Lecture 4 part 1 Flashcards
Criminal profiling
Technique for identifying personality and behavioural features of an offender based on analysis of crimes (s)he has done
Goals of profiling
- Suspect prioritization
- New lines of enquiry
- Interview strategies
- Predict dangerousness
- Flush out offender
RCMP behavioural sciences section
- Criminal profiling
- Geographic profiling
- Truth verification
- VICLAS (violent crime linkage system)
- National sex offender registry
Inductive profiling
- Profiling offender from what is known about other offenders
- 80% serial killers who attack in parking lot are white male therefore our offender is probably a white male
Deductive profiling
- Profiling offender from evidence relating to that offender’s crime(s)
- Mutilated body with little blood and no clothing found, location not primary crime site due to lack of blood and clothing in area
Organized-disorganized model of FBI offender profiling
- Offender’s crime can be classified as organized (well-planned) or disorganized (chaotic)
- Offender’s background characteristics can be classified as organized (self-control) or disorganized (impulsive)
- Crime scene behaviour said to reflect one’s background characteristics
Assumptions of organized-disorganized model of FBI offender profiling
- Crime scenes can be categorized as organized or disorganized
- Background characteristics can be categorized as organized or disorganized
- Organized crimes commited by organized offenders and disorganized crimes by disorganized offenders
Problems with organized-disorganized model of FBI offender profiling
- Little research has examined model
- Cannot account for offenders that display a mixture of organized and disorganized features
Organized offence behaviours
- Planning
- Use of restraints
- Ante mortem
- Use of vehicle
- Control of victim
Disorganized offender behaviours
- Leave evidence
- Position body
- Post mortem
- Keep body
- No vehicle
Organized offender characteristics
- Intelligent
- Skilled in job
- Decent car
- Follows media
Disorganized offender characteristics
- Sexually ignorant
- Knows victim
- Lives alone
- Lives close to crime
Classic traits model
- We infer traits from behaviours and use these traits to predict other behaviours
- Incorrectly assumes that internal traits are sole determinants of behaviour and disregards situational influences
Prevalence of mixed crime scenes
- Crime scenes rarely exclusively organized or disorganized
- Many crime scenes considered mixed
- Leads to problems with classification
Ambiguous profiles
- Many profiles ambiguous
- Barnum effect: finding personal meaning in vague statements that could apply to many people
