bottom up approach

• builds picture based on facts from previous crimes of the same type, no intuition is used
• investigative psychology -example of bottom up approach by david canter


  data drive approach that involves using data from crime scenes and victims to build a statistical database.
• investigative psych


  -worked on 'railway rapist' crime

  -studied interviews with survivors and clues from crime and drew up a profile of murderer
• investigative psychology

  -interpersonal coherence-assumption that behaviour is consistent across all situations, and that everyday behaviour is similar to crime being committed

  -time and place-Position and timing of crimes give clues as to where the perpetrator lives or works and their mode of travel.

  -forensic awareness-Certain behaviour may reveal a knowledge of police techniques, possibly by previously committing a crime and going through the criminal justice system. Davis et al (1997) found that rapists who conceal their fingerprints often had a previous conviction for burglary.
• geographical profiling


  WHERE crimes are committed, It analyses locations of a connected series of crimes, local knowledge and considers the spatial relationships between different crime scenes and is based on the assumption that offenders are more likely to commit crimes near where they live, or where they routinely travel to, as this involves little effort.
• geographical profiling


  canter suggested that these locations and timings of crimes can give important clues about where the offender lives, works, socialises and travels. Information about any of these helps the police narrow down the suspects, where the inquiry will focus and where police resources should be directed.
• geographical profiling


  Circle Theory -suggests that offenders have a spatial mindset – they commit crimes in an imagined circle. There are two types of offenders that this theory distinguishes between - a marauder where the offender's home is within the geographical area where the crimes are committed, and often leads to crimes being clustered together. The second is a commuter where the offender travels to another geographical area to commit their crime. Where they travel to is still likely to be familiar to them and it is within a defined space
• AO3 railway rapist support

  -profiling very accurate
• AO3


  geographical profiling v simplistic, may be multiple criminals operating in the same area and, sometimes, individuals commit crimes in places such as deserted areas that have no geographical significance to them.
• AO3

  This approach is more scientific and objective than top-down approaches as it uses statistical techniques and computer analysis.

  Smallest space analysis is created based on previous crimes that have been committed of a similar nature. This database can then be used to successfully identify the type of crime the individual has committed and if it is common/uncommon.

  This is a strength as the use of statistics and theory has removed the intuition of the profiler from the process, making it a more reliable approach to offender profiling.