Offender Profiling: Typology and Data-driven Approaches

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, theories, researchers, studies, and evaluations for the Typology Approach and Data-driven Approach to offender profiling in AQA A Level Psychology.

Typology Approach

Also known as the American (FBI) approach to offender profiling, it is a deductive method developed in the 1970s that matches crime scene details to pre-existing categories of offenders.

Deductive Profiling

An approach to profiling that applies pre-determined theories, concepts, and templates to crime scene evidence to draw conclusions about an offender.

Robert Ressler

An FBI Behavioural Sciences Unit researcher who primarily developed the typology approach in the 1970s based on interviews with 36 sexually motivated murderers.

Organised Offender

An offender typology characterised by planned crimes, high control, minimal physical evidence, brought tools, and offenders who are sexually/socially competent with above-average IQ.

Disorganised Offender

An offender typology characterised by chaotic crime scenes, spontaneous attacks, abundant physical evidence, improvised tools, low IQ, and social incompetence.

Modus Operandi (MO)

An offender's signature 'way of working' that correlates with a specific set of social and psychological characteristics.

Data-driven Approach

Also known as the British approach devised by David Canter, it is an inductive profiling method using statistical analysis of crime scene evidence to build a profile.

Inductive Profiling

An approach to profiling that starts with small, specific details from the crime scene and works up to develop a broader theory from the data.

David Canter

The British psychologist who devised the data-driven approach to profiling, investigative psychology, and circle theory.

Investigative Psychology

A branch of profiling that applies statistical procedures and psychological theory to crime scene evidence to establish behavioral patterns and create statistical baselines.

Smallest Space Analysis

A computational statistical procedure used in the data-driven approach to identify correlations between behaviours occurring most frequently across crime scenes.

Interpersonal Coherence

A concept in investigative psychology proposing that an offender's behavior at the crime scene reflects their everyday social interactions and relationships.

Forensic Awareness

Behaviour shown by offenders who have previous experience with police interrogation or investigations, leading them to actively cover their tracks at a crime scene.

Geographical Profiling

A technique described by Rossmo (1997) that uses spatial information from linked crime scenes to infer the offender's likely home or operational base.

Marauder

An offender who commits crimes within their local neighbourhood, close to where they live or work, where they feel safe and know escape routes.

Commuter

An offender who travels away from their home neighbourhood to commit crimes, often due to work travel or to avoid detection.

Circle Theory

A geographical profiling model proposed by Canter and Larkin (1993) suggesting an offender's crime pattern forms a circle around their residence.

Centre of Gravity

The central point within a spatial pattern of crime locations in geographical profiling, often representing the offender's home base or area of next attack.

John Duffy

The 'Railway Rapist' operating in North London in the 1980s whose identification was successfully assisted by David Canter's geographical profile.

Snook et al. (2007)

A meta-analysis concluding that profiling was based mostly on common-sense justifications and profilers were only slightly better than non-profilers at identifying offender traits.

Canter et al. (2004)

An analysis of 100 American serial murders using smallest space analysis, finding support for a distinct organized type but undermining the disorganised classification.

Canter & Heritage (1990)

A content analysis of 66 sexual assault cases using smallest space analysis, revealing common co-occurring behaviors such as impersonal language.

Lundrigan & Canter (2001)

A study of 120 US serial murder cases using smallest space analysis, demonstrating spatial consistency and a central base effect for body disposal sites.

Copson (1995)

A survey of 48 police forces finding profiler advice was judged useful in 83% of cases, but led to accurate offender identification in only 3% of cases.