Lesson 2 - Bottom-Up Approach to offender profiling

Question 1

what’s the aim of the bottom up approach

Answer 1

to generate a picture of the offender including likely characteristics, routine, social background

Question 2

difference between top down and bottom up

Answer 2

bottom up doesnt begin with fixed typologies, instead its data driven and emerged as the profiler engages in rigorous scrutiny of the details of the offence
bottom up is more grounded in psychological theory

Question 3

whats the aim of investigative psychology

Answer 3

to establish behaviours that are likely to occur at certain crime scenes to create a statistical database which acts as a baseline for comparison
specific details can be matched against this database

Question 4

interpersonal coherence

Answer 4

the way in which an offender behaves at the crime scene , including how they interact with the victim can reflect behaviour in everyday life

Question 5

forensic awareness

Answer 5

describes individuals who have made an attempt to cover their tracks

Question 6

if an offender covers their tracks what does that potentially mean

Answer 6

they are a repeat offender or the police already have their data

Question 7

geographic profiling assumption

Answer 7

a serious offender will restrict their criminal activities to an area that they are familiar with

earlier crimes are likely to be closer to the offenders base than later crimes

they make a circle around where they live

Question 8

canter and larkin theory of two offenders

Answer 8

marauder - operates close to home
commuter - travelled a distance

Question 9

what does the spatial pattern of a crime tell the police

Answer 9

if the crime was planned or opportunistic

Question 10

+ evaluation of bottom up approach

Answer 10

+ bottom up is more scientific than top down bcs its more grounded in evidence and less driven by speculation
+ bottom up unlike top down can be applied to a wide variety of offences

Question 11

• evaluation of bottom up approach

Answer 11

• significant failures including a woman being stabbed 47 times and the murder not being caught bcs he wasnt as tall as they assumed
• 48 police officers surveyed and bottom up is useful in 83% but only 3% led to accurate identification

-chemistry students produced a more accurate offender profile than experienced senior detectives , bottom up is a bit more than common sense and guess work