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 24th 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>.
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