Revison Opinion artical PB G

Criminal profiling is the most efficient, and best strategy used by the criminal psychologist. Psychologist use it to understand and categorize a criminals behavior, in addition to that it is used as a tool to apprehend criminals. I believe this because of the extended research I have done in the past three months. I think that the definition of criminal profiling is important because it gives you a foundation and understandment of its benefits in the apprehension of criminals. “[criminal profiling] . . . is a technique for identifying the major personality, behavioral, and demographic characteristics of offenders based on an analysis of the crimes they committed”(Cook, Hinman 231). With out this many would think that criminal profiling is something a police officer does. I know this because I have asked people close to me what they thought criminal profiling was and there answer was “what the police do right?” Criminal profiling begins the process of criminal apprehension through a detailed analysis.  With out the use of this technique we would have no idea what the sex, personality, or other important details about a criminal is, which is why we need to be using it more often. I believe that criminal profiling is effective because it is used daily to help find fugitives and a variety of criminals. It is used everyday by law enforcement because there are so many different types of criminal behavioral patterns that we need to understand as soon as possible. Without it, we may still only think there is one type of criminal. We all know it is not true because of criminal profiling. There are many different types of profiling among such offenders as hijackers, shoplifters, and sex offenders to identify just a few (Cook, Hinman 232). There is a different profile for each crime. This technique is used so much because it has been proven effective. If it were not an effective tool then why would there be criminal profilers or psychologists? With strapped budgets law enforcement is not going to use techniques and tools that are not productive.

Part of the process of criminal profiling is pre-determination. Pre-determination is done after the profile is complete. If we know a persons background on his/her life we are able to guess where they would go if they knew that they were in trouble, or by the severity of the crime we can guess what type of person the offender is. If a killer has killed a man the psychologist would look to see if he had a single mother when he was a child, and guessing from that he may guess that he went to his mothers after the murder. If this is done correctly then the criminal will hopefully be stopped before their next attack on others or him/herself due to guilt. I believe that when the criminal is unable to make their next attack the criminal profiler saved another victim from abuse and/or death. Where if you were to profile a future police officer, which is something the psychologist do, you’re not saving anyone’s life even though that it is important. Which in my opinion is justification for the use of criminal profiling over other strategies and how it is better than others.

A criminal profiler takes evidence from the crime scene to construct a profile.When this is completed it give police officer and detectives an idea of who they are looking form what type of person they are, sex, age, hair color, DNA match and so on. Without this information there would be a loss of important information that is vital to the rescue of a victim. This is completed in conjunction with the help of their partners from forensics. Even though they do get help they spend long hours everyday making it possible for victims to live. Without the criminal psychologist, it is my opinion that we would not have found children that have been abducted or stolen cars just to state a few crimes.

Criminal profiling helps with criminal investigations as well. “Profiling can (a) focus the investigation on more likely types of offenders and eliminate less likely ones, (b) suggest proactive strategies, (c) suggest investigative strategies, (d) suggest trial strategies . . .” (Cook, Hinman 234). They are able to do all of those things plus more. With a psychologist being capable of these things proves the are a vital variable to a very important equation. We need them in order to save lives because they have the ability to do more things than a regular person. They can look at things more out of the box rather than a police officer that is limited by him training. This is important because we can use them in more ways than one since a criminal profiler is most likely a criminal psychologist. Psychologist/Profiler can find different ways to word things to “crack” a criminal when individuals untrained in criminal psychology cannot. With out profiling we would not be able to understand a criminal. Criminal behavior is better understood because the psychologist/profiler puts together all of the puzzle pieces presenting law enforcement with a complete picture of their obstacles.

[Image]Criminal profiling will forever be used even if a few individuals in law enforcement do not think that it works as well as it really does. It is because of criminal profiling we have saved not only victims, but future victims, and offenders as well. People must see that we need to utilize this tool more because it works.(934)

Work cited:  Cook and Hinman. "Criminal Profiling: science and art." 15.230 (2011):230-241. Web. 7 Jun 2011.

