The British approach & investigative psychology
- The bottom-up approach (BUA) to offender profiling contrasts to the top-down approach as developed by the FBI in the USA as it is ‘data-driven’
- ‘Data-driven’ means that the BUA does not begin with the assumption that each crime will fit into a typology; instead it uses the crime scene as the basis for the creation of a profile
- The BUA is inductive as it uses information already present and draws ideas, theories and conclusions from it i.e. it aims to develop a theory from the data presented
- The BUA starts the process of profiling using small, possibly seemingly irrelevant details from the crime scene and uses them to create the ‘bigger picture’, making no assumptions as to the offender
- The BUA relies on computational/statistical analysis and database records in the collection of crime scene minutiae
- The BUA is popularly known as the British approach to profiling as it was devised by a British researcher, Professor David Canter
- Canter’s methods involve the cross-referencing of crime-scene details to determine the composition of the offender profile via use of statistical methods, known as investigative psychology (IP)
- The statistical system used in the BUA is known as ‘smallest space analysis’ using evidence from the crime scene which renders a correlation of the behaviours that occurred most frequently across offences
Exam Tip
The AQA spec does not cite smallest space analysis as one of the key factors you need to know for the BUA but it will add some value to higher-mark questions (e.g.16 marks) if you can mention it alongside investigative psychology and geographical profiling. You can go online to find diagrams of smallest-space analysis examples but do be warned that these include references to violent, often distressing, acts so caution is advised.
- IP may be broken down into the following components:
- Interpersonal coherence - this has some relevance to the top down approach concept of modus operandi i.e. how the offender behaved at the crime scene, their treatment of the victim before, during and after the offence (this is based on the idea that ‘how someone does anything is how they do everything’ - crime scene behaviours will reflect everyday behaviours)
- The significance of time and place - where was the crime committed - town, city, village, indoors/outdoors? When was it committed - at night, in the early morning, in summer/winter?
- Forensic awareness - has the offender been careful to leave no trace evidence (e.g. DNA, fingerprints etc), have they avoided CCTV etc?
The BUA focuses on practical issues such as the location of crimes which may be linked.