chapter 5

Question 1

Profiling

Answer 1

the process of drawing inferences about a criminal’s personality, behavior, motivation, and demographic characteristics based on crime scenes and other evidence.

Question 2

serial killers

Answer 2

murderers who kill three or more people in separate events with a cooling-off period between murders

Question 3

what do profilers do?

Answer 3

analyze the crime scenes, gather information about the victims, and study both police and autopsy reports.

Question 4

Jack the ripper

Answer 4

First criminal profile in 1888; Killed 5 prostitutes; Never caught

Question 5

The Olympic bomber

Answer 5

1996 summer Olympics; Within days, arrested; But no evidence linked him to the crime; Another arrest was made

Question 6

The Mad bomber

Answer 6

1940 unexploded bomb found; Profile was accurate; Mental health problem

Question 7

Characteristics of serial killers

Answer 7

-Brain injuries
-Abuse during childhood
-White males of average intelligence
-Intimate methods of killing
-Intoxicated
-Highly sexualized/porn addicted
-Females seek out children and elderly and more likely to be motivated by money

Question 8

___% of inmates meet diagnostic criteria for psychopathy

Answer 8

25

Question 9

Psychopath characteristics

Answer 9

charming, self-centered, devoid of empathy, reckless, no impulse control

Question 10

Not all serial killers are _____, they are almost always rational and _____ _____ _____ ______

Answer 10

1) psychopaths
2) in touch with reality

Question 11

Organized murderers

Answer 11

carefully selecting and stalking their victims and planning what they will do to them. They show patience and self-control by waiting for the right opportunity and then cleaning up evidence after the murder. They also tend to use more elaborate rituals involving torturing the victim and dismembering the corpse.

Question 12

disorganized murderers

Answer 12

impulsive, picking their victims at random, acting on sudden rage, or following commands to kill from voices in their heads. Disorganized killers are more likely to use any weapon that happens to be available, leave the weapon at the crime scene, and use the dead body for sexual purposes

Question 13

investigators used the ____ _____ _____ to assume about the killers ______ for profiling

Answer 13

1) crime scene organization
2) personality

Question 14

Holmes classification for serial killers

Answer 14

visionary, mission-oriented, hedonistic, and power-oriented

Question 15

visionary types

Answer 15

usually psychotic; they have visions or believe they hear voices from God or spirits instructing them to kill certain types of people.

Question 16

mission-oriented types

Answer 16

are less likely to be psychotic and are motivated by a desire to kill people they regard as evil or unworthy (e.g., one set out to kill all physicians who performed abortions).

Question 17

Hedonistic types

Answer 17

kill for thrills and take sadistic sexual pleasure in torturing their victims.

Question 18

Power-oriented types

Answer 18

get satisfaction from capturing and controlling the victim before killing.

Question 19

Geographic profiling

Answer 19

-Relies on maps and math
-Key locations plotted on a map
-Estimate general vicinity of work or home based on geographical comfort zone of killer
-Suggests where to look
-Proven useful in actual cases

Question 20

anchor point

Answer 20

the location from which an offender leaves to launch attacks

Question 21

buffer zone

Answer 21

around a criminal’s home — that is, an area in which the criminal is less likely to commit crimes

Question 22

distance decay

Answer 22

the probability of an attack decreases as distance from past crime locations increases.

Question 23

temporal sequencing

Answer 23

the principle that, over time, the geographical range of a serial offender’s crimes will increase

Question 24

behavioral investigative advice (BIA):

Answer 24

stresses the role of offering advice to investigators on how to use the media, what questions might be asked during police interviews with suspects, and whether a crime might be part of a series of crimes.

Question 25

Racial profiling

Answer 25

using race (or ethnicity) as an indicator of who might be engaged in criminal activity

Question 26

Probative evidence

Answer 26

provides information that is useful in assessing whether a person committed a crime.

Question 27

Two crucial questions for probative evidence:

Answer 27

-Should information about whether a defendant fits a profile be admissible in court?
-Should a defendant’s “fit” with a profile be considered evidence?

Question 28

Equivocal death

Answer 28

: unclear the intentions behind the death

Question 29

NASH system for death classification

Answer 29

a death can fall into one of four categories: natural, accidental, suicide, or homicide.

Question 30

psychological autopsy

Answer 30

is an effort to dissect and examine the psychological state of a person prior to his or her death.