Offender Profiling

OFFENDER PROFILINGProfiling begins with an analysis of the physical evidence found at individual crime scenes.

The criminal profiler uses deductive reasoning to start to develop a picture of the offender in terms of the characteristics of different kinds of criminal.

deductive reasoning: the reasoning involved in using specific physical facts to arrive at generalizations

The Anthrax Killer and the role of the FBI

On the 18th of September 2001, 7 days after the twin towers were hit, a hand printed letter was sent to “NBC TV – Tom Brokaw”. It was postmarked Trenton, NJ (New Jersey). On the same name a similar letter was sent to “NY Post” (New York) and was also postmarked Trenton, NJ. Inside the letters was a “coarse brown granular material looking like Purina dog food”

Robert Stevens, a journalist working for another paper owned by AMI was the first person to contract and die from inhalation of anthrax spores, in total at least 22 people developed the infection, five of these died of the infection, including the aide of Senator Daschle and two postal workers who had handled the letters.The FBI were called in to investigate to case

and issued a profile of the possible offender/s.

See h/o and task sheet

Subsequent to the letters being sent the following information became available:

The Anthrax in the second set of letters was more sophisticated and refined than that first used. Although of different grades, the Anthrax was derived from the same bacterial strain.

This strain had been originally researched at Fort Derrick, U.S.A. and distributed to fifteen bio-research labs within the U.S. and six overseas. The strain had been cultured no more than two years previously.

On the 9th May 2002 the New Scientist reported that “The DNA sequence of the anthrax sent through the mail in 2001 has

been revealed and confirms that the bacteria originally came from a US military Laboratory”

In August 2002 investigators found Anthrax spores in a mailbox at 10 Nassau Street near Princeton University, New Jersey.

 

Look at the information on p37-38 of your booklet and try to answer the questions on p39.

What do you think is the purpose of offender profiling, based on this case and your general knowledge?

The FBI and USA government have yet to convict anyone for the Anthrax attacks although there have been several suspects:

Steven Hatfill: A virologist and ex-green beret

Dr Philip Zack: A microbiologist working at Fort Derrick, accused of leading a hate

campaign against muslim co-workers

Dr Bruce Ivins: Worked in the bio-defense labs at Fort Derrick for 18 years. Committed suicide on 1st August, 2008. Widely reported that the FBI were about to accuse him of the anthrax attacks.

On 6th August 2008 Ivins was declared to be the sole culprit in the Anthrax attacks. The case is now closed.

Offender Profiling

OFFENDER PROFILINGProfiling begins with an analysis of the physical evidence found at individual crime scenes.

The criminal profiler uses deductive reasoning to start to develop a picture of the offender in terms of the characteristics of different kinds of criminal.

deductive reasoning: the reasoning involved in using specific physical facts to arrive at generalizations

Holmes (1989) suggests that the aims of profiling are:

To reduce the scope of an investigation by providing basic information in relation to the social and psychological variables of the offender’s personality

To allow some prediction of future offences and their location

To provide a psychological evaluation of belongings found in the suspect’s possession

To provide strategies for interviewing offenders which take account of individual differences.

There are two major approaches to profiling:

1.The British take a BOTTOM UP approach to profiling which involves

”Using detailed information from INDIVIDUAL crime scenes to draw up an INDIVIDUAL profile of the suspect.”

2.The Americans favour a TOP DOWN approach

◦“Compares detail of a crime with existing classifications of crimes to match the crime with a TYPOLOGY of a criminal.”

The US approachTop - down

Typological offender profilingBooklet p35;

the FBI interviewed 36 notorious sex murderers and serial killers in prison

Two important ideas Behavioural evidence

◦ Things that tells us how an offender went about committing a crime

Criminal consistency◦ The idea that a person’s behaviour at a crime

scene is consistent with their behaviour in other contexts

◦ These can be used to try to work out which type of offender has committed a particular crime

M.O.= modus operandi = ‘way of operating’. Hazelwood believed there is an agreement between character and action.

What do you think the implications of this are?

What does this crime scene tell you about the offender responsible?

Characteristics of sex criminals

Victims chosen for a r_ _ _ _ _: they possess a characteristic valued by the killer

Crime driven by s_ _ _ _ _ f _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. (HINT – where do you think they originate from? LINK with Freud??)

Choose a victim they can access and overpower e _ _ _ _ _.

