The 'top-down' approach- FORENSICS Flashcards
- What country does top-downprofiling occur in?
- Give a summary
- happens in the USA
- This is where FBI specialists infer personality and behavioural traits of an offender by detailed analysis of how they have committed a crime
What is typology?
- what are the 2 categories of offender?
- typology is a top-down approach
- broad distinction between organised and disorganised offenders
- based off interviews of 36 serial sex offenders—–> organised/disorganised typology can be applied to all sexually motivated murders and some arson cases
- Who proposed frameworks for distinguishing types of offender?
- List some organised and disorganised offender characteristics
- Ressler proposed frameworks
ORGANISED=
- planning
- victim targeting
- orderly crime scene
- high intelligence
- socially competent
DISORGANISED=
- unplanned
- random victim
- body in open view
- unskilled
- socially inadequate
Profiles help investigators to narrow their pool of suspects and focus their investigation
What are the 7 decision making tools used in typology?
- location factors
- murder type
- primary intent
- victim risk
- offender risk
- escalation
- time factors
these help to distinguish the offender as organised or disorganised
What are the 4 stages in the construction of an FBI profile
1= DATA ASSIMILATION
2= CRIME SCENE CLASSIFICATION (ORGANISED/ DISORGANISED)
3= CRIME RECONSTRUCTION
4= PROFILE GENERATION
ORGANISED OFFENDER:
1- behaviour towards victim
2-crime scene characteristics
3-likely personality and behaviour
4- background of criminal
1= victim targeted, aggressive
2= body hidden, weapon removed, orderly scene, attempt to clear up
3= high intelligence, socially competent, lives with a partner
4= high birth order, inconsistent discipline as a child
DISORGANISED OFFENDER:
1- behaviour towards victim
2- crime scene characteristics
3- personality and behaviour
4- background of criminal
1= random victim, unplanned
2= weapon present, leaves evidence, body in open view
3=low intelligence, socially inadequate, lives alone, unskilled employment
4=low birth order, harsh discipline as a child
Typology AO3- limitations
- over emphasis on intuition, lack of scientific evidence
- can only be used in case of murder and rape, limited applicability
—–> but in 2017 it was applied to a burglary , showed 85% increase in solved cases in 3 US states so now has wider application - having 2 categories of criminals is simplistic, likely that criminals don’t fit neatly into each category, too restrictive
- each crime scene is unique, many variables that should be accounted for, difficult to apply
- interviews conducted to establish 2 categories were with a limited sample
- argument that behaviour is driven by the situation rather than the personality type –> ineffective
Typology AO3- Canter study
AIM= test validity of organised/disorganised categories
METHOD= info from 100 murders by 100 serial killers, each case assessed for 39 characteristics identified as O or D/O
RESULTS= a subset of organised characteristics found to be typical of most serial killers, disorganised was much rarer and didn’t occur enough to be considered a type
CONC= no clear distinction between organised and disorganised.
BEING ORGANISED IS A CORE CHARACTERISTIC OF BEING A SERIAL KILLER AS A WHOLE.
- study gives validity to organised category
GODWIN said that organised-disorganised is a continuum as most killers have multiple contrasting characteristics and don’t fit into 1 type.
AO3- Research support- the case of Arthur Shawcross
- he murdered 11 women in NY, key part of his profile was that he’d return to the dead victims later to re-experience the pleasure of the killing.
- police set up surveillance of his 11th victim and they found him near the body
- PROFILE WAS VERY ACCURATE—–> PROVIDES REAL LIFE SUPPORT
