Psychological Profiiling : The Dangers Of Psychological Profiling

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.

Criminal case is always tedious when it involves little or no information about the offender, like in the 9/11 terrorist attack which annihilated most of the workers in and damaged the New York Trade Center building. However, in an attempt to identify the offenders, government officials and investigators try out different ways such as criminal profiling and others. Thus, in the New Yorker article, “Dangerous Minds” by Malcolm Gladwell; the author informs the deeper problems with FBI profiling and argues that it is ineffective. He questions the usefulness of criminal profiling, “But how useful is that profile, really?” and uses other criminal cases, group research analyses, and analogies to refute

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

Throughout the years, profiling has been successful at seeking out justice by detaining many wanted criminals, and has set the bar for many years of criminal apprehensions in many communities. Criminal characteristics are significant in all criminal investigations as much indication can reveal that the most important part for analysis is to further examine how patterns of criminal involvement emerges and transforms; this would also include examining the modus operandi (method of operation) of criminals that are relevant not only for the criminal structures, but for the general public as well (Ford, 2013).

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.

Disorganized criminals lead to ones who may be young, under the influence, or mentally ill. According to retired FBI agent Gregg McCrary, “The basic premise is that behavior reflects personality.” By using criminal profiling agents can use the behavior of certain criminals to learn more about

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 also defined as an educated attempt to provide investigative agencies with specific information about a certain type of suspect. A profiler should be able to develop typologies, understand the link between the characteristics of offenders and the crime scene, suggest proactive, investigative and trial strategies and therefore develop information that is useful in violent crime investigations, such as prevention. Therefore, whether criminal profiling is scientifically useful and effective, the validities and abilities of criminal profiling to investigations will be

154). Although criminal profiling is common in fictional crime dramas such as Law and Order, evidence suggests that profiling is advantageous in a limited number of circumstances and should not be used in place of a thorough investigation (Greene & Heilbrun, 2014, p. 142). One 1990 study found that while profilers had the most detailed and accurate predictions for sex offense cases, they showed no statistical advantage in predicting homicides (Greene & Heilbrun, 2014, p. 153). Moreover, research by Homant and Kennedy cautioned reliance on criminal profiles due to the fact that inaccurate profiles are common, limited to a fairly small number of offenders, and use methods that have not been systematically verified (Greene & Heilbrun, 2014, p. 153). As demonstrated by the FBI’s attempt to profile terrorists after the 9/11 attacks, scrutinizing a population on the basis of particular risk factors can produce a large number “false positives” by which those who are predicted to present a threat actually do not (Greene & Heilbrun, 2014, p. 149). In the case of Bloodsworth, reliance on the criminal profiling by detectives heightened the chances of a wrongful conviction (Junkin, 2005, p.75). Using criminal profiling as a framework for reviewing suspects, detectives Capel and Ramsey singled an innocent Bloodsworth out of over 500 suspects (Junkin, 2005,

When hearing about serial killers or criminals do you ever wonder what went through their minds or why they committed the crime they did? These FBI agents examine crime scenes, create a profile of the perpetrator, and describe their habits and predict their next move. The FBI method of profiling is a system used to detect and classify the major personality and behavioral characteristics of an individual based upon analysis of the crime or crimes the person committed.

The criminal investigative approach is what is used law enforcement and more specifically by the Behavioral Analysis Unit with the FBI. The BAU assists law enforcement agencies by their review and assessment of a criminal act, by interpreting the offender's behavior during the crime and the interactions between the offender and the victim during the commission of the crime and as expressed in the crime scene. The clinical practitioner approach focuses on looking at each case as unique, making the approach very individualistic. One practitioner, Turco, believed that all violent crimes were a result of the mother-child struggle where female victims represent the offender's mother. This is also recognized as the psychodynamic approach. Also outlined are some principles for profiling which include being custom made, interactive and reflexive. By following these principles, the profile should include advice that is unique and not from a stereotype, should be easy to understand for all levels of intelligence, and all elements in the profile should influence one another. The Scientific approach relies heavily on the multivariate analysis of behaviors and any other information from the crime scene that could lead to the offender's characteristics or psychological processes. According to this approach, elements of the profile are developed by comparing the results of the analysis to those of previously caught

Generally, there is often an absence of strong empirical evidence to support criminal profiling. In a study by Eastwood et al. (2006), existing research on the validity of criminal profiling was analyzed, to determine whether this technique can be counted on to aid in criminal investigations. One of the studies that was noted in the review was by Pinizzotto and Finkel (1990), and involved asking different groups of people, including actual profilers, university students, police detectives and clinical psychologists, to create a profile based on details about a particular crime. The results showed that the trained criminal profilers did not do any better than the other groups in creating an accurate profile which could predict who the culprit was. Similar results were acquired in another study, which evaluated police officers, psychologists, students, psychics and profilers on their ability to create a "predictive profile." Again, results also proved that profilers were not significantly better at creating a profile than any of the other groups (Kocsis et al., 2000). From these results, Eastwood et

Criminal profiling can be a rather useful tool for criminal investigators of all kinds. Many departments use profiling to catch terrorists, gangs, cyber-crimes, counter intelligence, white collar crimes, and most of all serial killers. How criminal profiling works is by looking at the behavior of the criminal to gain insight into his or her personality. A doctor does the same thing when looking at symptoms to diagnose a certain disease. Being able to understand this person’s personality leads you one step closer to catching him or her.

Over the years, profiling has become an interest to many people in the world today. According to Richard Kocsis, a psychologist in Sydney, Australia; “criminal profiling has over the past four decades, steadily grown both in its use by law enforcement agencies and in terms of research endeavors invested its development” (79). Although profiling serial killers has become a big fascination, it is uncertain if it is successful or not. Many questions that arose about profiling were: how do investigators identify serial killers, what methods do investigators use in profiling, how technology and social media affect profiling and how accurate is profiling. In addition, the profiling of serial killers has started to develop over the past years, making

Profiling’s main objective is to create a profile (synopsis of a person’s life) about the criminal in question. By using all the crime scene evidence at their disposal profilers attempt to sketch out the who, what, when, where, and why of a crime. A profile should also be able to achieve three goals: To provide a social and psychological assessment of the offender, to provide a psychological evaluation of belongings in possession by the offender, and to provide interviewing suggestions and strategies when