The process of using behavioral evidence left at a crime scene to make inferences about the offender, including inferences about personality characteristics and psychopathology is called criminal profiling. Around the country, several agencies rely on the minds of criminal psychologists to lead them in the right direction to finding the correct offender. Criminal profiling provides investigators with knowledge of the appearance and behavior of a potential criminal.
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...
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... 2008. 277-290. Print.
Douglas, John E., and Mark Olshaker. Obsession: The FBI's legendary profiler probes the psyches of killers, rapists, and stalkers and their victims and tells how to fight back. New York, NY: Scribner, 1998. 16-41. Print.
Duggan, Joe. "The search for Helen Wilson's killer continues." Beatrice Daily Sun 17 Oct. 2008: n. pag. Beatrice Daily Sun. Web. 1 Apr. 2011.
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.
Muller, Damon A. "Criminal Profiling ." Homicide Studies 4.3 (2000): 234-364. Web. 9 Apr 2011.
Walker, Jeffery T., Ronald G. Burns, Jeffrey Bumgarner, and Michele P. Bratina. "Federal Law Enforcement Careers: Laying the Groundwork." Journal of Criminal Justice 19.1 (2008): 110-135. Web. 20 Apr 2011.
Seigal, L. J., & Worrall, J. L. (2012). Introduction to criminal justice (13th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
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).
Schmalleger, Frank, Criminal Justice A Brief Introduction, Upper Saddle River, NJ, Pearson Education Inc. , 2010, Page 387
Forensic (criminal) psychology is a job field that deals with both psychology and law. The field has experienced dramatic growth in recent years due to the role of popular movies, television programs and books popularizing the field. Often these individuals are depicted as vivid components in solving vicious crimes or timing out a criminal’s next home. While these depictions of certainly entertaining, yet these portrayals are not necessarily precise. Forensic psychologists play an instrumental role in the criminal justice system while applying psychological principles to the legal system. The crossover of the two spheres is best decided in the Encyclopedia of Psychology,
This article gives some examples of crimes and how they were solved using a psychology technique along with how criminal profiling is used to solve crimes and how the profilers know how to slim down the suspects. In the first case, there was a man that planted bombs in multiple places each time writing a note in block letters- signing it F.P. The first bomb was found in 1940, in 1954 he struck four times, and in 1955 five times. In
The most famous serial killers were at one point free and had the opportunity to do what they wanted to do. Ted Bundy for example killed over 30 people, The Atlanta Child Murderers killed 29 people almost all children, and the Green River Killer committed somewhere between 48 to 90 murders. All were eventually caught with forensics, but if police used criminal profiling it might have help catch them sooner. Teten and Patrick Mullany are the first two who have profiled difficult criminal cases. Teten’s first investigation was a woman who was stabbed in her home. He looked at the documents and the crime scene and came up with a profile that fit the description of the actual killer. Mullany and Patrick were
Reynolds, M. (2012, December 1). Criminal Profiling: The Process. Ezine articles. Retrieved , from http://ezinearticles.com/search/?q=&scat=Legal:Criminal-Law&expert=Merlene Reynolds
Psychological Profiling is the identification of specific characteristics of an individual who has committed a certain crime using a detailed systematic observational ...
Winerman, L. (2004). Criminal profiling: The reality behind the myth. Monitor on psychology, 35(7), Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/monitor/julaug04/criminal.aspx
When it comes to profiling, it is a very controversial tool, although within the past couple decades it has increased in use significantly. One huge controversy is the fact that not a lot of people believe that a hypothetical depiction of a suspect actually helps contribute to solving crimes, however, a lot of the profiles for serial killers in the past have been incredibly accurate. There is, however, a lack of scientific evidence to support these techniques. With the lack of a scientific basis, the question of the validity that profiling brings to investigations arises often. The main issue is that no one knows if they have a good portrait until the suspect is caught.
Siegel, Larry J., and John L. Worrall. Essentials of criminal justice. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2013.
Snook, B., Eastwood, J., Gendreau, P., Goggin, C., & Cullen, R. M. (2007). Taking stock of criminal profiling: A narrative review and meta-analysis. Criminal Justice And Behavior, 34(4), 437-453. doi:10.1177/0093854806296925
Since criminal profiling is such a small field there really is not a lot of degrees focused thoroughly on criminal profiling but most agencies such as the FBI typically want a dual degree in psychology as well as criminal profiling,The FBI also desires work experience in law enforcement. A a degree that could also be helpful would be a masters in behavioral science or forensic psychology. (CriminalJusticePrograms.com,
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
Since the inception of this niche in psychology, there has been a greater appreciation for the use of police psychological services. Now almost every police department has a separate psychology department with a number of psychologists working with its other employees. This specialized subset of psychology delivers a number of services to its employees, from assessing qualified applicants, counseling, to suspect profiling and providing expertise during hostage situations. The field has grown tremendously, especially over the last 40 years and has developed into its own sub-specialty with its own dedicated research, journals and professional organizations. During that time, there have been great strides made in developing this relationship betwe...