Criminal Psychology & Psychological Profiling (Not in your textbook)

Criminal Psychology Criminal Psychology: Study of the motivations, thoughts, intentions, and reactions of criminals. Criminal Profiling: Inferring the personality and characteristics of a suspect based on information gathered from a crime scene.

Stages of the Profiling Process Input Decision Process Models Crime Assessment Criminal Profile Investigation Apprehension

1) Input Crime Scene photographs - placement of victim & evidence History of the victim - employment, social habits, hobbies, etc. Autopsy report – to provide information about the control, emotional state, and criminal “savvy” of the offender. Interviews with witnesses & surviving victims – to provide information about the perpetrator’s demeanor and behavior. Profilers do NOT look at the characteristics of possible suspect(s). WHY? Might unintentionally bias the results of the profiling report.

2) Decision Process Models Classifying the Crime Arson, burglary, terrorist attacks, homicide. If homicide, which category? Examples: Mass Murder – Colorado Theater Shooting Killing Spree – Colombine High School shootings, Virginia Tech shootings Serial Killer – Ted Bundy

(cont’d) Determining Motives Financial – burglary, contract killing, insurance scams Sexual – rape, sexual assault, and sometimes dismemberment & mutilation Emotional – family disputes, religious reasons, cults Voyeurism – psychological disorder in which a person enjoys spying on people who believe they are in a private setting (bathroom, bedroom, etc.) Sadism – psychological disorder in which a person derives pleasure from inflicting pain on others.

(cont’d) The Risk Level (high, medium, low risk) Of Victim Of Offender Age, lifestyle, occupation, physical ability to resist, size, location Was the victim a vulnerable target or did the criminal have to go to extremes (ex. plan ahead)? If victim was usually in low-risk situations, offender was probably someone that the victim knew. Of Offender What risk was taken by the offender to commit this crime? How long did it take to commit the crime? Was it a crime of opportunity? Was there a pattern of escalation?

3) Crime Assessment Was the crime well-organized? Intelligent criminal capable of logical thinking and carrying out a plan of action Targeted a specific victim Gained control over victim Was the crime disorganized? Impulsive criminal Selected victim at random May be motivated by panic, stress, drugs, mental illness Was the crime scene staged? Did they try to mislead investigators? Ex. Making murder appear to be a robbery that had been interrupted.

(cont’d) Modus Operandi (MO): method of operation Location, methods used, cause of death, position of body, trauma to victim, type of weapon, location of wounds Serial killers tend to use a favorite tool or weapon and have a preferred type of victim. Signature: something unusual or very specific left at a crime scene Ex. Boston Strangler (1960s) murdered 13 women over a year and a half MO - Each was strangled with her own clothing, sexually assaulted, and posed. Signature – tied a bow under victim’s chin.

4) Criminal Profile Develop a description of suspect – race, sex, physical characteristics, habits, values, beliefs. Ex. Typical Arsonist – white male between 18 and 27, loner, history of drug/alcohol abuse, prior criminal record, poor employment history Ex. Typical Serial Murderer – white male between 25 and 34; average intelligence; charming personality; possibly a victim of child abuse; if scene is carefully planned, killer is older and very intelligent

Remember George Metesky? Placed bombs –under theater seats, etc. Profiler’s predictions: Middle-aged Introvert Single, loner Meticulously clean Clean-shaven Wears double-breasted suits Foreign born Skilled mechanic Might flare up violently at work if criticized Had a bad disease. …. All turned out to be true!

5) Investigation Investigators try to match profiler’s report with known suspects. Goal: to narrow down list of suspects.

6) Apprehension After profiling helps identify a suspect, physical evidence and/or a confession must be obtained to link the suspect to the crime.