Criminal Profiling : An Investigative Tool

When criminologists build criminal profiles, they think about how the killer gained access to the victim, what the killer did to the victim, if the killer tried to cover his or her tracks and how, what about the victim attracted the killer to target them, and what motive or fantasy drove the killer to hurt the victim how and where they did.

In the article, “Dangerous Minds” Malcolm Gladwell first grasps his reader’s attention via crime stories, then goes on elaborating the criminal profiling processes. He defines the types of criminal profiling, whodunit and hedunit. In whodunit, “the traditional detective story…centers on the detective search for the culprit” while in hedunit, “the nest is narrowed. The crime doesn’t initiate our search for the killer. It defines the killer for us.” He emphasizes on the profiling type with the best advantage and explains its significance. Using the FBI agent John Douglas’ investigation stories and profiling techniques to support his claims, he explains the structure of criminal profiling and how it is applied to cases. However, is this type of profiling effective? The author raises this question to evaluate the FBI criminal profiling. He asks a rhetorical question, “but how useful is that profile, really?” to make the readers think and follows up this question by a counter argument which set the author’s state of neutrality in the article. With analogies, crime stories and group research analyses as supportive evidence; the author informs and explains the flaws of FBI profiling, its problems and its ineffectiveness. As a result, the author uses the counter argument to refute his previous claims

In criminology, is very important to study why people commit crime when deciding how crime should be handled and prevented. This type of study is known as criminal profiling. Many theories have developed over the years, and they continue to be researched, alone and in combination, as criminologists seek the best solutions in reducing specific types and levels of crime. While all crime theories are designed to try to explain and understand criminal activity and the people that commit them, it is an ongoing science. No one theory can define all crime. However, it can be used usefully to help us understand crime a little better and help criminologists find new ways to deal with and eliminate criminal behavior. I am going to discuss one

Criminal profiling has become a very popular and controversial topic. Profiling is used in many different ways to identify a suspect or offender in a criminal investigation. “Criminal profiling is the process of using behavioral and scientific evidence left at a crime scene to make inferences about the offender, including inferences about personality characteristics and psychopathology” (Torres, Boccaccini, & Miller, 2006, p. 51). “The science of profiling rests on two foundation blocks, basic forensic science and empirical behavioral research. Forensic science includes blood spatter analysis, crime scene reconstruction, and autopsy evidence. Empirical behavioral research identifies offender typologies, relates crime behaviors to suspect

Solving a Criminal Case is done by using a process called psychological profiling, which helps narrow down suspects. Psychological profiling is a way to analyze facts and characteristics of a criminal and narrow down the suspects, to catch the correct criminal. I will be analyzing what psychological profiling is, how psychological profiling works, and the history behind psychological profiling. To begin with psychological profiling is the process of linking an offenders action to the crime scene and analyze their most likely characteristics to help police investigators narrow down the suspects. Psychological profilers use characteristics and facts about the case to identify characteristics and the next moves will most likely be made by the criminal.

David Gail Meirhofer’s case was the first of its kind to be solved by using the technique of criminal offender profiling. David was born June 8, 1949 to Eleanor Virginia Meirhofer and Clifford David Meirhofer in Manhattan, Montana.

‘Jack the Ripper’, a serial killer of the 1880’s, is a classic, early example of Offender profiling,

Many crime shows have started to depict some form of criminal profiling. However, Criminal Minds is one of the shows that focuses on these premises the most. Some of the depictions mirror real life profiling, while others falsify our image of a real profilers work. This false depiction could have implications for the way society views profilers and their job.

