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Forensic Psychology revision notes
- Module
- Forensics psychology
- Institution
- AQA
Includes all topics in Forensic Psychology from AQA A level Psychology revision guide. Both AO1 and AO3. All psychologists names are highlighted.
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Forensic psychology:Top-down approach: US, fixed typologies, narrow the list of likely suspects, characterises of an
offender
FBI interviewed 36 sexually motivated murders and created 2 categories: ‘ways of working’
which correlate to their social and psychological behaviours
Organised offenders-
High IQ
Married and have children
Planned crime
Control during the crime
Disorganised offenders-
Low IQ
Failed relationships, lives alone, sexual dysfunction
No planning of crime
Crime scene reflects impulsive nature
FBI profile construction-
1. Data assimilation- review evidence
2. Crime scene classification- organised or disorganised
3. Crime reconstruction- hypotheses about behaviour and events
4. Profile generation- hypotheses about the offender
Evaluation:
Research support- Carter et al looked at 100 US serial killings using smallest space analysis. He
found that it matched the organised offender category. Increases the validity of the theory.
However, Godwin argues that in real life, criminals may have contrasting characteristics that
don’t fit into one type. This suggests that the theory is more of a continuum.
Used for other types of crimes. Markets found that using the top-down profiling has led to 85%
rise in solved cases in burglary. She also added two new categories- interpersonal (offender
knows the person, steals something of significance) and opportunistic (inexperienced young
offender). This suggests that to down profiling has wider application to all crimes.
Flawed, Canter et al biased sample, unstructured interview, no scientific base.
Not personality based- Mischel argued that most people’s behaviour is driven by the situation
then the ‘personality’, based on behavioural consistency.
, Bottom-up approach: UK, data driven, generate a picture of the offender's characteristics
through evidence
Statistical analysis detects behaviour that is likely to occur across crime scenes which then
suggest important details about the offender.
Interpersonal coherence- the way an offender behaves at the scene may reflect their behaviour
in everyday situations
Crime mapping- locations of crime scene to infer where the offender lives
Spatial consistency- restrict their work to areas they are familiar with which creates a
hypothesis about the offender and their habitual way of working
Canter and Larkin proposed two modes:
1. The marauder- operated close to their home base
2. The commuter- travelled a distance away from their usual residence to commit a crime
Circle theory- their offences form a circle around where they live, this could provide insight into
the nature of the offence
Evaluation:
Supporting evidence for investigating psychology- Canter and Heritage conducted an analysis of
66 sexual assault cases using smallest space analysis. Showed consistency in their behaviour.
However, the database is only solved cases which are likely to be a circular argument.
Therefore, this approach tells us a little about unsolved cases and those that have few links
between them.
Supporting evidence for geographical profiling- Lundrigan and Canter collated information from
120 murder cases using smallest space analysis, all bodies dumped were in a circular effect,
especially in the case of marauders.
Geographical profiling may not be sufficient on its own- 75% of crimes are not reported to the
police, other factors matter e.g. timing- Ainsworth. This suggests that geographical profiling
might not lead to a successful capture an offender.
Mixed results- Copsin surveyed 48 police departments and found that 83% found the bottom-
up approach useful. However, it also revealed that only 3% led to accurate identification. Kocsis
et al found that chemistry students produced more accurate profiles then detectives.
Therefore, the bottom-up approach has little practical value when it comes to solving cases.
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