Profilers work up from evidence collected from the crime scene to develop hypotheses
Interpersonal coherence
Offenders behaviour at crime scene reflects their everyday behaviour and thus is a clue
Forensic Awareness
Individuals who have been the subject of police interrogation before 'cover their tracks'
Circle theory
Proposed two models of offender behaviour
The marauder - operates in close proximity to their house
The commuter - who is likely to have travelled a distance away from their usual residence
Circle theory
The pattern of offending is likely to form a circle around their usual residence, this becomes more apparent with more offences.
This can give important insight into the nature of the offence as well as the offender such as whether it was planned or characteristics of the offender
A03 - Evidence supports investigative psychology
Canter and Heritage conducted a content analysis of 66 SA cases.
Several characteristics were identified as common in most cases, such as impersonal language and lack of reaction to the victim.
This leads to understanding how offenders' behaviour may change over a series of offences.
This supports the usefulness of investigative psychology because it shows how statistical techniques can be applied.
A03 - Evidence supports geographical profiling
Lundrigan and Canter collated information from 120 murder cases involving serial killers in the USA.
The location of each body disposal site was in a different direction from the previous sites; the offenders' base was located in the centre of the pattern.
More noticeable for marauder offenders.
This supports Canters' claim that spatial information is a key factor in determining the base of an offender.