offender profiling: the top down approach Flashcards
what is offender profiling?
a behavioural and analytical tool intended to help investigators accurately predict and profile the characteristics of unknown offenders
what is the main aim of offender profiling?
to narrow the list of likely suspects
methods of offender profiling
- careful scrutiny of the crime scene
- analysis of other evidence eg. witness reports
- generate hypotheses about probable characteristics of offender (eg. age, background, occupation)
where and when was the top-down approach developed?
- FBI behavioural science unit in USA
- 1970s
how was the top-down approach developed?
in-depth interviews with 36 sexually-motivated murderers including ted bundy and charles manson
what were the conclusions from the interviews with the FBI?
- concluded that the data could be categorised into organised or disorganised crimes / murders
- each category has certain characteristics of one category
- if data from a crime scene matched some of the characteristics of one category, we can predict other characteristics that would be likely
- this could be used to find the offender
what are the 2 types of offender?
- organised
- disorganised
what idea is the organised disorganised distinction based on?
- principle of behavioural consistency
- serious offenders have a modus operandi
- these generally correlate with a particular set of social and psychological characteristics that relate to the individual
characteristic: crime scene
- O: planned, methodical, and controlled
- D: chaotic, impulsive, often unplanned
characteristic: evidence
- O: minimal evidence left, covers tracks
- D: leaves evidence, may act on impulse
characteristic: victim selection
- O: targeted, usually with a specific type in mind
- D: opportunistic, often random
characteristic: crime location
- O: often isolated, selected to avoid detection
- D: close to offender’s home or familiar locations
characteristic: personality traits
- O: confident, socially adept, in control
- D: socially awkward, loner, emotionally unstable
characteristic: intelligence level
- O: generally above average
- D: often below average or average
characteristic: employment
- O: usually stable job, organised lifestyle
- D: unstable employment or unemployed
characteristic: appearance
- O: neat and well-groomed
- D: often unkempt or neglected appearance
characteristic: relationship history
- O: able to maintain relationships, though may be controllin
- D: few or dysfunctional relationships
characteristic: response to police
- O: may follow investigation closely / insert themselves into it
- D: avoid police, lacks understanding of investigative techniques
characteristic: transport
- O: often has access to transport, travels to crime scene
- D: likely lacks transport, commits crimes locally
characteristic: use of restraints
- O: more likely to bring and use restraints or weapons
- D: uses items found at the secne, if any
characteristic: post-crime
- O: may take souvenirs, shows interest in media coverage
- D: shows signs of anxiety, may confess or make mistakes
what are the 4 main stages in the construction of an FBI profile?
- data assimilation
- crime scene classification
- crime reconstruction
- profile generation
what happens in stage 1 of constructing an FBI profile?
profiler reviews evidence:
- crime scene photographs
- pathology reports
- witness reports
what happens in stage 2 of constructing an FBI profile?
offender is classified as either organised or disorganised
what happens in stage 3 of constructing an FBI profile?
generate hypothese in terms of sequence of events, behaviour of victim etc.
what happens in stage 4 of constructing an FBI profile?
hypothese related to likely offender
- demographic background
- physical characteristics
- behaviour
evaluation: research support
- canter et al. (2004) analysed 100 US murders, each committed by a different serial killer usig a technique called smallest space analysis
- analysed was used to assess co-occurance of 39 aspects of serial killings eg. whether there was torture or restraint
- analysis revealed that there does seem to be a subset of features of many serial killings which matched the FBI’s typology for organised offenders
- key component of FBI typology approach has some validity
what is smallest space analysis?
statistical technique that identifies correlations across different samples of behaviour
evaluation: organised and disorganised types are not mutually exclusive
- variety of combinations occur at any given murder scene
- godwin (2002) argues that, in reality, it is difficult to classify killers as one or the other type
- a killer may have multiple contrasting characteristics eg. high intelligence and sexual competence but unemployed and commits crime locally
- therefore, organised-disorganised typology is probably more of a continuum
evaluation: top-down profiling can be adapted to other kinds of crime eg. burglary
- critics have claimed that the technique only applies to a limited number of crimes, such as sexually-motivated murder
- meketa (2017) reports that top-down profiling has recently been applied to burglary, leading to an 85% rise in solved cases in three US states
- detection method retains organised-disorganised distinction but also adds 2 new categories
- top-down profiling has a wider application than was originally assumed
what are the 2 new categories that were added after top-down profiling was adapted to burglary?
- interpersonal: offender usually knows their victim and steals something of significance
- opportunistic: generally inexperienced young offender
evaluation: based on flawed evidence
- FBI profiling was developed using interviews with 36 murderers in the US
- 25 serial killers, 11 single or double murderers
- at the end, 24 of these individuals were classified as organised, 12 disorganised
- canter et al. argued the sample was poor
- FBI agents did not select a random or large sample and sample didn’t include different kinds of offender
- no standard set of questions so each intrview was different so incomparable
- therefore, top-down profiling does not have a sound, scientific bases
evaluation: personality
- mischel (1986), a situational psychologist, argued that people’s behaviour is more driven by the situation they are in than personality
- behavioural patterns seen at a crime scene may tell us little about how that individual behaves in everyday life
