Offender profiling

The earliest reference to the use of profiling, according to R.S. Feldman, is Quintilian's essay "Instruction to the Speaker", written in the 1st century AD. It included information about gestures used by people at that time.{{Cite book |last=Feldman |first=Robert S. |title=Applications of nonverbal behavioral theories and research |publisher=Hillsdale |year=1992 |location=N.J.}} M. Woodworth and S. Porter believe that the first development on the topic of profiling that should be considered is the notorious Malleus Maleficarum ("Hammer of Witches"), written in the 15th century, since it contains psychological profiles of alleged witches.{{Cite journal |last1=Woodworth |first1=M. |last2=Porter |first2=S. |date=1999 |title=Historical foundations and current applications of criminal profiling in violent crime investigations |journal=Expert Evidence |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=241–264 |doi=10.1023/A:1016655103536 |s2cid=40555258}} There is also an opinion that the first "professional profiler" was the protagonist of Edgar Allan Poe's short story The Murders in the Rue Morgue (published 1841), who used the method of constructing a psychological portrait of the killer.{{Cite book |last1=Bourque |first1=J. |url=https://www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca/sites/default/files/profiling_profilage_eng_1.pdf |title=The effectiveness of profiling from a national security perspective |last2=LeBlanc |first2=S. |last3=Utzschneider |first3=A. |last4=Wright |first4=C. |publisher=Canadian Human Rights Commission |year=2009 |location=Ottawa}} The first work with a scientific approach (at the level of the 19th century) was Charles Darwin's book, The Expression of Emotions in humans and animals (1872). It contained only a description of external manifestations, but it was already a systemization — the beginning of a scientific study of the issue.{{Cite book |last1=Napp |first1=Mark L. |title=Nonverbal communication in human interaction Wadsworth |last2=Hall |first2=Judith A. |publisher=Thomson learning |year=2002 |isbn=0-15-506372-3}}

An Italian psychologist Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909) was a criminologist who attempted to formally classify criminals based on age, gender, physical characteristics, education, and geographic region. When comparing these similar characteristics, he better understood the origin of motivation of criminal behavior, and in 1876, he published the book The Criminal Man.{{Cite book |last=Lombroso |first=C. |title=. L'uomo delinquente in rapporto all' antropologia, alla giurisprudenza ed alle discipline carcerarie : aggiuntavi La teoria della tutela penale |publisher=Bocca |year=1878 |location=Torino |language=it}} Lombroso studied 383 Italian inmates. Based on his studies, he suggested that there were three types of criminals: born criminals, degenerate criminals and insane criminals who suffered from mental illness. Also, he studied and found specific physical characteristics; some examples included asymmetry of the face, eye defects and peculiarities, ears of unusual size, etc.Richard N. Kocsis, [https://books.google.com/books?id=YG0Qyfxqtx8C&dq=Criminal%20psychology&pg=PA7 Applied criminal psychology: a guide to forensic behavioral sciences], Charles C Thomas Publisher, 2009, pp.7

One of the first offender profile was assembled by detectives of the Metropolitan Police on the personality of Jack the Ripper,{{Cite web |title=Criminal Profiling: The Original Mind Hunter {{!}} Psychology Today United Kingdom |url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/wicked-deeds/201712/criminal-profiling-the-original-mind-hunter |access-date=2022-05-05 |website=www.psychologytoday.com |language=en}} a serial killer who had murdered a series of prostitutes in the 1880s. Police surgeon Thomas Bond was asked to give his opinion on the extent of the murderer's surgical skill and knowledge.{{Cite book|last1=Skinner|first1=Keith|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_UjBBAAAQBAJ|title=The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Sourcebook|last2=Evans|first2=Stewart|date=2013|publisher=Little, Brown Book Group|isbn=978-1472107855}} Bond's assessment was based on his own examination of the most extensively mutilated victim and the post mortem notes from the four previous canonical murders.{{Cite book|title = Jack the Ripper: Letters from Hell|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=-P46AwAAQBAJ&q=HO%2520144%252F221%252FA49301C&pg=PT14|publisher = The History Press|date = 2013-07-01|isbn = 9780750953818|first1 = Stewart P.|last1 = Evans|first2 = Keith|last2 = Skinner}} In his notes, dated November 10, 1888, Bond mentioned the sexual nature of the murders coupled with elements of apparent misogyny and rage. Bond also tried to reconstruct the murder and interpret the behavior pattern of the offender. Bond's basic profile included that "The murderer must have been a man of physical strength and great coolness and daring... subject to periodic attacks of homicidal and erotic mania. The characters of the mutilations indicate that the man may be in a condition sexually, that may be called Satyriasis."{{Cite journal |title = Offender Profiling and Investigative Psychology|last = Canter|first = David|date = January 2004|journal = Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling|volume = 1|pages = 1–15|doi = 10.1002/jip.7}}

