The Pros And Cons Of Criminal Profiling

Criminal profiling is an investigative tool used by law enforcement agencies to find the probable characteristics of a criminal offender as it pertains to committing a certain crime. This article provides historical and development of criminal profiling, the definitions, how criminal profiling is helpful to law enforcement agencies, the correlation to criminals and the crimes and methods used. The methods that are used to help narrow down the suspects to a certain crime, help with case similarities, develop leads, and help plan investigative strategies. History is a continuous study on past events that helps us understand concepts based on prior knowledge and experience. We must first understand the history of criminal profiling, to know

Profiling is something that every person has or will do at some point in their life; some may even profile without even realizing it. There are various forms of profiling which will be discussed, along with the history behind profiling and how it has been used successfully by Law Enforcement in several areas as a field on investigation (Douglass, Ressler &Burgess, 1986). Profiling has various positives along with negatives, and these are accepted by Satzewich and Shaffir (2009) who suggest that racial profiling is best understood in the context of a police subculture where these police officer intergrade profiling as part of their every day work routine. Profiling is a big factor in the daily work of every Law Enforcement Officer and it cannot be avoided (Becker, 2004). For the most part profiling is seen as part of an officers daily investigative tools, from border searches, to pulling vehicles over for traffic citations the officers will use his or her discretion on those who arouse their suspicion (Rose, 2002). Therefore, this paper will analyze the overall effectiveness of profiling and how it either proves to successfully reduce crime or not (Rose, 2002).

In the past, it has been shown that criminal profiling does work and has helped to apprehend serial killers, rapists, arsonists, and other criminals, if it had proved to be ineffective the FBI would have put resources into other tactics, but they have not. That being said, it is apparent that criminal profiling does work to an extent, but the amount of accuracy remains unknown. Although there has been research into finding the accuracy of criminal profiling there has not been a lot, proving that it is a field that needs more attention. For the research that has been done, interest has tended to fluctuate because of the uniqueness of the topic. Criminal profiling has as much to do with inferences about the perpetrator as it does

The website Forensic Psychology defines criminal profiling as, “the process of identifying behavioral tendencies, personality traits, geographic location, and demographic or biographic descriptors of an offender based on the characteristics of a particular crime” (Bartol and Bartol 1). With this approach, detectives try to narrow down the field of possible suspects that might have committed the crime. It is way easier to investigate one-hundred people that match those predictions than to investigate thousands of other people. In addition to that, they also state that profiling can rarely point to the particular person who committed the crime (Bartol 1). Even though it is not very accurate, in today’s world, it is still being utilized. Malcolm Gladwell well, a very well-known author and the author of What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures, states in the article of Dangerous minds that “In the

With the society that most individuals are offered today, the world of crime has been constantly transforming. This can influence the typical individual to question if there are too many laws that one should follow, including the penalties that are to be expected. The word crime can insinuate many thoughts of apprehension, segregation, and security when applying the law in accordance to criminal acts being prosecuted. In order for penalties to apply to a particular individual, law enforcement must first be able to track and identify suspects of various crimes. Numerous approaches can be offered for this process, but profiling is a common tactic that has aided law enforcement in seeking justice for both suspects and victims.

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.

Racial profiling is a form of racism which involves an individual of a certain race or ethnicity is looked at or portrayed as a person more likely to engage in misconduct than any other race or ethnicity. In the United States, people view other other races as a sign of danger just because of their skin color and ethnicity. The truth is, everyone is capable of being any one of those people; it merely depends on the person’s background. Judging people by their race has both negative and positive attributes. Racial profiling has been known to be ineffective, and it degrades and violates people of their civil rights. Although there are negative aspects of racial profiling, it has benefited society and the United States by decreasing crime rates and terrorism. The question to be answered about this subject is: Should racial profiling be used?

Psychological, Victimal, Criminal, Ethnic, and Behavioral Profiling all play a significant role in society. Psychology profiling is applied when the evidence of a crime scene goes back to an epidemic. Victimology is practiced using the victims of a crime to diminish the suspects. Criminal profiling is the prediction of a destructive event that a criminal might do (“Types of Profiling”). Behavioral Profiling is using the behavior and body language of an individual to predict further actions he/she might take. There is a significant difference between personal behavior profiling with human interaction and online behavioral profiling systems. Etay Maor states, “Real behavioral profiling is focused on identifying a potential criminal, while computer behavioral profiling

I don't think the criminal justice system should rely on profiling. However I don't see this strategy going anywhere soon. Profiling has been a strategy used for a long time now, and has been proven to work. Although it has also been proven to not work. Depending on how big the offense is, I think they should consider whether or not to use profiling. If its in a small town, where the profiling is much easier and there are way less variables, profiling is a dominate strategy that works. However in big cities, profiling could be much more difficult, and not work nearly as efficient, and you could possibly even convict the wrong person. I don't think that criminal profiling should be the first option in figuring out a crime. Depending on the case,

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

This paper discusses and examines the overall effectiveness of criminal profiling and its use in the United States. When assessing the effective of criminal profiling in the U.S., the author identified the key elements pertaining to criminal profiling. Initially, the author provided a working definition of criminal profiling, to insure the reader understands the main subject of the paper. The author then provides information regarding the history of criminal profiling. In addition, the author includes evidence supporting the effectiveness of criminal profiling by incorporating: statistics, scientific studies and the use in the FBI. Though research the author discovered several misconceptions regarding the effectiveness of criminal profiling.

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

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., &

In order for offender profiling to be considered useful, it must gather detailed information about the offender, victim and crime scene which can then be used effectively by police detectives to eliminate any suspects who do not match with the profiler 's offender specification and aid authorities in

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