L1- Top-Down Approach To Offender Profiling

Question 1

What is offender profiling?

Answer 1

A tool employed by the police to narrow down the list of likely suspects.
It is based on the idea that the characteristics of the offender can be deduced from details of the offence and crime scene.

Question 2

Profiling methods.

Answer 2

Profiling methods vary but usually involve:
- careful scrutiny of crime scene.
- analysis of evidence, including witness reports.
These help generate a hypothesis about the probable characteristics of the offender (age/gender/occupation)

Question 3

Organised offenders

Answer 3

These offenders show evidence of having planned the crime in advance.

• victim is deliberately targeted and will often reveal that the killer/rapist has a preference for certain victim type.
• they maintain a high level of control and operate with almost surgical precision.
• little evidence left behind at crime scene.
• tend to be above avg intelligence, have a skilled profession, married and have kids.

Question 4

Disorganised offenders

Answer 4

These offenders show little evidence of planning, suggesting offence may have been spontaneous.

• crime tends to reflect impulsive nature of the attack.
• body usually left at scene, appears to be little control from offender.
• below avg intelligence, unskilled work/unemployed.
• often have history of sexual dysfunction or failed relationships. Live alone and close to crime scene.

Question 5

Evaluation of top down profiling

Answer 5

1. Only applies to certain crimes and murders that involve torture, dissection etc. Offences such as burglary often reveal very little about the offender.
2. The organised and disorganised distinction was developed based on interviews with 36 serial killers in the USA. Critics say this sample is too small and unrepresentative.
   Canter also argues that it is not valid to rely on self-report date from convicted serial killers when constructing a classification system.
3. Organised and disorganised distinction is overly simplistic. Holmes suggests there are 4 types of serial killer: visionary, mission, hedonistic, power.