Psychology and the Law

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Psychology and the Law

• Profiling

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Plan for Today

• What is Profiling?
• Offender typologies
• Problems with profiling

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Profiling

• What do profilers do?
• provide investigators with a personality
  composite, behavioral tendencies and demographic
  features of the unknown offender
• Also, crime and threat analysis, investigative
  assistance, strategies for interviews and
  prosecution, and expert testimony
• Mostly homicide, also rape, arson, bombing,
  espionage, stalking, extortion, kidnapping,
  terrorism and product tampering

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History of Profiling

• George Metesky (the Mad Bomber) 1957
• Dr. James Brussel (Psychiatrist)
• Howard Teten (1962) applied psychology
• FBI (1972) Behavioral Sciences Unit
• Investigative Support Unit
• John Douglas and Robert Ressler
• National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime

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How do you create a Profile?

• Look at evidence, police and autopsy reports,
  crime scene photos, i.e., learn everything about
  the offender
• Use inductive and deductive reasoning, experience
  of violent behavior, facts of particular case,
  and statistical probabilities.
• In depth interviews with violent offenders

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Profiling

• Behavior reflects personality!
• Actions before, during and after crime
• Look at what offender chose to do and what he
  chose not to do. (Behavioral fingerprint)
• Signature
• What did he do that he did not have to?

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Profiling

• Profile may include
• Gender, age, race, occupation, socioeconomic
  status, mental status, area of residence,
  educational and family background, social habits
  and probable arrest history
• Geographical profiling

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Organized, Disorganized, Mixed typology

• Organized crime scene predicts
• Premeditation, manipulative, cunning, deliberate
  and methodical. Psychopathic (narcissistic and
  remorseless)
• Pride in appearance, articulate, outgoing,
  charming
• Crimes and aftermath well planned and executed
• Chooses targets carefully, brings own weapon,
  tries to conceal the body
• CONTROL (a thinking criminal)
• Older, more mature, leave general area (drive)

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Disorganized Crime Scene

• Loner, few social skills and ties, feels
  inadequate
• Sloppy unkempt appearance (home), haphazard
  impulse crimes against victims of opportunity.
• More likely to attack family, friends, neighbors
  or acquaintances
• Frenzied crime scene sparked by drugs, mental
  illness, or inexperience. Mutilation and overkill
  
• Symbols of disorganization reflect delusions
• Blitz attack, leaving victim
• Attack close to home, walk or public
  transportation

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Mixed crime scene

• Young offender making transition to organized
  predator
• Short temper but plans revenge without taking
  unnecessary risks
• Situational factors (inability to control victim)
  leading to improvised behavior
• More than one perpetrator

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Role of Fantasy

• Fantasy fuels most predatory crimes (arson)
• Sexual aspect to crimes, most often sex is
  secondary to power, control and domination
• Powerlessness overcome by controlling
• Jerry Brudos escalation of fantasy, trophies
• Homicidal triad fire setting, animal abuse and
  age inappropriate bedwetting

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Homicidal trends

• Serial killers
• generally target strangers, consistency in victim
  profile
• Cooling off period
• Trophies
• At least 3 victims

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Spree killers

• No cooling off period
• Different, indiscriminate locations
• Victims are generally strangers or are
  utilitarian murders
• High suicide rate
• Often suicide by cop

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Mass Murderers

• Kill 4 or more people at one time and place
• Mentally unbalanced, paranoid and suffering from
  chronic depression
• Plagued by personal failure
• workplace violence

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Serial Rapists

• Power Reassurance rapist
• lacks confidence socially and sexually with
  women, rapes to reassure his masculinity
• Will fantasize a consensual relationship (may
  even believe it)
• Can be apologetic
• e.g., the gentleman rapist

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Power Assertive Rapist

• Attacks to assert his masculinity
• Believes women are objects for gratification
• Macho self-perception
• Women are seen as second class citizens
• Will strike impulsively

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Anger Retaliatory Rapist

• Wants to hurt, punish and humiliate victims
• Hates women in general (or specific group)
• Wants to get even for some real or perceived
  injustice
• Will strike impulsively

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Anger Excitation Rapist

• Known more commonly as sexual sadists
• Least common but most violent rapists
• Highly ritualistic crimes
• Fantasies usually involve some master-slave
  relationship
• Seeks complete control over victims and derives
  pleasure from their suffering
• Crimes are methodically planned

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Opportunistic and Gang Rapists

• Opportunistic rapist is already committing
  another crime
• often involves drugs (especially alcohol)
• Gang rapes often operate on a mob or pack
  mentality (always a pack leader)
• - likelihood of serious physical injury to victim

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Problems with profiling

• Can only create imprecise stereotypes,
  descriptions are vague and general
• There is little theoretical foundation for
  generated demographic and personality factors
• Can narrow the investigation parameters
• Art based on experience rather than science
• Kocsis, Irwin, Hayes, and Nunn (2000)