top down profiling Flashcards
who uses top down profiling
US
what information is analysed in top down profiling, how is it used.
forensic evidence
physical evidence eg. blood, weapons
photographs of crime scene
(crime scene analysis)
these are then analysed and categorised to identify the 2 typologies (organised or disorganised)
top down approach uses a crime classification manual, what is this?
a list of crime characteristics that have been identified as either organised or disorganised. All crime features can then be identified as one of the two typologies
(AO3) what is an advantage of the crime classification manual
this means identifying if a criminal is organised or disorganised can be reliably done by looking at how the crime characteristics have been categories - same standardised way. This should allow forensic profilers to consistently create the same profile therefore is a reliable tool for creating a top down profile.
who developed the top down profiling system, how did they do it
The FBI
used data from in depth interviews with 36 sexually motivated murderers including ted bundy + manson. Concluded the data could be categorised into organised or disorganised crimes. This allowed them to generate a classifcation system for a range of crimes that is standardised (classification manual)
what is a modus operandi
specific crime features that may be individual to a criminal
What are the 4 stages to constructing an FBI profile
Data assimilation - reviewing crime scene evidence
crime scene classifcation - identifying modus operandi and using crime classifcation manual
crime reconstruction - generating hypothesis related to the crime
profile generation - identification of likely characteristics of criminal eg. phsyical characterstics, background ect.
what are organised offenders
show evidence of planning the crime in advance. Victim is a deliberate target. offender maintains high degree of control during crime. Little evidence or clues left behind.
Above average IQ, socially and sexually competant.
what is an disorganised offender
show little evidence of planning, offences likely spontaneous. Crime scene relfects impulsive nature - body still present, many clues left behind. Offender has lower than average IQ, unskilled, unemployed.
(AO3) what was Canter et al’s research, what did it provide support for?
support for a distinct organised category of offender. Analysed 100 US murders commited by a different serial killer, used smallest space analysis (statistical technique that identifies correlations across different samples of behaviour.)
Analysis assesed the co-occurance of 39 aspects of serial killings.
(AO3) explain Canter’s findings and how it supports top down
found that there were central organised characteristics to many serial offences, we would expect this in serial offenders due to their higher than average IQ, tendancy to conceal body and weapons meaning they more likely to get away with crime, and reoffend. This validates the FBI’s typology for organised offenders, a central component to top down profiling.
(AO3) why might the use of typologies lack consistency and therefore reliability.
At a crime scene there is likely a combination of organised and disorganised features. In reality it is difficult to classify an offender as one or the other as a killer may have multiple contrasting characteristics eg. high intelligence but commits a spontaneous muder leaving the body behind. Perhaps some criminals start as disorganised and become more organised over time. Therefore use of two mutually exclusive typologies is limited as it is likely offenders are a mxiture of both typologies and some may change in organised/disorgansied over the period of offending.
what are the key issues surrounding validity and the development of top down profiling. (AO3)
data is based on interview with 36 serial killers and rapist, interviews were not standardised and criminals known to be manipulative. + issues of social desirability bias or exaggertion of crimes for fame and notoriety. Means typologies were developed in an informal way.
what are the key validity issues surrounding the use of typologies (AO3)
criminals often have a combination of organsied and disorganised features, so is hard to create a profile that fits only one typology. In addition the creation of the profile is highly subjective as is done by the profiler who may be looking for evidence to fit their own hypothesis about the criminal.
As a result this could lead to the wrong profile which could lead to an incorrect conviction.
what is an issue with reliability of the profiler and use of typologies. (AO3)
as the creation of the profile is subjective and largely based on the experience of the profiler this means that different profilers may look at the same crime scene as different typologies. Therefore each profile will not 100% be the same.