In 1912, a psychologist in Lackawanna, New York delivered a lecture in which he analyzed the unknown murderer of a local boy named Joey Joseph, dubbed "The Postcard Killer" in the press.{{cite book|last1=McLaughlin|first1=Vance|title=The Postcard Killer: The True Story of America's First Profiled Serial Killer and how the Police Brought Him Down|date=2006|publisher=Thunder's Mouth Press|isbn=978-1560259091|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XzGTaCXG86QC|access-date=2015-12-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160522140133/https://books.google.com/books?id=XzGTaCXG86QC|archive-date=2016-05-22|url-status=dead}}

In 1932, Dr. Dudley Schoenfeld gave the authorities his predictions about the personality of the kidnapper of the Lindbergh baby.{{rp|229}}

In 1943, Walter C. Langer developed a profile of Adolf Hitler that hypothesized the Nazi dictator's response to various scenarios, including losing the war. The United States Office of Strategic Services asked William L. Langer's brother Walter C. Langer, a psychiatrist, to draw up a profile of Adolf Hitler and hypothesize his response to various scenarios including losing the World War II.{{cite journal|last1=Egger|first1=Steven A.|title=Psychological Profiling|journal=Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice|volume=15|issue=3|year=1999|pages=242–261|issn=1043-9862|doi=10.1177/1043986299015003003|s2cid=147167123}}{{Cite book |last=Walter |first=C. L. |title=A Psychological Analysis of Adolph Hitler |publisher=Office of Strategic Services |year=1943 |location=Washington, D.C.}}{{Cite book |last=Murray |first=H. A. |title=Analysis of The Personality of Adolph Hitler / With Predictions of His Future Behavior and Suggestions for Dealing With Him Now and After Germany's Surrender |publisher=O.S.S. Confidential |year=1943}} After the war, British psychologist Lionel Haward, while working for the Royal Air Force police, drew up a list of characteristics that high-ranking war criminals might display. These characteristics were used to identify high-ranking war criminals amongst captured soldiers and airmen.{{cite book |last1=Wolffram |first1=Heather |title=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology |date=30 January 2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=9780190236557 |url=https://oxfordre.com/psychology/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190236557.001.0001/acrefore-9780190236557-e-639 |chapter=Forensic Psychology in Historical Perspective |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190236557.013.639 |quote=Less well known but perhaps more directly related to the practices that the FBI were later to develop were the efforts of a British forensic psychologist who attempted to establish a means of identifying war criminals in the chaos that followed the liberation of camps like Bergen-Belsen. Tasked with identifying Schutzstaffel (SS) camp officials and guards who had tortured prisoners, and unconvinced that witness testimony alone would suffice to identify perpetrators who had assumed the disguise of ordinary soldiers or airmen, Lionel Haward drew up a list of characteristics that high-ranking Nazi war criminals might display.}}

Offender profiling was first introduced to the FBI in the 1960s, when several classes were taught to the American Society of crime lab directors. There was little public knowledge of offender profiling until publicization with TV. Later, films based on the fictional works of author Thomas Harris caught the public eye as a profession, in particular Manhunter (1986) and Silence of the Lambs (1991). The fastest development occurred when the FBI opened its training academy, the Behavioral Analysis Unit, in Quantico, Virginia. It led to the establishment of the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime{{Cite web |title=Criminal Profiling Part 1 of 7 |url=https://vault.fbi.gov/Criminal%20Profiling/Criminal%20Profiling%20Part%201%20of%207 |access-date=2020-01-29 |website=FBI |language=en-us}} and the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program.

James Brussel was a psychiatrist who rose to fame after his profile of New York City's "Mad Bomber" George Metesky was published in the New York Times in 1956.{{Cite web |last=Lambert |first=Laura |date=October 29, 2019 |title=George Metesky {{!}} American terrorist |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-Metesky |access-date=2020-01-29 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}} The media dubbed him "The Sherlock Holmes of the Couch."{{Cite book|title = Casebook of a Crime Psychiatrist|last = Brussel|first = James|publisher = Bernard Geis Associates|year = 1968|isbn = 978-0-583-11804-0}} In his 1968 book, Casebook of a Crime Psychiatrist, Brussel relates how he predicted that the bomber would wear a buttoned-up double-breasted suit, but removed the many incorrect predictions he had made in his profile, claiming he had successfully predicted that the bomber would be a Slav who lived in Connecticut, when in fact, he had actually predicted he would be "born and educated in Germany," and live in White Plains, New York.{{cite book|last=Foster|first=Donald |author-link=Donald Wayne Foster |year=2000 |title=Author Unknown: On the Trail of Anonymous|url=https://archive.org/details/authorunknown00donf|url-access=registration}} In 1964, Brussel profiled the Boston Strangler for the Boston Police Department.

