Criminal Profiling Methods for Solving Violent Crimes

Introduction to Criminal Profiling

There is no shortage of television shows and movies dealing with the criminal justice system — featuring actual police and investigative work, the penal system, courtroom proceedings, and other aspects of this important means of imposing law and order in a civil society. From these portrayals, the public has been made aware of what ensues when crimes are committed: the investigation, processing of suspects, prosecution, and all the way through to incarceration, release, probation, and parole. Of particular interest in the criminal justice system is how violent crimes are solved via criminal profiling, often referred to as psychological profiling. Criminal profiling is the process of using available information about a crime and crime scene to compose a psychological portrait of the unknown perpetrator of the crime (Muller 234).

This kind of criminal investigation requires well-educated, highly trained, and skilled criminal profilers who can examine "scenes of the crime, and take into account factors such as the state of the crime scene, what weapons (if any) were used in the crime, and what was done and said to the victim (Muller 234)." From what has been gathered at the crime scene, criminal profilers use various scientific methods and procedures — including inductive and deductive reasoning — to develop their theories and prove or disprove them. In doing so, criminal profilers ensure that testing and postulation are backed by solid evidence and that the rigorous processes employed meet the highest standards and best practices in the field.

Although criminal profiling is also called psychological profiling and might therefore be considered something of an "inexact science" compared to pure sciences such as biology, chemistry, and physics, this method of investigating and solving criminal acts — especially those of a violent nature — is always backed by logic, solid reasoning, and tangible evidence. Presentation of these proofs and evidence helps ensure that the three major goals of criminal profiling are achieved (Holmes and Holmes 9):

Goals of Criminal Profiling

With these goals in mind, the criminal profiler does not only attempt to understand the mind of the violent criminal — or any criminal under investigation — but also examines the factors surrounding the root causes of why such criminal behavior occurred. Clearly, there must be a solid understanding of deviant behaviors and how they are triggered to the point where individuals commit violent crimes. Thus, "it is important to come to a general understanding of the type of person who would commit an offense such as a lust murder or spree killing. Inherent within the premise of the validity and reliability of a profile is that the person who commits these crimes has a personality that reflects pathology (Holmes and Holmes 4)."

Like any process, system, or methodology, criminal profiling involves several distinct approaches. The two basic ones are criminal investigative analysis and behavioral evidence analysis. The former "employs psychological typologies to organize information and construct a profile. The premise holds that elements of the crime scene represent the offender's personality and approach, and aims to provide the most likely characteristics — both personality and demographic — possessed by the unknown offender for the police investigation (Young 15)." Behavioral evidence analysis, on the other hand, "also follows the belief that crime scene characteristics provide information about the offender, and uses a deductive, rather than inductive, approach (Young 17)."

Methods: Inductive vs. Deductive Approaches

There are often debates as to which approach is superior; however, the answer is usually dependent on the specific crime at hand. Consequently, a skilled criminal profiler should not limit themselves to a single method, but rather employ several complementary methods that together prove crime theories beyond question or doubt. Using a multi-faceted approach to criminal profiling ensures that no avenue goes unexplored, thereby guaranteeing that the resolution of violent crimes will withstand the highest levels of scrutiny and validation.

The application of criminal profiling methods centers on behaviors associated with organized and disorganized criminal acts. An organized act is one that has been meticulously planned and conceived from beginning to end. The organized offender is responsible for a planned crime, with elements of control and forensic awareness, and is generally considered to be intelligent and socially stable (Young 11). In contrast, a disorganized criminal act is often unplanned and spontaneous. The disorganized offender lacks control, takes advantage of opportunistic circumstances, and leaves a scene that appears random but contains more personal identification evidence than that left by an organized offender (Young 11–12).

Organized and Disorganized Offenders

Both organized and disorganized criminal acts pose different challenges to the criminal profiler. Nonetheless, when proper criminal profiling processes, procedures, and methodologies are applied, there is a high probability of solving violent crimes — a result of the rigor and detail that defines this important criminal investigative discipline.

Conclusion

Using a multi-faceted approach to criminal profiling ensures that no stone has been left unturned in order to guarantee that solving violent crimes will stand to the highest scrutiny and validation. Whether employing criminal investigative analysis or behavioral evidence analysis, and whether confronting an organized or disorganized offender, the skilled criminal profiler draws on evidence, logic, and rigorous methodology to construct a reliable psychological portrait of the perpetrator. The science and art of criminal profiling remain indispensable tools in the pursuit of justice for victims of violent crime.