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Running head: CRIMINAL PROFILING 1

Criminal Profiling and its Validity within the Forensic Science World

Keara R. Moore

Saint Leo University

CRJ 546 –Advanced Forensic Science

Fred Sams

December 15, 2012

Running head: CRIMINAL PROFILING 2

Abstract

There is a variety of techniques and methods that are used to understand crimes and individuals

who commit them. Criminal profiling is an analysis technique that has garnered a great deal of

attention in the past few decades. Its portrayal on both the television and the big screen has

continuously drawn substantial amounts of attention to the area. Its portrayal has also made

criminal profiling a well-liked academic area of study, topic within the media, and police

investigative tool worldwide. Despite its undeniable popularity, many have questioned whether

or not the criminal profiling technique is valid and legitimate in use. Some believe that criminal

profiling is based on a circumstantial rationale that was developed by policing agencies and has

little empirical evidence to support its validity. Others believe that the validity of criminal

profiling is in the eye of the beholder. This paper will take a look at the definition of criminal

profiling, the history of it, and its uses within the forensic science world. It will also examine the

actual profiling process and assess the claims made concerning its validity within the forensic

science world.

Running head: CRIMINAL PROFILING 3

Criminal Profiling and its Validity within the Forensic Science World

Criminal profiling is a law enforcement investigative technique that has, over the years,

seemed to capture the public’s attention more than any other investigative technique. Criminal

profiling has been the basis of various movies, books, television shows, and other fictional

works. Although the fictional works’ portrayal of criminal profiling has provided the public with

a vivid view of the area of study, it has also led to the public’s perception of the subject matter

being misconstrued. Understanding the crimes being committed and the individuals committing

them is a bit more complex in nature than what is being publicly broadcasted. Criminal profiling

is not nearly as effortless or as accurate as one is being made to believe. Also, its usage has not,

and still is not, always deemed valid or accepted by all.

Definition of Criminal Profiling

The term criminal personality profiling has an array of meanings and characterizations

associated with it. Some define criminal profiling as the technique that identifies “the major

personality, behavioral, and demographic characteristics of offenders based on an analysis of the

crimes they have committed.” (Cook & Hinman, 1999, p. 231) While others, such as

Wrightsman (as cited in Snook, Gendreau, Bennell, & Taylor, 2008, p. 44), define criminal

profiling as “an educated attempt to provide specific information about a suspect and

biographical sketch of trends, tendencies, and behavioral patterns.”

In the early stages of its use, profiling simply consisted of a compiled list of basic

characteristics that could potentially be possessed by the potential offender of the crime (Snook,

Gendreau, Bennell, & Taylor, 2008). The profile began with and focused primarily on the

behaviors of the perpetrator and/or perpetrators in relation to the evidence left behind at the

Running head: CRIMINAL PROFILING 4

crime scene (Cook & Hinman, 1999). It did not begin with the analysis of the suspect. The

profilers would study the crime scene (state of the crime scene, what was done to the victim, if

any weapon was used, type of weapon used) and the activities of the perpetrator(s) and then

create a psychological description, or profile of the unknown perpetrator based on that

information (Cook & Hinman, 1999; Muller, 2000).

History of Criminal Profiling

The exact date of criminal profiling’s origin is not known; however, some date both its

origin and its uses back to as early as the 19th Century. In 1888, Dr. Thomas Bond, an English

police surgeon, analyzed the behavior of the infamous “Jack the Ripper” and created a profile

listing his potential habits and possible psychosexual problems from the information he found