PAPER THREE: FORENSICS
TOPIC: Dealing with offender behaviour: Restorative justice
A01:
- Restorative justice = involves offenders coming face to face with the people/person
they have offended against
- Switches the emphasis from the needs of the state (enforce law, punish) to the needs
of the victim (gain closure)
- Victims encouraged to take an active role, offender required to take responsibility
Process of RJ:
- Braithwaite, ‘crime hurts, justice should heal’
- Process of managed collaboration between offender and victim based on the
principles of healing and empowerment
- A supervised meeting between the offender and victim is organised with a trained
mediator
- The victim is given the opportunity to confront the offender and explain how the
incident affected them
- The offender is able to see the consequences of their actions, including the
emotional distress it caused
Key features:
- Focuses on accepting responsibility and positive change for the offender (less
emphasis on punishment)
- Not restricted to courtrooms, victims and offenders may voluntarily choose to meet
face to face
- Active rather than passive involvement in all parties
- Focuses on positive outcomes for survivors and those who have offended
Variations of the process:
- Offender may make financial reimbursements to the victim which may reflect the
psychological/physical damage done
- May repair the damaged property themselves in the case of a break-in
- The RJC’s (restorative justice council) role is to establish clear standards for the use
of RJ and support victims and specialist professionals in the field
A03:
✓ - Diversity of RJ programmes
The scheme can be adapted and tailored to individual needs so they are flexible
Also covers a wide range of possible applications (schools, prisons)
However, this doesn’t prevent difficulties in terms of drawing conclusions about the
effectiveness of the approach
X - Relies on the offender showing remorse
Some prisoners may sign up the RJ programmes to avoid prison or for reduced sentences
Also, the victim may have an ulterior motive (seek revenge)
Means that RJ programmes may not lead to positive outcomes where the p’s themselves
don’t have the best intentions
X - Not always cost effective
,Shapland et al, every £1 spent on RJ programmes would save the criminal justice system £8
through reduced reoffending rates but other estimates are more conservative
Requires the input of skilled/experienced individuals to act as a mediator who are hard to
come by and expensive
In practice, it may not be the best and most cost effective solution
X - Feminist critique
Women’s Aid has called for a ban on RJ in domestic violence cases
They are concerned about the power imbalance in the relationships between the abuser and
abused and the fact that the wider community often resorts to blaming the victim
Questions the suitability of RJ programmes for certain types of offence
, PAPER THREE: FORENSICS
TOPIC: Bottom-up approach (British)
A01:
- More modern approach than top-down profiling
- Created by Canter
- Builds a profile of an offender based on facts rather than hunches
- Investigators refrain from making assumptions until crime scene data has been
scrutinised and comparisons have been made to similar crimes where data has
already been recorded
INVESTIGATIVE PSYCHOLOGY:
- Applies statistical procedures to the analysis of the crime scenes
- Establishes patterns of behaviour to develop a database which acts as baseline
comparison
- Specific details can be matched against the database to reveal important details
about the offender
FIVE KEY ASSUMPTIONS:
1. Interpersonal coherence
- Assume behaviour is consistent across situations
2. Time and place
- Gives clues as to where the offender may live or work
3. Criminal characteristics
- Placing criminals into categories is a useful exercise to help the police
4. Criminal career
- Considers how far into their criminal experience offenders are and how their pattern
may progress
5. Forensic awareness
- Offenders who show an awareness of forensic investigation may have committed a
crime before and have been through the criminal justice system
GEOGRAPHICAL PROFILING:
- Later addition to bottom-up profiling
- Refers to analysis of crime locations and times to identify patterns
- Allows profilers to establish whether an offender is a commuter (travels to commit
crimes) or a marauder (stay local)
- Also allows profilers to establish a jeopardy circle (area that is likely to contain the
next crime)
A03:
✓ - Real-world application
Canter used this approach to provide an offender profile for John Duffy (railway rapist) who
had sexually assaulted and murdered women near railway stations in London
Confirms that the bottom-up approach has useful applications in fighting crime
✓ - Usefulness in a wider range of criminal behaviours than top-down
Bottom-up successfully used in more day to day crimes (theft and vandalism) compared to
top-down which is limited to murder and rape
Therefore, there is more opportunity for bottom-up profiling techniques to be applied, making
it a more suitable method
