Top-down approach

• offender profiling- a behavioural and analytical tool that is intended to help investigators accurately predict and profile the characteristics of unknown offenders
• offender profiling

  Methods vary but compiling of a profile often involves carful scrutiny of the crime scene and analysis of other evidence ( witness reports) in order to generate a hypothesis about the probable characteristics of the offender ( their background, age , occupation)
• The top down approach originated in the United States when the FBI's behavioural science unit drew upon data from in depth interviews from 36 sexually motivated murderers including Ted Bundy. They then concluded that the data could be categorised into organised and disorganised crime.
• Disorganised and Organised crime.

  Each category had certain characteristics so when analysing future crimes if certain characteristics were true of a suspect they could use this category to predict other characteristics- then help find the offender.
• The top-down approach: Profilers start with a pre-established typology and work down to lower levels in order to assign offenders to one of two categories based on witness accounts and evidence from the crime scene.
• Organised offenders: Planned the crime in advance

  • is often that the victim is selected out and the offender may have a certain 'type' of victim they seek out.
  • The offender maintains high level of control at the crime scene,
  • Little evidence or clues left at the crime scene
  • Tend to be above average intelligence, and in a skilled occupation
  • Sexually and socially competent
  • May be married and have children
• Disorganised offenders: little evidence of planning, suggesting offences may be spontaneous.

  • Crime scene reflects impulsive nature of attack
  • Body and evidence may be at the scene - little control over crime
  • Lower than average intelligence, in unskilled work or unemployed
  • History of sexual dysfunction and failed relationships
  • Tend to live alone and close to crime scene
• Constructing an FBI profile

  1. Data assimilation- the profiler reviews the evidence (crime scene photographs, pathology/witness reports)
  2. Crime scene classification- as either organised or disorganised
  3. Crime reconstruction- hypotheses in terms of sequence of events, behaviour of the victim.
  4. Profile generation- Hypotheses related to the likely offender, demographic background, physical characteristics.
• A03: Research support for a distinct organised offender category.

  • Canter: analysed 100 US murders each by a different serial killer. He used smallest space analysis which identifies correlations across different samples of behaviour, he used this to assess the co-occurrence of signs of torture, hiding of the body/weapon, cause of death etc.
  • This analysis revealed that there are many aspects of serial killings of organised offenders that match the FBI's categories.
  • This increases the top-down approaches validity
• A03: CC: Other studies suggest organised and disorganised aren't mutually exclusive. Godwin argues there are many combinations of characteristics of a killer, for example someone may be intelligent and socially competent but commits a spontaneous messy murder. Organised-disorganised typology may be more of a continuum.
• A03: Another strength is that top down profiling can be used on other types of crime such as burglary.

  • Meketa reports that top-down profiling has recently been applied to burglary cases leading to a 85% increase in solved cases in the US
  • They use the same organised/disorganised categories but also add interpersonal ( offender knows victim ) and opportunistic ( generally inexperienced young offender )
  • This suggests top-down approach has a wider application then first thought
• A03: One weakness of the top down approach is that the evidence it is based on is weak.

  • Canters research has be criticised for its small sample and it not including different types of offender ( were all murderers ). There was also no standardised set of interview questions so each interview was different and not comparable.
  • This suggest the top down approach lacks scientific basis.
• A03: Another weakness is that the top-down approach is based on behavioural consistency.

  • This means that if serial killers have characteristic ways of working then it should be easy to link these across crime scenes and catch the offender.
  • Situational psychologists like Walter Mischel argue that peoples behaviour is more driven by the situation they are in than their personality.
  • This suggests top-down approach is a limited explanation