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Psychology - IN FOCUS Forensic > Offender profiling: The top-down approach > Flashcards

Offender profiling: The top-down approach Flashcards

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1
Q

Offender profiling is a(n) _____________ tool employed by the police when…

A

investigative, solving crimes

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2
Q

What is the main aim of offender profiling?

A

To narrow the list of likely suspects

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3
Q

Who will professional profilers often be called to work alongside?

A

The police

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4
Q

Professional profilers will often be called upon to work alongside the police, especially when?

A

During high-profile murder cases

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5
Q

True/False: Offender profiling methods are consistent

A

False, they vary

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6
Q

Compiling a profile will usually involve careful ________ of the crime scene

A

scrutiny

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7
Q

True/False: Offender profiling only involves careful scrutiny of the crime scene

A

False, usually involves analysis of other evidence including witness reports

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8
Q

True/False: Witness reports are often analysed

as a part of offender profiling

A

True

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9
Q

Offender profiling usually involves analysis of evidence in order to generate what?

A

Hypotheses about the probable characteristics of the offender

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10
Q

Give 2 examples of probable characteristics of an offender that offender profiling aims to generate

A

Any 2 from age, background and occupation

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11
Q

How many stages are there in the construction of an FBI profile?

A

4

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12
Q

What is the first stage of the construction of an FBI profile called?

A

Data assimilation

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13
Q

What happens during the data assimilation stage of the construction of an FBI profile?

A

The profiler reviews the evidence

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14
Q

Give 2 examples of pieces of evidence that the profiler will review during the data assimilation stage of FBI profile construnction

A

Any 2 from crime scene photographs, pathology reports and witness reports

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15
Q

What is the second stage of the construction of an FBI profile called?

A

Crime scene classification

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16
Q

What happens during the crime scene classification stage of the construction of an FBI profile?

A

The crime scene is classified as either organised or disorganised

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17
Q

What is the third stage of the construction of an FBI profile called?

A

Crime reconstruction

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18
Q

What happens during the crime reconstruction stage of the construction of an FBI profile?

A

Hypotheses in terms of the sequence of events, behaviour o the victim, etc. are created

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19
Q

What is the fourth stage of the construction of an FBI profile called?

A

Profile generation

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20
Q

What happens during the profile generation stage of the construction of an FBI profile?

A

Hypotheses are related to the likely offender, e.g. of demographic background, physical characteristics, behaviour, etc.

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21
Q

Give 2 examples of hypotheses that are likely to be related to the likely offender during the profile generation stage of the construction of an FBI profile?

A

Any 2 from demographic background, physical characteristics, behaviour, etc.

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22
Q

Where did the top-down approach originate?

A

In the US

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23
Q

How did the top-down approach to offender profiling come about?

A

As a result of work carried out by the FBI

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24
Q

What did the FBI’s Behavioural Science Unit draw upon when creating the top-down approach?

A

Data gathered from in-depth interviews with 36 sexually-motivated murderers, including Ted Bundy and Charles Manson

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25
Q

The top-down approach says that data can be categorised into how many types of offender?

A

2

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26
Q

The top-down approach categorises offenders through a list of what, that could then be used to do what?

A

Certain characteristics that would be likely. This could then be used to find the offender

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27
Q

The top-down approach is based on the idea that serious offenders have signature…

A

ways of working

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28
Q

The top-down approach is based on the idea that serious offenders have certain signature ‘ways of working’ that generally correlate with what?

A

A set of social and psychological characteristics which relate to the individual

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29
Q

Show evidence of having planned the crime in advance. Does this characterise organised or disorganised offenders?

A

Organised

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30
Q

The victim is deliberately targeted. Does this characterise organised or disorganised offenders?

A

Organised

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31
Q

The killer or rapist has a ‘type’ of victim they seek out. Does this characterise organised or disorganised offenders?

A

Organised

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32
Q

Offender maintains a high degree of control during the crime. Does this characterise organised or disorganised offenders?

A

Organised

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33
Q

May operate with almost detached surgical precision. Does this characterise organised or disorganised offenders?

A

Organised

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34
Q

There is little evidence or clues left behind at the scene. Does this characterise organised or disorganised offenders?

A

Organised

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35
Q

Tend to be of above-average intelligence. Does this characterise organised or disorganised offenders?

A

Organised

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36
Q

Tend to be in a skilled, professional occupation. Does this characterise organised or disorganised offenders?

A

Organised

37
Q

Tend to be socially and sexually competent. Does this characterise organised or disorganised offenders?

A

Organised

38
Q

Usually married and may even have children. Does this characterise organised or disorganised offenders?

A

Organised

39
Q

Organised offenders show evidence of having _______ the crime in advance

A

planned

40
Q

The fact that the victim is deliberately targeted by organised offenders suggests what about the killer/rapist?

A

They have a ‘type’ of victim they seek out

41
Q

True/False: There is support for a distinct organised category of offender

A

True

42
Q

Who provides support for a distinct organised category of offender?

A

Canter

43
Q

Canter conducted an analysis of ___ US murders

A

100

44
Q

Canter conducted an analysis of 100 US murders, each committed by…

A

a different serial killer

45
Q

What type of analysis did Canter use in his analysis of 100 US murders?

A

Smallest space analysis

46
Q

Smallest space analysis

A

A statistical technique that identifies correlations across different samples of behaviour

47
Q

In the case of Canter’s analysis of 100 US murders, what was smallest space analysis used to do?

