Criminal profiling: methods, applications, and effectiveness

Criminal Justice

Criminal profiling, or offender profiling, is a process by which law enforcement deduces a psychological and demographic picture of a perpetrator. Clues from the crime scene are used to develop a composite identity of a suspect or suspects. Issues such as geographic location, demographics, behavioral and personality psychology are taken into account. The main purpose of criminal profiling is to aid law enforcement in efficiently pursuing suspects and eliminating false trails. Criminal profiling can also be used to develop a template that can be used to identify suspects in a more general context, although this process risks stereotyping and racial profiling. Criminal profiling is part of Criminal Investigative Analysis (CIA).

The six stages of criminal profiling include profiling inputs, decision process or decision-making models, crime assessment, the criminal profile, the investigation, and the apprehension. Profiling inputs include all hard evidence collected and gleaned from the crime scene. At this stage, nothing is known about potential suspects to avoid bias. Inputs need to be as objective as possible. Second, the investigator organizes and analyzes the information into decision process models. This may entail categorization of data along different dimensions. The third stage, crime assessment, reconstructs the scene of the crime and especially the behaviors of both victim and perpetrator. This stage of profiling helps law enforcement officers to determine such things as whether the crime was premeditated or not. For example, it may be obvious that the crime was committed hastily. Fourth, a formal profile is created. Fifth, the profile is used and enhanced during the investigation process. Finally, the suspect can be apprehended, interviewed, and pursued further.

3. Hormant & Kennedy (1998) provide a theoretical basis for profiling. The authors note that behavioral psychology provides a large part of the theoretical foundation for profiling. If human behavior can be loosely predicted, then so too can criminal behavior.

4. Criminal profiling is not one hundred percent accurate or valid. It is an inexact science. Results of profiling are close to chance, which is one reason why the process is criticized and used cautiously. Officers of the law may be misled by an inaccurate or hasty profile, and in some cases might even apprehend innocent persons because they meet the characteristics listed in the profile. Generalizations, stereotypes, and false conclusions can be drawn during the process of criminal profiling. Biases and assumptions can cloud the profiling process, too. For example, the author's own assumptions about human behavior and demographic traits can cloud judgment during an investigation. Criminal profiling can in some cases derail an investigation by diverting attention away from the actual perpetrator to focus on a false lead. Therefore, criminal profiling should be used cautiously.