Offender Profiling

• What are the two main explanations for criminality discussed in this unit?

  Innate biological factors and learned behavior
• What does Freud contribute to the discussion of criminality?

  Freud offers insights into psychological motivations
• What is offender profiling?

  Assumptions about offender characteristics from crime analysis
• What is a modus operandi (MO) in criminal behavior?

  A particular way offenders carry out crimes
• What types of crimes are most likely to use offender profiling?

  Serious offenses like rape and murder
• When is offender profiling most likely to be used?

  When normal forensic techniques haven't worked
• What are the two approaches to offender profiling?

  • Top-down approach (criminal investigative analysis)
  • Bottom-up approach (investigative psychology)
• What does the top-down approach to offender profiling involve?

  Using pre-existing categories of offenders
• Who developed the top-down approach to offender profiling?

  The FBI in America
• How are organized and disorganized offenders defined?

  Based on characteristics observed at crime scenes
• What is a characteristic of organized offenders?

  Carefully planned offenses with little evidence
• What is a characteristic of disorganized offenders?

  Crimes committed in the heat of the moment
• What is the purpose of crime reconstruction in offender profiling?

  To hypothesize the sequence of behaviors
• What is involved in stage four of the profiling process?

  Generating a profile based on inferences
• What is a limitation of the top-down approach to profiling?

  Small sample size may not be representative
• What is the five-factor model in investigative psychology?

  A model for interpreting crime scene behavior
• What does interpersonal coherence suggest in criminal behavior?

  Criminal behavior reflects interactions with others
• What does the time significance factor indicate?

  Criminals choose locations they know well
• What is the least effort principle in geographic profiling?

  Criminals choose locations closest to home
• What is the circle hypothesis in geographic profiling?

  Offender's home base is within a circle of crimes
• What is the difference between marauders and commuters?

  Marauders offend close to their home base
• What is the jeopardy surface in geographic profiling?

  A 3D heat map of crime probabilities
• What did Canter's research on marauders suggest?

  Criminals choose to offend near their home
• What is a limitation of the bottom-up approach?

  Cannot identify commuters until caught
• What is the Barnum effect in profiling?

  General statements seem accurate to many
• Why is it difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of offender profiling?

  It's used with other forensic techniques
• What did Snook's survey reveal about police perceptions of profiling?

  94% of officers found profiling helpful
• What is a final evaluation of offender profiling?

  It may fail with statistically abnormal offenders
• What are the key components of the bottom-up approach?

  • Statistical analysis of crime data
  • Geographic profiling
  • Criminal characteristics
  • Forensic awareness
  • Criminal career
• What are the limitations of the top-down approach?

  • Small sample size
  • Self-report bias
  • Lack of generalizability
• What are the strengths of the bottom-up approach?

  • Based on statistical analysis
  • More scientific than top-down
  • Can identify patterns in criminal behavior