Offender profiling: the top down approach
Offender profiling; a behavioural and analytic tool that is intended to help
investigators accurately predict and profile the characteristics of unknown
offenders
- professional profilers work alongside police, especially high-profile murder
cases
- involves careful scrutiny of the crime scene + other evidence to generate
hypotheses about the probable characteristics of the offender
The American approach;
- the top-down approach originated in the United States
- FBI's behavioural science unit analysed data from 36 sexually motivated
murders (eg. Bundy)
- then concluded that the data could be categorised into organised and
disorganised crime
- each category had certain characteristics that could be applied to future crime
scenes and therefore predict other characteristics of the offender that
would be likely
- using the top-down method collects data about the murder and is put into the
category it fits best
Organised offender; an offender who shows evidence of planning, targets a specific
victim and tends to be socially and sexually competent with higher than average
intelligence
- suggests that the killer/rapist has a type of victim they seek out
- maintains a high degree of control + usually married /might have children
Disorganised offender; an offender who shows little evidence of planning, leaves
clues and tends to be socially and sexually incompetent with a lower than
average intelligence
- suggests that it may be spontaneous; body usually left at crime scene, little
control over crime
- in unskilled work or unemployed, history of sexual dysfunction and failed
relationships
- tend to live alone + relatively close to where the crime took place
Organised and disorganised types of offender;
- based off idea that serious offenders gave signature "ways of working" (aka,
their modus operandi)
- correlates with a particular set of social + psychological characteristics that
relate to the individual
Constructing an FBI profile;
- data assimilation ---> profiler reviews evidence (eg. crime scene
photographs)
- crime scene classification ---> organised or disorganised
- crime reconstruction ---> hypothesis in terms of sequence of events,
behaviour of the victim, ect
- profile generation ---> hypotheses related to the likely offender (eg.
demographic background)
, Evaluation;
- research support; Canter, 2004 conducted an analysis of 100 US murders,
each committed by a different serial killer (smallest space analysis was used
---> assessed the co-occurance of 39 aspects of serial killings, eg. torture,
restraint, murder weapon, cause of death, ect), increases validity
- counterpoint; studies suggest that organised and disorganised crime as not
mutually exclusive (Godwin, 2002 argues that it's difficult to classify killers as
one of the types eg. a killer could have high IQ and be sexually competent but
commit a spontaneous murder), suggests that the organised-disorganised
categories are more of a continuum
- wider application; can be applied to crimes such as burglary (Mekata, 2017
reports that top-down profiling led to an 85% rise in solved burglary cases in
three US states) + interpersonal = knows the victim and steals something of
significance and opportunistic = young, inexperienced offender
- flawed evidence; biased evidence, Canter, 2004 argues that the sample was
poor, the FBI did not select a random or large sample and there was no
standard set of questions so each interview was different and not comparable
Offender profiling: the bottom-up approach
The bottom up approach; profilers work up from evidence collected from the
crime scene to develop hypotheses about the likely characteristics, motivations and
social background of the offender
Investigative psychology; a form of bottom up profiling that matches details from the
crime scene with statistical analysis of typical offender behaviour patterns
based of psychological theory
- aims to establish patterns of behaviour that are likely to occur or co-exist
across crime scenes
- acts as a baseline for comparison
- specific details can be matched against this database
- may also determine whether a series of crimes have been committed by the
same person
- significance of time and place is a key variable as it may indicate where the
offender is living
Interpersonal coherence; the way in which an offender behaves at the scene,
including how they interact with the victim, reflects their behaviour in more everyday
situations
Forensic awareness; describes individuals who have been the subject of police
interrogation before, their behaviour may denote how mindful they are of "covering
their tracks"
Evaluation;
- evidence for investigative psychology; Canter + Heritage, 1990 conducted
an analysis of 66 sexual assault cases in which several behaviours were
identified as common (characteristic pattern) and helped establish case
linkage
Offender profiling; a behavioural and analytic tool that is intended to help
investigators accurately predict and profile the characteristics of unknown
offenders
- professional profilers work alongside police, especially high-profile murder
cases
- involves careful scrutiny of the crime scene + other evidence to generate
hypotheses about the probable characteristics of the offender
The American approach;
- the top-down approach originated in the United States
- FBI's behavioural science unit analysed data from 36 sexually motivated
murders (eg. Bundy)
- then concluded that the data could be categorised into organised and
disorganised crime
- each category had certain characteristics that could be applied to future crime
scenes and therefore predict other characteristics of the offender that
would be likely
- using the top-down method collects data about the murder and is put into the
category it fits best
Organised offender; an offender who shows evidence of planning, targets a specific
victim and tends to be socially and sexually competent with higher than average
intelligence
- suggests that the killer/rapist has a type of victim they seek out
- maintains a high degree of control + usually married /might have children
Disorganised offender; an offender who shows little evidence of planning, leaves
clues and tends to be socially and sexually incompetent with a lower than
average intelligence
- suggests that it may be spontaneous; body usually left at crime scene, little
control over crime
- in unskilled work or unemployed, history of sexual dysfunction and failed
relationships
- tend to live alone + relatively close to where the crime took place
Organised and disorganised types of offender;
- based off idea that serious offenders gave signature "ways of working" (aka,
their modus operandi)
- correlates with a particular set of social + psychological characteristics that
relate to the individual
Constructing an FBI profile;
- data assimilation ---> profiler reviews evidence (eg. crime scene
photographs)
- crime scene classification ---> organised or disorganised
- crime reconstruction ---> hypothesis in terms of sequence of events,
behaviour of the victim, ect
- profile generation ---> hypotheses related to the likely offender (eg.
demographic background)
, Evaluation;
- research support; Canter, 2004 conducted an analysis of 100 US murders,
each committed by a different serial killer (smallest space analysis was used
---> assessed the co-occurance of 39 aspects of serial killings, eg. torture,
restraint, murder weapon, cause of death, ect), increases validity
- counterpoint; studies suggest that organised and disorganised crime as not
mutually exclusive (Godwin, 2002 argues that it's difficult to classify killers as
one of the types eg. a killer could have high IQ and be sexually competent but
commit a spontaneous murder), suggests that the organised-disorganised
categories are more of a continuum
- wider application; can be applied to crimes such as burglary (Mekata, 2017
reports that top-down profiling led to an 85% rise in solved burglary cases in
three US states) + interpersonal = knows the victim and steals something of
significance and opportunistic = young, inexperienced offender
- flawed evidence; biased evidence, Canter, 2004 argues that the sample was
poor, the FBI did not select a random or large sample and there was no
standard set of questions so each interview was different and not comparable
Offender profiling: the bottom-up approach
The bottom up approach; profilers work up from evidence collected from the
crime scene to develop hypotheses about the likely characteristics, motivations and
social background of the offender
Investigative psychology; a form of bottom up profiling that matches details from the
crime scene with statistical analysis of typical offender behaviour patterns
based of psychological theory
- aims to establish patterns of behaviour that are likely to occur or co-exist
across crime scenes
- acts as a baseline for comparison
- specific details can be matched against this database
- may also determine whether a series of crimes have been committed by the
same person
- significance of time and place is a key variable as it may indicate where the
offender is living
Interpersonal coherence; the way in which an offender behaves at the scene,
including how they interact with the victim, reflects their behaviour in more everyday
situations
Forensic awareness; describes individuals who have been the subject of police
interrogation before, their behaviour may denote how mindful they are of "covering
their tracks"
Evaluation;
- evidence for investigative psychology; Canter + Heritage, 1990 conducted
an analysis of 66 sexual assault cases in which several behaviours were
identified as common (characteristic pattern) and helped establish case
linkage
