Criminal Profiling Portrayed in Television, Real Life, and Movies

1601 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Criminal behaviour biological and psychological

Imagine this: You are in a crime scene. The air is cold and dry, almost as if in a storage locker or laboratory. The room is neat and tidy; everything has a place that has been carefully planned. The victim, positioned and dressed peacefully, lays in the center of the room. There are no visible wounds or signs of a struggle, but you see drag marks where a large object has been pulled across the carpet. Though, there are currently no suspects, the investigating authorities have received a calling card with a cryptic message.

Aside from the message, there is no evidence or fingerprints. As the lead investigator, what does this tell you?

Criminal profiling is a law-enforcement technique that uses psychological clues to identify potential characteristics of a suspect; Criminal profiling has been used in many cases, including serial-killer Ted Bundy. Has been largely contributed to by the FBI, and is portrayed in many television shows and movies, most famously, Criminal Minds.

What is Criminal Profiling?

Criminal Psychology has been referred to as many things, including Sociology and Criminology. The goal of criminal profiling is to be able to look at the crime scene, the victim, and statistics from previous related crimes to make conclusions about traits the suspect may have. Some aspects of criminal profiling are largely scientific and directly relate to psychological practices and facts. Other facets of profiling are based on common knowledge and the ability to relate to what someone else may be thinking or feeling. Criminal Psychology or Psychology in general, for that matter; is not an exact science. Contrary to popular belief or portrayal in pop culture, criminal profilers are not psychic and do not have super...

... middle of paper ...

...meticulously planned from each little aspect, from room climate to positioning of the body. But as an investigative psychological profiler, you know that you are dealing with an organized killer. The suspect is too careful to be a rookie. The manner in which the victim has been dressed suggests that the killer is ritualistic, probably a serial killer. The chosen weapon was poison, indicating that the killer had chosen a particular victim prior to the crime. Using all this information, you and your colleagues are able to make a profile, which describes the true killer almost perfectly. You have experienced criminal profiling at work.

Works Cited

apa.org

clarkprosecutor.org

crimelibrary.com

tv.yahoo.com*

ncis.wikia.com*

wikipedia.org*

*These sources were used only for the Pop Culture section and are not supposed to be used for credible facts.

Show More
Related

  • Ernie's Lunchroom Case Study

    502 Words  | 2 Pages

    For example, the footprints belong to a person who mopped and later went to the cash register, the only employee was Ernie. This shows that Ernie couldn’t have murdered Fannin. There you have it folks, person C is the criminal. In conclusion, the police believe that person C is the homicidal murderer from the hand posture of the utensils/hand positions, the association among persons B, D, and E, and the distinction of the Y and X footprints.

    Read More

  • Evidence Analysis: Homicide Scene Analysis

    1197 Words  | 3 Pages

    The following paper explores a homicide scene at a convenience store / gas station at 3 a.m. The material of the investigation is represented with a number of visible evidence, the dead body with an apparent gunshot wound in the chest and the testimony of the first officer at the scene. The paper is divided into four parts, including the general overview (introduction), latent impression processing, people’s involvement investigation procedure and evidence package for the further fingerprint analysis. The crime scene investigation protocol used in this paper includes interview, examination, photographing, sketching and processing itself (Castleman, 2000: 23). Observing the homicide scene we omit the analysis of the preliminary procedures as security of the scene, integrity precautions, photographing and sketching.

    Read More

  • Racial Profiling in Today's Society

    1740 Words  | 4 Pages

    Racial profiling is the tactic of stopping someone because of the color of his or her skin and a fleeting suspicion that the person is engaging in criminal behavior (Meeks, p. 4-5). This practice can be conducted with routine traffic stops, or can be completely random based on the car that is driven, the number of people in the car and the race of the driver and passengers. The practice of racial profiling may seem more prevalent in today’s society, but in reality has been a part of American culture since the days of slavery. According to Tracey Maclin, a professor at the Boston University School of Law, racial profiling is an old concept. The historical roots “can be traced to a time in early American society when court officials permitted constables and ordinary citizens the right to ‘take up’ all black persons seen ‘gadding abroad’ without their master’s permission” (Meeks, p. 5). Although slavery is long since gone, the frequency in which racial profiling takes place remains the same. However, because of our advanced electronic media, this issue has been brought to the American public’s attention.

    Read More

  • Essay On Reasonable Suspicion

    667 Words  | 2 Pages

    It helps develop a picture or description of what the suspect looks or acts like (Winerman p. 1). This type of methodology can help police find criminals faster. By eliminating criminal profiling, it would make the police’s job harder because they wouldn’t be able to use their knowledge from the scene and apply it to their suspect. Eliminating racial profiling is a very good idea. It would make police’s jobs easier because they would be more respected, and people would probably be less violent and more willing to cooperate.

    Read More

  • Racial Profiling by Police in Canada

    2887 Words  | 6 Pages

    police then look for a suspect who might possibly have committed it. Profiling means that a suspect is discovered and the police then look for a crime for the person to have possibly committed” (Tator & Henry, 2003, p3).

