Top down approach of offender profiling
● Offender profiling is used to help investigators accurately predict and profile characteristics of
unknown criminals.Mostly used in the US.
● The top down approach is also called the qualitative approach as it is based on police
experience and case studies rather than theory. Uses typologies of organised and
disorganised to categorise criminals.
● 7 factors are used to create a profile:
○ Murder type - isolated, mass, spree, serial etc
○ Primary intent - deliberate/premeditated, part of another crime
○ Victim risk - high or low risk victim
○ Offender risk - risk of the offender committing the crime
○ Escalation - result of an escalation or has the potential to escalate
○ Time factors - time of day
○ Location factors - where the crime happened, accessibility of location
Organised Disorganised
Behaviour towards victim Victim is targeted Victim is random
Crime is planned Avoids conversation
Top down approach of offender profiling
● Offender profiling is used to help investigators accurately predict and profile characteristics of
unknown criminals.Mostly used in the US.
● The top down approach is also called the qualitative approach as it is based on police
experience and case studies rather than theory. Uses typologies of organised and
disorganised to categorise criminals.
● 7 factors are used to create a profile:
○ Murder type - isolated, mass, spree, serial etc
○ Victim risk - high or low risk victim
○ Offender risk - risk of the offender committing the crime
○ Escalation - result of an escalation or has the potential to escalate
○ Primary intent - deliberate/premeditated, part of another crime
○ Location factors - where the crime happened, accessibility of location
○ Time factors - time of day
Organised Disorganised
Behaviour towards victim Victim is targeted Victim is random
Crime is planned Avoids conversation
Crime scene detail Attempt to clear up crime Weapon and body are present
scene Sexual activity after death
Body and weapon is hidden
Characteristics of criminal Skilled occupation, intelligent Poor work history
Commits crime further from Sexually and socially
home incompetent
Background of criminal High birth order (eldest) Low birth order (youngest)
,Bottom up approach of offender profiling
● Based on psychological theory and statistics and is therefore referred to as the
quantitative approach; mainly used in the UK.
Investigative psychology:
● Forensic awareness - mindfulness of covering own tracks, can indicate previous
involvement with the police.
● Interpersonal coherence - how the offender interacts with the victim can indicate
how they act in everyday life.
● Time and place - indicates where the offender lives.
○ Once this information is collected, a profile is made using statistical
techniques.
Geographical profiling:
● Rossmo proposed the circle theory: an offender’s operational base and future
offences can be predicted using the geographical locations of previous crimes.
● This is based on the assumption that people operate within a limited spatial mind-set
that creates imagined boundaries in which crimes are likely to be committed.
● There are two models:
○ The Marauder - offender operates in close proximity to their home
○ The Commuter - offender travels away from home
Empirical support
● Canter and Heritage analysed 66 sexual cases using smallest space analysis.
○ Common behaviours like impersonal language and lack of reaction to the
victim were identified in individual cases.
○ These patterns were useful in linking cases together.
● This supports the notion that a criminal’s behaviour is consistent and a modus
operandi can be determined to be used for profiling.
Support for geographical profiling
● Lundrigan and Canter collated info from 120 murder cases in the US.
○ Used smallest space analysis which revealed consistencies across body
disposal sites.
● This shows support for geographical profiling.
Geographical information is inconsistent
● Geographical profiling may not be sufficient on its own as its success relies on the
quality of data
● An estimated 75% of crimes aren’t reported which creates gaps in geographical
profiles.
● This suggests that geographical information alone may not always lead to a solution.
, Biological explanation: Atavistic form
● Atavistic form was developed by Lombroso in the 1870s
● He suggested that criminals were “primitive, genetic throwbacks, sub-species” and
biologically different from non-criminals.
○ They lacked evolutionary development and their savage nature meant they
couldn’t adjust to the demands of a civilised society.
○ This would cause them to inevitably turn to crime.
● Some atavistic features were:
○ Narrow sloping brow, strong jaw, high cheekbones, facial asymmetry, dark
skin, extra toes, nipples and fingers.
○ Murderers have bloodshot eyes, curly hair, long ears.
○ Sexual deviants have glinting eyes, swollen lips, projecting ears.
○ Fraudsters have thin lips, “reedy”
Lombroso: atavistic 40%
● Lombroso examined the facial and cranial features of 4000 living and 400 dead
criminals.
○ Concluded that 40% of criminal acts could be attributed to atavistic
characteristics.
● This research helped shift criminology from moral discourse to a more scientific and
credible realm.
Limitation of the study
● Lombroso’s study lacks a control group as he doesn’t compare criminals and
non-criminals.
○ Therefore you can’t draw conclusions that a specific feature is distinctive.
○ His sample may have also included people with learning difficulties (during
that time period they were often put in prisons) which could skew his data as
learning difficulties can be accompanied by physical differences.
Socially sensitive
● Lombroso’s research and theory has racist undertones as many atavistic features are
seen in non-white people e.g. curly hair and plump lips.
○ His description of atavistic form being “primitive, savage” supports many
eugenic philosophies popular at the time.
● Therefore scientifically validates racism.
Goring: criminals + control
● Goring compared 3000 criminals to 3000 non-criminals on their atavistic features.
○ He concluded that there was no evidence that offenders are a distinct group
with specific characteristics.
● However, he did find that offenders have a lower than average intelligence/IQ.
○ Can be argued to be giving limited support for Lombroso’s theory that
criminals lack evolutionary development.
