offender profiling - the bottom up approach Flashcards
the bottom up approach
aim of the bottom up approach is to generate a picture of the offender
their likely characteristics routine behaviour and social background
through systemairtc analysis of evidnece at the crime scene
profile is data driven and emerges as the investigator engages in deeper and more rigourous scruintu of the details of the offender
bottom up profiling is also much more grounded in psychological theory
investigative psychology
attempt to apply statistical procedures alongside psychological theory to the analysis of a crime scene evidence aim in
the aim in offender proflining is to establish patterns of behaviour that are likely to occur across crime scenes
this si to develop a statistical database which then acts as a baseline for comparison
specific details of an offence can then e matched against this database to reveal importnat details about the offender
this may also determine whether a series of offences are linked and are likely to have been committed by the same perosn
interpersonal coherence - the way an offender behaves at a the scene may reflect their behaviour in everyday situations
forensic awareness p describes individuals who have been the subject of police inttergiation before = their behaviour may denote how mindful they are of covering thei r
geographical profiling
uses info about the location of linked crime scenes to make inferences about the likely home of the offender
known as crime mapping
based on the principle of spatial consistency (people commit crimes within a limited georgrpahical space)
centre of gravity often in the middle fo the spatial pattern
Canters circle theory because the [attenr of offending forms in a circle around the offender home base
in addition the distribution of offences leads us to describe an offender in two ways
marauder - operates in close proximity to their home base
commuter - likely to have travelled a distance away from their usual residence
strenght
evidence for investigative psychology
Canter and Heritage
conducted an analysis of 66 sexual assault cases
data was examined using smallest space analysis
several behaviour were identified as common in different samples of behaviour such as the use of impersonal language and lack of reaction to the victim
each indocual displayed a characteristic pattern of such behaviour and this can help establish whether tow or more offences were committed by the same perosn interpersonal ( case linkage)
supports one of the basic principles of investigative psychology and the bottom up approach that people are consistent in their behaviour
strength
evidnece for geographical profiling
Lundrigan and Canter
collated info from 120 murder cases involving serial killers in the us smallest space analysis revealed spaictal consistency in the vehaoru of the killers
location o each body disposal site created a centre of gravity presumabley because when offenders start from their home base they may go in a different direction each time they dispose of a body
but in the end all of these different sites creates a circular effect around the home base in addition
supports the view that geogepagucal info can be sued to identify an offender
limitation
geographical information insufficient
geographical profiling may not be sufficient on its own
as with investigative osychology the successs of geophgrpahicvla profiling may be reliant of thr quality of data that the police can provide
unfortunately recording fo crime is not always accurate and can vary between polic forces and an estimated 75% of crimes are not even reported tot he police in the first place
dark figure of crime
calls into question the intl it’s of an approach that relied on the accuracy of georgraphical data
even if this info is court critics claim that other factors are just as important in creating a profile such as the timing og the offence and the age
suggest that geogprhcial info alone may not always lead to the cucessfl capture fo an offender
