offender profiling- bottom-up approach

Question 1

AO1: bottom-up approach

Answer 1

• bottom-up approach
• investigative psychology: central approach - interpersonal coherence, time+place, forensic awareness
• geographical profiling: assumption, canter’s circle theory, mental maps

Question 2

what is the bottom-up approach?

Answer 2

• developed in the UK - canter
• aim = generate profile/picture of offender by looking at available evidence + anal of crime scene (characteristics, social background etc)
• no fixed ‘typologies’ - emerged solely from evidence of case - ‘data-driven’
• grounded in psych theory

Question 3

what is investigative psychology?

Answer 3

• statistical analysis + psych theory to analyse crime scenes
• aims = establish patterns of behaviour likely to occur across crime scenes
• leading to creation of a statistical database = baseline for comparisons through linking + revealing important details about offender - family etc
• central: interpersonal coherence, significance of time + place, forensic awareness

Question 4

what are central to the approach of investigative psychology?

Answer 4

• interpersonal coherence - how the offender interacts with the crime scene + victim - may reflect everyday behaviour
• significance of time + place - where crime takes place may indicate where offender lives (geog profiling)
• forensic awareness - behaviour may be indicative of previous criminal experience - covering up crime scene - mindful - interrogated before

Question 5

what is geographical profiling?

Answer 5

• rossmo 1997 - proposed - involves looking at location of crimes - which seem to have been committed by the same offender - to determine likely home of the offender (crime mapping) - based on spatial consistency (commit limited geog space)
• can be combined with psych theories to create hypotheses about what offender is thinking + their modus operandi (centre of gravity) - likely to include offenders base
• can be used to predict where likely to commit crime (jeopardy surface)

Question 6

what is the assumption of geographical profiling?

Answer 6

serial killers restrict work to geog areas familiar with

Question 7

what are the key points of geographical profiling the basis of?

Answer 7

• canter’s circle theory (pattern of offending forms circle around offender home base)
• due to distribution of offences - offender described in two ways
• marauder model - operates in close proximity to their home/equivalent ‘base’ - more spread + usually hide identity
• commuter model - travels a distance away from residence - but still familiar area + offences closer together as don’t know well
• can give insight - planned?, age etc

Question 8

what can canter’s circle theory help to do?

Answer 8

• provide ‘mental maps’ of offenders
• not accurate - personal exp + perspective + distribution of linked offences can reflect

Question 9

evaluate the bottom-up approach

Answer 9

+ canter + heritage 1990 - investigative psychology
+ lundrigan + carter 2001 - geog profiling
- copson 1996 - mixed
+ canter - ‘railway rapist’
- nickell

Question 10

what is research to support investigative psychology?

Answer 10

• canter + heritage 1990
• analysis of 99 SA cases
• the nature of the offence was correlated with particular types of behaviour - impersonal language
• each individual displayed characteristic pattern of such behaviour - can help establish whether two/more offences = same person
• supports people = consistent in behaviour

Question 11

what is research to support geographical profiling?

Answer 11

• lundrigan + carter 2001
• 120 murder cases incl serial killers
• killer disposed of bodies in various locations - formed ‘centre of gravity’ + their base/residence always located in middle of it
• supports - can help determine killer base

Question 12

how is the bottom-up approach limited by mixed results?

Answer 12

• copson 1996
• gathered results 184 questionnaires
• aided 83% cases but only identified offender 3%
• only helps small number of cases - unknown how effective it truly is - research inconsistent - some research supports but this questions

Question 13

how is real-life application a strength of the bottom-up approach?

Answer 13

• Canter’s 1986 profile of the ‘Railway Rapist’ using the bottom up approach directly led to the capture and conviction in 1988 of John Duffy
• Canter gave 17 suggested characteristics of the criminal and 12 were found to be accurate
• method is high in ecological validity and has a useful application.

Question 14

what is a counterpoint to the real-life application?

Answer 14

• not possible to generalise from case study such as this - others that don’t support
• rachel nickell - stabbed + SA’d - colin stagg targeted - fitted offender profile created by paul britton - ‘honey trap’ instigated
• found that robert napper guilty - ruled out because several inches taller - expensive operation