A

Assess the co-occurrence of 39 aspects of serial killings

48
Q

Give 2 examples of aspects of serial killings that Canter used smallest space analysis in order to assess?

A

Any 2 from whether there was torture or restraint, whether there was an attempt to conceal the body, the form of murder weapon used and the cause of death

49
Q

What did Canter’s smallest space analysis of 100 US murders committed by different serial killers reveal?

A

There does seem to be a subset of features of many serial killings

50
Q

How does Canter’s research support the top-down approach?

A

He gave evidence to support a distinct organised category of offender - his analysis revealed that there does seem to be a subset of features of many serial killings, matching the FBI’s typology for organised offenders

51
Q

Show little evidence of planning. Does this characterise organised or disorganised offenders?

A

Disorganised

52
Q

Spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment acts. Does this characterise organised or disorganised offenders?

A

Disorganised

53
Q

The crime scene tends to reflect the impulsive nature of the attack. Does this characterise organised or disorganised offenders?

A

Disorganised

54
Q

The body is still usually at the scene. Does this characterise organised or disorganised offenders?

A

Disorganised

55
Q

There appears to have been very little control on the part of the offender. Does this characterise organised or disorganised offenders?

A

Disorganised

56
Q

Tend to have a lower-than-average IQ. Does this characterise organised or disorganised offenders?

A

Disorganised

57
Q

Unskilled in work or unemployed. Does this characterise organised or disorganised offenders?

A

Disorganised

58
Q

History of sexual dysfunction and failed relationships. Does this characterise organised or disorganised offenders?

A

Disorganised

59
Q

Tend to live alone and often relatively close to where the offence took place. Does this characterise organised or disorganised offenders?

A

Disorganised

60
Q

True/False: Many studies suggest that the organised and disorganised types are mutually exclusive

A

True

61
Q

What did Godwin (2002) argue about the organised and disorganised types of offender being mutually exclusive?

A

In reality, it is difficult to classify killers as one or the other type

62
Q

True/False: A killer may have multiple contrasting characteristics

A

True

63
Q

High intelligence and sexual competence are examples of two ___________ offender characteristics

A

contrasting

64
Q

What did Godwin suggest about the organised and disorganised types of offender?

A

It is probably more of a continuum

65
Q

True/False: The top-down approach can be adapted to other kinds of crime

A

True

66
Q

True/False: Critics have claimed that the top-down approach can only be applied to a limited number of crimes

A

True

67
Q

What does Meketa (2017) report about the top-down approach’s application?

A

It has recently been applied to burglary

68
Q

What has the application of the top-down approach to burglary lead to?

A

An 85% rise in solved cases in three US states

69
Q

When applying the top-down approach to burglary, what does the detection method retain?

A

The organised-disorganised distinction

70
Q

What are the names of the two new categories that are added when applying the top-down approach to burglary?

A

Interpersonal and opportunistic

71
Q

What is meant by the interpersonal type of offender?

A

Offender usually knows their victim and steals something of significance

72
Q

What is meant by the opportunistic type of offender?

A

Generally inexperienced young offender

73
Q

The fact that the top-down approach has recently been applied to burglary suggests…

A

that top-down profiling has wider application than was originally assumed

74
Q

FBI profiling was developed using interviews with how many murderers in the US?

A

36

75
Q

Of the 36 murderers in the US that the FBI interviewed to develop profiling, how many were classed as organised offenders?

A

24

76
Q

Of the 36 murderers in the US that the FBI interviewed to develop profiling, how many were classed as disorganised offenders?

A

12

77
Q

Of the 36 murderers in the US that the FBI interviewed to develop profiling, how many were serial killers?

A

25

78
Q

Of the 36 murderers in the US that the FBI interviewed to develop profiling, how many were single or double murderers?

A

11

79
Q

What did Canter argue about FBI profiling being developed using interviews with 36 murderers in the US?

A

Argued the sample was poor - the FBI agents didn’t select a random or large sample and didn’t include different kinds of offender

80
Q

True/False: When developing profiling, the FBI selected a large, random sample of murderers to interview

A

False, the sample was small and not random

81
Q

True/False: When developing profiling, the FBI didn’t include different kinds of offender

A

True

82
Q

True/False: When developing profiling, the FBI used a standard set of questions

A

False, each interview was different

83
Q

What’s the problem with the FBI not using a standard set of questions when interviewing murderers and developing profiling?

A

They are not really comparable - suggests that top-down profiling doesn’t have a sound, scientific basis

84
Q

The top-down approach is based on the principle of b__________ c__________

A

behavioural consistency

85
Q

Serial offenders have characteristic ways of working. What are these called?

A

Their modus operandi

86
Q

Serial offenders have characteristic ways of working that should be seen across all their crime scenes. It should therefore be possible for profilers to do what?

A

Link different crime scenes together, making the offender easier to catch

87
Q

Mischel (1968) argues that people’s behaviour is much more driven by what than what?

A

The situation they are in than by a thing called ‘personality

88
Q

Mischel’s suggestion that people’s behaviour is much more driven by the situation they are in than personality means that behavioural patterns seen at a crime scene may tell us what about how that individual behaves in everyday life?

A

Little

Psychology - IN FOCUS Forensic (7 decks)

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