A2 Psychology at Spalding Grammar School
Resources for OCR Forensic Psychology and Psychology of Sport & Exercise
OFFENDER PROFILING
Between August and November 1888, the slums of Whitechapel in London witnessed a series of horrific murders that remain unsolved to this day. The serial killer was first nicknamed "Leather Apron" but later JACK THE RIPPER caught on with the press. At least 5 girls were killed by the Ripper and 6 others were investigated by the police at the time. The police were baffled by the surgical precision of the mutilations, a mysterious message left on an alley wall and several taunting letters that claimed to be from "Jack". Police surgeon Thomas Bond created the first scientific offender profile: "All five murders no doubt were committed by the same hand. In the first four the throats appear to have been cut from left to right, in the last case owing to the extensive mutilation it is impossible to say in what direction the fatal cut was made, but arterial blood was found on the wall in splashes close to where the woman's head must have been lying." In Bond's opinion he must have been a man of solitary habits, subject to "periodical attacks of homicidal and erotic mania." The case was closed in 1892 but investigators have continued to put forward suspects, ranging from a Polish immigrant who poisoned his three wives to Queen Victoria's personal doctor. Even today, investigators sift through witnesses' statements and analyse the letters sent to the police by "Jack", looking for clues to the killer's identity.
Your second Independent Study is on Offender Profiling and is divided into three areas:
- Top-down approaches
- Bottom-up approaches
- Case studies
To help you complete the work, view this PowerPoint slideshow. It will not be enough by itself, however: you'll also need to read through the page linked to each of the bullet points.
TOP-DOWN APPROACHES
"Psycho Killer, quest-ce que c'est?" sang the art-punk band Talking Heads in 1977, adding helpfully, "Fa fa fa fah fa fa fa fa fah fa!". But just what is a psycho killer? Click the image to read the Top-Down Profiling page. (a) Describe one approach to offender profiling. [10 marks] (b) Evaluate the effectiveness of techniques for profiling offenders. [15 marks] This PowerPoint slideshow is for your class presentation on Top-Down Profiling |
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BOTTOM-UP APPROACHES
Britain's home-grown psycho killer, Jack the Ripper, was the subject of a series of graphic novels by comic book legend Alan Moore called From Hell. The comics became a 2001 movie, speculating about the true motive for the Ripper's crimes. Click the image to read the Bottom-Up Profiling page. (a) Outline any relevant evidence that tells us how an offender profile should be created. [10 marks] (b) Evaluate the scientific basis for offender profiling techniques. [15 marks] This PowerPoint slideshow is for your class presentation on Bottom-Up Profiling |
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CASE STUDIES
"Are the lambs still screaming, Clarice?". For many people, Hannibal Lecter is the movie serial killer and the 1991 film Silence of the Lambs the most exciting adventure in offender profiling. But what about real life profiling cases? Click the image to read the Profiling Case Study page. (a) Describe, using relevant evidence, two uses for offender profiling. [10 marks] (b) Evaluate the usefulness of offender profiling. [15 marks] This PowerPoint slideshow is for your class presentation on Case Studies in Profiling |
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Links
Visit the Spalding Grammar School website
Search the OCR Psychology A-Level Pages
Go look at the AS Psychology sister-site
