offending profiling: the top-down approach

• offender profiling


  behavioural and analytical tool that is intended to help investigators accurately predict and profile the characteristics of unknown criminals
• the top-down approach


  profilers start with a pre-established typology and work down in order to assign offenders to one of two categories based on witness accounts and evidence from the crime scene
• organised offender


  an offender who shows evidence of planning, targets the victim and tends to be socially and sexually competent with higher than average intelligence
• disorganised offender


  offender who shows little evidence of planning, leaves clues and tends to be socially and sexually incompetent with lower than average intelligence
• constructing an FBI profile

  • data assimilation- the profiler reviews the evidence
  • crime scene classification- as either organised or disorganised
  • crime reconstruction- hypotheses in terms of sequence of events, behaviour of the victim
  • profile generation- hypotheses related to the likely offender
• evaluation: limitation, only applies to particular crimes

  • top-down profiling is best suited to crime scenes that reveal important details
  • limited approach
• evaluation: limitation, based on outdates models of personality

  • based on assumption that offenders have patterns of behaviour and motivations that remain consistent across situations and contexts
  • old-fashioned model
  • poor validity when it comes to identifying possible suspects or trying to predict their next move
• evaluation: limitation, evidence does not support the 'disorganised offender'