In 1972, after the death of J. Edgar Hoover, who was skeptical of psychiatry,{{cite journal|journal=Cardozo Law Review |volume=24 |issue=195 |year=2002 |pages=193–285 |title=Three Card Monte, Monty Hall, Modus Operandi and 'Offender Profiling': Some Lessons of Modern Cognitive Science for the Law of Evidence |last1=Risinger|first1=D. Michael |last2=Loop|first2=Jeffrey L.|ssrn = 1512469}}{{rp|230–231}} the Behavioral Science Unit of the FBI was formed by Patrick Mullany and Howard Teten.{{Cite web|url = https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cirg/investigations-and-operations-support/briu|title = Behavioral Research and Instruction Unit|access-date = November 9, 2015|website = FBI.gov|publisher = Federal Bureau of Investigation|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151010084015/https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cirg/investigations-and-operations-support/briu|archive-date = October 10, 2015|url-status = dead|df = mdy-all}}

Investigations of serial killers Ted Bundy and Gary Ridgway were performed in 1984 by Robert Keppel and psychologist Richard Walter. They went on to develop the four subtypes of violent crime and the Hunter Integrated Telemetry System (HITS) database, which compiled characteristics of violent crime for research.{{Cite book|title = The Casebook of Forensic Detection|last = Evans|first = Colin|publisher = Science|year = 1998|isbn = 978-1440620539}}

At the FBI's BSU, Robert Ressler and John Douglas began an informal series of ad hoc interviews with 36 convicts starting in early 1978.{{rp|230–231}}{{cite journal|last1=Devery|first1=Christopher|title=Criminal Profiling and Criminal Investigation|journal=Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice|volume=26|issue=4|year=2010|pages=393–409|issn=1043-9862|doi=10.1177/1043986210377108|s2cid=144499374}} Douglas and Ressler later created a typology of sexually motivated violent offenders and formed the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime.{{Cite web|url = https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cirg/investigations-and-operations-support|title = Critical Incident Response Group|access-date = November 9, 2015|website = FBI.gov|publisher = Federal Bureau of Investigation|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151119084144/https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cirg/investigations-and-operations-support|archive-date = November 19, 2015|url-status = dead|df = mdy-all}}

The March 1980 issue of the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin invited local police to request profiles from the FBI. An article in the April 1980 issue, "The Lust Murderer," introduced the dichotomy of "organized" and "disorganized" offenders. The August 1985 issue described a third, "mixed" category.

In 1985, Dr. David Canter in the United Kingdom profiled "Railway Rapists" John Duffy and David Mulcahy. David Canter assisted police detectives from the mid-1980s with an offender who had carried out a series of serious attacks, but Canter saw the limitations of offender profiling – in particular, the subjective, personal opinion of a psychologist. He and a colleague coined the term investigative psychology and began trying to approach the subject from what they saw as a more scientific point of view.{{Cite journal |last1=Youngs |first1=Donna |last2=Canter |first2=David |date=2009 |title=An emerging research agenda for investigative interviewing: hypotheses from the narrative action system |journal=Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=91–99 |doi=10.1002/jip.105 |issn=1544-4767}}

The Crime Classification Manual was published in 1992, and introduced the term "criminal investigative analysis."

In 1999, the percentage of accurate criminal profilers was only estimated to be at 21%, whereas in 2020 the accuracy was estimated to be at 86%.{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}}

File:Bertillon - Criminal profiles.jpg

Psychological profiling is described as a method of suspect identification that seeks to identify a person's mental, emotional, and personality characteristics based on things done or left at the crime scene.{{Cite book|title = Criminal investigation|last = Berg|first = B. L.|publisher = Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education|year = 2008|isbn = 978-0073401249}} There are two major assumptions made when it comes to offender profiling: behavioral consistency and homology. Behavior consistency is the idea that an offender's crimes will tend to be similar to one another. Homology is the idea that similar crimes are committed by similar offenders.{{Cite journal|title = An action phase approach to offender profiling|journal = Legal and Criminological Psychology|date = 2014-10-01|issn = 2044-8333 |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages = 229–250|doi = 10.1111/lcrp.12069|first1 = Alasdair M.|last1 = Goodwill|first2 = Robert J. B.|last2 = Lehmann|first3 = Eric|last3 = Beauregard|first4 = Andreea|last4 = Andrei}}{{cite journal|last1=Chifflet|first1=Pascale|title=Questioning the validity of criminal profiling: an evidence-based approach|journal=Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology|volume=48|issue=2|year=2014|pages=238–255|issn=0004-8658|doi=10.1177/0004865814530732|s2cid=145585868}}

Fundamental assumptions that offender profiling relies upon, such as the homology assumption, have been proven outdated by advances in psychology and behavioral science. The majority of profiling approaches assume that behavior is primarily determined by personality, not situational factors, an assumption that psychological research has recognized as a mistake since the 1960s.{{cite journal|last1=Snook|first1=Brent|last2=Cullen|first2=Richard M.|last3=Bennell|first3=Craig|last4=Taylor|first4=Paul J.|last5=Gendreau|first5=Paul|title=The Criminal Profiling Illusion|journal=Criminal Justice and Behavior|volume=35|issue=10|year=2008|pages=1257–1276|issn=0093-8548|doi=10.1177/0093854808321528|s2cid=55872956|url=https://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/id/eprint/49930/1/Snook_et_al._CJB.pdf}} Profilers have been noted to be very reluctant to participate in studies of profiling's accuracy. In a 2021 article it was noted that out of 243 cases, around 188 were solved with the help of criminal profiling.

