Forensics - offender profiling

• what is crime

  any behaviour that is unlawful and punished by the state - this act is harmful to an individual, group or society as a whole
• why might crime vary among countries

  -criminal behaviour varies between countries depending on the laws in those countries

  -e.g. homosexuality was illegal in the UK but now isn't, however still illegal in some places

  -there are some crimes or behaviours that are universally regarded as unacceptable e.g. murder
• ways of measuring crime

  Official statistics - incidents reported by police etc

  Victim surveys - asking a random sample of people to identify which crimes have been committed against them over a period of time

  Offender surveys - question offenders about their crimes
• what is offender profiling

  a tool used in criminal psychology to help identify particular characteristics, behaviours and personality traits of offenders by examining evidence from the crime scene
• why is offender profiling useful

  creating a 'profile' of an unknown criminal narrows down potential suspects and can understand more about the person they're looking for in order to make an arrest
• 2 methods for offender profiling

  top-down approach (USA)

  bottom-up approach (UK)
• what is the top-down approach

  an analysis of previous crime creates a profile of likely offender using categories to narrow down field of suspects
• features of a top-down approach

  -known as 'FBI approach' or 'crime scene analysis'

  -originated in US and primarily used by FBI to profile violent criminals

  -approach is based on the idea that crime scenes can reveal important clues about the offenders personality and habits which can be used to categorise them and predict future behaviour
• 2 categories for the top-down approach

  Organised and Disorganised type of offender
• what are organised types of offenders

  -offender commits a planned in advance crime

  -may engage in violent fantasies with the victim

  -is high in intelligence

  -socially competent

  -may have a stable job or L-T relationship

  -crimes are well-executed with minimal evidence left at the crime scene
• what are disorganised type of offenders

  -impulsive and lack of planning

  -crime scene is left messy with many clues such as fingerprints

  -little evidence of victim engagement

  -offender has low intelligence

  -socially/sexually inadequate (history of mental illness)

  -likely unemployed, lack of social interaction
• 6 main stages in the top-down process (Douglas, 2006)

  Profiling inputs

  Decision process models

  Crime assessment

  Criminal profile

  Crime report

  Apprehension
• what are is profiling input

  Data is collected including:

  -a description of the crime scene (photos, sketches)

  -background information about victim (employment, habits, relationships)

  -details of crime (weapons, cause of death autopsy report)

  -no suspects considered as this may bias information collected
• what are decision process models

  Profiler starts to make decisions about the data and organises it into meaningful patterns, considering:

  -murder type (mass - one incident, spree - may, serial - many in long time period)

  -time factors (short or long, day or night)

  -location factors (where, were crime scene and murder scene the same)
• what is crime assessment

  Based on data collected, crime is classified as organised or disorganised
• what is the criminal profile stage

  -a profile is constructed of the offender which includes hypotheses about their likely background, habits and beliefs of the offender

  -this description is used to work out a strategy for the investigation to help catch the offender

  -this is also useful to anticipate how this person will respond to various investigative efforts, including how the offender might be interviewed if caught
• what is crime report assessment

  a written report is given to the investigating agency (police) and people matching the profile are evaluated
• what is the apprehension stage

  if a suspect is apprehended, the entire profile-generating process is reviewed to check that at each stage the conclusions made were legitimate/valid, and consider how the process ay be revised for future cases
• strengths of the top-down approach

  +practical application

  +useful insights into an offenders motives and personality

  +offers a structures framework that's easy for investigators to apply
• practical application (A03)


  -Top-down approach has application real-life investigations

  -helps narrow down suspect list especially with violent crimes

  -Case study support to show effectiveness e.g. in apprehension of Offender Arthur Showcross

  -profiling helped identify behavioural traits that matched the offenders profile, helping to restore justice
• useful insights into motives and personality

  -by categorising into organised and disorganised able to anticipate how offender will react if caught, and best ways to deal with their behaviour

  -also helps investigators hypothesise about the offenders likely background and personality which can help in future cases
• Easy to apply/use (A03)

  -provides a structured framework that's easy for investigators to apply

  -broad classification and refining profile process offers a systematic way to think about offenders likely traits, reducing bias between investigators

  -can assist in early stages of investigations
• limitations of the bottom-down approach

