top down approach

Question 1

define offender profiling

Answer 1

a behavioural and analytical tool that is intended to help investigators accurately predict and profile the characteristics of unknown offenders

Question 2

what is the aim of offender profiling

Answer 2

the aim is to narrow down the field of enquiry to a list of likely suspects

Question 3

what is the role of professional profilers

Answer 3

work alongside the police to generate a hypothesis as to who committed the crime

their role is to compile a profile about the offenders age, race, occupation, motives

they use the crime scene as well as witness reports to achieve this

Question 4

define the top down approach

Answer 4

profilers start with a pre established typology and work down in order to assign offender to 1 of 2 categories based on witness accounts and evidence from a crime scene.

Question 5

who devised the top down approach

Answer 5

FBI in 1970s
(American approach)

Question 6

what are the 2 categories for offenders

Answer 6

organised

disorganised

Question 7

how was the top down approach devised

Answer 7

they used data gathered from interviews of 36 sexually motivated serial killers

(including Ted Bundy and Charles Manson)

Question 8

why are the categories useful

Answer 8

each category had certain characteristics associated with it so future crime scenes could be compared to these to help predict other characteristics and help find the offenders

Question 9

define organised offenders

Answer 9

organised offenders show evidence of planning, targeting a specific victim and tend to be social and sexually competent with higher than average intelligence

Question 10

define disorganised offenders

Answer 10

disorganised offenders show little evidence of planning, leave clues, tend to be socially and sexually incompetent with a lower than average intelligence

Question 11

what is another way of saying ways of working

Answer 11

modus operandi

Question 12

give the characteristics of organised offenders (6 marks)

Answer 12

• above average intelligence
• controlled even in the attack that looks frenzied
• skilled/professional job
• most are married with kids
• well thought of in the community
• organised about the attack, bring instruments, escape plan etc

Question 13

give the characteristics of a disorganised offender (7 marks)

Answer 13

• low skill job/ unemployed
• social/sexual issues
• frenzied in attacks
• no plan, impulsive attacks
• probably has a criminal record
• leaves clues at the crime scene
• lives close to crime scene