Is Criminal Profiling an Efficient Method?
Introduction
Criminal profiling, also widely recognized as perpetrator prefoliation, is a method that uses up-to-date knowledge of crimes and crime scenes to create psychological depictions of the perpetrator or victim. It is referred to as the third wave of police prosecutions that characterizes the criminal mind. According to Flinders et al. (2017), the three goals of this procedure are to give law enforcement officials a mental and social assessment of a suspect, to give them a mental evaluation of any potential assets the criminal may have, and to create methods and interviewing guidelines (Flinders et al., 2017). Profiling uses well-preserved event-analyzed data as data formats to identify the “criminal” in a murder investigation.
In the old days, creating criminal profiles to aid the investigation process has proven effective. In this still-evolving environment, there appears to be a significant promise for identifying and apprehending perpetrators. According to (Beasley et al., 2016), the primary purpose of psychical profilers is to handle information collected in the crime and from suspects and witnesses in building the biographical sketch as precise to the type of person who committed the offense as possible. The criminal profiler is responsible for defining the personalities of the offenders.
Criminal profiling is recognized to use a range of principles, namely offender profiling, psychological profiling, and forensics. Profilers originate from various professions. Many questions concerning this area’s application in law enforcement have been raised because it appears to depart from the accepted scientific research methodologies. Offenders can be better understood by looking at the crime profiling technique as an investigative tool, considering its necessity, and evaluating its comparative strengths and limitations (Ismail et al., 2018). Criminal profiling is a lengthy and intricate process that necessitates the meticulous collection of information about crimes. The profiler began the process at the crime scene, where the puzzle pieces are located. Without a serious examination of the crime, scene, it would be challenging to move forward.
Establishing a Criminal Profile
The profiler is not a wizard, and the profile does not target the potential criminal; rather, it aims to identify the potential criminal’s traits to link the accused to the crime scene and, to do so, gather sufficient evidence to prosecute the crime. The profiler aims to reconstruct the incident and establish a profile utilizing the raw facts from the crime scene assessment. Profiling offers details on the offender’s personality, age, and outward look, as well as their marital status, behavioral habits, and psychological traits. The proponent can also attempt to stop similar assaults to catch the offender red-handed. Profiling can be done inductively or deductively.
Offenders’ profiles are a compilation of characteristics and personalities gained from repeated criminal activities or delinquent behaviors. The debut profile of an offender is a compilation of traits that can be shared on a relation, experience, and scientific foundation with offenders executing an equal form of crime (Al Mutawa et al., 2019). An induction profile is established based on experience, anecdotal evidence, and educated generalization. A medium analysis was performed. An example of convergent profiling is provided by Gordon’s first victim, Ginger Hayden, who was wounded 56 times. According to the profile of her killer, she was volatile, knew the victim, and was most likely between the ages of 17 and 24. However, this strategy has faced much criticism due to the haphazard approaches, prioritizing creative ideation above scientific justifications. He is frequently regarded as inconsistent, unreliable, inaccurate, and occasionally unfair. On the other hand, deductive criminal profiles are not founded on aggregates; rather, they try to create a profile by incorporating physical and behavioral data discovered during a crime scene examination.
The researchers will probably go in the right direction if the analysis of the available evidence is accurate. Abreu et al. (2019) cited Turney as an illustration of how to develop a criminal profile deductively: The accused claimed that he had participated in the murders while “barer” with his 13-year-old son. Gudjonsson was called in his position as an expert witness for the Crown (Abreu et al., 2019). Based on the physical and psychological evidence acquired at the crime scene, he concluded that the killings were perpetrated by a brutal, brutal offender skilled with firearms. A 13-year-old going insane could not have carried out a planned execution. Following this testimony, the defendant was found guilty. The US technique was primarily intrusive, whereas the British profiling method is similar to deductive techniques. However, as both are beneficial, inductive and deductive reasoning methods are now blended, making the method even more flexible. The type of crime typically determines the profiler’s approach.
Crimes that Make Good Profiles
Criminal profiling is not appropriate for all investigated offenses. It is important to keep that in mind. Profiling is particularly useful when the victim is known to be mentally abnormal. Such criminals leave behind numerous indications of depravity, necrophilia, fetishism, rape, and behaviors like eviscerations, beheadings, and similar acts. “These crimes include a variety of legal infractions, serial killings, distressing child crimes, communicating threats, ritualist crimes, worksite abuse, and sequential arson,” A significant advancement in forensic technology over the past several years has significantly impacted how we conduct criminal investigations. Some claim that if Scotland Yard had access to the more advanced forensic tools that are now accessible, the infamous Jack the Ripper would have been arrested (Ribeiro & Soeiro, 2021). However, evidence in the form of a fingerprint left at the crime scene, such as hair, threads, serum, blood, or other body fluids, can go a long way in aiding the authorities in identifying the perpetrator. Lockard’s Exchange Principle was a ground-breaking development in forensic science.
