OFFENDER PROFILING : TOP DOWN APPROACH Flashcards
what is offender profiling
behavioural and analytical tool
intended to help investiators accuratley predict
and profile the characttersitics of unkown offenders
what is the main aim of offender profiling
narrow list of the likley suspects
who are called upin to work beside the police especially during high profile murder cases
professional profilers
methods vary but what does the compiling of a profile usually involve
careful scrutiny of the crime scene
and
analysis of other evidence (including witness reports)
to generaet hypotheses about probable characteristics - such as age, occupation , background
the top down approach orginally generated from
united states
top down approach og generated from us as a result of …
work carried out by the FBI in 1970s
be more specific about the FBI unit
fbis behavioural science unit
what did fbi draw data from
in depth interviews with 36 sexually motivated murders including ted bundy and charles manson
what was concluded about data drawn from interviews
could beb categorised into organised/disorganised crimes/murders
each category had certain
charctersitics
eahc category had certain characteristics whihc meant …
that if , in a future situation , data from crime scene matched some of charcteristics of one category we could predict other charctersitics that woudl be likely
whihc can then be used to find the offender
offender profilers who use the top down method will do what
collectd data about murder - e.g charcteristics of murder
then decide on category the data best fits
what are the two types of offenders
organised
disorganised
what idea is the organised/disorganised distinciton based on
2 marks
idea that serious offenders have a certain signature way of working
and
these generally correlate with a particular set of social and psychological characteristics that realte to the individual
state the characteristics of an organised offender
8
- show evidence of having planned crime in advance
- victim is delibaretly targetted suggesting the y have a type of victim they seek out
- offender maintains a high degree of control during crime and may operate almost with detached surgical precision
- little evidence/clues left behind the scene
- tend ot be of above avg intelligence
- in a skilled, proffesional occupation
- socially and sexually competent
- usually married and may even have children
state 7 characteristics of disorganised offender
- show little evidence of planning
-suggesting their offences may be spontaneous, spur of the moment acts - lower than avg iq
- be in unskilled work /umeployed
- history of sexual dysfunctino and failed relationships
- tend to live alone
- and often live relativley close to where the offence took place
- crime scene tends to reflect the impulsive naue of the attack as body is usually still at scne
- there appears to have been very little control on the part of the offender
what are the 4 main stages in construction of an fbi profile
data assimilation
crime scene classification
crime reconstruction
profile generation
what iss data assimilation
where profiler reviews the evidence such as crime scene photographs and witness reports
what is crime scene classification
classifying crime as either disorganised r organised
what is crime reconstruction
hypotheses in terms of sequences of events, behaviour of the victim etc
What is profile generation
hypotheses related to the likely offender such as demographic background
strenght = research support for distinct organised category of offender
a x of the top down appriach is x x for a x x category of offender
x et al conducted an x of x US murders each comitted by a x serial killer
a technique called x x analysis was used
the analysis was used to x the x of x aspects of x killing
this included things such as whether ther was x or x
whether attempt ot x the body
this analysis x theer does tend to be a x of features of many serial killing which x the FBIs x for orgnaised offenders
this suggest a x x of the FBIs typology x has some x
a strenght of the top down appriach is research support for a distinct organised category of offender
canter et al conducted an analysis of 100 US murders each comitted by a different serial killer
a technique called smallest space analysis was used
the analysis was used to asses the co occurence of 39 aspects of serial killing
this included things such as whether ther was torure or restraint
whether attempt ot concela the body
this analysis revelaed theer does tend to be a subset of features of many serial killing which matched the FBIs typology for orgnaised offenders
this suggest a key componetn of the FBIs typology approach has some validity
strength of top down approach - wider application
another strenght of top down profiling is that it can be x to other types of x such as x
x of top down x have claimed the technique only applies to a x number of x such as x x x
however x reports top down profiling has recently been applied ot x leading to an x% rise in solved x cases in x US states
the x method x the x x distinction but adds x new x : x and x
this x that the top down approach has wider x than x assumed
another strenght of top down profiling is that it can be adpated to other types of crime such as burgularly
critics of top down profiling have claimed the technique only applies to a limited number of crimes such as sexually motivated murder
however meketa reports top down profiling has recently been applied ot burglary leading to an 85% rise in solved murder cases in 3 US states
the detection method retains the organised disorganised distinction but adds two new categories : interpersonal and opportunistic
this suggest that the top down approach has wider applciaiton than orginally assumed
limitation flawed evidence -
limitation is the x on which it is based
fbi x was developed using x with x murderers in the US
x were serial killers 11 x or x murderers
at the end of process x of these individuals classified as organised
x were disorgansied
canter argued the x was poor - the fbi agents didnt select a x or x sample nor did the sample include x types of offender
there was no x set of x
so each interview was x and therfore not x comparable
this suggests top down profiling doesnt have a sound x basis
limitation is the evidence on which it is based
fbi profiling was develoepd using interviews with 36 murderers in the US
25 were serial killers 11 single or double murderers
at the end of process 24 of these individuals classified as organised
12 were disorgansied
canter argued the sampel was poor - the fbi agents didnt select a random or large sample nor did the sample include differnt types of offender
there was no standard set of questinos so each interview was different and therfore not relaly comparable
this suggests top down profiling doesnt have a sound scientific basis
key term offender profiling
behavioural and analytical tool that intended to help investigators accuratley predict and profile the characteristics of unknown offenders
what is the top down approach
where profilers start with a pre established typology and work down to lower levels in order to assign offenders to one of two categories based on witness accoutns and evidence from the crime scene
what is an orgnaised offender
one who shows evidence of planning, targets a specific victim and tends to be socially and sexually competent with higher than avg intelligence
disorganised offender
one who shows little evidence of planning , leaves clues and tends to be socially and sexually incompetent with lower than avg intellignece
