Top Down Approach

Question 1

Top down approach to offender profiling overview:

Answer 1

• American approach
• created by the FBI
• known as the typology approach
• based on the idea that we have signature ways of working.

Question 2

4 stages of top down approach and explanations

Answer 2

1. Data assimilation: a review of evidence e.g photos pathology, reports, weapons, cause of death.
2. Crime scene characteristics: organised or disorganised.
3. Crime reconstruction: generation of hypotheses about the behaviour and events of crime.
4. Profile created: generation of hypothesis about the offender (background, physical characteristics)

Question 3

Organised crime scene characteristics

Answer 3

• evidence of planning
• victim is a stranger
• controlled conversation
• use of restraints
• removes weapon from the scene
• body hidden

Question 4

Disorganised crime scene characteristics

Answer 4

• little evidence of planning
• victim is known
• little conversation
• leaves behind evidence e.g semen, blood
• little use of restraint
• body in open view

Question 5

Likely personality and behaviours of an organised crime scene perpetrator:

Answer 5

• sexually competent
• living with a partner
• average/high intelligence
• socially competent
• skilled employment

Question 6

Likely personality and behaviour of a disorganised crime scene perpetrator:

Answer 6

• sexually incompetent
• living alone and close to scene
• Below average intelligence
• socially inadequate
• unskilled employment

Question 7

AO3 strengths

Answer 7

• Canter (2004) looked at 100 US serial killings. Used smallest space analysis to assess the co-occurrence of 39 aspects of the serial killings. It revealed a subset of behaviours of many serial killings, which match the FBI’s typology. This suggests that the organised/disorganised typology approach is valid in catching perpetrator.

Question 8

AO3 weaknesses

Answer 8

• Canter (2004) Based on a restricted sample of 36 serial sex offenders (therefore cannot be generalised to a wide population, only 36 and sexually motivated). AND Based on the self-reports from this sample (which cannot therefore be relied on for validity).
• It could be explained by the “Barnum effect” – ambiguous descriptions can be made to fit any situation, such as in the case of horoscope, this is why profiles appear “right”.

Question 9

Aim of profiling

Answer 9

To narrow down a list of suspects to find a perpetrator.