Offender profiling: Bottom Up Approach

Question 1

Where did the bottom up approach originate?

Answer 1

Britain

Question 2

What is the aim of the bottom up approach?

Answer 2

To generate a picture of the offender, including their likely characteristics, routine behaviour and social background

Question 3

What does the bottom up approach not rely on, unlike the typology approach?

Answer 3

Fixed typologies

Typology approach relies on them and intuition of the profilers

Question 4

What is bottom up approach grounded in?

Answer 4

Psychological theory

More so than the top down approach

Question 5

What is investigative psychology?

Answer 5

An attempt to apply psychological procedures alongside psychological theory to the analysis of the crime scene

Question 6

What is the aim of investigative psychology?

Answer 6

Establish patterns of behaviour that are likely to occur across crime scenes

Question 7

What is developed during investigative psychology? What is the use of this?

Answer 7

Statistical database which is used as a baseline comparison

Question 8

What are examples of specific details of an offence which are matched to the database?

Answer 8

history

background

Question 9

What is interpersonal coherence?

Answer 9

The way the offender acts at the scene, including the interaction with the victim and may reflect their behaviour in everyday interactions

Question 10

What did Canter and Heritage (1990) find?

Answer 10

Conducted a content analysis of 66 sexual assault cases, data analysed using smallest space analysis
Common characteristics were identified such as impersonal language and lack of reaction
Patterns occur differently in different people
Lead to an understanding of how an offenders behaviour may change over a series of offences by the same person

Question 11

What is smallest space analysis?

Answer 11

Computer programme which identifies trends correlations in patterns of behaviour

Question 12

Who came up with geographical profiling?

Answer 12

Rossmo (1997)

Question 13

What is geographical profiling?

Answer 13

It is to do with the locations of linked crimes to make inferences about the likely home or operational base of the offender - known as crime mapping

Question 14

What is the assumptions of geographical profiling?

Answer 14

That serial killers will restrict their work to geographical areas they are familiar with and so understanding the spatial pattern of their behaviour provides investigators with a centre of gravity, likely to include the offenders base

Question 15

What does geographical profiling allow offender profilers to do?

Answer 15

Make educated guesses about whether the offender is likely to strike next, this is called the jeopardy surface

Question 16

What are the two types offender behaviour according to Canter?

Answer 16

Marauder - Operates close proximity to their own home

Commuter - Travelled from their house

Question 17

What is a pattern or behaviour likely to create?

Answer 17

A circle around their usual residence

Question 18

What did Lundigran and canter (2001) find?

Answer 18

Collated information from 120 murder cases involving serial killers in the USA.
SSA revealed spatial consistency in the behaviour of killers
The offenders base was invariably located in the centre of the pattern
Effect was more noticeable in those who travelled short distances

Question 19

How does the bottom up approach compare to top down in terms of it’s scientific basis?

Answer 19

The bottom up approach is more grounded in evidence and psychological theory than the top down approach
Use of computer programmes and artificial intelligence investigators are more able to manipulate biological, psychological and geographical data

Question 20

What about wider application for bottom up approach?

Answer 20

It can be used for less serious offences unlike the top down approach

Question 21

What did Copson (1995) find?

Answer 21

Surveyed 48 police forces and found that the advice provided by the profiler was judged to be useful in 83% of cases but in 3% to lead to accurate identification of the offender.

Question 22

What did Kocsis (2002) find?

Answer 22

That chemistry students created a more accurate profile for a solved case than senior detectives