Forensic Psychology

• When was the top-down approach developed?

  In the US by the FBI in the 1970s
• How was the top down approach developed?


  By the FBI interviewing 36 sexually motivated serial killers
• Top down approach categories 


  Organised or disorganised
• Organised characteristics


  High IQ

  Married

  Socially and sexually competent

  In skilled professional job

  Leaves little evidence

  Has victim type

  Plans crime
• Disorganised characteristics


  Low IQ

  Lives alone

  Socially and sexually incompetent

  In unskilled profession

  Impulsive crimes

  Victim selected at random
• 4 steps of FBI profiling


  1. Data assimilation
  2. Crime scene classification (organised or disorganised)
  3. Crime reconstruction
  4. Profile generation
• Top down approach evaluation


  Only applies to certain crimes (murder and rape)

  Assumes offenders have consistent patterns of behaviour - oversimplification

  Organised and disorganised not mutually exclusive - Ronald Holmes suggested 4 categories

  Developed by small sample by self report - issues
• Ronald Holmes 4 types of serial killer


  1. Visionary
  2. Mission
  3. Hedonistic
  4. Control/Power
• Bottom up approach developed by


  David Canter
• The bottom up approach applies statistical procedures alongside psychological theory to crime scene analysis
• 3 elements of bottom up approach investigative

  1. Interpersonal coherence
  2. Forensic awareness
  3. Geography
• Interpersonal coherence


  Consistency between relationships/communication

  Crimes may reflect everyday life of offenders eg rapists may lack control in home life
• Who investigated forensic awareness

  Davis et al
• Davis et al


  Found rapists who covered fingerprints often had history of burglary
• Centre of gravity


  Locations where offender commits crimes and leaves bodies

  Gives idea of offender's base
• Jeopardy surface


  Where offender is likely to strike next
• Canter suggested most offenders have a crime range of 2 miles
• Canter's Circle Theory


  Suggests two models of offender behaviour

  1. The marauder (operates close to home)
  2. The commuter
• Bottom up approach evaluation 


  More applicable than top down approach

  Relies on objective statistics - easier for patterns to be seen

  Supporting research - Canter and Lundrigan

  Could lead to over reliance on profile which may be incorrect
• Canter and Lundrigan collated information from 120 murder cases in the USA and found spatial consistency
• Who theorised the atavistic form?

  Lombroso
• When was the atavistic theory developed?


  1870
• How did Lombrose describe offenders?


  As genetic throwback

  Primitive subspecies

  Savage and untamed
• Atavistic characteristics


  • large ears
  • dark skin
  • high cheekbones
  • curly hair
  • facial asymmetry
  • extra nipples / digits
• Lombroso evidence


  Investigated features of skulls of Italian convicts

  3839 living

  383 dead

  Found 40% concordance rate
• Atavistic form evaluation 


  Supporting evidence - prisoner behaviour improved following facial surgery (30% less likely to be arrested again)

  Causation issues - facial defects may be due to other factors than evolution

  Lombroso shifted crime emphasis from moralistic discourse to a more scientific approach

  Contradictory evidence from Charles Goring
• Two people who did twin studies

  Lange and Raine
• Lange and Raine conclusion 


  Genes play a role in criminality
• Raine found 52% concordance for criminality in MZ twins and 21% for DZ
• Two candidate genes for violent crime

  MAOA and CDH13
• What is MAOA


  An enzyme that breaks down neurotransmitters including dopamine and serotonin
• Issue with MAOA in violent criminals


  Low MAOA gene causing aggressive and impulsive behaviour
• Issue with CDH13 in violent

  criminals

  Low activity associated with ADHD and substance abuse
• Abuse experience and low activity MAOA together lead to nine times increased likelihood of aggression
• Parts of brain associated with criminality

  The prefrontal cortex and amygdala
• Prefrontal cortex function


  Emotional regulation and decision making
• Limbic System


  Set of subcortical structures linked to emotion
• Raine found many murderers who plead had abnormalities in their amygdala
• People with antisocial personality disorder need to actively activate mirror neurons, therefore less deterred from violence
• Biological Explanation for Offending evaluation

  Issues with twin studies share same environment

  Diathesis stress model

  Reductionist

  Alternative explanations

  Doesn't account for non-aggressive offences