Top Down Approach

Question 1

What is the top down approach

Answer 1

An analysis of previous crimes creates a profile of a likely offender

Question 2

Stage 1 of the top down approach

Answer 2

Profiling inputs: the data collected at this stage includes a description of the crime scene, background information about the victim and the details of the crime itself

Question 3

Stage 2 of the top down approach

Answer 3

Decision process models: the profiler starts to make decisions about the data and organises it into meaningful patterns. Murder type, time factors and location factors are considered

Question 4

Stage 3 of the top down approach

Answer 4

Crime assessment: the crime is classified as organised or disorganised

Question 5

What is an organised offender?

Answer 5

Commits a planned crime and may engage in violent fantasies with the victim and is high in intelligence and socially competent

Question 6

What is a disorganised offender?

Answer 6

The crime scene is left with many clues such as fingerprints. The offender is of lower intelligence and competence

Question 7

Stage 4 of the top down approach

Answer 7

Crime profile: a profile is now constructed of the offender including their background, habits and beliefs

Question 8

Stage 5 of the top down approach

Answer 8

Crime assessment: a written report is given to the investigating agency and people matching the description are evaluated

Question 9

Stage 6 of the top down approach

Answer 9

Apprehension: if a suspect is aprehended, the entire profile-generating process is reviewed to check that at each stage the conclusions were legitimate

Question 10

The top down approach: evaluation

Answer 10

1. More than just two types of offender
2. Top down is less scientific than bottom up
3. Top down is limited

Question 11

Evaluation: more than two types of offender

Answer 11

The behaviours that describe each of the organised and disorganised types are not mutually exclusive; a variety of combinations could occur in any given murder scene.This has prompted other researchers to propose more detailed typological models. For example, Holmes (1989) suggests there are four types of serial killer: visionary, mission, hedonistic and power/control. If there are more than two types of criminals, then it ultimately makes the profiling system less accurate.

Question 12

Evaluation: how is the top up approach less scientific than the bottom up approach

Answer 12

The Top-down approach could be seen as a more intuitive approach to offender profiling, it often relies on the expertise of the profiler which is problematic as this raises issues of subjectivity. There is also a lack of background evidence to suggest why it works. Therefore this method of profiling could be criticised in terms of its credibility as it can be considered less scientific than the Bottom-up approach.

Question 13

Evaluation: how is the top down approach limited

Answer 13

This method of profiling can only really be used in crimes of murder and rape. More common offences such as burglary do not lend themselves to profiling because the resulting crime reveals very little about the offender. This restricts it’s applicability, unlike geographic profiling (part of the bottom-up approach) which looks at the pattern of crime rather than the crime type, making it more versatile. This means that it is a limited approach to identifying a criminal.