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Criminal Profile Essay

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Popular television shows today such as “Criminal Minds” and “Law and Order: Criminal Intent” give some insight into the world of a criminal profiler. The job of a criminal profiler is very important when trying to catch a criminal. The main role of a criminal profiler is to investigate evidence from a crime scene and witness and victim reports to create a detailed offender description in order to aid investigators. These details in the descriptions can include psychological characteristics, psychopathologies and distinct behavior patterns. Other details can include demographic information such as race, gender, age, and even geographic location. Using the data that a criminal profiler has, one might be able to predict a criminal’s next target …show more content…

Criminal profiling can even be dated back to the 1800s when doctors were trying to predict the patterns of serial killer Jack the Ripper. Back in 1974, the FBI developed its Behavioral Science Unit to help investigate serial rape and homicide cases. It was during this time that two agents, Robert Ressler and John Douglas, came up with the idea called “organized/disorganized dichotomy”. This theory states that organized crimes are premeditated and carefully executed, therefore, there would be little evidence left at a crime scene. The opposing idea being that disorganized crimes are not planned and the criminal might leave behind a slew of evidence including blood or fingerprints. The theory goes on to say that an organized criminal is most likely antisocial and know right from wrong, and, although they may not be insane, they show no remorse. Whereas disorganized criminals they categorized as young and possibly under the influence of drugs or alcohol or they are mentally ill. For year the Behavioral Science Unit of the FBI kept working on this theory and fine tuning it but still stating that the basic premise is that

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