offender profiling

• Top down approach


  • The top-down approach starts with the general profile then fills in the details
• Top down Approach in America

  • Police in America tend to use the top-down approach. Douglas et al (1986) describes the sequence of the FBI's top-down approach to offender profiling: First, data is assimilated, then the culprit is classified as either organised or disorganised
• Organised offender profile


  Above average or high intelligence

  Crime is planned

  Skilled

  Socially and sexually competent
• Disorganised offender profile


  Below average or low intelligence

  Crime is impulsive with little or no planning

  Unskilled

  Socially and sexually incompetent
• Generating a profile

  This involves filling in more specific details about the criminal e.g. physical and psychological characteristics - beyond those described in the general organised or disorganised profiles
• AO3-Supporting evidence

  - Gregg McCrary and Ed grant used the top-down approach to develop a profile of the man responsible for the murders of several prostitutes in the late 1980's. This profile turned out to match for the offender, Arthur Shawcross, who was found guilty
• AO3-Evidence based

  The organised and disorganised offender profiles were developed by the FBI from interview and data from 36 US murderers, including Ted Bundy and Charles Manson
• AO3-Conflicting evidence

  Pinizzotto and Finkel (1990) compared the accuracy of profiles created by 6 US-trained profilers (using top-down approach) against profiles created by control groups. When participants had to create a profile for a sexual assault case, the profiles created by the trained profilers were no more accurate than profiles created by the control groups
• AO3-Overly Simplistic

  For example, it's possible that a high IQ person could commit a spontaneous and unplanned murder in a fit of rage. However, high IQ is a characteristic of the organised profile, but a spontaneous crime is characteristic of the disorganised profile and so sticking too rigidly to these offender profiles could lead to inaccurate profiling