18 1 Police and Law Enforcement—Adult ForensicsLiterature Review
The case illustration given above demonstrates how a series of facts regarding a par-
ticular case can be used to develop a profile of a criminal based on their behaviors.
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), profiling is defined as a
technique which serves to identify the major personality and behavioral character-
istics of an offender based on an analysis of the crime the offender committed. This
process generally involves seven steps: (1) evaluation of the criminal act itself, (2)
comprehensive evaluation of the specifics of the crime scene(s), (3) comprehen-
sive analysis of the victim, (4) evaluation of preliminary reports, (5) evaluation of
the medical examiner's autopsy protocol, (6) development of profile with critical
offender characteristics, and (7) investigative suggestions predicated upon construc-
tion of the profile (Douglas & Burgess, 1986). The authors in the same article
equate the profiling process with that of making a psychiatric diagnosis. In this re-
spect, data is obtained through assessment; situations are reconstructed; hypotheses
are developed, formulated, and tested; and these results are reported back to the
interested party.
The goal of any law enforcement agency is not only to enforce laws, but to
apprehend those who have broken the law. However, the latter part of this process
is often difficult. Investigators must struggle with a multitude of evidence, reports,
and inferences regarding a particular crime. Criminals are not often immediately
apprehended, leaving the law enforcement agency to deal with a criminal at large.
When the crime is serious enough, as in arson, rape, or murder, a psychological or
criminological profile of the subject is obtained in order to facilitate apprehension.
Criminal profiling has conceivably existed since the inception of crime itself.
Documented attempts of profiling such heinous killers as Jack the Ripper date back
to the 1800s. The majority of modern literature focusing on profiling examines
crimes such as murder, sexual offences, and rape. These typologies are further
broken down into subcategories. For example, murder is often subdivided into
categories such as serial murder, sexual murder, and mass murder. Both professionals
and nonprotessionals have made attempts at establishing profiles of those who have
broken the law—each utilizing their own preferred school of thought. For example,
West (1988) describes the extensive use of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality
Inventory (MM PI) to predict future offenders based on a series of commonly found
personality characteristics. The author also discusses the use of such devices as
projective measures (Rorschach, Thematic Apperception Test, etc.) and the effects
of neurological insult on future aberrant behaviors.
The author also states that biological theories underlying criminal or even homi-
cidal tendencies are becoming increasingly popular. West claims that research on
genes and their correlation to aggressive criminal behaviors exists and should be
further examined. The XYY sex chromosome irregularity was implicated in some
studies in criminal behavioral effects through aggressive and disinhibition syn-
dromes. Also, electroencephalograph studies examining electrical activity of brain