The top down approach

Question 1

What is offender profiling

Answer 1

A behavioural and analytical tool that is intended to help investigators accurately predict and profile the characteristics of unknown criminals

Question 2

What is the top down approach

Answer 2

Profilers start with a pre-established typology and work down in order to assign offenders to one of two categories based on witness accounts and evidence from the crime scene

Question 3

When and where was this theory orginated

Answer 3

American approach
FBI - 1970s Behavioural Science Unit
Data gathered in depth interviews with 36 sexually motivated killers
Organised into one of 2 categories: organised or disorganised

Question 4

Modus operandi - ways of working
What is organised crime

Answer 4

Planned
Deliberate target
Type - Ted Bundy
High degree of control and work with detached surgical precision
Little evidence
Above average intelligence
Socially and sexually competent

quite literally just a psychopath

Question 5

What is disorganised crime

Answer 5

Spontaneous
Spur of the moment
Impulsive
Lower IQ
Sexual dysfunction

basically a sociopath

Question 6

How do u construct an FBI profile

Answer 6

Data assimilation
Crime scene classification
Crime reconstruction
Profile generation

Question 7

What is a -ve evaluation regarding application to crime

Answer 7

Rape, arson and cult killings - important details
Limited approach to identifying a criminal (only on pre-existing information)
Also not everyone uses the same method to kill people

Question 8

What is another -ve evaluation regarding how old the approach is

Answer 8

Outdated models of personality
Typology classification system is based on assumption of patterns of behaviour and motivations that remain consistent
Alison et al 2002 approach is naive and informed by old-fashioned models of personality
Behaviour as being driven by dispositional traits
Poor validity and static

Question 9

What is another -ve evaluation regarding evidence

Answer 9

Evidence does not support the ‘disorganised offender’
Canter et al 2004 said the smallest space analysis technique
Analysed data from 100 murders in the USA
Examined with reference to 39 characteristics typical of O or D killers
No evidence for disorganised killers

Question 10

What is a -ve evaluation of the approach to do with classification

Answer 10

The classification is too simplistic
Not mutually exclusive; a variety of combinations could occur
Godwin 2002 - how wud police classify a highly intelligent and sexually competent killer who commits a spontaneous murder, where the body is left at the scene?
Holmes 1989 and Homles and Deburger 1998 - 4 types of serial killer: visionary, mission, hedonistic and power/control
Keppel and Walter 1999 motivations of killers

Question 11

What is another -ve evaluation of the approach regarding sample

Answer 11

Original sample
Original typology - 25 serial killers and 11 either single or double murderers
Too small and unrepresentative
Canter - not sensible to rely on on self-report data of convicted killers (Criticism of Holmes and the serial killer types)

Question 12

What is the bottom-up British approach
a better one 4 sure

Answer 12

When research and statistics of similar crimes are used to develop a profile of the criminal, based on previous convictions
Generate a picture of the offender
Characteristics, routine behaviours and social background
Data-driven approach

Question 13

What is investigative psychology

Answer 13

Applying statistical procedures and psychological theory to analyse crime scene evidence
Patterns of behaviour that occur or co-exist
Create a statistical data base with a baseline for comparison
Interpersonal coherence
Forensic awareness

Question 14

What is interpersonal coherence

Answer 14

The way the offender behaves at the scene, including how they interact with the victim, may reflect their behaviour in more everyday situations

Question 15

What is forensic awareness

Answer 15

Describes those individuals who have been subjects of police interrogation before
Their behaviour may denote how mindful they are of ‘covering their tracks’

Question 16

What is geographical profiling from the bottom-up approach

Answer 16

Rossmo 1997
Using info about the location of the crime scene to make inferences about the likely home or operational base of an offender - crime mapping
Used to create hypotheses about what the offender was thinking and their modus operandi

Question 17

What is modus operandi
MO

Answer 17

The core assumption of profiling is the existence of a MO
Serial offenders restrict their ‘work’ to geographical areas they are familiar with
Criminals often operate in a similar war and this reflects their personality
Provides investigations with a ‘centre of gravity’
Includes their base (often in the middle of the spatial pattern)
Jeopardy surface

Question 18

What is jeopardy surface

Answer 18

Educated guesses about where the offender is likely to strike next

Question 19

What is the circle theory
Canter and Larkin 1993

Answer 19

2 models of offenders behaviour
The marauder
neVeR tRuSt a PotTeR
The commuter

Question 20

The marauder

Answer 20

Who operates in close proximity to their home base

Question 21

The commuter

Answer 21

Who is likely to have travelled a distance away from their usual residence

Question 22

What are the key questions that you might ask yourself about a crime

Answer 22

What happened at the crime scene(s)?
Who would have committed that/those crimes?
What kind of personality would that person have had?
Occupation? Education?

Question 23

What is a +ve evaluation regarding evidence

Answer 23

Evidence supports investigative psychology
Canter and Heritage 1990 - conducted a content analysis of 66 sexual assault cases
Common in most cases: impersonal language and lack of reaction to victim (impersonal and sudden)
Supports the use of statistical techniques in profiling

Question 24

What is a +ve evaluation regarding geographical profiling

Answer 24

Evidence supports geographical profiling
Lundrigan and canter 2001 collated information from 120 murder cases involving serial killers in the USA
Smallest space analysis - location of each body disposal site was in a different direction from the previous, creating a ‘centre of gravity’
The offender’s base was invariably located in the centre of the pattern
More noticeable for marauders

Question 25

What is another +ve evaluation for the bottom down approach regarding scientific bases

Answer 25

Scientific bases to support bottom down approach
Canter: bottom down profiling is more objective and scientific than top down approach, as it is grounded in evidence and psychological theory
With the use of AI, investigators are able to manipulate geographical, biographical and psychological data quickly to produce insights
Smallest space analysis can be applied to different crimes such as theft )top down is generally murder)

Question 26

Evaluation research on offender profiling
For/against

Answer 26

Abumere 2012
Found more than 75% of the British police officers who were asked said the advice of the profiler had been useful to them in making predictions about the crime
For them, the advice improved their understanding of the offender
Other police officers also stated that is supported their ideas and feelings about the offender
Against - police from the Netherlands stated that they found the profiler’s advice as vague, that it was not financially viable, and that it needed follow up wort
They also ignored advice if they didn’g agree with it

Question 27

What are mixed results for profiling (against)

Answer 27

Some signficant failings (we will discuss) and studies examining the effectiveness have mixed results
Copson 1995 surveyed 48 police forces and found that the advice provided by the profiler was judged to be ‘useful’ in 83% of cases but in only 3% did it lead to accurate identification of the offender
Kocsis et al 2002 - argued there is little empirical research into the skills required for profiling - chemistry students