Criminal Profiling Paper

1201 Words5 Pages
To understand whether criminal profiling is a valid investigative tool, it is critical to understand what profiling actually is. “Criminal profiling is the process of identifying personality traits, behavioral patterns, geographic habits, and demographic features of an offender based on characteristics of the crime” (Bartol, 2011). While criminal profiling could be used to help identify suspects in a wide variety of crimes, it is generally used for serial offenders who commit violent crimes. One reason is that serial offenders always commit multiple crimes, leading to the high possibility that there will be more than one crime scene. Criminal profilers then search for patterns in the offender’s behavior which is essential to create an accurate…show more content…
As Muller describes, a criminal profiler uses all available information to help determine information about the offender. “The information that the criminal profiler uses is often taken from the scene of the crime, and takes into account factors such as the state of the crime scene, what weapons (if any) were used in the crime, and what was done and said to the victim. Other information used in criminal profiling can include the geographic pattern of the crimes, how the offender got to and from the crime scene, and where the offender lives” (Muller, 2000). While not being the first, the man who’s had the biggest impact on Criminal Profiling in recent history is John Douglas. Douglas was the head of the FBI’s Investigative Support Unit for over 25 years and developed the modern approach to criminal profiling. He developed his profiling technique by interviewing and studying dozens of serial and violent offenders including Charles Manson, John Wayne Gacy, David…show more content…
For example, mental health professionals had an overall negative view on profiling. “Fewer than half of the forensic mental health professionals felt that either profiling or criminal investigative analysis was reliable, was valid, or had enough scientific support to be admitted into court. Perceptions were especially negative among those who received the version of the survey using the term profiling. These forensic mental health professionals rated profiling to be significantly less reliable and valid than those who were given the term criminal investigative analysis for the same process. These findings support the position that profiling is likely to be viewed more favorably if it is referred to by another name” (Torres et al., 2006). This showed that the term profiling itself actually contributed to the negative bias. If professionals are already negative on just the name, then gaining respect for the technique is almost
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