Top Down Approach

• the american approach

  • The top-down approach to profiling originated in the US as a result of work carried out by the FBI     
  • The FBIs Behavioural Science Unit drew upon data gathered from in-depth iInterviews with 36 sexually motivated serial killers including Ted Bundy and Charles Manson
  • Offender profilers who use this method will match what is known about the crime and the offender to a pre-existing template that the FBI developed
  • Murderers or rapists are classified in one of two categories on the basis of the evidence, and this classification informs the subsequent police investigation
• organised offenders

  • show evidence of having planned the crime in advance- the victim is deliberately targeted and will often reflect the fact that the killer or rapist has type. They maintain a high degree of control during the crime and may operate with almost detached surgical precision.
  • there is little evidence or clues left behind at the scene and they tend to be above average intelligence, in a skilled, professional occupation and are socially and sexually competent. They are usually married and may even have children
• disorganised offenders

  • show little evidence of planning, suggesting the offence may have been a spontaneous, spur of the moment act. The crime scene tends to reflect the impulsive nature of the attach- the body is still usually at the scene and there appears to have been very little control on the part of the offender.
  • they tend to have a lower-than-average IQ, be in unskilled work of unemployed, and often have a history of sexual dysfunction and failed relationships. They tend to live alone and often relatively close to where the offence took place
• constructing an FBI profile

  • there are four main stages in the construction of an FBI profile
  • data assimilation- the profiler reviews the evidence (crime scene photographs, pathology reports, etc.)
  • crime scene classification- as either organised or disorganised
  • crime reconstruction- hypotheses in terms of sequence of events, behaviour of the victim etc.
  • profile generation- hypotheses related to the likely offender, e.g. of demographic background, physical characteristics, behaviour etc.
• only applies to particular crimes (weakness)

  • crime scenes that reveal important details about the suspect, such as rape, arson and cult killings, and crimes that involve such macabre practices such as sadistic torture, dissection of the body and acting out fantasies
  • it is a limited approach to identifying a criminal
• based on outdated models of personality

  • the typology classification system is based on the assumption that offenders have patterns of behaviour and motivations that remain consistent across situations and contexts
  • several critics have suggested that this approach is naïve and is informed by old-fashioned models of personality that see behaviour as being driven by stable dispositional traits rather than external factors that may be constantly changing
  • likely to have poor validity when it comes to identifying possible suspects and predicting their next move
• David Canter et al (2004)

  • using a technique called smallest space analysis, analysed data from 100 murders in the USA
  • the details of each case were examined with reference to 39 characteristics thought to be typical of organised and disorganised killers
  • although the findings did indeed suggest evidence of a distinct organised type, this was not the case for disorganised which seems to undermine the classification system as a whole