Offender Profiling - Bottom-Up Approach Flashcards
What is Investigative Psychology
An attempt to apply statistical procedures alongside psychological theory to the analysis to crime scene evidence.
What is interpersonal coherence?
The way an offender behaves at the scene, including how they interact with the victim and scene - this may reflect their behaviour in more everyday situations.
What is forensic awareness?
Forensic Awareness is how someone who has been the subject of police interrogation before may denote how mindful they are of covering their tracks.
What is Smallest Space Analysis?
Patterns are identified and it is possible to see if a series of offences are linked. It reveals the relationship between certain types of crime and certain types of people and their behaviours.
What are the 3 groups in Smallest Space Analysis
- When an offender uses the easiest method to obtain something
- When a crime was thought through and planned
- Crimes heavily influenced by impulse and strong emotion
What is Geographical Profiling?
First described by Ross (1997) it used information to do with the location of linked crime scenes to make inferences about the likely home of an offender - also hypothesises about their modus operandi.
What is the Marauder model of offender behaviour?
Operates in close proximity to their home base
What is the Commuter model of offender behaviour?
Likely to have travelled a distance from their usual residence, and commit crimes on that radius.
What is the strength - Supporting Evidence of consistent behaviour at crime scenes?
Canter and Heritage conducted an analysis of 66 SA cases. They identified several common behaviours such as use of impersonal language and lack of reaction to the victim. They also discovered that each offender has their own behavioural pattern at the scene. This can establish whether cases are linked and this shows that the bottom-up approach is useful.
What is the limitation - Mixed results when used by the police force?
Copson surveyed 48 police departments and found that advice provided by the profiler was judged useful in 83% of cases, however in only 3% did it lead to accurate identification.
What is the strength - evidence supporting geographical profiling?
Lundrigan and Canter collected information from 120 murder cases involving US serial killers, They found spatial consistency, creating a circle around their home base - most noticeable for marauders.
What is the limitation - Significant failures of bottom-up approach
Rachel Nickell was stabbed 47 times on Wimbledon common. Police targeted Colin Stagg, with an officer feigning a romance with him to get a confession. In 16 years later, Robert Napper was convicted - he had initially been ruled out as he was 3 inches taller than the profile.
