top-down approach

• Offender profiling

  An investigated tool employed by the police when solving crimes.

  • Main aim: to narrow the field of enquiry and list of likely suspects.
  • Compiling a profile will usually involve scrutiny of the crime scene and analysis of the evidence to generate a hypothesis about the probable characteristics of the offender 

   
• The American approach (typology)

  • match what is now known about the crime and the offender to a pre-existing template that the FBI developed
  • offenders are classified into one of 2 categories based on the event
• what are the 2 categories of offenders:

  organised and disorganised
• organised offenders

  • shows evidence of having a plan
  • reflect the offenders 'type'
  • maintain a high degree of control
  • little evidence clues
  • above average intelligence
  • professional occupation
• Disorganised offenders

  • little to no evidence of planning (spontaneous)
  • crime scene reflects impulsive nature of the attack
  • lower than average IQ
  • history of sexual dysfunction and failed relationships
  • tend to live alone
• What are the 4 main stages in constructing an FBI profile

  • Data assimilation
  • Crime scene classification
  • Crime reconstruction
  • Profile generation
• Data assimilation


  profiler reviews evidence
• Crime scene classification

  organised or disorganised
• Crime reconstruction

  Hypotheses in terms of a sequence of events, the behaviour of the victim
• profile generation

  hypotheses related to the likely offender
• 3 weaknesses of the top-down

  approach

  • only applies to particular crimes
  • Based on outdated models of personality
  • evidenced does not support the disorganised offender
• how does the top-down approach only apply to particular crimes?

  best suited to crime scenes that reveal important details about the suspect (rape, arson, cult)

  • More common offences do not lend themselves to profiling
  • limited approach