A widely cited study by Mokros and Alison (2002) tested the homology assumption using a sample of convicted rapists and found no significant correlation between similarities in crime scene behavior and similarities in offender characteristics such as age, occupation, or criminal history. This research provided strong evidence that offenders with comparable behavioral patterns do not necessarily resemble one another in terms of psychological or demographic profiles. These findings increased doubt on the reliability of using crime scene behaviors to infer specific traits about an unknown offender, calling into question the scientific basis of many profiling practices.{{Cite journal |last=Mokros |first=Andreas |last2=Alison |first2=Laurence J. |date=February 2002 |title=Is offender profiling possible? Testing the predicted homology of crime scene actions and background characteristics in a sample of rapists |url=https://doi.org/10.1348/135532502168360 |journal=Legal and Criminological Psychology |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=25–43 |doi=10.1348/135532502168360 |issn=1355-3259|url-access=subscription }}

{{As of|2021}}, although the practice of offender profiling is widely used, publicized and researched globally, there is a significant lack of empirical research or evidence to support the validity of psychological profiling in criminal investigations.{{Cite journal |last1=Fox |first1=Bryanna |last2=Farrington |first2=David P. |date=December 2018 |title=What have we learned from offender profiling? A systematic review and meta-analysis of 40 years of research. |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/bul0000170 |journal=Psychological Bulletin |volume=144 |issue=12 |pages=1247–1274 |doi=10.1037/bul0000170 |pmid=30475018 |s2cid=53746560 |issn=1939-1455|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite journal |last1=Ribeiro |first1=Rita Alexandra Brilha |last2=Soeiro |first2=Cristina Branca Bento de Matos |date=January 2021 |title=Analysing criminal profiling validity: Underlying problems and future directions |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2020.101670 |journal=International Journal of Law and Psychiatry |volume=74 |pages=101670 |doi=10.1016/j.ijlp.2020.101670 |pmid=33341721 |s2cid=229343858 |issn=0160-2527|url-access=subscription }} Critics question the reliability, validity, and utility of criminal profiles generally provided in police investigations. Even over the years common criminal profiling methods have changed and been looked down upon due to weak definitions that differentiate the criminal's behaviors, assumptions and their psychodynamic process of the offender actions and characteristics that occur.{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}} In other words, this leads to poor and misleading profiles on offenders because they are based on opinions and decisions made up from one profiler conducting research on the offender. Research in 2007-2008 into profiling's effectiveness have prompted researchers to label the practice as pseudoscientific.{{cite journal|last1=Snook|first1=Brent|last2=Eastwood|first2=Joseph|last3=Gendreau|first3=Paul|last4=Goggin|first4=Claire|last5=Cullen|first5=Richard M.|title=Taking Stock of Criminal Profiling|journal=Criminal Justice and Behavior|volume=34|issue=4|year=2007|pages=437–453|issn=0093-8548|doi=10.1177/0093854806296925|s2cid=17166514|url=http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/19b0/4f185903eea905cfd8d6d8cb75055de7527f.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190219192451/http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/19b0/4f185903eea905cfd8d6d8cb75055de7527f.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2019-02-19}}{{Cite journal|last1=Snook|first1=Brent|last2=Cullen|first2=Richard M.|last3=Bennell|first3=Craig|last4=Taylor|first4=Paul J.|last5=Gendreau|first5=Paul|date=October 2008|title=The Criminal Profiling Illusion|journal=Criminal Justice and Behavior|volume=35|issue=10|pages=1257–1276|doi=10.1177/0093854808321528|s2cid=55872956|issn=0093-8548|url=https://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/id/eprint/49930/1/Snook_et_al._CJB.pdf}} At the time, Malcolm Gladwell of The New Yorker compared profiling to astrology and cold reading.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/11/12/dangerous-minds|title=Dangerous Minds|last=Gladwell|first=Malcolm|authorlink=Malcolm Gladwell|date=November 12, 2007|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=December 7, 2015}} Other critics described criminal profiling as an investigative tool hidden behind a lack of scientific evidence and support.

