Offender

profiling
Definitions, approaches and
developing a profile

Activity

Someone has defaced the entrance to

the local primary school, using spray
paint. Write a profile of a possible
suspect, considering the following
factors:
Social:

employment , education, family

background
Physical: age, race, gender
Mental: IQ, motivation to commit criminal
offence

Definitions & Aims

Profiling: an attempt to produce a
description or profile of an offender by
analysing the characteristics of the
offence and other background information
Aims

Descriptions of factors:

Social: employment , marriage

Physical: age, race
Mental: IQ, motivation characteristics of criminal

First Profile?: Jack the

Ripper

First known case of killer

profiling-Dr. Thomas Bond
examined the victim-Mary
Kelly
Determined some
personality traits of the
killer from victim
Often considered the first
recorded serial killer
because of the nature of
the crimes (a typical
sexual motive).

Profiling

Copson (1995) police need 4 types of

information from profilers:
The type of person who committed the crime
How great a threat they pose in the future
The possibility the case is linked to others
How the police should interview the suspects;
what strategies they should use.

Relevant for homicides or

serial crimes of the
following types:

sadistic torture in sexual assaults

evisceration
post-mortem slashing & cutting
motiveless fire-setting or arson
lust and mutilation murder
rape
satanic & ritualistic crime
pedophilia

Two approaches to
profiling

Typological

The FBI approach involves categorising

offenders by the type of offence they
have committed.

Geographical profiling

The British approach is based on using

the location of the crime to identify the
likely home of the offender.

American (FBI) approach

Top Down
Creation of typologies and motivation
based on interviews of captured
criminals, and past crimes
Intuitive analysis of data based on
personal experience of police
Matching a particular type with a
particular crime
eg. organized Vs disorganized

FBI Approach
The FBI requires the following before a profile
can be made

colour photos of the crime scene,

data about the neighbourhood of the crime

(for example, the type of housing and
average income of residents),

the medical examiner's report,

a map of the victim's travels prior to death,

a complete investigative report of the

incident,

background details of the victim.

The collection of this information

is part of a systematic process
following four stages:

Data assimilation; collection of all

available information.
Crime classification; attempts to
classify the crime
Crime reconstruction; attempts to
reconstruct the crime and generate
hypotheses about the behaviours
involved.
Profile generation.

Basis of this approach

The US approach is based on the work

of the FBI in response to serial
murderers.
The main source of their data is
interviews with offenders in prison.
FBI investigators in 1979 interviewed
36 sexual murderers and were able to
categorise them as either 'organised'
or 'disorganised'.

a) Organised offenders shows evidence of

planning, they target the victim and have
tried to control the situation as much as
possible. They have at least average
intelligence, social and sexual competence
and are already in an intimate
relationship.
b) Disorganised offenders tend to be
socially inadequate, may know the crime
scene or the victim and lives alone. The
crime scene evidences the impulsive,
unplanned nature of the attack that uses
minimal amount of restraint and no
attempt to conceal the body.

Organized murder scene; Planned.

Victim -targeted stranger. Control
including restraints. Controlled talk.
Aggression before death. Body
hidden or moved from crime scene.
Weapon and evidence absent.
Disorganized scene; Spontaneous.
Victim known by offender. Little
control. Sexual acts before death.
Body not hidden or left at crime
scene. Evidence present.

Organized murderer; More-than-average lQ.

Skilled occupation. Controlled mood. Living
with partner. Mobile- has use of car. Socially
competent. Sexually competent. High birth
order status. Fathers work stable. Inconsistent
discipline as child. Use of alcohol during crime.
Follows crime on news. Limited change in
behaviour after crime.
Disorganized murderer; Less-than-average
IQ. Unskilled. Uncontrolled. Living alone. Lives
near crime. Socially incompetent. Sexually
incompetent. Low birth order status. Unstable.
Harsh discipline as child. Alcohol not used
during crime. Does not follow crime on news.
Major behaviour change after crime.
(Source: FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 1985.)

British Approach
'Bottom up'

Data-driven

building up individualistic profiles by

looking at associations between crime
scene and offenders
The use of scientific statistical analysis
Application of psychological Theories
Types of analysis may include - content
analysis of speech - location - timing of
offences

Investigative psychological
approach

Canter (1994) believes that

criminals, like most people behave
consistently.
An analysis of the pattern of
behaviour observed over a number of
crimes committed by a serial
offender will give clues about the
non-offending everyday behaviour of
the criminal.

Behaviour patterns

Canter believes that offences are not separate

behaviours from the rest of the offenders
Offences are directly linked to their everyday
interactions.
He uses statistical analysis to buid up a
picture of a wide range of factors associated
with each other to give a profile.
BUT he does not place offenders into
typologies the way the FBI does, but looks tat
the way their behaviour mirrors other aspects
of their day-to-day life.

Canter identified five

characteristics which he believes
can aid investigations
Residential Location
Criminal Biography
Domestic/Social Characteristics
Personal Characteristics
Occupational/Educational History

Other approaches

The clinical approach

Geographical profiling

See your text book for more

information

Comparing British
and US (bottom up
and top down)
Profiling

Advantage of British
Profiling/disadvantages of USA

British profilers look at all the facts before they

make assumptions about the suspect. Therefore
they are approaching the investigation with an
open mind.

The US profilers will have an idea of the type of person

they are looking for based on theory. They will have
preconceptions about who they are looking for. Kocsis et
al (2002) suggests that more experienced detectives are
not as good at profiling perhaps because they have
preconceptions about what they are looking for.

British profiling treats each crime scene as

individual, taking the characteristics for each case
and examining only those, not comparing them
with others.

The US system could lead to profilers missing important

and unique evidence that is individual to that case.

Disadvantage of British
profiling/advantage of USA

British profiling is time consuming and expensive to

do and may mean it takes longer to identify suspects.

The US approach will narrow down the list of suspects

quickly, which could lead to the crime being solved more
quickly.

British profiling is carried out by specialist

Psychologists with experience in criminal
investigation. This may mean they have too many
stereotypical views about suspects, which may
influence their ability to profile effectively. Kocsis et
al (2002) suggests that more experienced detectives
are not as good at profiling perhaps because they
have preconceptions about what they are looking for.

The US system can be used by anyone as it doesnt rely on

the ability or experience of any one individual.