FOR 02: Offender profiling- bottom up approach

Explain what is involved in investigative psychology as an approach to offender profiling (5)

* Profilers work up from evidence collected from the crime scene to develop hypotheses.

* Establishes patterns of behaviour forming a statistical 'database'

* Offence compared against database.

* Interpersonal coherence

* Offender's behaviour at crime scene reflects their everyday behaviour and thus is a clue.

Explain what is involved in geographical profiling as an approach to offender profiling, including Canter's circle theory (4)

* The location of crimes is a clue

* Crime mapping based on psychological theories of offender's behaviour in relation to their home base.

Canter's circle theory

* Marauders operate close to home

* Commuters operate further afield.

Explain what Canter & Heritage's (1990) analysis showed about the investigative psychology approach to offender profiling (2)

* Smallest space analysis established patterns of behaviour across sexual assault cases

* i.e., interpersonal coherence

Explain what Lundrigan &Canter's (2001) analysis showed about the geographical profiling approach to offender profiling (2)

* Smallest space analysis established geographical 'centre of gravity'...

* ...as offenders spread victims in circle around own home

Explain what Copson's (1995) survey suggests about the usefulness of offender profiling in general (3)

* Survey of 48 police departments

* Advice from profilers 'useful' in 83% of cases

* But only led to identifying offender in 3% of cases

Note that this survey applies to offender profiling generally