RE #2 Revision

RE #2

" David B. Wilson Jr., 32, is charged with 79 separate charges . . . the night of Sept. 19 . . . police detectives arrested him as he cased out the apartment of what they said would have been his next victim” (criminal profiling team).  Without criminal profiling this man would not have been apprehended.  In the apprehension of David Wilson another victim was saved. In the past years society has not been able to understand what a criminal finds rewarding from participating in criminal activity. Completing a profile on this man is what made it possible for him to be apprehended. As the world progresses, so does the field of criminal psychology.  Forming an analysis to identify indicators of criminal behavior used by a criminal psychologist is called criminal profiling.  The definition of criminal profiling is important because people tend to get it confused with a psychologist as a whole.“ Criminal personality profiling is an investigative technique developed by the FBI.  It is a technique for identifying the major personality, behavioral and demographical characteristics of offenders based on an analysis of crimes they committed” (Cook, and Hinman 231). Others (people who are not in the criminal psychology field) are skeptical that this strategy is an accurate method. They believe it is not accurate because it is not backed up by science, rather by a psychologists’ gut feeling of what the criminal is going to do next, or why they did what they did.  As a result of the research I have conducted I found that criminal profiling is proven a reliable method because it has led to many arrests of many different types of criminals such as serial killers, murders, and rapists. As the science of criminology has developed criminal psychologists have developed different strategies to analyze criminal activity, and the most efficient seems to be criminal profiling.

Criminal profiling has many different building blocks that must be fitted in order for it to work.  The six building blocks that are necessary when profiling a criminal are: (1) profiling inputs, (2) decision process model, (3) crime assessment, (4) profile, (5) investigation, and (6) apprehension (Cook, and Hinman 231).  The decision process model is when the psychologist pulls apart the decisions made by the criminal and tries to get a view of the criminal’s thought process during the commission of a crime.  After compiling this data they then do a crime assessment.  A crime assessment involves physically surveying the crime scene or reviewing the reports and photos taken at the crime scene.  Once the analysis is complete they then apply it to the conclusions that were arrived at during the decision process. This allows them to develop to a hypothesis to anticipate the next move of the criminal. The next step is starting an investigation, which means attempting determine what the criminal does next, the next place they go, and their actions.  This seems like a lot of work for only one end product, but is worth the hard work of putting away a criminal that has done some very horrific things, and could potentially continue to prey on unsuspecting people. In the long run, all this hard work pays off by protecting the community.

The United States would have very low statistics in apprehending the most dangerous criminals without criminal profiling. Authorities would have no idea what a criminal’s next move would be with out the assistance of a criminal psychologist completing a profile.  There would be fewer victims reporting crimes committed against them because there would be no hope in apprehending the perpetrator with out the assistance of criminal profiling.  Our society would have more criminals than we do already because they would feel they could do anything and not be prosecuted.  Without criminal profiling we would have a world of hardcore criminals and even more victims.

Criminal profiling is an efficient tool because it helps more than just one aspect of law enforcement; it helps the psychologist, police officer, victim, offender, and future victim. It is beneficial to the psychologist because it makes sure they keep their job for a longer period of time and shows that they know what they are doing. Criminal profiling helps the police officers by cutting down the amount of work they have to do because when they apprehend a person it then reduces their caseload (Aumiller, Gary, and David Corey 74). The victims feel at peace because the person who victimized them is put away. Sometimes it helps the offender because they have a chance to fix themselves (Lowman). This also helps people who would have been a future victim of the offender. Compared to direct threat assessments which is where a psychologist evaluates a person to see if they are a risk to themselves, criminal profiling is beneficial to more people then just the one person.

           

During my observations on youtube.com I watched four out of six parts of Robert Resslers serial killer criminal profiling documentary. While I was watching it I saw a lot of morgues, which is a place where deceased people are housed. I also saw police cars, officers, pictures of crimes (men and women), mug shots of criminals, and so on. There were lots of devastated families there due to the loss of a loved one. I think that criminal profiling is very important, and during my observations my argument was supported by this statement “with out criminal profiling we would have no idea what type of person, the age of them, sex, race, and personality.” This means with out profiling we would lose all these clues that we need in order to apprehend a criminal or they could possibly just take longer to figure out. We need to understand these things about criminals or we would have no idea of what they would be capable of.There was also a point made that criminal profiling has been used for many year, but it was never given a name by anyone (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY4iRb1C9cg). We have used it without knowing it because humans automatically assume from what they are given. I concluded from these observations that profiling is a useful tool, and that it is used to make criminal investigations progress faster even though it is labor intensive.  Without this technique society would be devastated, thus this technique needs to be appreciated more. ("Robert Ressler - [Part 1,2,3,4] - Criminal Profiler - Documentary"

