Offending Profiling: The Bottom-Up Approach Flashcards
Which country came up with the bottom-up approach?
The UK
Who came up with the bottom-up approach?
Canter (1990)
What does the bottom-up approach look for?
Consistencies in offenders’ behaviour during crime
What is the bottom-up approach driven by?
Data
What is the aim of the bottom-up approach?
To generate a picture of the offenders characteristics, routines and backgrounds through analysis of the evidence
What are two important features of the bottom-up approach?
- Investigate psychology
- Geographical profiling
What is statistical analysis of crime-scene evidence?
-Statistical procedures detect pattern of behaviours which can be used to produce a statistical database which can act as comparison tool
What is interpersonal coherence?
The way an offender behaves at the scene may reflect everyday situational behaviours
What is investigative psychology?
Statistical analysis of crime scene using computer programmes (Smallest space analysis)
What is geographical profiling?
The spatial consistency of an offender
What are the two different types of spatial consistencies of offenders behaviours?
- Marauder
- Commuter
What is meant by marauder?
Operates close to their home
What is meant by commuter?
Likely to travel a distance away from their usual residence
What is crime mapping?
Locations of crime scenes are used to infer the likely home or operation base of an offender
What is the smallest space analysis?
Use of computer data bases and Venn diagrams to look for similarities and differences
Who came up with the different types of offenders geographical behaviours (marauder or commuter)?
Canter and Larkin (1993)
What is likely to form from an offenders pattern of location?
A circle around offenders usual residence
What can useful about the offenders spatial decision-making?
The nature of the offence
Who supports the investigated psychology?
Canter and Heritage (1990)
What did Canter and Heritage (1990) do?
Content analysis of 66 sexual assault cases using smallest space analysis
What did Canter and Heritage (1990) find?
Commonly identified characteristics in most cases
What can Canter and Heritage’s research contribute to?
Understanding of the change of offenders behaviour over a series of offences
Which researchers supported the geographical profiling?
Lundrigan and Canter (2001)
What did Lundrigan and Canter (2001) do?
- Information from 120 murder cases (involving serial killers from US)
- Smallest space analysis
What dud Lundrigan and Canter (2001) find?
Spatial consitency
-More noticeable for marauders
Does the bottom-up approach have a scientific basis?
Yes
Why is the bottom-up approach more scientific than the top-down approach?
- More objective
- Less speculations
Why does the bottom-up approach have a wider application?
The approach can be applied to a wider range of offences
Has there been any mixed results of profiling using the bottom-up approach?
Yes
How found mixed results?
Copson (1995)
What did Copson (1995) find?
- Top-down approach useful
- But only found a 3% accuracy of identification of offender