TOPIC: Dealing with offender behaviour: Restorative justice
A01:
- Restorative justice = involves offenders coming face to face with the people/person
they have offended against
- Switches the emphasis from the needs of the state (enforce law, punish) to the needs
of the victim (gain closure)
- Victims encouraged to take an active role, offender required to take responsibility
Process of RJ:
- Braithwaite, ‘crime hurts, justice should heal’
- Process of managed collaboration between offender and victim based on the
principles of healing and empowerment
- A supervised meeting between the offender and victim is organised with a trained
mediator
- The victim is given the opportunity to confront the offender and explain how the
incident affected them
- The offender is able to see the consequences of their actions, including the
emotional distress it caused
Key features:
- Focuses on accepting responsibility and positive change for the offender (less
emphasis on punishment)
- Not restricted to courtrooms, victims and offenders may voluntarily choose to meet
face to face
- Active rather than passive involvement in all parties
- Focuses on positive outcomes for survivors and those who have offended
Variations of the process:
- Offender may make financial reimbursements to the victim which may reflect the
psychological/physical damage done
- May repair the damaged property themselves in the case of a break-in
- The RJC’s (restorative justice council) role is to establish clear standards for the use
of RJ and support victims and specialist professionals in the field
A03:
✓ - Diversity of RJ programmes
The scheme can be adapted and tailored to individual needs so they are flexible
Also covers a wide range of possible applications (schools, prisons)
However, this doesn’t prevent difficulties in terms of drawing conclusions about the
effectiveness of the approach
X - Relies on the offender showing remorse
Some prisoners may sign up the RJ programmes to avoid prison or for reduced sentences
Also, the victim may have an ulterior motive (seek revenge)
Means that RJ programmes may not lead to positive outcomes where the p’s themselves
don’t have the best intentions
X - Not always cost effective
,Shapland et al, every £1 spent on RJ programmes would save the criminal justice system £8
through reduced reoffending rates but other estimates are more conservative
Requires the input of skilled/experienced individuals to act as a mediator who are hard to
come by and expensive
In practice, it may not be the best and most cost effective solution
X - Feminist critique
Women’s Aid has called for a ban on RJ in domestic violence cases
They are concerned about the power imbalance in the relationships between the abuser and
abused and the fact that the wider community often resorts to blaming the victim
Questions the suitability of RJ programmes for certain types of offence
, PAPER THREE: FORENSICS
TOPIC: Bottom-up approach (British)
A01:
- More modern approach than top-down profiling
- Created by Canter
- Builds a profile of an offender based on facts rather than hunches
- Investigators refrain from making assumptions until crime scene data has been
scrutinised and comparisons have been made to similar crimes where data has
already been recorded
INVESTIGATIVE PSYCHOLOGY:
- Applies statistical procedures to the analysis of the crime scenes
- Establishes patterns of behaviour to develop a database which acts as baseline
comparison
- Specific details can be matched against the database to reveal important details
about the offender
FIVE KEY ASSUMPTIONS:
1. Interpersonal coherence
- Assume behaviour is consistent across situations
2. Time and place
- Gives clues as to where the offender may live or work
3. Criminal characteristics
- Placing criminals into categories is a useful exercise to help the police
4. Criminal career
- Considers how far into their criminal experience offenders are and how their pattern
may progress
5. Forensic awareness
- Offenders who show an awareness of forensic investigation may have committed a
crime before and have been through the criminal justice system
GEOGRAPHICAL PROFILING:
- Later addition to bottom-up profiling
- Refers to analysis of crime locations and times to identify patterns
- Allows profilers to establish whether an offender is a commuter (travels to commit
crimes) or a marauder (stay local)
- Also allows profilers to establish a jeopardy circle (area that is likely to contain the
next crime)
A03:
✓ - Real-world application
Canter used this approach to provide an offender profile for John Duffy (railway rapist) who
had sexually assaulted and murdered women near railway stations in London
Confirms that the bottom-up approach has useful applications in fighting crime
✓ - Usefulness in a wider range of criminal behaviours than top-down
Bottom-up successfully used in more day to day crimes (theft and vandalism) compared to
top-down which is limited to murder and rape
Therefore, there is more opportunity for bottom-up profiling techniques to be applied, making
it a more suitable method