Early sexual fetishes and an interest in p _ _ _ and c _ _ _ _ _ _

Poor s _ _ _ _ _ skills

Typological offender profiling

CARD SORT!ORGANISED CRIME

SCENEDISORGANISED CRIME

SCENE

ORGANISED CRIMINAL DISORGANISED CRIMINAL

Planned SpontaneousVictim – targeted stranger Victim known by offender

Control including restraints Little control

Aggression before death Sexual acts before death

Body hidden or removed from crime scene Body not hidden, or left at crime scene

Weapon and evidence absent Evidence present

Higher than average IQ Lower than average IQSkilled occupation Unskilled

Controlled observation UncontrolledLiving with partner Living alone

Mobile – eg car Lives near crimeSocially competent Socially incompetentSexually competent Sexually incompetent

High birth order status Low birth order statusFather’s work stable Father’s work unstable

Inconsistent discipline in childhood Harsh discipline during childhood

Use of alcohol during crime Alcohol not used during crime

Follows crime on news Does not follow crime on news

Limited change in behaviour after crime Major behaviour change after crime

Select a few of these features and

add them to p35 of your booklet

There’s more information on this topic at:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/gary.sturt/crime/offender%20profiling%20definitions.htm

Types of crime sceneOrganised Disorganised

General approach

Planned and controlled

Unplanned and chaotic

Weapons Brought to the scene ImprovisedEvidence Destroyed or

removedLeft at scene

Victim Attempts to control Little attempt at control

Offender Unknown to victimSocially & sexually competentNormal/high intelligenceAngry/depressed

Possibly known to victimSocially & sexually ineptLow intelligenceAnxious/psychotic

Categorise the three criminals using the case

histories provided

FBI profiling process

Profile generationOffender’s physical, demographic and behavioural characteristics

Data assimilationData compiled from police reports, post mortems, crime scene photos etc.

Crime classificationProfilers decide whether the crime scene is organised or disorganised

Crime reconstructionHypotheses about crime sequence, offender & victim behaviour etc.

See booklet p34

Profile the crime scenes at the back of your booklet

Use the evidence to construct a profile◦ Organised or disorganised◦ Behavioural evidence◦ Known characteristics of serial offenders

Your profile should…◦ Tell the story of the crime◦ Describe the person responsible

Types of crime sceneOrganised Disorganised

General approach

Planned and controlled

Unplanned and chaotic

Weapons Brought to the scene ImprovisedEvidence Destroyed or

removedLeft at scene

Victim Attempts to control Little attempt at control

Offender Unknown to victimSocially & sexually competentNormal/high intelligenceAngry/depressed

Possibly known to victimSocially & sexually ineptLow intelligenceAnxious/psychotic

Problems with typological profiling What problems can you identify with the

FBI’s approach to offender profiling?

◦Assumptions about stable types◦Incomplete data◦Subjective judgements◦Small and unusual sample◦Validity of methodology◦Narrative & anecdotal evidence

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• You have two minutes to draw a map of the KoW catchment area.

For the UK approach, we’re going to focus on GEOGRAPHICAL PROFILING

The UK approachBottom - up

This starts with small details and builds

them up to create a picture using all

available data; it aims to provide a pattern

of co-occurring characteristics and

consistencies in behaviour during criminal

behaviour

British profilers such as Canter look for

ways in which a criminal’s behaviour during

a crime may reflect his behaviour in

everyday life; because people tend to act in

a consistent way across many types of

different situation.

Look at your booklet p40!

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What is geographical profiling?

• A set of techniques for making inferences about crime and criminals from the location and timing of offences.

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Activity: Crime mapping

• Plot the crimes listed on p43 of your booklet on the map on p42 and then decide...– How many offenders do you think are responsible

and why?– What other suggestions can you make about the

offender(s)?

Crime mapping

Source: streetmap.co.uk

Crime mapping

Source: streetmap.co.uk

Offence clusters

Crime mapping

Source: streetmap.co.uk

Source: streetmap.co.uk

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Geographical profiling: 1. Routine activity theory

• Crimes occur when three circumstances coincide:– A motivated offender– A suitable (and vulnerable) victim– Absence of a capable guardian

• Criminal offences are an extension of the offender’s normal activities, so will occur in places the offender makes regular use of

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• A circle drawn to encompass all the crimes in a series is likely to contain the offender’s base (Canter & Larkin, 1993).

• Where should the police look for the offender responsible for the cluster between the underground line and Durnsford road?

Geographical profiling: 2. Circle theory of environmental

range

3. Dragnet analysis

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Timing of offences

• Information about geographical location of crimes becomes more useful when combined with information about when offences occurred.

