Offender profiling

• Define offender profiling

  This is when characteristics of an offender are created based on the examination of characteristics at a crime scene and of the crime
• Explain the top-down approach

  • An analysis of previous crimes creates a likely profile of the offender
  • relies on the intuition and beliefs of the profiled
  • this is used to narrow down possible suspects
• Explain an organised type of offender

  • Highly intelligent and socially competent
  • likes to carry out violent fantasies with the victim
  • commits a planned crime
• Explain a disorganised type of offender

  • Lower intelligence and competence
  • likely to leave clues at the crime scene
  • little evidence of engagement with the victim
• Who investigated the stages of offender profiling

  Douglas et al
• What are the stages of offender profiling

  • Profiling inputs
  • decision process models
  • crime assessment
  • criminal profile
  • crime assessment
  • apprehension
• What are the weaknesses of the top down approach

  • Accuracy of the approach
  • potential harm caused by the approach
• Evaluation - accuracy of the approach

  • e.g study
  • police offers were given a profile along with either a real or fake version of the offender’s characteristics
  • over 50% said that the profile was generally accurate despite half being given a fake version
• Evaluation - potential harm caused by the approach

  • Barnum effect - ambiguous descriptions can be applied to fit any situation
  • profiling can potentially mislead investigations if they’re wrong
  • smart offenders can read about how profiles are constructed and deliberately mislead profilers by leaving misleading clues
• Define the bottom up approach

  A data driven approach which produces predictions of likely characteristics of offenders
• What are the aspects of investigative psychology

  • Interpersonal coherence
  • forensic awareness
  • smallest space analysis
• What is investigative psychology based off of

  Psychological theory
• Explain interpersonal coherence

  • People are consistent in their behaviour
  • there will be links with elements of a crime and how people behave in everyday life
  • peoples behaviour can also change over time
• Explain forensic awareness

  • Certain behaviours about offenders can reveal an awareness of particular police techniques due to past experience
  • e.g study found that rapists who concealed fingerprints often had previous convictions of burglary
• Explain smallest space analysis

  Statistical technique where data is used to correlate offenders characteristics and information about crime scenes
• What is geographical profiling

  • Profiling based on the patterns shown by the locations or locations of crime scenes
  • people can reveal themselves through the locations they choose as they can be prime clues in an investigations
• What are the two types of geographical profiling

  • Circle theory
  • criminal geographic targeting
• Explain circle theory

  • Proposed that most offenders have a spatial mindset and commit their crimes in an imagined circle
  • marauder - the offenders home is within the geographical area in which the crimes are committed
  • commuter - the offender travels to another geographical area and commits crimes within a defined space
• Explain criminal geographic targeting

  • Computerised system
  • produces a three dimensional map displaying spatial data related to time, distance and movement to and from the crime scenes
• What study was carried out in relation to smallest space analysis - investigative psychology

  • An analysis was made of the co-occurrence of 48 crime scenes and offender characteristics taken from 82 murders where the victim was a stranger
  • three themes were identified
  • instrumental cognitive
  • instrumental opportunistic
  • expressive impulsive
• Explain instrumental cognitive

  Planned murder due to concerns out being detected
• Explain instrumental opportunistic

  The offender used the easiest opportunities and used the murder to accomplish a goal or obtain something
• Explain expressive impulsive

  Uncontrolled, in the heat of strong emotions, may have been provoked by the victim
• What is a strength of the bottom up approach

  • Scientific basis
  • it is considered to be more scientific than the top down approach because of the use of objective statistical techniques and computer analysis
  • so it has the potential to be objective and systematic