offender profiling - the bottom up approach Flashcards
bottom up approach
aim is to generate a picture of the offender their likely characteristics routine behaviour and social background through analysis of evidence at crime scene
what is investigative psychology
-attempt to apply psychological procedures alongside psychological theory
what is the aim of investigative psychology?
to establish patterns of behaviour that are likely to occur across crime scenes
how does investigative psychology work?
develop a statistical database which acts as a basline comparison
specific details of an offence can then be matches against the database to reveal important details about the offender
this may determine if offences are linked and therefore committed by the same individual
central to the approach is interpersonal coherence
the way the offender acts at the scene including interaction with victim may reflect their behaviour in everyday situations
geographical profiling ROSSMO 1997
uses information to do with the location of crimes to make inferences about the base of offender (crime mapping)
what are the 2 types of offender behaviour that canter proposed
the maurderer
the commuter
what is the maurderer?
operates in close proximity to their own home
what is the commuter?
likely to have travelled a distance
what is the reason for canters circle theory?
pattern of offending is likely to create a circle around their usual residence
evidence for investigative psychology - canter and heritage study
conducted a content analysis of 66 sexual assault cases.
data was analysed using small space analysis
several characteristics were identified as common - impersonal language and lack of reaction
- this may lead to an understanding of how an offenders behaviour may change over a series of offences
evidence to support geographical profiling - lundringham and canter
collated info from 120 murder cases involving serial killers in usa
ssa revealed spatial consistency in behaviour of killers
location of each body disposal site was different from previous which created a centre of gravity with offenders home being in middle
supports canters claim
scientific basis
more grounded in evidence and psychological theory
wider application
SSA and spatial consistency can be used in less serious offences such as burglary unlike american model
mixed results for profiling - copson 1995
surveyed 48 police forces and found that advice provided by profiler was 87% effective but in 3% of cases lead to inaccurate identification
