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Summary AQA psychology forensics notes
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This document contains notes for AQA psychology forensics with clear AO1 points and a range of AO3 (evaluation) points including studies.
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Topic AO1 AO3Top down approach Offender profiling – behavioural and analytic tool that is intended to o Research support for a distinct organised category of offender –
help investigators accurately predict and profile the characteristics of Canter et al conducted analysis of 100 US murders each committed
unknown criminals – professional profilers work alongside police by a diff serial killer – technique called smallest space analysis
Methods vary but usually involves careful scrutiny of the crime scene (statistical technique that identifies correlations across diff samples of
and analysis of other evidence to generate hypotheses about probable behaviour) – was used to assess the co-occurrence of 39 aspects of
characteristics of offender e.g. age, background, occupation serial killings (e.g. torture, restraint, murder weapon) – revealed that
Top down approach: does seem to be a subset of features of many serial killings which
Traditionally used in USA matched FBI’s typology for organised offenders – FBI typology
Start with pre-established typology and work down in order to assign approach has some validity
offenders to one of the two categories based on witness accounts and - Counterpoint – many studies suggest that organised &
evidence from crime scene disorganised types aren’t mutually exclusive – variety of
Organised offenders: combinations that occur at any given murder scene – hard to
Show evidence having planned crime in advance victim is deliberately classify killers as one type – may have contrasting characteristics
targeted and suggests the killer has a ‘type’ of victim such as high intelligence & sexual competence, but commits
Characteristics - maintains high degree of control during crime – operate spontaneous murder & leaves body at crime scene – suggests
with almost detached surgical precision – little evidence of clues left that organised- disorganised typology is a continuum
behind – above average intelligence, skilled, professional occupation – o Wider application – can be adapted to other crimes such as burglary
socially & sexually competent- usually married – critics have said that this technique only applies to a limited number
Disorganised: of crimes but Meketa reports that top-down profiling has been
Shows little evidence of planning – offences may be spontaneous acts – applied to burglary – 85% rise in solved cases in three US sates –
crime scene reflects impulsive nature of attack – body is usually still at detection method retains organised-disorganised distinction but also
scene adds 2 new categories: interpersonal( knows the victim -steals
Characteristics – lower than average IQ – unskilled in work or something of significance) and opportunistic (generally
unemployed – history of sexual dysfunction & failed relationships – live inexperienced)
alone and relatively close to where offence took place o Flawed evidence – evidence on which it is based – FBI profiling was
Constructing FBI profile developed using interviews with 36 murderers in US – 24 of these
Data assimilation – profiler reviews evidence e.g., crime scene individuals were classified as organised offenders & 12 disorganised –
photographs, pathology reports, witness reports sample may have been poor – FBI agents did not select random or
Crime scene classification – organised or disorganised large sample – not different types of offenders – unstructured
Crime reconstruction – hypotheses in terms of sequence of events, interview – hard to compare – no scientific basis
behaviour of victim o Approach is based on behavioural consistency – serial offenders
Profile generation – hypotheses related to likely offender e.g., of have characteristic ways of working – should be seen across all crime
demographic background, physical characteristics, behaviour scenes – possible for profilers to link diff crime scenes together so
offender is easier to catch – situationist psychologists argue that
behaviour is driven by situation they are in than by personality –
behavioural patterns seen at crime scene may tell us little about how
individual behaves in every day life
Bottom up approach Aim – to generate a picture of the offender – their likely characteristics, o Supporting evidence – Canter & Heritage – conducted analysis of 66
routine behaviour and social background – through systematic analysis sexual assault causes using smallest space analysis – several
of evidence at crime scene behaviour were identified as common in different samples of
Does not begin with fixed typologies – the profile is ‘data-driven’ and behaviour, such as use of impersonal language & lack of reaction of
, emerges as the investigator engages in deeper in more rigorous scrutiny victim – each individual displayed a characteristic pattern of
of details of offence behaviour – which can help establish whether 2 or more offences
Also more grounded in psychological theory were committed by same person (case linkage)– supports basic
Investigative psychology: principles of investigative psychology
Attempt to apply statistical procedures and psychological theory to the - Counterpoint – case linkage depends on database and this will
analysis of crime scenes only consist of historical crimes that have been solved – this
Aim – to establish patterns of behaviour that are likely to occur across could be because they were straightforward to link these crimes
crime scenes together – suggests investigative psychology may tell us little
Create a database from data from crime scenes about crimes that have few links between them so remain
Details of future crimes can be compared to the data base – could unsolved
reveal details about the offender based on other crimes o Supporting evidence for geographical profiling – Lundrigan and
May also determine whether series of offences are linked – committed Canter collated information from 120 murder cases in US – used
by the same person smallest space analysis which revealed spatial consistency in
Interpersonal coherence – the way offender behaves at the scene – the behaviour of killers – location of each body disposal site created
way they interact with victim ‘centre of gravity’ – go diff direction each time but creates circle – this
Time and place – could indicate something about where they live/work can be used to identify offender
Forensic awareness – behaviour could indicate they have been involved o Geographical information is insufficient – success of geo profiling is
with police in the past – if they can cover their tracks reliant on quality of data that police can provide – recording of crime
Geographical profiling: is not always accurate – can vary between police forces and
Uses info about location of linked crime scenes to make inferences estimated 75% crimes are not reported to police -calls into question
about likely base of an offender – crime mapping based on principle of on utility of approach that relies on accuracy of geo data – critics
spatial consistency claim other factors are just as important such as timing, age and
Spatial consistency – will stick to a certain area – centre of gravity experience – geo info alone may not lead to successful capture
becomes clear o More scientific than top-down: investigators rely on
Circle theory – pattern of offending often forms a circle around the biographical, geographical and psychological data generated
offenders home/base of operation through statistical analysis, to produce a profile of an offenders'
Distribution of offences can lead us to describe offender in one of 2
likely characteristics. This means bottom-up profiling can be
ways – marauder (operates close to home) or commuter (travels
seen as more objective than top-down profiling - grounded in
distance away from home)
Provides valuable insight into nature of offence e.g. planned evidence and psychological theory, and less driven by
opportunistic & mode of transport speculation.
Atavistic theory Historical approach – Cesare Lombroso suggested that criminals were o It changed the face of the study of crime – he coined the term
‘genetic throwbacks’ – a primitive subspecies who were biologically ‘criminology’ – he is credited as shifting emphasis in crime research
different from non-criminals from moralistic discourse which offenders were judged as being weak
Biological approach – seen by Lombroso as lacking evolutionary minded towards a more scientific approach which included
development their savage and untamed nature meant they would find it evolutionary influences & genetics – in trying to describe how
impossible to adjust to the demands of civilised society and would particular types of people are likely to commit crimes – his theory
therefore turn to crime signalled the beginning of offender profiling – major contribution to
Saw offending as natural tendency rooted in the genes of those who science of criminology
engage in it - Counterpoint – critics have questioned whether Lombroso’s
Suggests that if offending behaviour is innate then offender is not to legacy is entirely positive – racist undertones – features that are
blame atavistic – curly hair & dark skin are most lilkely to be found in
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