The Origin and Art of Criminal Profiling

Criminal profiling is a process by which investigators attempt to solve a crime through careful analyzing of data and patterns.

It can be found in numerous places throughout history, from the Roman Catholic Church to World War II to the present day. It officially began in the Behavioral Science Unit; Howard Teten, Pat Mullany, Robert Ressler, and John Douglas are four of the most well-known individuals associated with profiling. Numerous serial killers have been caught by using this process and it is suspected that the identity of Jack the Ripper would be known today had this technique been used in that time.There are six stages to developing a criminal profile: profiling inputs, decision process models, crime assessment, criminal profile, investigation, and apprehension.

The study done by Douglas and three others provides a great glimpse into the meticulous and complex process. It is the hopes of many that the process of criminal profiling can continue to be modified and improved, and that the fact of its validity will be recognized. The Origin and Art of FBI Profiling In the 1970’s, serial killer Ted Bundy terrorized the western United States.One of the most prolific serial killers in this country’s history, Bundy admitted to murdering in excess of 30 women across seven states and the actual number of victims could be much higher.

But Ted did not wake up one morning and randomly decide to commit such heinous crimes as rape, murder, and necrophilia. The traits that led him to do this developed over time. During his college years, he had a relationship and fell in love with a fellow student; it appears that the growing obsession changed him for the worst (Montaldo, n. d.

). Her name was Stephanie.She came from a wealthy family, was very ambitious, and had long, straight, brown hair which she parted in the middle. Should it be considered a coincidence that many of his victims also had hair very similar to his first love? It is suggested that the hurt Bundy felt when the relationship ended led him to seek out potential victims with this particular characteristic. To the average police officer on the street, this pattern may often be overlooked, but the specialized and highly-trained profiler can catch this trend at first glance.

The roots of criminal profiling can be traced as far back as the Middle Ages, when inquisitors of the Roman Catholic Church sought to persecute heretics (Morris, 2007). Despite this event, the potential of profiling was not realized until the 19th century, and then fully discovered in the 20th century. The mystery of Jack the Ripper, who killed prostitutes in England in the 1880’s, is perhaps the most notorious of all cold cases in history. To this day, the killer’s identity is still unknown, but had police followed the carefully articulated notes of Dr.

Thomas Bond, they might have been able to bring the murderer to justice.Dr. Bond, who assisted in the autopsy of one of the Ripper’s victims, noticed a correlation with the other women. He wrote that the murders were of a sexually deviant nature, an aspect of the condition Satyriasis, and that the killer undoubtedly had a hatred for women (Ramsland, 2011). The extreme mutilation that took place made this clear. The doctor attempted to recreate the murder and find a pattern in the offender’s behavior; he paid close attention to the misogyny and fury which drove the killer (Morris, 2007).

By doing this, he concluded that Jack the Ripper, whoever they may be, was most likely the person one would least suspect.He would be humble and harmless in appearance, probably middle-aged, and would don a cape. Bond said that the Ripper was more than likely a mentally unstable individual; his neighbors would be able to assume he was not in a right state of mind. He also noted that, against what nearly all others thought, the killer had no anatomical knowledge and was not a surgeon or a butcher.

In fact, the doctor guessed he probably didn’t have a real occupation whatsoever (Ramsland, 2011). Thomas Bond’s notes were never taken into deep consideration and the identity of Jack the Ripper is still a mystery, one that will most likely never be solved.Or will it? According to Innes (2005), David Canter has expressed his opinion on the matter. Canter’s prime suspect is Aaron Kosminski, a Polish bootmaker who came to London in 1882, six years before the Ripper murders. He based this speculation on the geographic side of profiling. With a map of the location of the nine killings in hand, Canter pointed right in the middle of the murder sites; the area he was pointing to was Kosminski’s home.

According to him, many killers tend to maintain the optimum distance which balances both familiarity and risk, thus making the murder locations appear as a rough circle (Innes, 2005).Unfortunately, with no DNA or any physical evidence, society will never know for sure the identity of the twisted Jack the Ripper. During the Ripper’s reign of terror, technology and general knowledge of criminology was not quite as advanced as it is now. The first official attempt at profiling did not come until World War II began. The OSS (the forerunner of the CIA) asked psychiatrist Walter Lange to prepare a psycho-dynamic personality profile of Adolf Hitler. At the end of his long, detailed report, Lange stated that when defeat was imminent, the German Fuhrer would commit suicide; Hitler committed suicide by gunshot (Innes, 2005).

Many other events in history following this allowed profilers to prove again and again the validity of making a criminal profile and it finally became organized when the FBI took an interest in 1972, opening the Behavioral Science Unit (Wright, 2007). Howard Teten and Pat Mullany are the two credited as the fathers of the organization (Innes, 2005). Two notable agents of the BSU were Robert Ressler and John Douglas. Ressler, the one who is often credited with coining the term “serial killer”, aided in the apprehension of Jeffrey Dahmer and Richard Chase and Douglas is well-known for his studies of criminal behavior.The aforementioned men helped pave the way for profiling as it is today, but they were not your average people off the street.

