top down approach

• Originated in America 1970s when the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit used data gathered from in-depth interviews with 36 sexually motivated serial killers, then concluded that the data could be categorised into organised or disorganised murders.
• Organised killers usually plan in advance, have  high degree of control during the crime, may operate with detached surgical precision, leave little evidence behind, have high IQ, skilled professional occupation, socially and sexually competent, usually married and possibly children.
• Disorganised killers don't plan in advance, have little control, spontaneous, body usually still at the crime scene, low IQ, unskilled, usually unemployed, history of sexual dysfunction, and failed relationship, usually live alone and close to the crime scene.
• Constructing an FBI profile:

  Data assimilation the profiler reviews the evidence

  Crime scene classification organised or disorganised

  Crime reconstruction hypotheses in terms of sequence of events, behaviour of victim

  Profile generation hypotheses related to the likely offender
• Strength research support for distinct organised category of offenders. Canter 2004 analysed 100 US murders committed by different serial killers using smallest space statistical technique which identifies correlations across different samples of behaviour and for this they looked for co-occurence of 39 aspects of serial killing such as attempt to hide body, murder weapon and cause of death. Analysis revealed evidence for subsets of features of many serial killings which seemed to match the FBI’s typology of an organised murderer.
• But many studies suggest that the organised and disorganised types are not mutually exclusive as there are a variety of combinations that occur at any given murder scene. Godwin 2002 reality is difficult to classify killers as one or either type as they may display a combination of both characteristics such as high IQ and leaving the body at the scene. Suggests organised and disorganised are more of a continuum.
• Strength the organised and disorganised typology id able to be applied to more than just one crime such as burglary. Meketa 2017 top down profiling recently applied to burglary leading to an 85% ride in solved cases in 3 US states. Method retains organised/ disorganised distinction but adds interpersonal and opportunistic. These findings are in response to critics of the approach who have claimed that the technique only applied to limited crimes such as sexually motivated murder. Suggest wider application than originally assumed.
• Limitation methodology used in the evidence on which it is based. FBI profiling developed 36 interviews, 25 serial killers and 11 single or double murders.Canter argues the sample was poor as it is not randomly selected, not large enough, and only covers murder and not other crimes, and there were no standardised questions. Suggests that it doesn't have a sound scientific basis.