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Criminal profiling as an investigative tool
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Criminal profiling as an investigative tool
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Being a criminal profiler is not like it is on all the television shows, but it is still an interesting and important job. Criminal profilers have been used to close many police and federal cases. They work in several homicide cases involving rape, racial killings, brutal killings, and involving serial killers. They help make it easier for the police to find the right person by examining the crime scene. Being a criminal profiler is a tough job but with hard work and dedication it is a great career choice.
A criminal profiler gives a description of what they think the suspect looks like and acts like. They do this by examining the scenes of where the victims were murdered and looking for clues on why the suspect did it, how they did it, what kinds of victims are being targeted, and why they chose a certain location. They find all this out by using evidence from the nature and surroundings of the crime scene (Wachtel). By doing all of this they may be able to find a motive on why the suspect did this. If there is a pattern and a motive of several killings criminal profilers can use this to help predict the characteristics of a killer. They then make a profile of the killer based on all the evidence they have received at the crime scenes and how the crime was done. Making a profile can help find the killer and narrow down the odds (CriminalJusticePrograms). Sometimes there are reasons to why people kill that are psychological, because of this, criminal profiling is usually done by a forensic psychologist (Denis). When asked how to know if somebody is a suspicious character Phillip Wilson responded by saying, “It is illegal to profile based on race, gender, and religion: however if a white guy with Indiana license plates is drivin...
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... interesting. Something new could happen every single day on the job. Criminal profiling is tough and a hard field to get into but at the end it will be worth all the schooling, hard work, and stress filled days.
Works Cited
Beres, D.B Killer at Larger: criminal profilers and the cases they solve!. New York: F. Watts, 2007. Print.
“CriminalJusticePrograms.com.” www.CriminalJusticePrograms.com.N.p.,n.d.Web. 22 Nov 2013.
Dwilson, Stephen. “How to Get a Job in Criminal Profiling.” Everydaydaylife.global.post.com.N.p.,n.d. Web. 25 Nov 2013.
Levy, Janey. Careers in criminal profiling. 1st ed. New York: Rosen Central, 2008.2008.Print.
Wachtel, David. “Criminal Profiling.” www.forensicpsycology.net.N.P., n.d. Web. 22 Nov 2013.
“What is Criminal Profiling?.” www.CriminalJusticePrograms.com. N.p., n.d Web. 22 Nov 2013.
Wilson, Phillip. Telephone Interview. 27 Nov 2013.
I think that one of the most important parts about this job it that it helps people, probably not in the way most people would like it, but it can help certain people. It helps especially in trials, when the prosecutor or defender needs evidence against the criminal to prove his or her innocence.
They have many secrets, and they are everywhere and they can solve any problem. They all wear black suits, black sunglasses, a gun is carried on the belt. They don't smile, they are cool, secretive, heroic, smart. When they have eye contact with people, it seems like they know everything about that person. In TV, "Criminal Minds", the "profilers" can catch every single serial killer.
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).
Within the Criminal Justice System there is diverse career opportunities to choose from. The career I am interested in being is a Criminal Profiler with the FBI National Center for Analysis of Violent Crime. I am interested in this job because it seems to be an intense job to do. A criminal profiler's job is to create a psychological profile of a criminal suspect. Creating one of these profiles can be used to help catch the suspect. This is done by examining evidence from the crime, interviewing witnesses and victims, and analyzing crime scenes. Information obtained from these investigations can then be used to help the profiler determine a pattern of criminal behavior. Most of the time the information that was collected can be used to find out more about the suspect.
Schmalleger, Frank. Criminology: A Brief Introduction. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Prentice Hall., 2011.
he had bound her and forced her to have sex with him against her will.
Criminal profilers are primarily employed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, most commonly known as the FBI. (Walker) The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID), and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) are a few other agencies that also employ criminal profilers. Although there are other employers that hire criminal profilers, the FBI is the most prominent. In order to be considered as a potential member of these programs, having an advanced degree in behavioral or forensic science is recommended. However, the most important qualification is an agent’s overall experience as an investigator of violent crimes. John Douglas, a famous FBI profiler, believes that “degrees and academic knowledge [are not] nearly as important as experience and certain subjective qualities” (Muller 250). Since a specific degree program has yet to be created for criminal profiling, extra training and classes must be taken in order to be a profiler for the FBI. The FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit was formed to investigate serial rape and homicide cases in 1974. From 1976 to 1979, several FBI agents, most famously John Douglas and Robert Ressler, interviewed 36 serial killers to help develop theories and categorize different types of offende...
Holmes, R., & Holmes, S. (1996). Profiling violent crimes: An investigative tool (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Each of these criminal justice professionals keeps the criminals off the street or discovers ways to return them to society. Criminal justice professionals must be able to work with your mind and help protect the rights of others. The roles, responsibilities, and various career opportunities within these fields are vital to serving societal needs.
Did you know that the first private investigation agency was started by a criminal? While conducting research over this particular topic I learned a lot of interesting information regarding the type of work done by private investigators, as well as the potential employment opportunities. This world is a crazy and deceptive place and it is up to us to get to the truth of everything. Becoming a private investigator will be a time consuming, potentially dangerous, yet extremely rewarding career path. (History of Private Investigations, 2013)
Criminal Minds inaccurately dramatizes crimes and criminal profiles compared to what happens in the real world. As a result, society’s connotation of the criminal justice system, concerning criminal profiling, becomes negatively shaped. People who watch Criminal Minds may think to themselves, “Criminal profilers don’t categorize perpetrators in a just manner,” causing them to perceive criminal profilers as something they are not. The episode, “Fear and Loathing (Gordan, 2007),” expresses negative first responses of criminal profilers. In the episode, four deaths take place, all being African-American girls, and as a result, the criminal profilers automatically put a white man on the top of the suspect list without thinking twice about it, and
Padbury, M. (n.d.). The History of Criminal Profiling - by Maichael Padbury - Helium. Retrieved 2010 йил 10-July from Helium: Politics, News, & Issues: US Law & Justice: http://www.helium.com/items/208159-the-history-of-criminal-profiling
Imagine pulling into your driveway and seeing your neighbor’s house surrounded by police, flashing lights, and caution tape with bodies covered in white sheet on the lawn. It was a drive by shooting. Next, a van pulls up and a Criminal Investigator steps out and starts assessing the crime scene. She begins taking photos, marking shell casings, packaging evidence, documenting tire treads on the pavement and inspecting and collecting DNA evidence from the bodies. Criminal Investigators are highly trained college graduates that are a vital part of bringing criminals to justice.
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 (psychology and psychiatry), and the examination of physical evidence (the forensic sciences). (Turvey) There are four very important elements that contribute to the making of a criminal profile. These elements are victimology, wound pattern analysis, crime scene characteristics and criminology. Victimology is the study of victims. The profilers ask themselves questions such as, “Why this person?” and “Was the victim related to their killer or attacker?” Wound pattern analysis is the study of the way the wounds on the victim were made. Crime scene characteristics help to the making of a profile by showing profilers what exactly went on during the crime. Criminology is the study of the crime, criminals and criminal behaviors.
Criminologists base profiles of the killer on how they performed the murders, where they performed the murders, what was done to the victims, and how the victims were treated. They take all these factors to build up what they think the killer is like. The signature of the killer can say alot about him or her and will play a large role in the finding of the