Law enforcement authorities do not always agree that criminal profiling is the best strategy. During my cyber interview I asked a few question to Nelson Hammond an Eastern Michigan University graduate; he majored in psychology. He had a particular interest in this subject when he was younger, but never pursued it during his college years.   He stated “I do believe that criminal profiling works in that it gives the law enforcement a much better understanding of the criminal mind and how unpredictable it can be”, when I asked him if he believed in criminal profiling and it’s effectiveness. Then I asked if he thought that it was the best way to go about criminal investigations and he said “I believe it is very proficient however I am not sure if it is the most effective strategy used by a psychologist because until a criminal is apprehended and can be interviewed profilers can only make highly educated guesses about many aspects of that criminal” (24May2011). This is not true because criminal profiling has helped many people, but people are allowed to have their own opinions. Without criminal profiling we would not have such a safe place to live.

    

In conclusion, society needs to see that criminal profiling is a benefit to a large number of people. Without this technique we would not have any idea of what the criminals next move would be, or even their age or sex. In order for people to see that this works I urge them to do more research on this technique to form your own opinions while still considering mine. Not only do we need to respect this profession more, we should truly take an interest in what is going on in our communities and nation. If we become more aware, we will be able to understand the high demand for people like the criminal psychologist who complete the hardest work in the shortest amount of time (criminal profiling), so in return we respect the art of their careers.  (1403) 

INTERVEIW:Me: I wanted to know what strategy used by a criminal psychologist is the most efficient? Also what you thought about criminal profiling, do you think that it works, if it is proficient, if it is the most effective strategy used by a psychologist. What is the hardest part of profiling a criminal? What are different factors that go into profiling a criminal or person? And finally what are the steps taken to successfully profile a criminal? Thank you so much for doing this, it is so hard to get into contact with someone who knows about this. While I was talking to my mom about it she said something about you, then I remembered that you majored is some type of criminal psychology! Nelson: Unfortunately I don't know enough about profiling to answer all of them. I do believe that criminal profiling works in that it gives the law enforcement a much better understanding of the criminal mind and how un-predictable it can be. Unlike the tv shows profilers may not be able to give a perfect image/life story for a criminal but they do provide valuable tips that allow officer in the field to narrow their of suspects and search areas. I believe it is very proficient however I am not sure if it is the most effective stategy used by a psychologist because until a criminal is apprehended and can be interviewed profilers can only make highly educated guesses about many aspects of that criminal. I'm not sure if the few questions that I could answer helped you

at all but I hope they helped a little bit, and if I can help in any other way I'll do my best!!

Observation: #1 robert resllers learned how to find criminals in the army, and then was found by the FBI. Talking about a case where a man killed 5 women all with long brown hair and brown eye, and they were white. I saw a morgue in this part where criminal psychologist look for clues about their killer, there were also tools with a white floor. #2:using surveillance to watch the criminals moves like searching the houses. Lots of inside police work that goes on. They look for personal items they kept from their victims. Organized killers are the worst killers because they know what they are doing. They study the photos clues and connections to other crimes. Same pattern = organized killer Different pattern= young killer.#3 They know who their victims are they stalk them. There is a nation database where they put all the crimes in so that when people search a crime connections pop up. They look at the crime scene and anylize how the body is laid out, the abuse to it and so one.

Works cited:

Aumiller, Gary, and David Corey. "Defining the Field of police Psychology: Core Domains & Proficiencies." Springer Science + Business Media 22.65-76 (2007): 66-76. Web. 12 May 2011.

Cook, P, and D Hinman. "Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice." Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice n. pag.Web.31May2011.<http://ccj.sagepub.com.ezproxy.emich.edu/content/15/3/230.full.pdf>.

Criminal profiling team, . "Judge orders pyschological evaluations of serial rapist." criminal profiling.com, 12/12/2005.Web.31May2011. <http://www.criminalprofiling.com/Judge-orders-pyschological-evaluations-of-serial-rapist_s1041.html>.

Lowman, John. "“Prison Reform, The Rhetoric of Rehabilitation, And The Accountability of Custodians."  2.1 (2006): Web.31May2011.<http://www.jpp.org/documents/forms/JPP2_1/Lowman.pdf>.

Nelson Halmons May 24^th 2011

"Robert Ressler - [Part 1] - Criminal Profiler - Documentary." Web. 31 May 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=y606jNQRjro>.

            "Robert Ressler - [Part 2] - Criminal Profiler - Documentary." Web. 31 May 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4gcq7IJplQ&feature=related>.

