Criminal profiling 101!
Criminal psychology is the study of the intention, thoughts and feelings of criminals and those who engage in crime. In simple words, it is the study of the criminal mind. It falls under the branch of applied psychology and uses psychology, neuroscience and forensics.
What do Criminal psychologists do?
A criminal psychologist applies psychological aspects to legal processes such as understanding the behaviour of criminals, the treatment they should receive and giving suggestions to criminal investigators. A large part of what they do is study why people commit crimes, help law enforcement solve crimes or analyse the behaviour of criminal offenders. Expert testimony is also provided by them in court.
Another aspect Criminal psychologists are widely known for is criminal profiling. This may also be known as offender profiling.
What is criminal profiling?
Criminal profiling or criminal investigative analysis can be defined as a technique used to develop a psychological profile based on the state of the crime scene or a systematic examination of the crime scene. The main goal here is to identify the criminal as quickly as possible to prevent them from committing further violence. Hence, criminal profiling is most effective in the investigation of serial crimes, such as serial murders or serial rapists. It can be used as a tool by the law enforcement to cumulate results of studies in other disciplines to combat violent crimes. Criminal psychologists, criminologists and Forensic psychologists usually take up the task of criminal profiling.
The Process:
As per John Douglas (1986), the process of criminal profiling has 7 steps:
Step 1 is to evaluate the criminal act itself. The kind of crime, possible motives suggesting why the crime may have been committed and other such angles are thoroughly looked through.
Step 2 follows in an evaluation of the details of the crime scene as found by the police.
Step 3 includes a comprehensive analysis of the victim in order to rule out immediate suspicions and suicidality.
In step 4, an evaluation of the preliminary police reports is done. This includes the first statements that were recorded regarding the crime scene by the victim or the person who found the crime scene.
The autopsy protocol followed by the medical examiners is evaluated in step 5.
Step 6 involves developing a profile with the most important characteristics of the suspect/offender.
Step 7 involves suggestions predicated on the construction of the profile in terms of further investigation and possible suspects the police should look out for.
Criminal profiles are similar to what clinicians may use to make diagnoses and treatment plans.
It is important to note that this process does not provide the identity of the criminal but instead it leads you in the direction of the kind of person that would commit these crimes by the specific characteristics that were ascertained.
Applications:
Criminal profiling has come in handy in the area of hostage situations because knowing about the hostage taker is vital in cases of negotiation. What the hostage taker may do next, and what may further trigger him or help calm him down are all clues that the police might be able to use to direct the investigation, with the help of a criminal profile. Anonymous letters,visual and spoken threats aid in offender profiling, which helps investigators determine if the above-mentioned points of contact were by a singular person or a group, and help them understand the psychology and background of the offender.
Arsonists, rapists and sexual homicides all require criminal profiling as the crime portrays the behaviour and state of mind of the person which in turn reflects their personality. This will help narrow down the kind of person the rapist or arsonist was, as criminals often have similar characteristics. Criminal profiling has played a serious role in cases like that of Ted Bundy, Jack the Ripper, Wayne Williams and John Joubert.
George Matesky
In the case of George Matesky, also known as the Mad Bomber of New York, the use of criminal profiling is very prominent. Matesky planted at least 33 bombs all through New York between the 1940s and 1950s. He had been hunted for 16 years and criminal profiling is what brought this case to an end. Due to an incident at The United Industrial Light and Power Company which was an alliance of Consolidated Edison, he was left disabled for 26 weeks. This in turn developed a hatred in him for Consolidated Edison and he set out to seek revenge. In a note from a bomb that didn’t burst and with the help of letters he wrote, James Brussel applied criminal profiling and could predict that the Mad Bomber was a textbook paranoid, a bachelor living with female relatives, was foreign-born and of European descent, and also that he wore a double-breasted suit. He encouraged the police to look through Consolidated Edison’s files for somebody who matched this description. Metesky was soon arrested and the judge declared that he was legally insane, a paranoid schizophrenic and incompetent to stand trial (Lambert, 2022).
Why are women more intrigued by crime than men are?
The field of criminal psychology has bloomed as more people try to understand why criminals commit crimes. Books, podcasts, movies and series of true crime genres have gained vast audiences in recent times.
Studies show that women are more drawn towards true crime books than men are and that they were drawn to books that held tips on how one is to defend themselves from their attackers (Vicary, 2010). A very famous true crime podcast named Wine and Crime said that 85 percent of their listeners were female.
This data leads to asking what makes women so curious about crime.
Women are more fearful of crime than men are (Johansson, 2021) and it is this fear that drives them to understand the perpetration of a crime. It is suggested that women absorb information about coping in horrific situations and identify what signs lead to the crime being committed. Vicary (2010) also states that by watching true crime, women became more aware, changed their behaviour to ensure safety, and enacted tips they picked up from shows.
Rhea Gandhi, a Mumbai-based psychotherapist and counsellor is of the opinion that women are drawn to this genre to search for a sense of justice, as more often than not women are victims or survivors of crimes and by watching shows, movies or listening to podcasts where legal systems protect and bring justice to crimes against women, they, in turn, feel safe and protected.
Shows like Unbelievable on Netflix, where crimes against women are solved by women detectives themselves are truly inspiring and empowering to watch, and are worth checking out!
About The Author
Tulsi Vora is a student from NMIMS’s Sunandan Divatia School of Science. She is pursuing the course of B.Sc. Applied Psychology from the Mumbai campus and is member of the Psychology Department’s PsyCreative Column, which helps her pursue her hobby of writing while also creating awareness about psychology itself :)
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