The profession of criminal profiling is highly unregulated.{{Cite journal|last1=Snook|first1=Brent|last2=Gendreau|first2=Paul|last3=Bennell|first3=Craig|last4=Taylor|first4=Paul|date=2008|title=Criminal Profiling|journal=Skeptic|volume=14|pages=42–47, 80}} There is no governing body which determines who is and who is not qualified to be a criminal profiler, and therefore those who identify themselves as criminal profilers may range from someone with minimal to someone with extensive experience in the realm of criminal investigation. In addition to the lack of criteria as to what makes an expert in the field of criminal profiling, there is little empirical evidence supporting the accuracy of criminal profiling.{{Cite journal|last=Kocsis|first=Richard N.|date=June 2004|title=Psychological Profiling of Serial Arson Offenses an Assessment of Skills and Accuracy|journal=Criminal Justice and Behavior|volume=31|issue=3|pages=341–361|doi=10.1177/0093854803262586|s2cid=146215192|issn=0093-8548}} There is an abundance of anecdotal support for criminal profiling, much of which originates from reports made by police officers and investigators regarding the performance of criminal profilers. However, law enforcement agents have been found to greatly support the use of criminal profiling, but studies have shown that detectives are poor profilers themselves. One study presented police officers with two different profiles for the same perpetrator, each of which varied greatly from the officers’ own description.Smith, M., & Alison, L. (2001, March). Barnum effects in offender profiles. Paper presented at the Fifth Biannual Conference of Investigative Psychology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK It was found that the officers were unable to determine whether one profile was more accurate than the other, and felt that all profiles accurately described the perpetrator. Officers were able to find truth in whichever profile they viewed, believing it accurately described the perpetrator, demonstrating the presence of the Barnum effect.{{Cite journal|last=Kocsis|first=Richard N.|date=April 2003|title=Criminal Psychological Profiling: Validities and Abilities|journal=International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology|volume=47|issue=2|pages=126–144|doi=10.1177/0306624x03251092|pmid=12710360|s2cid=37863421|issn=0306-624X}} In addition, an investigator's judgement of the accuracy of a profile is impacted by the perceived source of the information; if the officer believes that the profile was written by an “expert” or “professional”, they are likely to perceive it as more accurate than a profile written by someone who is identified as a consultant.{{Cite journal|last1=Kocsis|first1=Richard N.|last2=Hayes|first2=Andrew F.|date=April 2004|title=Believing is Seeing? Investigating the Perceived Accuracy of Criminal Psychological Profiles|journal=International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology|volume=48|issue=2|pages=149–160|doi=10.1177/0306624x03258481|pmid=15070463|s2cid=41652128|issn=0306-624X}} This poses a genuine problem when considering that there are no true criteria which determine who may be considered a “professional” criminal profiler, and when considering that support for criminal profiling is largely based on the opinion of police officers.

The most routinely used typology in profiling is categorizing crime scenes, and by extension offender's personalities, as either "organized" or "disorganized". The idea of classifying crime scenes according to organized/disorganized dichotomy is credited to the FBI profiler Roy Hazelwood.("Organized Vs Disorganized Serial Predators", https://www.psychologytoday {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130720154923/http://psychologytoday/ |date=2013-07-20 }})

A typology of serial sexual homicides advocated by Robert Keppel and Richard Walter categorizes them as either power–assertive, power–reassurance, anger–retaliatory, or anger–excitation.

Criminal profiling can also be ex-ante or ex-post. Descriptive profiling of a perpetrator is a type of ex-post profiling, and can be used to prevent a serial killer from striking again.{{cite book |last1=Mareile Kaufmann |title=Ethnic Profiling and Counter-terrorism: Examples of European Practice and Possible Repercussions |date=2010 |publisher=LIT Verlag Münster |pages=16–17 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZXIumGf99UYC&q=criminal+profiling&pg=PA94 |access-date=23 June 2018 |quote=statistically proven to correlate with certain criminal conduct can be effective law enforcement tools|isbn=978-3643104472 }}

Other profiling typologies have been developed over time, including distinctions based on motivation, method of attack, or psychological state. While typologies can provide investigators with a framework for understanding offender behavior, they are often based on clinical judgment and are not always supported by empirical research. Alternative approaches, such as Behavioral Evidence Analysis (BEA), focus on reconstructing the offender’s actions and decision-making based on physical evidence, victimology, and crime scene dynamics, rather than relying on general typologies.{{Citation |last=Turvey |first=Brent E. |title=An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis |date=2012 |work=Criminal Profiling |pages=121–140 |url=https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-385243-4.00005-8 |access-date=2025-04-09 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-12-385243-4}}

There are three leading approaches in the area of offender profiling: the criminal investigative approach, the clinical practitioner approach, and the scientific statistical approach. The criminal investigative approach is what is used by law enforcement and more specifically by the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) within the FBI. The BAU "assists law enforcement agencies by their review and assessment of a criminal act, by interpreting the offender's behavior during the crime and the interactions between the offender and the victim during the commission of the crime and as expressed in the crime scene."{{cite journal|last1=Vettor|first1=Shannon|last2=Woodhams|first2=Jessica|last3=Beech|first3=Anthony|title=Offender profiling: A review and critique of the approaches and major assumption|journal=Journal of Current Issues in Crime, Law and Law Enforcement|date=2013|volume=6|issue=4|pages=353–387}} The clinical practitioner approach focuses on looking at each case as unique, making the approach very individualistic. One practitioner, Turco, believed that all violent crimes were a result of the mother-child struggle where female victims represent the offender's mother. This is also recognized as the psychodynamic approach. Another practitioner, Copson, outlined some principles for profiling that include being custom made, interactive and reflexive. By following these principles, the profile should include advice that is unique and not from a stereotype, should be easy to understand for all levels of intelligence, and all elements in the profile should influence one another. The Scientific approach relies heavily on the multivariate analysis of behaviors and any other information from the crime scene that could lead to the offender's characteristics or psychological processes. According to this approach, elements of the profile are developed by comparing the results of the analysis to those of previously caught offenders.

