Top-down Approach

Question 1

How was behavioural science unit of FBI formed and when

Answer 1

In 1974 with focus to investigate homicide and serial rape cases
-gathered data from in depth interviews with 36 sexually motivated serial killers eg ted bundy and used them to create typologies of either organised/disorganised offender

Question 2

What is the typology approach

Answer 2

Templates of disorganised and organised offender are pre-existing in the mind of the profiler
-evidence from the crime scene and details of the crime/victim are used to fit into either of the pre existing categories and determining the offender as one type or the other

Question 3

Characteristics of organised criminal

Answer 3

Pre-planned, victim reflects a type, high level of control, detached, little evidence left behind, above average IQ, skilled profession, sexually competent, married

Question 4

Characteristics of disorganised criminal

Answer 4

Little evidence of planning, spontaneous act, impulsive nature of crime scene, lower than average IQ, unskilled work/unemployed, prev failed relationships, live alone and locally to attacks

Question 5

How FBI profile is constructed and how to remember this

Answer 5

Don’t commit crimes please
1.data assimilation:FBI review the evidence from the crime scene
2.crime scene classification: disorganised/organised
3.crime reconstruction: hypothesis created relating to the sequence of events and behaviour of victim
4. Profile generation: hypothesis related to the likely offender (demographic background, physicality, behaviour)

Question 6

Expand on weakness of approach that limited sample

Answer 6

-36 criminals which is relatively small sample and mostly male serial killers
-cannot generalise findings to wider population so lacks population validity, shows evidence of beta bias so may tell us very little about the offending habits of women, less effective profiling technique than bottom up

Question 7

Expand on weakness that only applies to particular crimes

Answer 7

-best suited to crime scenes that reveal important details about the suspect eg rape/murder so more common offences eg burglary and destruction of property do not lend themselves to profiling as the resulting crime scene reveals very little about the offender
-cannot be applied to wide range of crimes

Question 8

Expand on weakness that based on outdated models of personality

Answer 8

-typology classification system based on the assumption that offenders have patterns of behaviour and motivations that remain consistent across situations and contexts
-critics suggest this approach sees behaviour as being driven by stable dispositional traits rather than external factors that may be constantly changing
-likely to have poor validity when identifying possible suspects/trying to predict their next move

Question 9

Expand on weakness that approach is an oversimplification as criminals may not fit into one specific typology

Answer 9

-can show signs of both typology eg ted bundy showed evidence of planning, intelligent but sometimes left bodies exposed and later attacks more impulsive
-fails to capture complexities of criminal behaviour
-may be less useful technique compared to bottom up which doesn’t use typology but builds profile based on evidence and is data driven