The first method is through geographical profiling. Geographic profiling is where investigators use the past crime patterns of an offender to determine his/her current location. Investigators usually need a minimum of five crimes in order to come up with an accurate geographic pattern. Investigators use the different locations of the crime to narrow down a particular place where the offender could likely to be located. Offenders are usually located in their places of work, entertainment joints, and popular routes or even in his home. The other method of criminal profiling is investigative psychology. It uses peer-reviewed research to acquire facts about an offender. Another method of criminal profiling is criminal investigative analysis. In such an analysis, investigators identify the behaviors of the criminal and create a group based on such behaviors. The other method is behavioral evidence analysis. It involves examining evidence of when and how a particular event took place. It includes objects in the crime scene such as blood stains or footprints. These objects are used to establish the traits and patterns of the

Criminal profiling is one of few first things to think of when it comes to forensic psychology. Criminal profiling is featured in popular television shows such as in Law and Order and CSI. Often in those shows, the police officers were able to catch the criminals based on the criminal profile that forensic psychologists came up with. In a theory, the polices rely on criminal profiling to catch criminals, educate the public about a possible criminal, and confirm the witnesses’ accounts. Criminal profiling involves using various methods to guess a criminal’s background, behavior, and even preferences for the victims.

In law, law enforcement relies on a variety of approaches to solving crimes. One method of doing so, is criminal profiling. Police use criminal profiling as an aid to identify the typology of individuals most likely to fit the suspect profile. In this approach, evidence of a crime is used to identify the characteristics of the criminal in relation to their personality and psychological state of mind. As well as demographic variables, such as age, race or geographic location, Investigators might use profiling to narrow down a field of suspects or figure out how to interrogate a suspect already in custody (Criminal profiling: the reality behind the myth (Winerman, L.2004). As the use of criminal profiling increases, empirical questions concerning its validity, reliability, and legal questions regarding its acceptability arise (Pinizzato, A.& Finkel, N.1990). In a survey conducted, several psychologist and psychiatrist were asked about their views towards the validity of criminal profiling. The results of this survey found that only ten percent of psychologist and psychiatrist surveyed reported having any profiling experience and twenty five percent, considered themselves knowledgeable about profiling (Greene, E., & Heilbrun, K. 2014, p.148). Fewer than twenty-five percent of the individuals surveyed, believe that criminal profiling was scientifically reliable or valid (Greene, E., &

Criminal profiling is a technique used to help locate and detain criminals before they reach the height of their criminal career by studying the criminal's behavior (Claridge). Profiling works in the same way on every criminal. Criminals typically leave behind a signature, explain signature, at each crime scene which helps law enforcement make a clear identification on the criminal. (Claridge) Victimology and criminal profiling work together to take criminals into custody. Victimology is the study of the victim in a number of crimes perpetrated by the same criminal (Claridge). Victimology is used to distinguish comparisons of each victim of a precise crime. This then helps a profiler discern a pattern in the criminals crimes (citation). When

Historically, crime and criminals have always caught the attention of law-abiding citizens. Whenever there is mention of serial killers or unsolved murders or abductions, psychological profiling, floats to the top of the list of concerns (Egger, 1999). Psychological profiling is an attempt to provide investigators with more information about an offender who has not yet been identified (Egger, 1999). Its purpose is to develop a behavioral composite that combines both sociological and psychological assessment of the would-be offender. The type of person who could have committed the crime can often be identified on the premise that accurate analysis and interpretation of the crime scene can point to a

Criminal profiling is the study and conclusion of persons who are responsible for committing crimes. This has successfully helped law enforcement in multiple cases. The roots of criminal profiling are based on the beliefs that a qualified person is capable of putting together a profile of an unknown criminal based on the behavioral and personality characteristics of their crimes. Criminal profiling cannot ultimately tell police who the person is, but can help narrow a line of suspects. Some examples that can help local law enforcement are the residence, job, type of friends, race, etc. of the person who committed the crime. There are multiple disciplines that are involved in criminal profiling and thus making it a multi disciplinary forensic practice

Criminal profiling is the analysis of a person’s psychological and behavioral characteristics; in this process they predict their capabilities in a certain sphere and identify a particular subgroup of people. This has led us to analyze whether criminal profiling is a useful law enforcement tool or not, but over the years many studies have shown the great success criminal profiling has produced.