Wilson, Lincon and Kocsis list three main paradigms of profiling: diagnostic evaluation, crime scene analysis, and investigative psychology.{{cite journal|last1=Muller|first1=Damon A.|title=Criminal Profiling: Real Science or Just Wishful Thinking? |journal=Homicide Studies|volume=4|issue=3|year=2000|pages=234–264|issn=1088-7679|doi=10.1177/1088767900004003003|s2cid=145326921}} Ainsworth{{cite book | last=Ainsworth | first=Peter | title=Offender profiling and crime analysis | publisher=Willan | location=Devon Portland, Or | year=2001 | isbn=978-1-903240-21-2 }} identified four: clinical profiling (synonymous with diagnostic evaluation), typological profiling (synonymous with crime scene analysis), investigative psychology, and geographical profiling.Quoted by {{Cite journal|url = http://www.psychlotron.org.uk/newResources/criminological/A2_AQB_crim_whatIsProfiling.pdf|title = What is Offender Profiling|last = Simmons|first = A.|date = 2015|journal = Handout from Psychlotron.org.uk|access-date = November 20, 2015}}

Five steps in profiling include: 1. Analyzing the criminal act and comparing it to similar crimes in the past. 2. An in-depth analysis of the actual crime scene. 3. Considering the victim's background and activities for possible motives and connections. 4. Considering other possible motives. 5. Developing a description of the possible offender that can be compared with previous cases.{{Cite book|title = Forensic Psychology|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=dRYHAAAAQBAJ|publisher = Cengage Learning|year= 2008|isbn = 978-1111804954|first1 = Solomon|last1 = Fulero|first2 = Lawrence|last2 = Wrightsman}}

One type of criminal profiling is referred to as linkage analysis. Gerard N. Labuschagne defines linkage analysis as "a form of behavioral analysis that is used to determine the possibility of a series of crimes as having been committed by one offender."{{Cite journal|title = The use of a linkage analysis as evidence in the conviction of the Newcastle serial murderer, South Africa|journal = Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling|date = 2006-10-01|issn = 1544-4767|pages = 183–191|volume = 3|issue = 3|doi = 10.1002/jip.51|first = Gérard N.|last = Labuschagne}} Gathering many aspects of the offender's crime pattern such as modus operandi (MO), ritual or fantasy-based behaviors exhibited, and the signature of the offender, help to establish a basis for a linkage analysis. An offender's modus operandi is the habits or tendencies during the killing of the victim. An offender's signature is the unique similarities in each of the kills. Mainly, linkage analysis is used when physical evidence, such as DNA, cannot be collected.

Labuschagne states that in gathering and incorporating these aspects of the offender's crime pattern, investigators must engage in five assessment procedures: 1. Obtaining data from multiple sources. 2. Reviewing the data and identifying significant features of each crime across the series. 3. Classifying the significant features as either modus operandi or ritualistic. 4. Comparing the combination of modus operandi and ritual or fantasy-based features across the series to determine if a signature exists. 5. Compiling a written report highlighting the findings.

{{main|FBI method of profiling}}

There are six stages to developing a criminal profile: profiling inputs, decision process models, crime assessment, criminal profiling, investigation, and apprehension. The FBI and BAU tend to study specific categories of crimes such as white collar and serial murder.("Behavioral Analysts", https://www.fbi.gov)

Profiling has continuously gotten more

accurate throughout the years. In the year 2008, only 42% of cases were solved using criminal profiling. In 2019 the FBI was able to solve 56% of the cases that were not solved back in the year 2008.

Profiling as an investigative tool has a high level of acceptance among both the general public and police.{{cite journal|last1=Jackson|first1=Craig|last2=Wilson|first2=David|last3=Rana|first3=Baljit Kaur|title=The usefulness of criminal profiling|journal=Criminal Justice Matters|volume=84|issue=1|year=2011|pages=6–7|issn=0962-7251|doi=10.1080/09627251.2011.576014}}

In the United States, between 1971 and 1981, the FBI had only profiled cases on 192 occasions. By 1986, FBI profilers were requested in 600 investigations in a single year. By 1996, 12 FBI profilers were applying profiling to approximately 1,000 cases per year.

In the United Kingdom, 29 profilers provided 242 instances of profiling advice between 1981 and 1994; its usage increasing steadily over that period.

The usage of profiling has been documented in Sweden, Finland, New Zealand, South Africa, Germany, Canada, Ireland, Malaysia, Russia, Zimbabwe, and the Netherlands.

