Offender Profiling: Bottom Up Approach Flashcards
What is the aim of the approach?
To generate an image of the offender, their likely characteristics, routine behaviour and social background through the systematic analysis of evidence at the crime scene
What does the approach not begin with?
Fixed typologies - the profile is data driven and emerges at the investigator engages in deeper and more rigorous scrutiny of the details of the offence - it is more grounded in psychological theory than the top down approach
Where did this approach originate?
Britain
What is investigative psychology?
An attempt to apply psychological procedures alongside psychological theory to the analysis of a crime scene
What is the aim of the use of investigative psychology?
To establish patterns of behaviour which are likely to occur across crime scenes
What does investigative psychology do?
Develops a statistical database which then acts as a baseline comparison. Specific details of an offence can then be matched against the database to reveal important details about the offender, their personal history etc which may determine if offences are linked and therefore committed by the same individual
What is central to the approach?
Interpersonal coherence - the way the offender acts at the scene including interaction with the victim and may reflect their behaviour in everyday interactions. Rapists want to control and humiliate whereas others are more apologetic (Dwyer) - may tell us how they relate to women on a daily basis
What else are key variables?
The significance of time and place - geographical profiling may indicate where the offender lives
What is forensic awareness?
Describes those individuals who have bee subject to police interrogation before and their behaviour therefore may denote how mindful they are of ‘covering up their tracks’
What is geographical profiling and who developed it?
Rossmo - it uses information to do with the location of linked crimes to make inferences about the likely home or operational basis of an offender which is known as crime mapping
What can geographical profiling be used in conjunction with?
Psychological theory to create hypotheses about the modus operendi of the offender
What is the assumption?
That serial killers will restrict their work to geographical areas they are familiar with so understanding the spatial pattern of their behaviour provides investigators with a centre of gravity which is likely to include the offenders’ base which is often in the middle of the pattern
What else does geographical profiling help the profiler to do?
Make educated guesses about where the offender is likely to strike next - this is called the jeopardy surface
What did Canter’s circle theory propose?
Two Models of offender behaviour (Canter and Larkin)
What were the two types of offender behaviour?
The marauder - who operates in close proximity to their own home
The commuter - who is likely to have travelled a distance from their base