Forensics

• The Problems in Defining Crime


  Culture (where).

  
  

  Historical Context (when).

  
  

  Age (who).
• Culture as a problem in defining crime

  What is considered a crime in one culture may not be considered a crime in another.

  
  

  For example, in the UK it is illegal to have more than 1 wife, whereas in the Philippines this is legal.
• Historical context as a problem in defining crime

  What is considered a crime at 1 point in time may not be considered to be a crime at another.

  
  

  For example homosexuality in the UK is now legal whereas prior to 1967 it was an illegal offence.
• Age as a problem in defining crime

  At what age are people responsible for criminal actions?

  
  

  
  

  For example a 2 year old child should not be prosecuted for picking up a packet of sweets and walking out of a shop without paying for them.

  
  

  In the UK the age of criminal responsibility is 10 years.
• Ways of measuring crime

  Official Statistics.

  
  

  Victim Surveys.

  
  

  Offender Surveys.
• Official Statistics


  Government records of the total no. of crimes reported to police and recorded in the official figures.

  
  

  These are published by the home office every year.

  
  

  Allows the govt to develop crime prevention strategies and policing initiatives as well as to direct resources to those areas most in need.

  
  

  Officially recorded crime is affected by police recording rules which can vary between police forces.
• Reasons why crimes are not reported

  There is no victim.

  
  

  Too trivial.

  
  

  Can't be bothered to.

  
  

  Mistrust police.

  
  

  Perpetrator is friend/family.
• Reasons why crimes are not recorded.

  Insufficient time.

  
  

  Crime too trivial.

  
  

  Not a priority.

  
  

  Victim withdraws charge.

  
  

  Lack of evidence.

  
  

  police recording rules.
• Research on recording crime

  Farrington and Dowds 1985.

  
  

  Found that Nottinghamshire police were more likely to record thefts of less than £10 value in contrast to Staffordshire and Leicestershire police forces.
• Victim Surveys


  Record people's experience of crime over a specific period.

  
  

  The Crime Survey for England and Wales asks people to document the crimes they have been a victim of in the past year.

  
  

  Each person is interviewed using a fixed set of questions.

  
  

  50,000 households are randomly selected.

  
  

  Published on an annual basis.
• Offender surveys


  Involves individuals volunteering the details of the no. and types of crimes they have committed.

  
  

  These tend to target specific groups of likely offenders based on 'risk' factors such as previous convictions, age social background etc.

  
  

  The Offender Crime and Justice Survey which ran from 2003-6 was the 1st national self-report offender survey in the UK.

  
  

  As well as measuring offending, it looked at indicators of repeat offending, trends in offending, role of co-offenders.

  
  

  The OCJS involved interviewing 10-25 year olds about anti-social behaviour and drug use in a longitudinal study.
• Evaluation of Official Statistics

  Practical Application - Allows govt to direct resources to tackling specific crime in certain areas.

  
  

  Not reliable figures - Only shows those crimes that are recorded, People may not report crimes.
• Evaluation of Victim Surveys

  Reliance on memory - as seen in memory topic, EWT is not very accurate.

  
  

  More Accurate than official statistics - Highlights crimes that are not reported to the police.
• Evaluation of Offender Surveys


  How many people - Offer insight into the no. of people responsible for certain offences as a small group or single individual may have committed many crimes.

  
  

  Unreliable - Individuals may conceal crimes they have committed or exaggerate them for bravado.

  
  

  Targeted nature of the survey means that types of crimes such as burglary are over represented as opposed to corporate crime such as fraud.
• Offender profiling


  A method of working out the characteristics of an offender by examining the characteristics of the crime and crime scene.

  
  

  Aim is to generate hypotheses about the probable characteristics of an offender.
• The different approaches to offender profiling

  UK = Bottom up

  
  

  US = Top down.
• The Top-down Approach


  Concerns matching what is known about the offence and offender to a pre-existing template.

  
  

  Originated in the US as a result of the FBI's interviews with 36 sexually motivated serial-killers.

  
  

  Offenders are classified in one of two categories.
• Categories of the top-down approach.

  Organised.

  
  

  Disorganised.

  
  

  Based on the idea that serious offenders have a certain modus operandi which correlate with a particular set of social and psychological characteristics that relate to the individual.
• Crime Scene Characteristics of an Organised offender

  Evidence of planning.

  
  

  Victim is a stranger.

  
  

  Controlled conversation.

  
  

  Use of restraints.

  
  

  Removes weapon from the scene.

  
  

  Body is hidden.
• Likely personality and behaviour of an Organised Offender

  Average to high intelligence.

  
  

  Socially competent.

  
  

  Skilled employment.

  
  

  Sexually competent.

  
  

  Living with partner.
• Crime Scene Characteristics of an Disorganised offender

  Little to no evidence of planning.

  
  

  Victim is known.

  
  

  Little conversation.

  
  

  Leaves evidence - blood, semen etc.

  
  

  Little use of restraint.

  
  

  Body in open view.
• Likely personality and behaviour of a Disorganised offender.


