Exam 10: Offender Profiling and Crime Linkage

Theory and research from the personality literature has contributed to the development of research on crime linkage.

Name a potential advantage of successful crime linkage.

According to Woodhams, Hollin, and Bull (2007), crime linkage is a form of behavioural analysis used to identify crimes committed by the same offender, through their behavioural similarity.

There are three principles that underpin the process of offender profiling. Two of these are shared with crime linkage (behavioural consistency and distinctiveness). What is the third?

The homology assumption of offender profiling suggest that if two people are similar in terms of their personal characteristics their offence behaviour will be very different.

Which option below best describes the findings of Alison, Smith, and Morgan (2003), who examined the scientific content of 21 real offender profiles that were submitted during the course of police investigations?

Which approach to offender profiling is most associated with the FBI and is based on extensive experience working for the police and/or other law enforcement agencies?

What are the two principles underlying crime linkage?

Professor David Canter pioneered the statistical approach to offender profiling. Along with colleagues he identified three modes of interpersonal interaction that were said to characterise the crime scene behaviour of rapists, paedophiles and murderers. In which mode does the offender try to build rapport with their victim?

The geographical proximity of crime locations is thought to be a good indicator of whether the crimes are committed by the same offender

The clinical-practitioner approach and the statistical approach are two of the main schools of thought in offender profiling literature. What is the third?