Top Down Approach

Question 1

What is 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 a top down approach?

Answer 2

Profilers start with pre-established typology and work down to lower levels in order to assign offenders to one of two categories based on witness accounts and evidence from the crime scene.

Question 3

What are the types of offenders?

Answer 3

• Disorganised
• Organised

Question 4

What are types of offenders based off?

Answer 4

Their modus operandi (their ways of working)

Question 5

What is an organised offender?

Answer 5

• Evidence of having planned a crime in advance.
• A victim has been deliberately targeted
• Offender maintains a high level of control. little evidence left behind
  -Tends to have a higher IQ

Question 6

What is a disorganised offender?

Answer 6

• Little evidence of planning
• Spontaneous/ spur of the moment
• Body usually still at scene
• Lower than average IQ and sexual dysfunction

Question 7

How do they construct and FBI profile?

Answer 7

1. Data assimilation- reviews evidence
2. Crime scene classification-organised or disorganised
   3.Crime reconstruction- hypotheses in terms of sequence of events
3. Profile generation- hypotheses related to the likely offender e.g demographic background

Question 8

Brief evaluation?

Answer 8

• Research support BUT the categories aren’t mutually exclusive
• Adapted to other crimes such as burglary
• Flawed evidence

Question 9

What are the strengths of the top down approach?

Answer 9

-Support for distinct organised category of offender, Canter et al (2004) conducted analysis of 100 US murders committed by serial killers. Used smallest space analysis (they highlight a correlation). Co-occurrence of 39 aspects of serial killings like murder weapon. Subset of features matching FBI organised typology approach has some validity. HOWEVER, Godwin (2002) argues its hard to classify as one or other may have contrasting characteristics. More of a continuum.

-Adapted to all types of crime, like burglary. Meteka (2017) 85% rise in solved cases when applying this approach. Two new categories: interpersonal (they knew victim) and opportunistic generally inexperienced young offender. Wider application

Question 10

What are the weaknesses of the top down approach?

Answer 10

• Evidence on which it is based, FBI profiling was developed using interviews with 36 murderers in US- 25 serial and 11 single/double. 24 organised, 12 disorganised, Canter argued sample was poor it didn’t include different types of offenders no standard set of questions so not comparable. Doesn’t have scientific basis