  Below average intelligence.

  
  

  Socially inadequate.

  
  

  Unskilled employment.

  
  

  Sexually incompetent.

  
  

  Lives alone and close to crime scene.
• 4 main stages to constructing an FBI Profile

  Data Assimilation- Profiler reviews evidence.

  
  

  Crime scene classification.

  
  

  Crime reconstruction- hypotheses in terms of sequence of events, behaviour of the victim etc.

  
  

  Profile generation- hypotheses related to the likely offender.
• Research on Top-Down Approach

  Canter 2004.

  
  

  Used info from 100 murders by 100 Serial Killers in the USA.

  
  

  Statistical technique 'smallest space analysis' was used to test for the co-occurrence of the 39 variables that distinguish between organised and disorganised.

  
  

  Found that organised characteristics were typical of most serial killers.

  
  

  Disorganised characteristics were much rarer and not frequent enough to be considered a type.
• Evaluation of Top-down Approach

  Evidence of Canter 2004 contradicts 'disorganised offender'.

  
  

  Only applies to certain crimes such as torture and rape. Whilst these are high priority, they are not frequent.

  
  

  Scherer and Jarvis 2014 - It has other benefits such as opening up new avenues for police.

  
  

  Subjective in classifying crime scenes.

  
  

  Not enough categories.
• The Bottom-Up Approach


  Aim is to generate a picture of the offender - their likely characteristics, behaviour and social background.

  
  

  Done through systematic analysis of evidence at the crime scene.

  
  

  The profile is data driven.

  
  

  Does not begin with fixed typologies.
• Investigative Psychology


  Smallest Space Analysis.

  
  

  Interpersonal Coherence.

  
  

  Forensic Awareness.
• Smallest space analysis


  A computer program that identifies correlations across patterns of crime scenes.

  
  

  Uses data bases for details of crimes, for example the MO, location etc.

  
  

  Specific details of an offence can then be matched against the database.
• Interpersonal Coherence


  Central to the bottom-up approach.

  
  

  This is the way the offender behaves at the scene, including how they interact with the victim.

  
  

  May reflect their behaviour in more everyday situations.

  
  

  For example, whilst some rapists want to maintain maximum control and humiliate their victims, others are more apologetic.
• Forensic Awareness


  Describes those individuals who have been the subject of police interrogation before.

  
  

  Their behaviour may denote how mindful they are of covering their tracks.
• Research on Investigative Psychology

  Canter and Heritage (1990).

  
  

  Content analysis of 66 sexual assault cases.

  
  

  Data examines using Smallest space analysis.

  
  

  Several characteristics were identified as common in most cases, such as use of impersonal language and lack of reaction to the victim.

  
  

  This can help establish whether 2 or more offences were committed by the same person.
• Research into accuracy of Profiles

  Pinizzotto and Finkel 1990.

  
  

  Compared 5 groups of people's ability to write a profile of a murder and sex offence.

  
  

  Expert profilers were most accurate at producing profiles of the sex offender.

  
  

  However, detectives with no profiling experience were more accurate in profiling the murderer.
• Geographical Profiling


  Canter proposed that people do no just reveal themselves through the crimes they commit but also the locations they choose.

  
  

  Concerned withwhererather thanwho.

  
  

  Offenders are more likely to commit a crime close to their house or where they habitually travel to because they now the area best.

  
  

  Analyses the locations of a connected serie of crimes and considers where the crimes were committed, the spatial relationships between different scenes and how they may relate to the offenders home.
• Geographical Profiling - Circle Theory

  Canter and Larkin 1993 proposed that most offenders have a spatial mindset, they commit their crimes within a kind of imagined circle.

  
  

  There are Marauders and Commuters.
• Marauder


  The Offender's home is within the geographical area in which the crimes are committed.
• Commuter


  The offender travels to another area and commits crimes within a defined space (circle).
• Research on Geographical Profiling

  Lundrigan and Canter 2011.

  
  

  Found that the offenders home was geographically central in the pattern.

  
  

  The location of each body disposal site tended to be different each time.

  
  

  This effect was most evident for offenders who travelled short distances.
• Criminal Geographic Targeting


  Computerised system developed by Rossmo and Rossmo's formula.

  
  

  The formula produces a 3D map displaying spatial data related to time, distance and movement to and from crime scenes.

  
  

  The map is called a jeopardy surface and indicates where the offender is likely to strike next
• Evaluation of bottom-up approach

  More objective and scientific than the top down approach.

  
  

  Geographic profiling can help to narrow down search areas.

  
  

  However, geographic profiling cannot distinguish between multiple offenders in the same area.

  
  

  Human error could occur when inputting data to databases.

  
  

  Rachel Nickell Murder highlights over reliance on profilers being dangerous.
• Bio Explanation - Atavistic Form


  Lombroso (1876) proposed that offenders were a biologically distinct group of people exhibiting primitive characteristics.

  
  

  They were a separate species whose features enabled them to survive in the wild, but made them ill suited to civilised society.

  
  

  Criinals are born not made.