Offender Profiling: Top Down Approach

Question 1

Describe what offender profiling is

Answer 1

Behavioural and analytical tool intended to help investigators accurately predict and profile characteristics of offenders.

Question 2

Briefly describe the top down approach (USA)

Answer 2

Profilers start with pre established typology and work down to lower levels in order to assign offenders to one or two categories

Question 3

What is an organised offender?

Answer 3

Evidence of pre planning, targets specific victims. Usually have high IQ/ intelligence. Socially and sexually incompetent.

Question 4

What is a disorganised offender?

Answer 4

Little evidence of planning, usually leaves clues to the crime. Low IQ/ intelligence. Sexually and socially incompetent.

Question 5

List the four FBI processes when constructing a profile.

Answer 5

Data assimilation
Crime scene classification
Crime reconstruction
Profile generation

Question 6

What happens in data assimilation?

Answer 6

Reviewing evidence

Question 7

What happens in crime scene analysis?

Answer 7

Is the offender organised or disorganised

Question 8

What happens in crime reconstruction?

Answer 8

Hypothesis in terms of sequence of events

Question 9

What happens in profile generation?

Answer 9

Hypothesis related to likely offender eg. Physical characteristics etc.

Question 10

Identify and describe the research support for the top down approach (AO3)

Answer 10

Canter et al:
100 US murders each committed by a different serial killer using smallest space analysis (correlations)
Co-occurrence of 39 aspects of serial killings.
Revealed there is a subset of features of serial killings (support key ideas of the FBI)

Question 11

Explain the counterpoint for the research support (AO3)

Answer 11

Other studies suggest organised and disorganised are not mutually exclusive, as a variety of combinations at a crime scene.

Godwin: difficult to classify killers as one or another as killers may have multiple different characteristics eg. High IQ but commits a spontaneous murder

Suggests organised/ disorganised is on a continuum

Question 12

Is there a wider application that originally believed for the top down approach? (AO3)

Answer 12

Meketa et al:
When applied to robbers/ bulgary 85% rise in solved cases in 3 US states. Used organised and disorganised categories. Additionally interpersonal (knows which victim) and opportunistic (usually inexperienced)