Offender profiling Flashcards
what is offender profiling
an investigative tool employed by the police when solving crimes
the main aim is to narrow down the list of suspects
professional profilers will often be called upon to work alongside the police
methods vary, but creating a profile often involves scrutiny of the crime scene and analysis of other evidence to generate hypotheses about the characteristics of the offender
what is the top-down approach to offender profiling
american FBI approach to profiling
based on interviews with 36 sexually motivated killers (including ted bundy)
data catergorised into organised or disorganised crimes
each category had certain characteristics, which meant that if the data from a crime scene matched some of the characteristics from one category, then other likely characteristics could be predicted
how is a top-down approach profile constructed
data assimilation - reviewing of evidence from crime scene photos, witness accounts, pathology reports
crime scene classification - either organised or disorganised
crime scene reconstruction - hypotheses in terms of sequence of events, behaviour of victim, etc
profile generation - hypotheses relating to the offender, e.g., demographic background, characteristics, behaviour
what are the characteristics of an organised offender
evidence of having planned the crime in advance
victim is deliberately targeted
pre-planned weapons, usually same each time
little to no evidence
presents as a socially and sexually competent individual, lead normal lives
what are the characteristics of a disorganised offender
little evidence of planning, spontaneous offence
not a targeted victim, spur of the moment
use what weapons are available at the time, mostly physical violence
body usually left at scene
unskilled or unemployed, dysfunctional relationships, live alone and close to crime scene
how is the evidence on which the top-down approach was based flawed (limitation)
canter et al (2004) argued the sample of 36 sexually motivated killers was poor, the FBI agents did not select a random or even a large sample
interviews with the killers were unstructured so they were not comparable
suggests the top-down approach does not have a scientific basis
how does the top-down approach ignore situational factors (limitation)
situational psychologists argue that offender’s behaviour is much more driven by the situation rather than their personal characteristics
an offender may leave evidence at the crime scene because they were disturbed, rather than being a disorganised offender with a low IQ
other factors are neglected that contribute to the basis of a crime, the top-down approach is over simplified
what is the supporting evidence for a distinct organised category of offender (strength)
canter et al (2004) conducted an analysis of 100 US murders, each committed by a different serial killer
smallest space analysis was used - a statistical technique that identifies correlations across different samples of behaviour
co-occurrence of 39 aspects of serial killings found
this revealed there does not seem to be a subset of features of many serial killings which matched the FBI’s typology for organised offenders
this suggests validity in the top-down approach
how is the top-down approach adaptable (strength)
meketa (2017) reports that top-down profiling has recently been applied to burglary, leading to an 85% rise in solved cases in three US states
this suggests there is wider application than originally assumed
what is the bottom-up approach
aims to generate a picture of the offender based on evidence collected at the crime scene
the data is gathered firs and the profile emerges after the investigators have analysed the details of the crime, hypotheses reached after
investigative approach and geographical approach
what is the investigative approach
an attempt to apply statistical procedures, alongside psychological theory, to the analysis of crime scene evidence
looks at specific details of an offence, or related offences, which can then be ‘matched’ in a database to determine whether a series of offences are linked and likely to be committed by the same person
what is interpersonal coherence
a concept that suggests that the way that an offender behaves at the scene, including how they ‘interact’ with the victim, may reflect their behaviour in more everyday situations
e.g., some rapists want to maintain control and humilate their victims, others are apologetic (Dwyer 2001)
what is forensic awareness
describes those individuals who may have been the subject of police investigation before, their behaviour may denote how mindful they are of ‘covering their tracks’
what is the geographical approach
based on the principle of spatial consistency, the idea that an offender’s operations base and possible future offences are revealed by the geographical location of their previous crimes
geographical information is used to make inferences about the home or operational base of an offender - crime mapping
what is modus operandi
the offender’s habits of working
when geographical theory is used with psychological theory hypotheses can be created about an offenders modus operandi and what they are thinking and feeling
