Offender profiling

• What is the definition of offender profiling?

  An analytic tool for predicting unknown criminals
• What is the top-down approach in offender profiling?

  • Uses pre-established typology
  • Assigns offenders to organised or disorganised categories
• What characterizes an organised offender?

  Killer shows control and careful planning
• How does an organised offender typically choose their crime scene?

  They select locations where they are undisturbed
• What type of weapons do organised offenders typically use?

  Weapons often brought to the crime scene
• What evidence do organised offenders typically leave behind?

  They leave little evidence and take trophies
• How do organised offenders select their victims?

  They use specific criteria like age and appearance
• What is a common behavior of organised offenders when approaching victims?

  They may present themselves nonthreateningly
• What is the profile of an organised offender?

  Socially competent, likely in stable relationships
• What characterizes a disorganised offender?

  Killer leaves a chaotic crime scene with little planning
• What type of weapons do disorganised offenders typically use?

  Weapons are usually improvised or found at the scene
• How do disorganised offenders handle evidence at the crime scene?

  They make little attempt to conceal the body
• How do disorganised offenders typically kill their victims?

  Victims are killed quickly and uncontrollably
• What is the profile of a disorganised offender?

  Poor social skills, lives alone, low intelligence
• What employment status is common among disorganised offenders?

  Unskilled employment or unemployed
• What personal hygiene is typical for disorganised offenders?

  They often have poor personal hygiene
• What mental state might a disorganised offender exhibit?

  They may be psychotic
• TD Approach AO3 - Not mutually exclusive

  • Behaviours that describe each of the organised and disorganised types are not mutually exclusive
  • Ex. it is possible that an offender is a killer with high intelligence and sexual competence who commits a spontaneous murder and leaves the body at the crime seen
  • Therefore it is difficult to categorise some offenders as one type or another
  • This suggests that the distinction between the types is an oversimplification and so has questionable validity
• TD Approach AO3 - Limited Approach

  • Best suited to crimes that reveal important details about the suspect such as rape, arson and cult killings, as well as crimes that involve practices such as sadistic torture, dissection of the body or acting our fantasies
  • More common offences such as burglary and destruction of property do not lend themselves to profiling because the resulting crime reveals very little about the offender
  • Means that it is at best a limited approach to identifying a criminal as it only applies to particular crimes
• TD Approach AO3 - Wider Application

  • Has been adapted to other crimes like burglary
  • Meketa reports that top-down profiling has been recently applied to burglary, leading to an 85% rise in solved cases in three US States
  • This has been done by retaining the organised-disorganised distinction but also adding two new categories: interpersonal (offender usually knows the victim and steals something of significance) and opportunistic (generally inexperienced young offender)
  • Suggests approach has wider application than was originally assumed
• What is the bottom-up approach in criminal profiling?

  Data-driven approach using statistical techniques
• What is the aim of the bottom-up approach?

  To generate a picture of the offender
• How is the bottom-up approach conducted?

  Through systematic analysis of the crime scene
• What is a key characteristic of the bottom-up approach?

  No preconceived ideas or initial assumptions
• What does the bottom-up approach emphasize?

  Scientific analysis and psychological theory
• Who developed Investigative Psychology?

  Canter
• What is the aim of Investigative Psychology?

  To establish patterns of behaviour across crime scenes
• What does Investigative Psychology rely on?

  Statistical analysis and database records
• How can specific details from crime scenes be used?

  Matched against databases for offender insights
• What can Investigative Psychology determine about offences?

  Whether they are linked to the same offender
• What does interpersonal coherence refer to?

  Offender's behavior at the crime scene
• How does time and place significance help in profiling?

  Indicates where the offender may live
• What is forensic awareness?

  Understanding of police investigations by offenders
• How might previous convictions affect an offender's behavior?

  They may cover their tracks better
• What does geographical profiling use to determine offender locations?

  The physical location of the crime
• What does Canter et al.'s Circle Theory propose?

  Two models of offender behavior
• What is the Marauder model in Circle Theory?

  Offender operates close to their home base
• What is the Commuter model in Circle Theory?

  Offender travels a distance from home
• What insights can be gained from geographical profiling?

  • Offender's home location
  • Patterns of offending
  • Potential links between crimes
• How does the pattern of offending relate to the offender's residence?

  It forms around their usual residence