Criminal profiling is also useful when identifying offenders in the community. According to Saperstein (2020), evidence is said to be exchanged when a criminal interacts with a location or another person. Thus, the criminal leaves some of himself behind while obtaining evidence connecting him to the crime. The perpetrator’s identity can frequently be discovered by connecting the remaining material proof to the database of the informed offender. (Saperstein, 2020) Creating a solid criminal case may use Forensic DNA and fingerprint technologies. As a result, according to Weston, “the crime scene is now being studied against this backdrop of highly advanced technology.” Since criminal profiling needs behavioral abilities and creative thinking processes that are distinct from those required by existing scientific approaches, many individuals question whether it is necessary. They implicitly believe in forensic technology based on pure scientific reasoning (Petherick & Brooks, 2020). The answer is that sometimes only forensic technology can do certain tasks.
Sophisticated criminals and lawbreakers have been involved in some circumstances when eluding capture. These criminals are watchful and cautious in terms of leaving behind tangible evidence. Criminal profiling can reduce the pool of potential suspects and provide direction in situations with no obvious clues, particularly serial killings, which are notoriously difficult to solve (Deininger et al., 2016). When gathering information from the crime scene, the profilers depend heavily on circumstantial evidence. This leads to the conclusion that criminal profiling, crime scene analysis, and forensic technology are effectively employed in conjunction with the results gained utilizing these techniques.
Moreover, the fact that violent criminals on the lam can be categorized and that similar criminal behaviors, offensive characteristics, and offenders are frequently mentioned profiling elements is particularly significant. If the primary characteristics of the crime can be determined, it is then evident which form of crime the offender belongs to (Saperstein, 2020). A need for criminal profiling has traditionally been known throughout human history. Authorities have made numerous attempts over the years to determine the behavioral characteristics of offenders and have been effective in doing so. However, there is not much-written information on the history of criminal profiling, except a few dramatic records like news articles or the writings of the profilers who might be biased.
Assessment
Criminal profiling has come under fire multiple times in recent years. Its major flaw has been identified as the approach’s lack of professionalism and odorless nature. However, the work that profilers do necessitates a fresh methodology. Any attempt to build a suggested technique based on scientific facts would only hamper the creative process needed in this subject because each profiler has his distinct style. Other evidence suggests that the profilers need to work better. There has not been much research on how effective criminal profiling is as a form of investigation, and even those have not resulted in any tangible findings.
The frequent modification of profiles to match the accused features and only strengthen the prosecution case is a serious accusation against profilers. This results in prejudices toward the suspect, and it is necessary to stop this prejudice to stop the innocent from being accused (Lauzon & Chaurand, 2018). The fact that forensic technology is not immune to bias errors should be noted here. Once a suspect has been recognized during a police investigation, according to Field and Thomas, “the investigation aims to obtain one-sided evidence (and occasionally “create” to support the Police’s version of what happened.” There must be a justification for why profilers and detectives are not exercising caution to avoid this pitfall.
The 2002 attacks by the “Beltway serial sniper” also demonstrated the limitations of criminal profiling. Following these random shootings, several profiles were created due to the professionals’ desire to look beyond the limitations of the research (Beasley et al., 2016). The accused were later taken into custody; however, the defendants’ profiles did not match. The error has occurred. Considering this, it is crucial to note that neither the forensic tools used to examine crime scenes nor criminal profiling are 100% effective at catching criminals. Therefore, the strongest features of both strategies must be incorporated into the criminal investigative process for them to be successful.
Conclusion
The use of profiling is problematic and extensively contested due to aspects that do not offer conclusive evidence and claim that it does not reflect research. According to some studies, profiling is based on more statistical methods, such as theory, analytical framework, and statistics. However, according to other studies, some theories, such as geographic location, assume that criminals live in a particular location even when this is not always the case and divert an investigation in the wrong direction. The information mentioned above thus seems to imply that more science is involved in criminal profiling. Given these elements, it is crucial to note that neither the forensic tool employed to analyze the criminal scenario nor the criminal profile serves to identify a crime. So that both approaches can be successful, the greatest ideas must be incorporated into the criminal investigative process.
References
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