The Top-down Approach

• The Top-down approach is a ‘typology’ approach to offender profiling, originating in, and favoured by the U.S.A.
• What is the top-down approach based on?

  It is based on in depth interviews with 36 sexually-motivated murderers that took place in the 1970’s.
• The top-down approach uses pre-existing templates of the 'organised' and 'disorganised' offender that were developed by the FBI following interviews.
• The top-down approach uses evidence from the crime scene and other details of the crime/victim/context to fit suspects into either of the pre-existing categories in order to determine the offender as being organised or disorganised.
• Give 3 actions that organised offenders may demonstrate.

  • Clear evidence of planning the offence.
  • The victim is targeted.
  • The weapon is absent from the scene,
• Give 3 characteristics of an organised offender.

  • Highly intelligent.
  • Socially competent.
  • Watches the media coverage of the crime.
• Give 3 actions that disorganised offenders may demonstrate.

  • Does not plan the offence.
  • The victim was not targeted.
  • The weapon is likely to be present at the scene.
• What are the four stages to the offender profile construction in the top-down approach?

  1. Data assimilation
  2. Crime Scene Classification
  3. Crime reconstruction
  4. Profile generation.
• What happens in the Data Assimilation stage of offender profile construction in the top-down approach?

  Evidence is collected from the sources that are available, e.g. Crime scene photos, post mortem results, police reports.
• What happens in the Crime Scene Classification stage of offender profile construction in the top-down approach?

  The crime scene and offender is classified as either organised or disorganised, applying a typology approach.
• What happens in the Crime Reconstruction stage of offender profile construction in the top-down approach?

  The crime is reconstructed to develop hypotheses and predictions about the motives and behaviour of the offender or victim.
• What happens in the Profile Generation stage of offender profile construction in the top-down approach?

  An offender profile is developed based on the information from the other stages. The profile regards various characteristics including; physical appearance, behaviour habits and demographic information.