Surveys of police officers in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada have found that an overwhelming majority consider profiling to be useful. A 2007 meta-analysis of existing research into offender profiling noted that there was "a notable incongruity between [profiling's] lack of empirical foundation and the degree of support for the field."

Profiling's continued popularity has been speculatively attributed to broad use of anecdotes and testimonials, a focus on correct predictions over the number of incorrect ones, ambiguous profiles benefiting from the Barnum effect, and the popular appeal of the fantasy of a sleuth with deductive powers like Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes.

Notable profilers include Roy Hazelwood, who profiled sexual predators; Ernst Gennat, a German criminologist, who developed an early profiling scheme for the police of Berlin; Walter Charles Langer, who predicted Hitler's behavior and eventual suicide, Howard Teten, who worked on the case of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, and John E. Douglas, who worked on a wave of child murders in Atlanta in the 1980s.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newsweek.com/mindhunter-season-2-atlanta-child-murders-true-story-1452387 |title='Mindhunter' Inspiration Revisits Atlanta Child Murders |magazine=Newsweek |date=August 2, 2019 |access-date=11 December 2019}}

One of the earliest documented cases of offender profiling was used during the investigation of the “Mad Bomber” in 1950s New York. Psychiatrist Dr. James A. Brussel created a detailed psychological profile of the unknown suspect, accurately predicting traits such as his age, mental health history, social isolation, and even his habit of wearing a double-breasted suit. Brussel’s work helped to narrow the investigation and eventually led to the arrest of George Metesky in 1957, marking a pivotal moment in the development of modern criminal profiling.{{Cite journal |last=Werner |first=Ashley |date=2022-07-31 |title=Book Review: John Douglas and Mark Olshaker, Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit. New York, NY: Pocket Books. 1995 |url=https://doi.org/10.3798/tia.1937-0237.2220 |journal=Theory in Action |volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=88–93 |doi=10.3798/tia.1937-0237.2220 |issn=1937-0229|doi-access=free }}

According to the BAU, the probability of a profiler being used as "expert testimony" in court and leading to a guilty verdict is 85%.

There is a difference between the hard sciences and the social sciences related to testimony and evidence in the courtroom. Some experts contend that offender profiling should not be used in court until such processes can be reliably validated, but as seen, it is still used successfully to this day.

The historical roots of criminal profiling in the United States and Europe have been discussed elsewhere (1). Many European countries have now developed their own approaches to criminal profiling and established specialized academic research institutions and trained police units (1,6), for

example, the German Bundeskriminalamt (7,8), implementing the first quality standards in 2003 (9,10), as well as Austria (11), Scandinavia (12), and the United Kingdom (13). Switzerland has only recently adopted ViCLAS, the computerized Violent Crime Linkage Analysis System, and is now training its own case analysis specialists (1,14,15)

{{Primary sources section|date=May 2022}}

In a review of the literature by Eastwood et al. (2006),{{cite journal |title=A review of the validity of criminal profiling |year=2006 |last1=Eastwood |first1=Joseph |last2=Cullen |first2=Richard M |last3=Kavanagh |first3=Jennifer |last4=Snook |first4=Brent |journal=Canadian Journal of Police and Security Services |volume=4 |pages=118–124 |url=https://www.mun.ca/psychology/brl/publications/Eastwood-article.pdf |access-date=2018-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171025164328/http://www.mun.ca/psychology/brl/publications/Eastwood-article.pdf |archive-date=2017-10-25 |url-status=dead }} one of the studies according to, Pinizzotto and Finkel (1990),{{cite journal|last1=Pinizzotto|first1=Anthony J.|last2=Finkel|first2=Norman J.|title=Criminal personality profiling: An outcome and process study.|journal=Law and Human Behavior|volume=14|issue=3|year=1990|pages=215–233|issn=1573-661X|doi=10.1007/BF01352750|s2cid=150248646}} showed that trained criminal profilers did not do any better than non-profilers in producing an accurate profile. A 2000 study also showed that profilers were not significantly better at creating a profile than any other participating groups.{{Cite journal|title = Expertise in Psychological Profiling A Comparative Assessment|journal = Journal of Interpersonal Violence|date = 2000-03-01|issn = 0886-2605|pages = 311–331|volume = 15|issue = 3|doi = 10.1177/088626000015003006|first1 = Richard N.|last1 = Kocsis|first2 = Harvey J.|last2 = Irwin|first3 = Andrew F.|last3 = Hayes|first4 = Ronald|last4 = Nunn|s2cid = 145099817}}

A survey of statements made in offender profiles done for major cases from 1992 to 2001 found that "72% included repetition of the details of what occurred in the offence (factual statements already known by the police), references to the profiler’s competence [...] or caveats about using the material in the investigation." Over 80% of the remaining statements, which made claims about the offender's characteristics, gave no justification for their conclusion.{{cite journal|last1=Alison|first1=Laurence|last2=Smith|first2=Matthew D.|last3=Morgan|first3=Keith|title=Interpreting the accuracy of offender profiles|journal=Psychology, Crime & Law|volume=9|issue=2|year=2003|pages=185–195|issn=1068-316X|doi=10.1080/1068316031000116274|s2cid=143619845}}

A 2003 study that asked two different groups of police to rate how accurately a profile matched a description of the apprehended offender, with one group given a description of a completely fabricated offender instead of the real one, found that the profile was rated equally accurate in both cases.

