Forensics

Offender profiling

Top-down approach

Bottom-up approach

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Atavistic approach

Genetic and Neural

Biological Approach

Psychological Explanations

Eysenck's personality theory

organised and disorganised offenders

constructing an FBI profile

Cognitive

limitation: based on faulty, outdated personality models

limitation; only applies to particular crimes

limitation: evidence against the 'disrganised' offender

Investigative psychology and assumptions

georgraphical profiling

strength: supporting evidence of Canter's content analysis

strength: supporting evidence of Canter's smallest space analysis

strength: sceintific

Lombroso in Italian prisons

Characteristics:

strength: contribution to psychology

limitation: scientific racism means it must be discredited

limitation: Goring's contradictory evidence

genetic:

neural:

adoption studies

candidate gees

diathesis-stress model

prefrontal cortex

mirror neurons/

personality features and biological basis

role of socialisation

strength: supporting evidence of male prisoners

limitation: not just one criminal type

cognitive distortions

Gibbs et al.(1995) four types of cognitive distortions

Hostile attribution bias

minimalising issues

strength: CBT applications

limitation: CBT's cost and time

strength: research supports thinking patterns in offenders

limitation: depends of type of offence