    Read More

  • Criminal Profiling Essay

    681 Words  | 2 Pages

    Investigators using the practice of criminal profiling follows a process throughout the investigation. This commences with an evaluation of the malefaction scene and the malefactor act or acts itself, then an evaluation of the specifics of the malefaction scene/s. An analysis of the victim and preliminary police reports are then conducted before an examination of the autopsy report. Ending with developing a profile with offender characteristics, suggesting possible suspects utilizing the profile constructed and last possible apprehension of the suspect ("What Is Criminal Profiling And Why It Is Important | Twisted Minds - a website about serial killers", 2017).

    Read More

  • Serial Killers and Criminal Justice

    929 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Advance in Forensics Provide Creative Tools for Solving Crimes.” www.ctcase.org. Np. n.d. Web. 17 March 2014.

    Read More

  • Criminal Profiling

    1761 Words  | 4 Pages

    McGrath, Michael G. "Criminal Profiling: Is There a Role for the Forensic Psychiatrist?." Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law 28. (2000): 315-324. Web. 13 Apr 2011.

    Read More

  • Short Story: The Heavy Door Slammeds Behind Malicial Killers

    211 Words  | 1 Pages

    The heavy door slammed shut behind the malicious killers back. His presence began to fill the room with a chill ambiance as if his own heart was made of pure ice. A policeman had one hand in the middle of his back, and another nervously fiddling the handle of his gun. The policeman guided him to a chair that screeched as it dragged against the tile floor. Across from him was a highly renowned detective from New York. He had never lost a case in his past investigations, and he doesn’t plan to in this investigation. The two stared at each other trying to figure out what the other was thinking. Lucky for the detective, he was trained to do this very thing. For centuries, scientists, investigators, and doctors have been trying to understand how

    Read More

  • Serial Killer Profiling

    2173 Words  | 5 Pages

    Just as insight into the mind of the artist may be gained by examining and comparing the progression of his work, so knowledge of the mind of the serial killer can be ascertained by an examination of his canvas: The murder scene. Forensic profiling is the attempt to do just that. An investigator tries to discern information about the killer based on the information at the crime scene, deducing information about the cause from the effect. This is not an exact science, and has been often likened to an art. It is the goal of this work to provide the reader with a basic understanding of the function and application of forensic psychology, as well as an explication of some of its strengths and weaknesses.

    Read More

  • Psychological Profiling

    694 Words  | 2 Pages

    Psychological profiling may have found its origin in fiction rather than fact with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional exploits of Sherlock Holmes (Egger, 1999). However, dating back to the late 1800’s Dr. Thomas Bond may have been the first to truly apply criminal profiling to the serial killer Jack the Ripper. Bond, a police surgeon, had performed the autopsy on Jack the Ripper’s last victim, Mark Kelly (Padbury, n.d.). After reconstructing the murder in an attempt to interpret the behavioral pattern of the assailant, Bond was able to come up with a profile for police to follow (Padbury, n.d.). Although the Jack the Ripper case remained unsolved, psychological profiling took a major step forward.

    Read More

  • Criminal Investigative Analysis And Forensic Psycholinguistics

    1714 Words  | 4 Pages

    A large misconception of criminal investigative analysis is that there is a difference between profiling and criminal investigative analysis. Criminal Investigative Analysis is the same tool as criminal profiling and there is no true difference. A survey was done by Torres and the survey consisted of a couple of questions about profiling and about criminal investigative analysis asked to mental health professionals with profiling knowledge. The following table contains the results from the

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Criminal Psychology

    1320 Words  | 3 Pages

    Criminal psychologists are well-trained in the principles of human behavior, criminal psychologists will work very diligently with courts, attorneys, law enforcement agencies, and multiple other stakeholders that include civil and criminal cases. It is a particularly new field of work. They have also been serving as workers who are advisors to the courts for decades. They may also be consultants for defendants or victims of crime. During the trial sequence as an expert witness, they may also rehabilitate offenders that are already convicted of a crime. The field of expertise of a criminal psychologist is in forensics, applying psychological principles to the criminal justice system. A great deal of their occupied time is for carrying out evaluations of accused and alleged victims. A criminal psychologist could examine a defendant to determine their ability to stand trial. A criminal psychologist could also interview victims of crime to determine a timeline of events. Supplanting expert testimony is yet another primary field of work for criminal psychologists, as they work in civil, family, criminal, and military

    Read More

  • Essay On Forensic Investigation

    1363 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Scene processing is the term practical to the series of steps taken to investigate a crime scene. Although the methods an...

    Read More

  • Are Criminals Born or Made?

    2147 Words  | 5 Pages

    Understanding Psychology and Crime; Perspectives on Theory and Action, New York. PENNINGTON, D ( 2002) , Introducing Psychology: Approaches, Topics and Methods, London, Hodder Arnold TANNENBAUN, B, (2007),Profs link criminal behaviour to genetics [online] , Available at: http://thedp.com/index.php/article/2007/11/profs_link_criminal_behavior_to_genetics [accessed 16th October 2011]. http://www.docstoc.com/docs/41182390/Explanations-of-Criminal-behaviour

    Read More

More about Criminal Profiling Portrayed in Television, Real Life, and Movies

Open Document