Offender Profiling: The Top-down Approach Flashcards
What is offender profiling?
A behavioural & analytical tool used by the police to identify the characteristics of a criminal and narrow down the list of possible suspects
What is the Top-down approach to offender profiling?
It starts with pre-defined criminal profiles and works out which of these profiles the criminal fits into. The general profiles come first and the specific details come after
Who described the sequence of the FBI’s top-down approach to offender profiling?
Douglas et al. (1986)
What are the 4 parts of the FBI’S top-down approach to offender profiling?
- Assimilation
- Classification
- Reconstruction
- Profile generation
What is the first stage of the top-down approach, and what happens?
Assimilation - data form the crime scene is gathered and examined
What is the second stage of the top-down approach, and what happens?
Classification - The data is classified into one of two offender profiles.
What are the 2 offender profiles used in the top-down approach?
Organised and Disorganised
What are the characteristics of an organised offender?
- Above-average intelligence
- crime is planned
- clears evidence from the crime scene
- skilled (has an advanced job)
- socially and sexually competent
What are the characteristics of a disorganised offender?
- Below-average intelligence
- crime is unplanned and impulsive
- Evidence left behind
- Unskilled (low-skilled job or unemployed)
- socially and sexually incompetent
What is the third stage of the top-down approach, and what happens?
Reconstruction - Identifying the timeline of the crime - including both the criminal’s and victim’s behaviour
What is the fourth stage of the top-down approach, and what happens?
Profile generation - Involves filling in specific details about the criminal (e.g. physical and psychological characteristics) beyond those described in the organised/disorganised profiles. This narrows down the range of suspects.
What is a limitation of the top-down approach? (Generalisability)
Can only be used for particular crimes (rape, arson, and sadistic crimes) - approach is limited and lacks generalisability
What is a limitation of the top-down approach? (Simplistic -> accuracy)
Binary of organised/disorganised offender may be too simplistic - likely that many offenders won’t fit neatly into either category - sticking too rigidly to them could lead to inaccurate profiling
What is a limitation of the top down approach? (Conflicting evidence)
Pinizzotto & Finkel (1990) - compared accuracy of profiles created by 6 FBI profilers and a control group - both groups created profiles of similar accuracy
What is a strength of the top-down approach? (Based on evidence)
Profile categories and characteristics were developed by the FBI from interviews and data from 36 US murderers
