homicide and profiling Flashcards
Types of Homicide
First degree murder: all murder that is planned and
deliberate
◦ A few cases that would not be planned or deliberate
Second degree murder: murder that is not planned
but deliberate
Manslaughter: unintentional murder that occurs
during the ‘heat of passion’ or because of criminal
negligence
is homicide common
no - only 1% of all violent crimes
Bimodal Classification of Homicide
(what are the two ways to classify homocides)
- reactive aggression
(affective-heat of the moment) - instrumental aggression
(predatory-planned)
Theories of Homicidal Aggression
Social Learning Theory
aggressive behavior is learned through a process of
reinforcement
◦ How rewarding has aggressive behavior been in the individual’s past?
Theories of Homicidal Aggression
Evolutionary Theory
crime can be thought
of as adaptive behavior used to survive and
pass on genes
Homicide emerged as a strategy to deal with
competition for limited resources
Theories of Homicidal Aggression
General Aggression Model
(GAM)
integrates several
theories
Multiple Murderers
Serial murder: the killing of at least 2 people over time
◦ Usually committed in different locations, aren’t generally connected to one
another
◦ Cooling-off period: the inactive time interval between murders, can vary in length
Mass murder: the killing of multiple victims at a single location during one
event
Spree murder: the killing of at least 2 victims in one continuous event at two
or more locations
mass murder minimum number of victims
4
serial murderer characteristics
male, while, kill for enjoyment
most victims are white young females
shooting is mosr common method
black widow
kill for fincial gain
angels of death
nurses who kill patients
Holmes & Holmes (1998) → used 110 case files to develop a classification
system based on case characteristics
Proposed 4 major types of serial murders:
Visionary: kills in response to voices or visions
◦ Mission oriented: targets individuals from a group they consider ‘undesirable’
◦ Hedonistic: murders for self-gratification
◦ Lust murderer, thrill murderer, comfort murderer
◦ Power/Control: murders for dominance over the victim
Mass Murderers
Depressed, angry,
or frustrated
Believe they have
not succeeded
Socially isolated,
feel rejected
Sometimes
motivated by
perceived injustice
Criminal Profiling
Technique for identifying the major personality and behavioral characteristics
of an individual based upon an analysis of the crimes they have committed
Most commonly used for violent serial crimes
what does criinal profiling help with
Helps set traps to flush out an offender
◦ Determines whether a threatening note should be taken seriously
◦ Advises on how best to interrogate a suspect
◦ Tells prosecutors how to break down defendants in cross-examination
New York City’s Mad Bomber
1940-1957
Unknown offender detonated
bombs in public places
Dr. James Brussel, forensic
psychiatrist, developed a profile
Dr. Brussel’s profile was largely
correct, down to the double-
breasted suit that George Metesky
wore to the police station
when to use criminial profiling
when there is no clear motive
when the offender and victim do not know eachother
what 3 things are most important for a criminal profile
they get the personailty, the age, and the demographic
Criminal profiling program introduced to FBI in
1970
Linkage blindness:
inability to link geographically
dispersed serial crimes committed by the same
offender
ViCLAS
1990s → RCMP develops Violent Crime Linkage
Analysis System (ViCLAS)
◦ Automated system for linking serial crimes
Profiling Methods
deductive or inductive
new criminal profiling names
criminal investigatve analysis
criminal investigative analyss
bheavioural investigative advisor
often law ppl not psych ppl
Deductive Criminal Profiling
◦ Prediction of an offender’s background characteristics based on evidence left at
the crime scene
◦ Relies on logical reasoning, flexible approach
problem- too many options (can read into it too muvh)
Inductive Criminal Profiling
Prediction of an offender’s background characteristics based on what we know
about other solved cases
◦ Premise: if certain crimes committed by different people are similar, offenders
must also share some personality traits
◦ Arguably more objective
problem- crime might be too unique
Goodwill, Lehmann, Beauregard, & Andrei (2016) cluster analysis
Used previously solved cases of sexual assault to develop a framework for
relating categories of crime scene characteristics to categories of background
characteristics
Cluster Analysis to identify certain behaviors
Search Strategies
Hunters
Poachers
Trollers
Trappers
Selection Strategies
Telio
Specific
Pedo/Hebe
Specific
Non-
Specific
Approach Behaviors
Opportunistic
Cons/Tricksters
Home Intruder
Persuasion
Assault
Violence + Control
Attempt
Persuasion + Sexual
Background
Characteristics
Socially
Competent
Offender
Antisocial
Generalist
Sexually
Deviant
Offender
The Validity of Criminal Profiling
- Many profiling techniques based on a theoretical model of personality that
lacks strong empirical support
◦ Classic trait model: assumes the primary determinants of behavior are stable,
internal traits - Core psychological assumptions lack strong empirical support
- Many profiles contain information that is so vague and ambiguous they
can potentially fit many suspects - Professional profilers may be no better than untrained individuals at
constructing accurate profiles
Geographic Profiling
An investigative technique that uses
crime scene locations to predict the
most likely area where an offender
resides
Used to prioritize existing suspects
Assumption: most serial offenders do
not travel far from home to commit
their crimes
Geographic Profiling
Systems: computer
systems that use
mathematical models of
offender spatial behavior
to make predictions
about where unknown
serial offenders are likely
to reside
hunter
close to home
poacher
travel
troller
routine
street, coffee shop
trappers
put into situation
telio speciifc
like an adult femlae but w speciifc characteristisc
pedo/hebe specififc
child and teens
they prob still hv a type
opportunistic cons/trickerters
a ruse
oh i lost my puppy
persuasion
prob someone familar w
non violent
getting close in some way
complimnets
gifts
violence and control
physical and verbal
attempt
verbal but will stop with enough resistance
persuasion and sexual
no physical force
antosocial generalist
antisocial personality trait
others crimes not sexual
the two spectrums
violence level and how spefiif cis vicitm type
top right of graph
home intruder, telio, sexually deviant, hunter, violence and control
theyre all grouper together on the graph
