1. Forensic Victimology 2nd Edition
Chapter Four: Constructing a Victim Profile

2. Constructing a Victim Profile
Forensic victimology is concerned with the investigation and examination of particular victims alleged to have suffered specific crimes, which is an idiographic form of knowledge building.
Idiographic refers to the study of the concrete: examining individuals and their actual qualities.
An idiographic victim profile is a list of the characteristics possessed by a specific victim.
This includes physical, biological, mental, social, educational, occupational, and personality descriptors.

3. Constructing a Victim Profile
Nomothetic refers to the study of the abstract: examining groups and universal laws.
The primary goal of nomothetic victim studies is to accumulate general, typical, common, or averaged characteristics of victim groups.
Nomothetic victim profiles, therefore, do not represent an actual victim that exists in the real world.

4. The Purpose of Victim Profiles
Forensic victimologists serve investigations and court proceedings in the following ways:
Assist in understanding elements of the crime
Assist in developing a timeline
Define the suspect pool
Provide investigative suggestions
Assist with crime reconstruction
Assist with contextualizing allegations of victimization
Assist with the development of offender modus operandi

5. The Purpose of Victim Profiles
Continued:
Assist with the development of offender motive
Assist with case linkage
Assist with public safety response
Educate the court
Forensic victimology is intended to serve both investigative and forensic goals, which are very different in scope and reliability with respect to findings.

6. Standards of Pratice
Practice standards are the fundamental rules that set the limits of evidentiary interpretation.
The following practice standards are designed to help reduce bias, encourage the employment of analytical logic and the scientific method, and require the formation of hypotheses and conclusions only in accordance with the known evidence.
Forensic examiners must strive diligently to avoid bias.
Forensic examiners are responsible for requesting all relevant evidence and information in order to render an adequate victim profile and form related opinions.

7. Standards of Pratice
Forensic examiners are responsible for determining whether the evidence they are examining is of sufficient quality to provide the basis for an adequate examination.
Forensic examiners must, whenever possible, visit the crime scene.
Forensic conclusions, and their basis, must be provided in a written format.
Forensic examiners must demonstrate an understanding of behavioral science, forensic science, and the scientific method.
All conclusions must be based on established facts. Facts may not be assumed for the purpose of analysis. .

8. Standards of Pratice
Conclusions must be valid inferences based on logical arguments and analytical reasoning.
Conclusions must be reached with the assistance of the scientific method.
Conclusions must demonstrate an understanding of, and clearly distinguish between, individuating findings and all others.
Forensic examiners must demonstrate an understanding of the conditions of transfer (Locard’s Exchange Principle and Evidence Dynamics).
Any evidence, data, or findings on which conclusions are based must be made available through presentation or citation. .

9. Victimology: General Guidelines
The following objective packages must be gathered and assessed by the criminal investigator and forensic victimologist alike, as with any intelligence.
Personal Package
Digital Package
Residence Package
Relationship Package
Employment Package
Financial Package
Medical Package
Court Package .

10. Victimology: General Guidelines
Personal Package
Sex
Race
Height
Weight
Hair color/length/dyed
Eyes: color/glasses/contacts
Clothing/jewelry
Personal items
Grooming/manner of dress
Smoker or non-smoker
Hobbies/skills
Routine daily activities and commitments
Recently scheduled events
Upcoming scheduled events .

11. Victimology: General Guidelines
Digital Package
Call phone: calls, chats, address book, GPS, photos, video
Laptop/desktop: , calls, chats, documents, address books, browser history, photos, video
Personal Web sites: recent browser history, social network and social media activity, blogs, dating Web site, and other personal subscription Web sites
Financial Web sites/payment history: stocks, mutual funds/401K, credit cards, and online banking
Personal GPS device: recent trips, destinations, bookmarked points of interest .

12. Victimology: General Guidelines
Residence Package
Physical home address
Location/condition of bedroom
Evidence of music/literature/personal interests
Personal correspondence
Personal sexual items/explicit material
Missing items
Signs of violence
Location/condition of personal vehicle
Hard line phone calls
911 calls and criminal history of residence .

13. Victimology: General Guidelines
Relationship Package
Current and previous intimate or marital partner(s)
Current and previous family members
Current and previous household members
Current and previous friends
Current and previous co-workers/classmates
History of relationship counseling .

14. Victimology: General Guidelines
Employment Package
Educational background and history
Current occupations/job titles
Place of employment/work schedule/supervisor/coworkers
Employment history
Work phone: calls, chats, address book, GPS, video
Laptop/desktop: , calls, chats, documents, address books, browser history, photos, video
Business GPS device: recent trips, destinations, bookmarked points of interest
Business vehicle: logs, travel (times/destinations), GPS device
Business insurance policies .

15. Victimology: General Guidelines
Financial Package
Wallet/Purse: contents, cards, personal items
Credit cards/history
Bank accounts/history
Property ownership
Stocks/mutual funds/410K/retirement benefits
Insurance policies .

16. Victimology: General Guidelines
Medical Package
Current state of intoxication (drug and alcohol levels)
Current medical conditions (physical and mental)
History of serious medical conditions
Current medications
Current treatment regimes
Current treatment professionals
Recent medical appointments
Addictions (drugs, alcohol, or obsessive behavior) .

17. Victimology: General Guidelines
Court Package
Criminal history
Civil court history
Witness history
In-state and out-of-state records
Evidence of victim criminal activity during the crime
Evidence of ongoing victim criminal activity unrelated to the crime .

18. Victimology: General Guidelines
These packages should be used to complete the following tasks:
Compile a list of the victim’s daily routines, habits, and activities
Compile a complete list of victim family members with contact information
Compile a complete list of victim friends with contact information
Compile a complete list of victim coworkers/schoolmates with contact information
Create a timeline of events using witness statements, digital evidence, and physical evidence. .

19. Creating a Timeline: The Last 24 Hours
The purpose of creating a timeline is to familiarize the forensic victimologist with the last known activities of the victim.
A good approach to creating this timeline of locations and events includes at least the following steps:
Compile all witness data
Compile all available forensic evidence and findings
Compile all of the police/media crime scene photographs and video
Compile all security stills and video covering the crime scene and any paths taken by the victim or offender to or from it .

20. Creating a Timeline: The Last 24 Hours
Continued:
Create a linear timeline of events and locations
Create a map of the victim’s route for the 24 hours before the attack, as detailed as possible
Physically walk through the victim’s last 24 hours using the map and forensic evidence as a guide
Document expected background elements of the route. .

21. Creating a Timeline: The Last 24 Hours
Then, attempt to determine the following:
The point at which the offender acquired the victim
The place where the offender attacked the victim
How well the attack location can be seen from any surrounding locations
Whether the offender would need to be familiar with the area to know of this specific location or get to it
Whether knowledge of the route would require or indicate prior surveillance
Whether this route placed the victim at higher or lower exposure to an attack
Whether the acquisition of the victim on that route placed the offender at higher or lower exposure to identification or apprehension .