"Robert Ressler - [Part 3] - Criminal Profiler - Documentary." Web. 31 May 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY4iRb1C9cg&feature=related>.

"Robert Ressler - [Part 4] - Criminal Profiler - Documentary." Web. 31 May 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sc9l2v-8Ho&feature=related>.

The Lemon Head Murder.

Cassie and Kelsey were on their way to the pool at their apartment complex when they came across a kitchen knife coated with blood outside the pool gate.  When they got into the pool they were shocked to find a body floating face down in a pool of scarlet water. The body was of a young girl that was not moving and was lifeless.  After overcoming the horror and shock of what they were seeing, Kelsey called the police. 

As they were waiting they heard sounds coming from the trees beside the pool but were too terrified to move, as it could have been the murder that was leaving the scene.  Within in minutes the police arrived and began to tape off the area and begin their investigation of who committed such an unthinkable crime.  

“This looks similar to a case we had a few years back,” said Olivia.

“Oh yeah, you’re right, which one was it. . .  Britiany’s case that is who it was” replied Stabler.

As soon as Olivia and Stabler finished at the crime scene they went back to the station to talk to their captain.  After analyzing the crime scene they soon realized that they were unable to solve the case on their own.  They enlisted the help of the department criminal psychologist, Dr. Bekker.  Olivia and Stabler knew that they would need to be able to look at the evidence from a different perspective if they were going to find the murderer.  Dr.  Bekker’s first order of business was to determine which strategy would be most effective in gaining clues and insight to the potential murder.  He concludes that profiling this criminal will be the most effiecient technique to begin the analysis.  Olivia and Stabler ask Dr. Bekker to explain criminal profiling to them.  Bekker, replies “it is a technique for identifying the major personality, behavioral, and demographic characteristics of offenders based on an analysis of the crimes they commit” (1).  Once they know this information, they are able to gather the evidence for Dr. Bekker that is needed for him to begin the profiling process. 

Olivia and Stabler begin to make a list of the similarities of the current murder and of the murders past.  As they investigate they find the following similarities:  each victim is a young girl, stabbed on the right side, they were found floating in a pool still in their bathing suits.  Each victim was alone at the time and found in the same pool.   Britiany’s murder had no witnesses or DNA evidence linking anyone to the crime.  Based on the evidence presented to Dr. Bekker., he determines that the suspect in the murder may be a young male that befriended the girls at the pool offering lemon head candy as a way of striking up a conversation.  His attention towards his victims may have been friendly which caused them to put their guard down.  Each victim was found to have lemon heads in their stomachs at the time of autopsy .  He also determined that the murder was right handed as both stab wounds on the body were on the victims left side, meaning they he was facing the victim at the time of the stabbing.   In addition, he believes that the murderer may be a resident in the apartment complex since both murders were committed at the same pool.  

Olivia and Stabler return to the scene of the crime and begin to ask questions of the residents.  They come across a young man cleaning the pool.  As they are talking with him they notice that he is right handed and has lemon heads in his pocket.  As they begin to ask more and more questions they notice that he begins to get very edgy and uncooperative.  They decided they have enough evidence to bring him in for questioning.  As they questioned him they offered him a glass of water.  They carefully had the glass dusted for fingerprints, which matched the finger prints on the bloody knife at the last crime scene.  Oivia and Stabler were confident they had enough evidence to charge the pool boy with the most recent murder.  They were confident that with the help of Dr. Bekker completing a psychological profile on the suspect that they would reveal a motive for this murder and create links to the previous murder.  (726)

Works Cited:

(1)Cook, , and Hinman. "Criminal Profiling: science and art." 15.230 (2011):

230-241. Web. 7 Jun 2011.

Criminal Profiling, opinion artical.

Criminal profiling is the most efficient, and best strategy used by criminal psychologist and profilers. I believe this because of the extended research I have done in past months. I think that the definition of criminal profiling is important “[criminal profiling] . . . is a technique for identifying the major personality, behavioral, and demographic characteristics of offenders based on an analysis of the crimes they committed”(Cook, Hinman 231). This is important because it shows how criminal profiling is helpful and important. It does that by stating what it does which is analyzation of the crime. With out it we would have no Idea what the sex, personality, or anything else about the criminal. Criminal profiling is effective because we use it everyday to help find fugitives and other types of criminals. We use it everyday because there are so many different types: hijacking profiles, shoplifter profiles. Sex offender and so on (Cook, Hinman 232). We use them so much because they work. If they did not work then why would we use them so much? We wouldn’t.

