Bottom-up approach

• What is the bottom-up approach?

  • Developed in UK by David Canter, aiming to generate a picture of the offender through analysing the crime scene
  • Does not begin with fixed typologies - the profile is data-driven and grounded in psychological theory
• What is investigate psychology?

  • Combines statistical analysis (pre-existing criminal data) and psychological theory to analyse crime scenes
  • Aims to establish patterns of behaviour that can form a statistical database for comparing different crimes
• What are 3 aspects central to the bottom-up approach?

  • Interpersonal coherence: how the offender interacts with the crime scene and the victim reflects their everyday behaviour
  • Significance of time & place: where the crime takes place may indicate where the offender lives
  • Forensic awareness: criminal's behaviour may be indicative of previous criminal experience e.g. covering up the crime scene due to being interrogated by the police before
• What is geographical profiling?

  • Rossmo (1997) proposed 'crime mapping': looking at the location of crimes to determine the likely home of the offender
  • 'Jeopardy surface': can be used to predict where the criminal is next likely to commit a crime
  • Can also provide 'mental maps' of areas the criminal knows, as well as an insight into premeditation, modes of transport, age, etc.
• What is Canter's circle theory and what two models does it propose?


  • Patterns of offending usually form circles around an offender's residence
  • Marauder: operates in close proximity to their home due to greater familiarity with the area and will try to hide their identities
  • Commuter: will travel a distance away from his residence and will not try to hide their identities
• What evidence is there for investigative psychology in the bottom-up approach?

  • Canter and Heritage (1990)'s analysis found that the nature of particular types of crime (sexual assault) was correlated with particular types of behaviour (use of impersonal language)
  • Can help with 'case linkage' - establishing whether or not 2 offences were committed by the same criminal
  • Supports interpersonal coherence and use of statistical techniques in identifying behaviour patterns
• What evidence is there for geographical profiling in the bottom-up approach?

  • Lundrigan and Canter (2001): analysed 120 murder cases involving serial killers and found spatial consistency - the killer disposed the body in various locations forming 'centres of gravity'
  • Offender's base was invariable located in the middle
  • Supports geographical profiling in apprehending offenders
• What is the Rachel Nickell case and how does this weaken the bottom-up approach?

  • Rachel Nickell (1992) was murdered - offender profiler Paul Britton's profile was narrow and incorrect as the real murderer was ruled out due to being several inches taller than the profile
  • Shows that there is a high risk of pursuing innocent suspects and letting criminals run free for a long period of time e.g. Napper killed and raped more women after being uncaught
• How do mixed results weaken the bottom-up approach?

  • Copper (1996) gave a questionnaire to 184 police officers who had used this profiling approach
  • 80% of responses said it gave useful advice BUT only 14% said it helped solve the case and only 3% led to identification of the offender
  • Shows it is clearly not a valued approach