  -doesn't always produce accurate predictions

  -assumes offenders can be neatly classified

  -limited sample size/culture bias

  -profiling can be subjective

  -difficult to distinguish between organised and disorganised types of offender
• predictions not always accurate (A03)

  -relies heavily on typologies that may not apply to all cases

  -e.g. not all organised offenders display high intelligence or may have a mix of characteristics

  -reduces the validity of conclusions as predictions are assumed rather than backed up by scientific evidence
• simplistic approach (A03)


  -assumes offenders can be neatly classified

  -many criminals won't fit distinctively into 'organised' or 'disorganised', as may have mixed characteristics

  -this binary view overlooks the complexity of human behaviour and could lead to inaccurate profiling

  -is a simple and incomplete approach as doesn't cater for the complexity of the human mind or behaviour
• limited sample size (A03)

  -approach was developed from limited sample size

  -specifically interviews with only 36 convicted serial killers, who were majority white American men

  -lack of diversity makes it difficult to generalise findings to other types of offenders, non-serial killers or offenders from other backgrounds
• profiling can be subjective (A03)

  -relies on profilers interpretation of crime scenes and behaviours

  -this reduces scientific credibility compared to other approaches based on statistical analysis like 'bottoms-up' approach used in the UK

  -there's also limited empirical evidence supporting the reliability of this method

  -Alison (2003) shows judgements aren't reliable as police officers were given a profile along with 2 versions of offenders characteristics. Over 50% rated profile as generally or very accurate even though half were fake
• difficult to distinguish between organised and disorganised offender (A03)

  -Turvey (1999) suggests that the dichotomy between organised and disorganised is false and more likely to be a continuum rather than distinct categories

  -solution by Douglas (1992) was to have a 3rd category called the 'mixed' offender, but this would lessen the usefulness of the classification as this is more subjective

  -David Canter (2004) analysed 39 aspects of serial killings and revealed no clear division between offender types, suggesting having 2 distinct categories is not the best approach
• what is the bottom-up approach

  a data-driven approach where statistical techniques and crime scene evidence are used to produce predictions about the likely characteristics of an offender
• how does the bottom-up approach differ from the top-down approach

  unlike the top-down which categorises offenders based on predefined types, the bottom-up approach aims to identify patterns and behaviours through empirical data and statistical analysis
• why is bottom-up data driven

  -uses quantitative data from previous crime scenes

  -allows for objective profiling

  -analyses specific characteristics of the crime e.g. location
• 2 examples of bottom-up approach

  investigative psychology and geographical profiling
• what is investigative psychology

  -a form of bottom-up profiling based on psychological theory

  -developed by David Canter and examines how criminal behaviour can be predicted based on crime scene analysis

  -involves creating psychological profiles based on patterns observed across similar cases
• features of investigative psychology

  interpersonal coherence, forensic awareness, smallest space analysis
• what is interpersonal coherence

  -people are consistent in their behaviour and therefore there will be links/correlations with elements of the crime and how they behave in everyday life

  -at the same time people's behaviour changes overtime, and therefore looking at differences in rimes over a four year period might offer further clues
• what is forensic awareness

  -certain behaviours may reveal an awareness of particular police techniques and past experience

  -e.g. Davies (1997) found that rapists who conceal fingerprints often had a previous conviction for burglary
• what is smallest space analysis

  a statistical technique developed by Canter - data about many crime scenes and offender characteristics are correlated so that most common connections can be identified
• study into smallest space analysis

  Gabrielle Salfati and David Canter (1999)

  -analysed the co-occurrence of 48 crime scene and offender characteristics taken from 82 UK murder cases where the victim was a stranger

  -identified 3 underlying themes:

  Instrumental opportunistic: using murder to accomplish a goal and taking the easiest opportunity

  Instrumental cognitive: a particular concern about being detected therefore more planned

  Expressive impulsive - uncontrolled, in heat of strong emotions, provoked by victim
• what is geographical profiling

  -a form of bottom-up profiling based on the pattern shown by the location or locations of a series of crimes

  -analyses the geographical locations of crime and where they were committed, as spatial relationships between scenes can determine the likely home or base of the offender
• theories of geographical profiling

  circle theory and criminal geographic targeting (CGT)