Offender Profiling: The Top-down Approach

Question 1

the top down appraoch aims to

Answer 1

narrow the field of enquiry and the list of likely suspects

Question 2

professional profilers are employed to

Answer 2

work alongside the police espeshally in high-profile murder cases

Question 3

the scene and evidence are analysed to generate

Answer 3

hypothesises about the proable characteristics of the offender

Question 4

what characteristics do they look for?

Answer 4

age
background
occupations

Question 5

who developed the top-down approach?

Answer 5

the FBI

Question 6

murderers or rapists are classified in

Answer 6

one or two categories

Question 7

what are the two categories

Answer 7

organised or disorganised

Question 8

the organised and disorganied distinction is based on

Answer 8

the idea that serious offenders have a certian signature - a way of working

Question 9

these ways of working generally correlate with a particular set of

Answer 9

social and psychological characteristics that relate to the individual

Question 10

organised offenders are charcterised by

Answer 10

Evidence of planning the crime.
High degree of control during the crime with little evidence left.
Above average IQ.
Usually married and may have children

Question 11

Evidence of planning the crime

Answer 11

the victim is deliberately targeted - the rapist/killer may have a type of victim

Question 12

Above average IQ

Answer 12

in a skilled/professional job

Question 13

Disorganised offenders are characterised by

Answer 13

Little evidece of planning.
The crime scene reflects the impulsive nature of the act.
Below average IQ.
A history of failed relationships.

Question 14

Little evidece of planning.

Answer 14

suggesting the offence may be spontaneous

Question 15

The crime scene reflects the impulsive nature of the act.

Answer 15

body still at the scene and the crime shows little control on the part of the offender

Question 16

Below average IQ.

Answer 16

may be in unskilled work or unemployed

Question 17

A history of failed relationships.

Answer 17

may be living alone, possible hisotry of sexual dysfunction

Question 18

there are four main stages in the construction of an FBI profile

Answer 18

Data assimilation
Crime scene classification
Crime reconstruction
Profile generation

Question 19

Data assimilation

Answer 19

review of evidence

Question 20

Crime scene classification

Answer 20

organised or disorganised

Question 21

Crime reconstruction

Answer 21

generation of hypothesises about the behavior and events

Question 22

Profile generation

Answer 22

generation of hypotheses about the offender

Question 23

top down profiling is best suited to crime scenes that

Answer 23

reveal important details about the suspect - rape, arson, murder and sadistic torture

Question 24

common offences, such as burglary and destruction of property

Answer 24

do not lead themselves to profiling because the crime reveals little about the offender

Question 25

the approach is overall

Answer 25

limited because it can’t profile from all crimes

Question 26

the typeology classification system is based on the assumption that offenders patterns of behavior and motivations are

Answer 26

consistant across situations and contexts

Question 27

Alison et al date

Answer 27

2002

Question 28

Alison et al argue this is based on

Answer 28

outdated personality models that see behavior as driven by dispositional traits rather thn by constantly changing external factors

Question 29

the top down approach has

Answer 29

poor validity when it comes to identifying possible suspects and/or predicting their next move

Question 30

Canter et al date

Answer 30

2004

Question 31

Canter et al used smallest space analysis of 100 murders in the US

Answer 31

each case was examined against 39 characteistics typical of organised and disorganised killers

Question 32

what did Canter et al find?

Answer 32

evidence of a distinct organised type which undermines the whole classification system

Question 33

despite Canter et al findings

Answer 33

the approach is still used by professional profilers in the US and has widespread support

Question 34

behaviors describing organised/disorganised offenders are

Answer 34

not mutually exclusive