There is a lack of clear, quantifiable evidence of a link between crime scene actions (A) and offender characteristics (C), a necessary supposition of the A to C paradigm proposed by Canter (1995).{{cite book | last1=Canter | first1=David | last2=Youngs | first2=Donna | title=Handbook of Psychology in Legal Contexts | chapter=Beyond ‘Offender Profiling’: The Need for an Investigative Psychology | publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Ltd | location=Chichester, UK | year=2003 | isbn=978-0-471-49874-2 | doi=10.1002/0470013397.ch7 | pages=171–205 |editor-last = Bull|editor-first=R. |editor2=Carson, D. |chapter-url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227997825|access-date = December 7, 2015}}{{cite book|last=Canter|first=D.V. |year=1995 |chapter=The psychology of offender profiling | title=Handbook of Psychology in Legal Contexts | publisher=J. Wiley | location=Chichester; New York | isbn=978-0-471-94182-8 |editor-last = Bull|editor-first=R. |editor2=Carson, D.}} A 2002 review by Alison et al. concluded, "The notion that particular configurations of demographic features can be predicted from an assessment of particular configurations of specific behaviors occurring in short-term, highly traumatic situations seems an overly ambitious and unlikely possibility. Thus, until such inferential processes can be reliably verified, such claims should be treated with great caution in investigations and should be entirely excluded from consideration in court."{{Cite journal|title = The personality paradox in offender profiling: A theoretical review of the processes involved in deriving background characteristics from crime scene actions.|journal = Psychology, Public Policy, and Law|pages = 115–135|volume = 8|issue = 1|doi = 10.1037/1076-8971.8.1.115|first1 = Laurence|last1 = Alison|first2 = Craig|last2 = Bennell|first3 = Andreas|last3 = Mokros|first4 = David|last4 = Ormerod |date=March 2002|s2cid = 55905695|url = http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/20d7/408822c660b23e4c7a8cf33ad43012e718fa.pdf|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210210080345/http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/20d7/408822c660b23e4c7a8cf33ad43012e718fa.pdf|url-status = dead|archive-date = 2021-02-10}}

{{Portal|Crime|Law|Psychology}}

{{div col}}

• Criminology
• Forensic profiling
• Forensic psychology
• Presumption of guilt
• Racial profiling
• Residential Burglary Expert System
• Statistical correlations of criminal activity

{{div col end}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book| last1 = Alison| first1 = Laurence| last2 = Rainbow| first2 = Lee| title =Professionalizing Offender Profiling: Forensic and Investigative Psychology in Prectice| year = 2011| publisher = Routledge | location = New York| isbn = 978-0-415-66878-1}}
• Canter, David; Youngs, Donna (2008). Principles of Geographical Offender Profiling. New York: Ashgate Publishing. {{ISBN|978-0-754-62549-0}}
• Douglas, John; Olshaker, Mark (1997). Journey Into Darkness: The FBI's Premier Investigator Penetrates the Minds and Motives of the Most Terrifying Serial Killers. London: Arrow Books. {{ISBN|978-1-439-19981-7}}
• {{Cite book|last=Evans|first=Colin|title=The Casebook of Forensic Detection: How Science Solved 100 of the World's Most Baffling Crimes|year=1996|publisher=John Wiley & Sons Inc.|location=New York|isbn=978-0-471-07650-6|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/casebookofforens00coli}}
• {{cite book| last = Jeffers| first = H. Paul| title =Profiles in Evil: Chilling Case Histories from the FBI's Violent Crime Unit| year = 1991| publisher = Warner Books | location = London| isbn = 978-0-708-85449-5}}
• {{cite book| last1 = Ressler| first1 = Robert| last2 = Schachtman| first2 = Tom| title =Whoever Fights Monsters: The True Story of the Brilliant FBI Detective Behind Silence of the Lambs| year = 1992| publisher = Pocket Books | location = New York| isbn = 978-0-671-71561-8}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20180805032245/http://criminvestresearch.com/ Criminal Investigative Research and Analysis (CiR&A) Group: Current research on evidence-based behavioural investigative practice in police investigations]
• [http://www.criminalprofiling.ch/ Swiss scientific research site on criminal profiling]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20071012032617/http://www.liv.ac.uk/psychology/ccir/op.html University of Liverpool Forensic Psychology – with articles]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20071017202048/http://faculty.ncwc.edu/TOConnor/428/428lect01.htm History of Criminal Profiling – with links to other sites]
• [http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/163/3/559-a Offender Profiling: An Introduction to the Sociopsychological Analysis of Violent Crime ]
• [http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/11/12/071112fa_fact_gladwell Dangerous Minds: Criminal profiling made easy, by Malcolm Gladwell]

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