Offender Profiling: Top-down Flashcards
Assumption of crime scenes
Behaviour at crime scene reflects something about them as a person. ‘psychological finger print’
Type of crime
Profiling not applicable to all crimes. Useful crimes of violence and sexual deviance.
USA
FBI
Top-down
UK
David Canter
Bottom-up
Top-down
Based on interview with known sexual murderers in prison. Derived typology of murderers after building up database… organised into organised and disorganised.
Eg. organised crime scene = weapon removed and body hidden
organised murderer = living with partner, sexually potent, skilled occupation.
Organised plan and target victim.
Disorganised act impulsively and their crimes are unplanned.
Category of offender and tried to identify more individual characteristics.
Broad sweeping assumptions about criminal type.
Common, general characteristics between criminals.
Motivational approach.
Look for details in crime scene which will support their hypothesis.
Rossmo
Serial killers:
Find… Hunter (close to home), poachers (far away from home)
Attack… Raptors (on meeting), stalkers (follow then attack)
CATEGORIES BASED ON CRIME SCENE, identify the sort of person who may be guilty.
Bottom-up
- Evidence looked at in relation to a single offender, specific to him or her.
- Great deal of emphasis on statistical evidence and scientific deductive process - investigative psychology.
- Assumes that the elements of the crime scene reflect on the everyday character of the criminal. Interpersonal coherence.
- Typological approach
- works from small space analysis.
- Makes no assumptions apart from their will be similarities between the individuals crimes. Does not mean the next rapist will do the same.
Both
= Both aim to create a proile of a type of individual.
= Rely heavily on statistics when they draw up profile, and rely on national databases of crimes to which police officers contribute a huge amount of data.
Canter criticises top-down as
based on interviews with a few American serial killers who are known to be manipulative.
Assumption offenders have a consistent pattern of motivation = flawed.
Most profilers in the US are FBI agents and not psychologists.
EV
= Only applicable to certain crimes, particularly those which stem from psychopathy.
= Often crimes involved are notorious and demand a quick response from the police, leading to over-emphasis on profiling evidence.
= Crimes - thankfully rare, however limits amount of data. Hence very little empirical (real world) evidence as to its effectiveness.
= Has both successes (Duffy) and failures (Nickell)
Douglas reviewed 192 cases for the FBI. Proofing identified the suspect in 15/192, but helped to focus investigation in 77% cases.
Typological approach
Involves looking at the characteristics of crime scenes to assign offenders to different categories, each category of offender having different typical characteristics.
EV General
Is this the most effective way of profiling offenders?
Does psychological profiling have anything useful to offer at all?
Art or science? Extent to which scientific approach to offender profiling is possible.
Bottom up effectiveness
It is more effective the more crime scenes you have to compare with one another for one individual.
Crime scene is a reflection of the individuals interaction with the world, and therefore the individual themselves. It reveals their social interaction.
Usefulness of profiling
- identify suspects for questioning
- suggest interrogation techniques
- predict future victims and escalation
- suggest techniques for rehabilitation
FBI compile homicide profiles sound 4 key topics
1: Antecedent - plan trigger
2: Method and manner - type of victim and method
3: Body disposal
4: Post offence behaviour eg. media contact
