forensic

• What is the definition of offender profiling?

  Tool to predict characteristics of unknown criminals
• What is the TOP-DOWN APPROACH in offender profiling?

  • Developed in America by the FBI in the 70s
  • Involves interviewing sexually motivated serial killers
  • Used only for sexually motivated crimes
  • Classifies offenders as organised or disorganised
• Who were some of the serial killers interviewed in the TOP-DOWN APPROACH?

  Ted Bundy and Charles Manson
• What types of crimes is the TOP-DOWN APPROACH used for?

  Sexually motivated crimes like rape or murder
• What are the characteristics of organised offenders?

  • Planning involved
  • Deliberate actions
  • Little evidence left at the scene
  • Skilled and professional occupation
  • Sexually competent
• What are the characteristics of disorganised offenders?

  • No planning
  • Compulsive nature
  • Crime scene reflects disorganisation
  • Unemployed or unskilled
  • Sexual dysfunction
• What are the steps in the construction of a profile?

  1. Data assimilation – review evidence
  2. Crime scene classification – organised or disorganised
  3. Crime reconstruction – hypothesis on events
  4. Profile generation – hypothesis on the offender
• Who developed the BOTTOM-UP APPROACH in offender profiling?

  David Canter in Britain
• What is the aim of the BOTTOM-UP APPROACH?

  To generate an idea of the offender from the smaller details
• What is Investigative Psychology?

  • Applies statistical procedures and psychological theories
  • Analyzes crime scene evidence
  • Establishes patterns of behavior across crime scenes
• What does Interpersonal coherence refer to?

  Offender's behavior at the scene and with victims
• What does Forensic Awareness describe?

  People mindful of covering tracks after interrogation
• What is Geographical profiling?

  • Uses crime scene location to infer offender's home
  • Known as crime mapping
  • Based on spatial consistency principle
  • Creates hypotheses about offender's thoughts and modus operandi
• What is the 'jeopardy surface' in geographical profiling?

  Indicates where the offender may go next
• What is Canter's circle theory?

  • Pattern of offending forms a circle around home base
  • Distribution of offences describes offenders as:
  • The marauder – operates nearby
  • The commuter – travels from home
• What are the two types of offenders described in Canter's circle theory?

  The marauder and the commuter
• What does interpersonal coherence refer to in criminal behavior?

  Offender's actions and interactions with victims
• How do some rapists behave towards their victims according to Dwyer (2011)?

  Some seek control, others are apologetic
• What can time and place of a crime indicate about the offender?

  Where the offender may live
• What does forensic awareness describe?

  Behavior of those previously interrogated by police
• How might a person's behavior indicate their forensic awareness?

  It may show how mindful they are of covering tracks
• what is a negative evaluation point on the validity of top down approach

  can only be applied to sexually motivated crimes as research was done with sexually motivated criminals
• what is a negative evaluation point in regards to crime of both top down and bottom up

  not all crime is reported – 70% is unreported. research is not valid as it does not account for all crime
• What did Canter et al analyze in their study?

  100 US murders by different serial killers
• What method did Canter et al use in their analysis?

  Smaller space analysis
• What did Canter et al find regarding organized offenders?

  Similarity between sets of features used
• What does the similarity found by Canter et al suggest?

  Validity of offender profiling
• What percentage rise in solved burglary cases did Meteka report?

  85%
• In how many US states did Meteka report the rise in solved cases?

  3 US states
• What challenge does Goodwin highlight regarding classifying murderers?

  Difficulty in classifying based on IQ and behavior
• What does Goodwin suggest about spontaneous murders?

  Killers may have high IQ but act spontaneously
• What is a flaw in Canter et al's evidence according to the text?

  Sample size is not random or large enough
• How many US murderers were included in Canter et al's study?

  36 US murderers
• How many organized and disorganized murderers were in the study?

  24 organized and 12 disorganized
• What does Canter et al argue about their sample?

  It lacks standardization and comparability
• What do psychologists say about behavior in relation to crime?

  Behavior is driven by situation, not personality
• What might patterns at crime scenes indicate according to psychologists?

  They may not tell much about everyday behavior
• What is Lombroso's historical approach to crime?

  Atavistic form of offenders
• What did Lombroso believe about offenders and civilized society?

  They lacked evolutionary development
• How many criminals did Lombroso examine in his study?

  3839 living and 383 dead