Skip to Main Content

Criminal Justice/ Special Topics, CRJU 410-001: Profiling

Crimes of passion, violent crimes, serial crimes, victims and offenders. This libguide will help you find the information that Bowie State University has to offer for this course.

Definition of Profiling

Criminal psychological profiling is the forensic technique of inferring personal, psychological, demographic, and behavioral characteristics of offenders based on crime scene evidence.  

This excerpt is from Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Vol. 7: p. 4035.  If you would like to read more, you can find this reference work in the Library.  The call number for this title is REF HV6017 .E5295.  

Profiling

Wanted FBI poster of Theodore Robert Bundy

Keywords and Search Terms

CRIMINAL PROFILING
CRIMINAL psychology
CRIMINAL behavior, Prediction of
CRIMINAL methods
DELINQUENT behavior
CRIMINALS -- Research
RECIDIVISTS

On the Shelves

Offender Profiling: Article available in Research Port

Salfati, C. Gabrielle. Offender profiling: Psychological and methodological issues of testing for behavioral consistency. Issues in Forensic Psychology. 2008, Issue 8, 68-81. 14p. 6 Diagrams, 5 Charts.

Abstract:
This article outlines some of the key methodological issues relating to the three main concepts central to the development of offender profiling. Results from the first wave of studies that have explored the key concepts of individual differentiation, behavioral consistency and inferences about offender characteristics in the area of homicide have been summarized. Specific attention has been paid to the issue of how these concepts refer to criminal consistency and the linking of serial crimes. Throughout, the issues of validity and reliability in the development of offender profiling as a methodologically sound field of scientific study have been highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expressive:           38 %              

Instrumental:         24%             

Hybrid:                  30%               

Non-classifiable:     8%

Figure 4:  Distribution of cases across crime scene themes using a differential classification criteria