Apart of the process of criminal profiling is predetermination.   Completing the steps of profiling, which are: 1. Profiling inputs, 2.desision process model, and 3. Profile, 4. Crime assessment, 5. Investigation, and 6. Apprehension (Cook, Hinmsn 235).  All of those completed make it possible to pre determine the next move of the criminal.  If that it done correctly then they will be able to stop the criminal before he makes his next attack. When the criminal is unable to make his next attack the criminal profilers have then been able to save another victim from abuse. Which makes this another reason why criminal profiling is the best strategy used.

A criminal profiler takes evidence from the crime scene to make his profile. He does a “ . . . blood splatter analysis, fiber analysis, crime scene reconstruction, and autopsy evidence”(Cook, Hinman 239). They also do all of that which the help of their partners from forensics. Even though they do get help they spend long hours everyday making it possible for victims to live. Without them we would not have found missing children that have been abducted, or a stolen car, and so on.

Criminal profiling helps with criminal investigations as well. “Profiling can (a) focus the investigation on more likely types of offenders and eliminate less likely ones, (b) suggest proactive strategies, (c) suggest investigative strategies, (d) suggest trial strategies . . .” (Cook, Hinman 234). They are able to do all of those things plus more. This is important because we can use them in more ways than one since a criminal profiler is most likely a criminal psychologist. Psychologist/Profiler can find different way to word things so that you crack a killer when a regular person most likely could not. With out profiling we would not be able to understand a criminal. We understand criminals because the psychologist/profiler puts all the pieces together to get the puzzle, which in this case is the criminal.

Criminal profiling will forever be used even if someone does not think that it works as well as it really does. It is because of criminal profiling we have saved not only the victims, but the future victims, and the offender as well. People must see that we need to utilize this tool that we have more than we already are because it works.

Work cited: 

Cook, , and Hinman. "Criminal Profiling: science and art." 15.230 (2011):

230-241. Web. 7 Jun 2011.

PEOP!

Her name is Mckenzie Bowers, and she goes to Eastern Michigan University that is where I saw her 

during her research process. She is researching criminal psychology/criminal profiling for her english 121 class. 

McKenzie is becoming better at writing but she said she thinks there is still more work to be done. I saw 

her at the university writing center getting help on her paper. She told me they 

are a lot of help. At this point in her research process she has just finished writing her research essay number two. She also has finished all the research for that essay as well.

McKenzie Bowers 06/6/2k11

I remember walking in my first day of class not knowing what to expect, until the teacher, Mrs. Goodsitt told us that we would be writing all of our papers about our favorite job that we were going to be pursuing. When she said that, I already knew what I was going to research. . . CRIMINAL PSYCHOLOGY!! My original question was to find what strategy is the most efficient in criminal psychology.I think that if that would be answered then it would help the people in the field. A part of our essay #2 was to interview someone. I had a hard time trying to find someone but I did. I interviewed Nelson Halmons. He is my next door neighbor:P. He couldn't meet with me in person but that was okay because it was best for us both to do it over the internet. He told me a lot of information that I needed to know. Uhh he told me that he doesn't think that criminal profiling is the best strategy because it is unreliable( I think it is the best!! LOL.)He did tell me that he thought it worked though as long as it had science to back it up. Researching this topic really showed me how hard it really is to be a criminal psychologist. It also showed me how HIGH demand it is, and it would be hard to have a family. I also learned that not everyone thinks as I do, which I always think people should think like me just kidding.From what I have learned from my research is criminal profiling is used to help things move faster through the system, and it is very hard job to have that is why he don't have may of them. I never knew this job was so top secret which is why I had a hard time with the interview, but I guess it's because most of them work for the FBI and uhhh that it very top secret stuff!!! Another thing I learned is I will be working with very dangous criminals every single day, so therefore I must know how to protect myself which mean I have to be certified. Criminal profiling helps a lot of people when it is completed. One thing I wish I could have done differently would have been to find an actual criminal psychologist/profiler to interview because I think it would have helped more, maybe. Doing this research will help my field because they will see that criminal profiling is the best strategy to use, and then they will soon be able to back it all up with scientific al evidence. I would like to know if criminal psychologist make a lot of money because I heard they didn't ,and I would like to know for myself. So if you ask me I think I learned a lot from my research process. (590)