Crimes around Manchester University

J F M A M J J A S O N D

Street robbery

Burglary

How can we explain the fluctuations in different crimes over the year?

Mental maps

• How accurate is your map of the Cheddar area?

• How does your map reflect your experiences and perspective?

CHEDDAR MAP

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Mental maps

• Individuals construct mental maps of the areas they know. – These are not absolutely accurate. They embody

the person’s experience and perspective on the area.

– The distribution of linked offences may reflect the offender’s mental map of the area

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• List some different ways geographical profiling might contribute to police work?

• What issues may make geographical profiling difficult and/or misleading?

CASE STUDY: John Duffy: The “Railway Rapist”(Canter 1994)

Jan 1994: Series of sexual assaults in and around London published in the Evening Standard. David Canter, an environmental psychologist, notices a pattern in the attacks.

Canter makes 2 assumptions:

a) Differences between attacks involving one man and those involving two may offer clues as to the behaviour of the

attacker/sb) People’s behaviour is predictable but also varies over

time, subtle differences in behaviour over time may provide clues about the offenders

CASE STUDY: John Duffy: The “Railway Rapist”(Canter 1994)

December 1985 and Spring 1986: Two murders take place, common features identified in both murders.

Forensic details led police to realise murders carried out by the same man as the previous rapes but no closer to identifying a suspect.

David Canter asked to assist police in predicting the attacker’s behaviour.

Canter and police look at two aspects of the cases:

Details of each individual attack Changes in behaviour over time

Canter was particularly interested ina) How the attacker related to the victims may relate

to how he relates to othersb) How much domination he exercised over the victims

28th July 1986: Canter produces profile!

Now its YOUR turn to think like a profiler!

1. Read through the John Duffy case study.2. Look carefully at the profile on page 48 and

read the first paragraph on page 47 & 49. (This explains how Canter reached ONE of his profile points)

3. For each profile bullet point try and decide HOW Canter came up with this description. For example link between sexual activity and marital status.

Compare and contrast… How are geographical (UK) and typological

(US) offender profiling similar and different?◦ Purpose◦ Assumptions◦ Use of categories/types◦ Types of crime applicable◦ Evidence base

EVALUATION OF PROFILING: (Wilson et al: 1997 Validity, utility and ethics of profiling for serial and sexual offenders)

1.VALIDITY:What is profiling meant to achieve? (slide 2)

The majority of profiles are mildly to severely flawed(Wilson et al)

Pinizzotto, 1984. Analysis of FBI profiling (192 cases):46% were “of benefit” but only 17% were of “assistance in

identification of suspect”

Copson, 1995. Analysis of Profiling in GB (180 cases)

50% of police officers said the profile had helped but only 14% said it had “shed light” on the investigation.

3% of the profiles were useful in positively identifying the offenders.

2. Usefulness

77% of cases gave a “clearer focus for the investigation process” (Pinnizotto)

Over 60% of police officers surveyed felt that it was helpful to have the profiler present. (to reinforce judgments made by the police) About the same number of officers reported that they would certainly consult a profiler in future (Copson)

Wilson suggests that profiling is MOST useful for serial murder and other violent crimes and least useful for crimes against property and drug related crimes.

EVALUATION OF PROFILING: (Wilson et al: 1997 Validity, utility and ethics of profiling for serial and sexual offenders)

3. ETHICS

The Rachel Nickell case raised doubts over the use of profiling in a covert operation to try and identify if Colin Stagg was actually her Killer

The FBI have been accused of hounding Dr Bruce Ivins as a suspect in the Anthrax attacks and were responsible for his suicide.

Wilson argues that the use of profiling is not unethical but the professionals carrying

out the profiling must be COMPETENT

EVALUATION OF PROFILING:(Wilson et al: 1997 Validity, utility and ethics of profiling for serial and sexual offenders)

4. Reliability

Wilson rated 32 cases of serial murder in which profiling was used in order to assess

a) how ACCURATE the profile wasAnd b) Whether the crimes were solved.

EVALUATION OF PROFILING:(Wilson et al: 1997 Validity, utility and ethics of profiling for serial and sexual offenders)

Number of cases / 32Accurate Case

SolvedYes 22 28No 4 3Doubt 2 1Partially 2 /Assisted 2 /

From the slides on this sheet, any other relevant resources and your own opinions as a psychology student, answer the following question:

b) evaluate offender profiling as a method of using psychology to solve a crime (15)

DUE IN FRIDAY 30 NOVEMBER

homework