final exam Flashcards
(33 cards)
approaches to profiling
actuarial and clinical
clinical approach
case focused and used to infer characteristics of offender from evidence gathered at crime scene
-focus: an individual based on material gathered in the case. sometimes supplemented by gut feelings
actuarial approach
large data sets- these data were gathered from other individuals who committed similar crimes. the accumulated data from these groups represent base rates
psychological profiling
suspect is already known, can be used for posing purposes
1) threat assessment: known individual makes a threat, how serious is it? (combo of actuarial and clinical)
2) risk assessment: probation
suspect-based profiling
largely actuarial; found in airports, border patrol; identifying the psychological and behavioral features of persons who may commit a particular crime (ex school violence)
geographical profiling
technique to locate where an offender resides or will “strike next”1 (highly actuarial)
crime scene profiling
developing of a rough personality or sketch of unknown offender from clues at a crime scene
modus operandi (MO)
method of doing something; oftentimes the MO changes
personation or signature
anything that goes beyond what is necessary to commit the crime
-undoing: psychological undoing of the crime, brought about by extreme distress (comfort/compassion, dehumanization)
staging
intentional alteration of the crime scene prior to arrival of police
-sometimes this is done by someone other than the perpetrate (ex- family member)
-mislead law enforcement (wipe of fingerprints)
-protect the victim or victim’s family
profiling
seems to be most helpful in cases including:
1) serial sexual offenders (rape/homicide)
-part of the reason is large data base
2) profiling more successful in case of serious psychopathology
3) profiling is less successful with fraud, burglary, political crimes
crime can leave 2 signatures at crime scene
1) crime scene signature = conscious mind
-offender intentionally leaves this (ex. Zodiac killer)
2) psychological signature = unconscious mind (habits, unknowingly left behind)
basic flaws in modern day profiling
1) assumption (“framing”) that behavior is consistent across different situations
2) evidence at the crime scene is directly related to personality characteristics
3) results are sometimes so ambiguous that they aren’t useful (this can be true across all types of psychological assessment)
4) compounding the problem is that in the ambiguity, people see wha they want to see = confirmation bias
classic mass murder
when an individual walks into or barricades himself into a public building, such as a fast-food restaurant, mall, or theater, and kills at random (but sometimes selectively)
family mass murder
at least 3 family members are killed by another family member
do most serial killer killers have specific preferences for the location of their killings?
yes, they frequently commit their crimes within comfort zones that are often defined by an anchor point
what are the four hunting patterns that Rossmo identified
hunter, poacher, troller, trapper
spree murder
used to refer to the killing of 3 or more individuals without any cooling-off period, usually at 2 or more locations
mass murder
killing 4 or more persons at a single location with no cooling-off period between murders
risk assessment is a process to evaluate what
individuals who have violated social norms or displayed bizarre behavior, particularly when they appear menacing or unpredictable
serial killers generally select victims based off of what
availability, vulnerability, desirability
hunter
identifies a specific victim in his home area
poacher
prefers to travel away from home area for hunting victims
troller
an opportunistic killer, he attacks victims while carrying out regular activities