● Offender profiling is used to help investigators accurately predict and profile characteristics of
unknown criminals.Mostly used in the US.
● The top down approach is also called the qualitative approach as it is based on police
experience and case studies rather than theory. Uses typologies of organised and
disorganised to categorise criminals.
● 7 factors are used to create a profile:
○ Murder type - isolated, mass, spree, serial etc
○ Primary intent - deliberate/premeditated, part of another crime
○ Victim risk - high or low risk victim
○ Offender risk - risk of the offender committing the crime
○ Escalation - result of an escalation or has the potential to escalate
○ Time factors - time of day
○ Location factors - where the crime happened, accessibility of location
Organised Disorganised
Behaviour towards victim Victim is targeted Victim is random
Crime is planned Avoids conversation
Top down approach of offender profiling
● Offender profiling is used to help investigators accurately predict and profile characteristics of
unknown criminals.Mostly used in the US.
● The top down approach is also called the qualitative approach as it is based on police
experience and case studies rather than theory. Uses typologies of organised and
disorganised to categorise criminals.
● 7 factors are used to create a profile:
○ Murder type - isolated, mass, spree, serial etc
○ Victim risk - high or low risk victim
○ Offender risk - risk of the offender committing the crime
○ Escalation - result of an escalation or has the potential to escalate
○ Primary intent - deliberate/premeditated, part of another crime
○ Location factors - where the crime happened, accessibility of location
○ Time factors - time of day
Organised Disorganised
Behaviour towards victim Victim is targeted Victim is random
Crime is planned Avoids conversation
Crime scene detail Attempt to clear up crime Weapon and body are present
scene Sexual activity after death
Body and weapon is hidden
Characteristics of criminal Skilled occupation, intelligent Poor work history
Commits crime further from Sexually and socially
home incompetent
Background of criminal High birth order (eldest) Low birth order (youngest)
,Bottom up approach of offender profiling
● Based on psychological theory and statistics and is therefore referred to as the
quantitative approach; mainly used in the UK.
Investigative psychology:
● Forensic awareness - mindfulness of covering own tracks, can indicate previous
involvement with the police.
● Interpersonal coherence - how the offender interacts with the victim can indicate
how they act in everyday life.
● Time and place - indicates where the offender lives.
○ Once this information is collected, a profile is made using statistical
techniques.
Geographical profiling:
● Rossmo proposed the circle theory: an offender’s operational base and future
offences can be predicted using the geographical locations of previous crimes.
● This is based on the assumption that people operate within a limited spatial mind-set
that creates imagined boundaries in which crimes are likely to be committed.
● There are two models:
○ The Marauder - offender operates in close proximity to their home
○ The Commuter - offender travels away from home
Empirical support
● Canter and Heritage analysed 66 sexual cases using smallest space analysis.
○ Common behaviours like impersonal language and lack of reaction to the
victim were identified in individual cases.
○ These patterns were useful in linking cases together.
● This supports the notion that a criminal’s behaviour is consistent and a modus
operandi can be determined to be used for profiling.
Support for geographical profiling
● Lundrigan and Canter collated info from 120 murder cases in the US.
○ Used smallest space analysis which revealed consistencies across body
disposal sites.
● This shows support for geographical profiling.
Geographical information is inconsistent
● Geographical profiling may not be sufficient on its own as its success relies on the
quality of data
● An estimated 75% of crimes aren’t reported which creates gaps in geographical
profiles.
● This suggests that geographical information alone may not always lead to a solution.
, Biological explanation: Atavistic form
● Atavistic form was developed by Lombroso in the 1870s
● He suggested that criminals were “primitive, genetic throwbacks, sub-species” and
biologically different from non-criminals.
○ They lacked evolutionary development and their savage nature meant they
couldn’t adjust to the demands of a civilised society.
○ This would cause them to inevitably turn to crime.
● Some atavistic features were:
○ Narrow sloping brow, strong jaw, high cheekbones, facial asymmetry, dark
skin, extra toes, nipples and fingers.
○ Murderers have bloodshot eyes, curly hair, long ears.
○ Sexual deviants have glinting eyes, swollen lips, projecting ears.
○ Fraudsters have thin lips, “reedy”
Lombroso: atavistic 40%
● Lombroso examined the facial and cranial features of 4000 living and 400 dead
criminals.
○ Concluded that 40% of criminal acts could be attributed to atavistic
characteristics.
● This research helped shift criminology from moral discourse to a more scientific and
credible realm.
Limitation of the study
● Lombroso’s study lacks a control group as he doesn’t compare criminals and
non-criminals.
○ Therefore you can’t draw conclusions that a specific feature is distinctive.
○ His sample may have also included people with learning difficulties (during
that time period they were often put in prisons) which could skew his data as
learning difficulties can be accompanied by physical differences.
Socially sensitive
● Lombroso’s research and theory has racist undertones as many atavistic features are
seen in non-white people e.g. curly hair and plump lips.
○ His description of atavistic form being “primitive, savage” supports many
eugenic philosophies popular at the time.
● Therefore scientifically validates racism.
Goring: criminals + control
● Goring compared 3000 criminals to 3000 non-criminals on their atavistic features.
○ He concluded that there was no evidence that offenders are a distinct group
with specific characteristics.
● However, he did find that offenders have a lower than average intelligence/IQ.
○ Can be argued to be giving limited support for Lombroso’s theory that
criminals lack evolutionary development.