When asked about the traits a profiler must possess, another former BSU agent, Roy Hazelwood said: Common sense. Another term for that is practical intelligence. An open mind - you have to be able to accept other people's suggestions. Number three is life experience. Number four is an ability to isolate your personal feelings about the crime, the criminal, and the victim. Number five would be an ability to think like the offender thinks - not get into his mind.

All you have to do is reason like he does. You don't have to get into his mind (Ramsland, 2011). In a crime scene analysis study, there were six stages of the profiling process listed: profiling inputs, decision process models, crime assessment, criminal profile, investigation, and apprehension (Douglas, Ressler, Burgess, & Hartman, 1986). To begin developing a profile, one must acquire a very complete report of the crime including details of the crime, the crime scene, and also the environment in which the offence was committed.Environmental factors like the social and political grounds of the area along with such things as weather conditions are all vital to the investigation. Next, the detective needs to get as much background information on the suspect as possible.

Criminal records are a must-have, but it does not end there. A list of the habits, hobbies, reputation, education records, family life, and social behavior is valuable information when building a case against a suspect. Lastly, forensic evidence is needed to pinpoint the exact time and cause of death.This aids in determining if a weapon was used and what it was, and possibly even the sequence in which blows were dealt. Armed with this information, the profiler can begin suggesting the killer’s level of risk, degree of control desired, and the complexity of their motive (Douglas et al.

, 1986). The second stage consists of organizing all of the information into a significant pattern. Here, the killer is analyzed.The investigator looks into the type and style of the murderer, their intent, the targeted victims, risk factors, and the patterns in time and location (Douglas et al. 1986).

There are numerous kinds of murder, from single to mass and all the way to serial. Deducing what type of offender is being dealt with will help figure out exactly what their primary intent is. One could find them self dealing with anything from a racist to a sexist to the guy who just has no desire to live any longer; it could be the charming normal-in-appearance guy like Ted Bundy or a person like Richard Ramirez who stalked and killed in his victims’ homes throughout the night.Aspects like the occurrence of a cooling off period in between killings and the time and place need to be looked into, as well as the escalation of violence in related murders. Some prefer to keep their extracurricular activities on the “down-low”, several want to go down in history for their actions, but most slowly progress into the monster they are. After determining aspects about the killer, the investigation proceeds to step three.

The crime itself must be analyzed. The first thing to do is to attempt to recreate the situation and the behavior of both the victim and the aggressor (Douglas et al. 1986). Was the killer organized? Does the victim fall into the category from which the killer usually picks his prey? How did the assailant control the person? What was the killer’s motivation to follow through with the attack? These are all questions that can and must be answered, provided the right amount of information.

For example, the murderer may stalk a woman with certain characteristics, memorize where exactly she is at any given point in the day, and decide when would be the best time and place to take her.From there, he can choose how he wants to attack the situation, whether that is by manipulation and sweet-talking or brute force. Careful plotting can build a sick obsession with going through with the attack, as well as the inhibition caused by drug and alcohol use. The last part of this stage is the particular details of the attack, or crime scene dynamics.

The location of the crime scene, cause of death, method of attack, positioning of the body and the level of trauma, and location of the wounds can link the murder to others committed in the same fashion (Douglas et al. , 1986).A profiler can compare the case to others he knows the outcome of, which sometimes assists in pinpointing what kind of person the killer is. This isn’t always a smart move though.

It is a common mistake to attribute sexual crimes to past sexual offenders, while in reality it is often younger individuals with no criminal record that commit this sort of crime. Another source that calls this into question is the 2010 study by Schlesinger, Kassen, Mesa, and Pinizzotto. They sought to prove whether or not ritual and signature holds ground when investigating sexual serial murder.In the conclusion of their study of 38 offenders and their 168 victims, they stated that they did not achieve the data needed to prove that ritual and signature in sexual homicides was consistent enough be significant (Schlesinger, Kassen, Mesa, & Pinizzotto, 2010). Stage four is the phase during which the actual criminal profile is put together.

According to Douglas et al. (1986), it is generated based on the “individual’s behavioral organization with relation to the crime” (p. 414). After this, the strategy for apprehension can be formulated.

The profile will consist of background information, physical characteristics, habits, beliefs and values, pre-offense behavior leading to the crime, and post-offense behavior (Douglas et al. , 1986). The profile must then be put through a feedback phase; it will be tested on whether or not all the prior evidence fits into place with it. If validated, profilers then proceed to the investigation phase. During stage five, the profile is turned into a written report and sent to the requesting investigatory department.A list of suspects is drawn from the pool matching the profile and they are questioned and eliminated as suspects until either the offender is caught and the case is closed, or all leads are depleted.

If the latter occurs or new evidence is found, the profile is sent for more feedback and is to be reexamined and reevaluated (Douglas et al. , 1986). The final stage in the criminal profiling process is the apprehension stage. Once a criminal is apprehended, an interview should be held to check through the profile and compare it to characteristics of the offender (Douglas et al. 1986).

This is for validity purposes and to further prove the usefulness of profiling. Criminal profiling traces its roots back all the way back to the Middle Ages, but its full potential had not been realized until the past century. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has used the technique to catch killers and criminals of all kinds for many years and it has certainly proven its worth. As time progresses, the system will continue to be redefined and hopefully advance to the point that justice will always be served swiftly and surely.