Offender profiling Flashcards
(18 cards)
Define offender profiling
- investigative tool used by the police to predict and profile characteristics of unknown criminals.
- narrows list of likely suspects.
- evidence collected from crime scene and witnesses to generate a general hypothesis about the offender eg. age, background, occupation.
Which profiling method is favoured by the FBI?
Top-Down Approach
Top-Down Approach
- 1970s, FBI Behavioural science unit
- collected data from interviews with 36 sexually motivated serial killers
- led to the ability to characterise murderers and rapists as organised or disorganised offenders.
- now, any evidence for a crime is compared against pre-existing database of information and classification
- this comparison informs the basis of the criminal investigation
Organised vs disorganised offenders
Serious offenders have ‘modus operandi’- a particular way of doing something.
This ‘modus operandi’ correlates to social and psychological characteristics that can narrow the suspect list.
Organised: pre-meditated/ planned, high intelligence, stable career/ family life, manipulative, emotionless, no evidence
Disorganised: Spontaneous, lower intelligence, high emotion, evidence left, unemployed/ socially isolated.
Stages of creating an FBI profile
ACRG
- DATA ASSIMILATION
need data/ info to create a profile
View evidence from crime scene (crime scene photos, pathology report, witness statements) - CRIME SCENE CLASSIFICATION
basis of profiling
Organised or disorganised? - CRIME RECONSTRUCTION
contextualising the events of the crime
hypotheses of sequence of events and the behaviour of the offender/ victim - PROFILE GENERATION
aim to end with a profile
hypotheses link to a likely offender (demographic, behaviour, physical characteristics etc)
Lack of clarity in classification- case study
Francine Elverson (1979)
KIller was at crime scene without being seen by any witnesses- premeditation
BUT violent crime and DNA/ forensic evidence left behind (bite marks)- disorganised.
Reductionist explanation
Also issue with bias- pubic hair of black man found on her, sexual relationship was not considered.
Limited use of top down profiling
Only applies to certain types of crime scenes.
Crime scenes that reveal a lot about the offender tend to be related to rape, murder, and arson.
Lesser crimes, like burglary, do not offer wealth of clues about offender’s identity- limited usefulness.
Confused categorisation
Organised and disorganised are not mutually exclusive.
Godwin (2002) questioned how investigators would classify a killer with high intelligence and sexual competence who spontaneously murders and leaves body at scene.
Alternatively, Holmes (1989) suggests four types of serial killer (hedonistic, power/control, visionary, mission).
Two types may be too simplistic as they may co-exist in analysis. (external validity)
‘Disorganised’ lacking evidence
Evidence rarely entirely categorises a disorganised offender.
Canter et al (2004) -> smallest space analysis to analyse 100 US murders, referencing 39 characteristics of organised or disorganised.
Organised type has clear evidence in data, disorganised could not be clearly distinguished. Undermines system as whole.
Support for top down profiling
Widespread support for classification system, shown through use by FBI. Still used as model for professional profilers in the US, does have the ability to limit a list of suspects. Can be a reliable and supported classification system for huge number of criminal cases. (internal validity)
Who favours bottom up approach?
MET police
How does the bottom up approach work?
It is data driven.
An investigator scrutinises crime scene evidence to build a profile of the likely offender.
Combines investigative psychology and geographical profiling.
Investigative psychology
Key component of bottom up approach.
Uses statistical analysis- details of crime scene are analysed to interpret their co-existence between scenes.
Interpersonal coherence- offender behaviour at the crime scene reflects their behaviours in everyday life.
Significance of time and place incorporates geographical profiling.
Forensic awareness, prior investigation by the police will impact an offenders behaviour.
Geographical profiling
Uses spatial details of crime to narrow the geographical area of an offender’s operational base.
Links to schema theory and mental mapping- offender will use knowledge of area to aid their crime (will have an awareness of CCTV, hiding places, escape)- more likely to be a familiar place.
Presentation of geographical profiling:
Data is combined to create a ‘jeopardy surface’- indicates an offender’s likely residence or place of work.
Based on Canter’s Circle Theory (1993), where offenders are either a marauder or an offender.
Marauder vs commuter
Marauder: Commits crime around the area they live. Crimes are more spread out due to greater familiarity with the area, meaning they are more comfortable moving around. Will try and hide identity as they are local.
Commuter: Travels to an area, has limited familiarity. Crimes tend to be closer together (spatial consistency hypothesis). Crimes are close to a transport link and area will be similar in features to where they live. Don’t try and hide identity as will not be recognised.
Criminal consistency hypothesis
Same offender = similar crimes
Crimes have gravity- greater familiarity with area makes crimes more likely.
Interpersonal consistency- social/ sexual competence.
Spatial consistency- familiarity with area/ knowledge of how to leave.
John Duffy
The Railway Rapist (1980s)
