised crime?
Rape
