OFFENDER PROFILING : TOP DOWN APPROACH

Question 1

what is offender profiling

Answer 1

behavioural and analytical tool

intended to help investiators accuratley predict

and profile the characttersitics of unkown offenders

Question 2

what is the main aim of offender profiling

Answer 2

narrow list of the likley suspects

Question 3

who are called upin to work beside the police especially during high profile murder cases

Answer 3

professional profilers

Question 4

methods vary but what does the compiling of a profile usually involve

Answer 4

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

Question 5

the top down approach orginally generated from

Answer 5

united states

Question 6

top down approach og generated from us as a result of …

Answer 6

work carried out by the FBI in 1970s

Question 7

be more specific about the FBI unit

Answer 7

fbis behavioural science unit

Question 8

what did fbi draw data from

Answer 8

in depth interviews with 36 sexually motivated murders including ted bundy and charles manson

Question 9

what was concluded about data drawn from interviews

Answer 9

could beb categorised into organised/disorganised crimes/murders

Question 10

each category had certain

Answer 10

charctersitics

Question 11

eahc category had certain characteristics whihc meant …

Answer 11

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

Question 12

offender profilers who use the top down method will do what

Answer 12

collectd data about murder - e.g charcteristics of murder

then decide on category the data best fits

Question 13

what are the two types of offenders

Answer 13

organised

disorganised

Question 14

what idea is the organised/disorganised distinciton based on

2 marks

Answer 14

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

Question 15

state the characteristics of an organised offender

8

Answer 15

• 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

Question 16

state 7 characteristics of disorganised offender

Answer 16

• 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

Question 17

what are the 4 main stages in construction of an fbi profile

Answer 17

data assimilation

crime scene classification

crime reconstruction

profile generation

Question 18

what iss data assimilation

Answer 18

where profiler reviews the evidence such as crime scene photographs and witness reports

Question 19

what is crime scene classification

Answer 19

classifying crime as either disorganised r organised

Question 20

what is crime reconstruction

Answer 20

hypotheses in terms of sequences of events, behaviour of the victim etc

Question 21

What is profile generation

Answer 21

hypotheses related to the likely offender such as demographic background

Question 22

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

Answer 22

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

Question 23

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

Answer 23

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

Question 24

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

Answer 24

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

Question 25

key term offender profiling

Answer 25

behavioural and analytical tool that intended to help investigators accuratley predict and profile the characteristics of unknown offenders

Question 26

what is the top down approach

Answer 26

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

Question 27

what is an orgnaised offender

Answer 27

one who shows evidence of planning, targets a specific victim and tends to be socially and sexually competent with higher than avg intelligence

Question 28

disorganised offender

Answer 28

one who shows little evidence of planning , leaves clues and tends to be socially and sexually incompetent with lower than avg intellignece