Criminal Profiling Research Paper

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.

These include the antecedent, method, disposal, and post-offence behavior. First is the antecedent, the profilers try to determine why the offender decided to act in a criminal manner and if there were any triggers? Next is the modus operandi could lead to clues about the offender. There is the idea that an offender is likely to commit a particular type of crime in a particular or similar pattern (Grubin, 1995). Then the profiler will look at what state the victim was left at the scene and where.

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

Profiling is a tool used that emerges forensics, psychology, and criminology to understand criminals such as rapist and serial killers. This technique has been used for centuries to unveil motives, disorders, and history. Law enforcements work with the information they are given to create profiles of the criminals based on their characteristics and evidence. Law enforcement have tried to track patterns and predict the next criminal act, but with the lack of training that has been done for such rare and horrendous crimes. After many serial killers have taunted the police’s lack of intelligence when it comes to catching them from their heinous crimes, other methods where adopted or discovered to help reduce the number of crimes.

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

Criminal profiling is a process by which, evidence found at a specific crime scene, is analyzed in order to determine plausible offender character traits. Furthermore, the main objective of this practice is to identify significant personality and demographic characteristics that help draw a comprehensive picture of what type of person is capable of committing the crime in question. Criminal profiling has been used to aid in investigative proceedings, however, admissibility in the courtroom has been called into question since very little research has been done to assess the validity of the generated profiles. In the past, profiling was more of an unplanned habit in which police officers turned to psychologist and psychiatrists to give insight on complex criminal inquiries, yet in recent times, the call for a more widespread acceptance of this methodology has amplified. This can be attributed in part to the portrayal of criminal profiling in media outlets. Television shows like Criminal Minds serve to sway public opinion and by promoting the efficacy of profiling in general. Therefore, an analysis into whether or not televised depictions of criminal profiling are realistic is warranted since such representations have an impact on public opinion and transitively, the legal system as a whole.

The hierarchy of criminal actions is hard to represent. The simplified version begins with the differentiation of criminal and non-criminal acts. From there it moves to the classes of the crimes, such as crimes against property or a person. Next is the type of crime, for example, arson or burglary. Patterns of criminal behavior is the next level, followed by Modus operandi. The last step is the criminal signature. However, this simplified version of the hierarchy is not usually accurate due to the fact that most criminals are not specialists in one certain area of

The process of inferring the personality characteristics of individuals responsible for committing criminal acts has commonly been referred to as criminal profiling. (Turvey) Criminal profiling can also be referred to as, behavioral profiling because when a profiler creates a profile they refer to the behavior of the offender. The general term criminal profiling can also be referred to as crime scene profiling, criminal personality profiling, offender profiling, psychological profiling and criminal investigative analysis. All the terms listed above are used inconsistently and interchangeably. Modern criminal profiling is owing to a diverse history grounded in the study of criminal behavior (criminology), the study of mental illness

According to the journal, predatory criminal behavior is the intention to commit a crime or harm another person. Predatory offenders in most cases are opportunistic and strike when they an opportunity. Crime scenes of predatory offenders have particular common characteristics. In most cases, evidence is usually difficult to come across as they never leave behind anything that can be used to trace them. Predatory crimes in most cases involve rape, robbery among others. Characteristics of such crime scenes involve blood, broken glass, evidence of struggle by the victim among

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.

The objective of the research is to examine the concept of offender profiling. This concept relates to the behavioral, as well as investigative approach or mechanism, which focuses on enabling the investigators to predict and profile the characteristics of unknown criminal offenders or subjects accurately and efficiently. Cole and Brown (2014) focuses on the illustration of the important and significance of a Behavioral Investigative Adviser (BIA) towards assisting the Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) in the course of investigating difficult-to-detect murders. This is an illustration of the concept of profiling, which seeks to facilitate effective and efficient profiling of the murder offenders for accurate prediction of their behaviors. It is possible for the readers of the research article to gain substantive insights and knowledge on the issue of profiling from this research article, thus relevant to the selected topic.

The crime is then put into a classification system of being either 'organised ' or 'disorganised ' by building a set of characteristics likely to be identified in each category in order to distinguish the type of criminal that may have committed the offence.

The psychologist contributes to investigations criminal behavior by profiling and similar techniques. The criminal psychologist can also assist with pretrial methods. This subsection is highly important because it includes the evaluation and treatment of suspects, victims, or witnesses of a crime. The primary task of the forensic psychologist profiling. Psychological profiling involves “investigating an offender's behavior, motives and background in an attempt to further guide an investigation…,” (APA). There are several different areas of profiling that the professionals do in the field. In criminal profiling the psychologist analyzes the emotional, mental disposition of a suspect. While remaining as a slightly controversial technique, profiling has become an increasingly prominent part of criminal investigation. When used properly it has the capacity of being one of law enforcement’s most powerful tools.

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