Criminal Profiling Approaches

What is the primary focus of the Bottom-Up Approach in criminal profiling?

Which of the following best describes the Top-Down Approach to criminal profiling?

What two categories are criminals classified into in the Bottom-Up Approach?

When was criminal profiling recognized as a practice in the United States?

What aspect does the Bottom-Up Approach particularly analyze regarding criminals?

Top-Down Approach

Involves classifying criminals based on characteristics of the crime scene.
Focuses on consistency in the way crimes are committed.
Criminals often categorized as organized or disorganized based on the crime scene.
US criminologists in the 70s developed this approach.

Bottom-up Approach

Focuses on offender profiling, identifying potential suspects.
Investigators use clues to link multiple cases committed by the same person.
May identify a suspect's modus operandi (MO) to understand their actions.

Offender Profiling

Identifies potential suspects based on analysis of crime patterns.
Investigative strategies that lead to linking cases.
Looks for patterns in how a crime is committed.

Modus Operandi (MO)

Refers to the way a criminal operates.
Focuses on consistency in criminal behavior.
Helps to understand the criminal's approach and choice of crime location.

Typologies

Method of classifying crimes
originated in US in the 1970s
Different types categorized based on the planning and scene, and types of evidence.
Criminals are grouped into organized or disorganized types based on aspects of the crime such as planning and characteristics of the scene.

Explore the key concepts of criminal profiling through the top-down and bottom-up approaches. Learn how offenders are categorized based on crime patterns and modus operandi. This quiz will help you understand the various techniques used by criminologists to identify and link criminal cases.