Introduction to
Forensic Psychology
2nd Edition
Bartol & Bartol (2008)
Chapter 3
Police Psychology
Investigative Psychology
Investigative Psychology

DEFINITION: The application of psychology to
criminal investigation.

Profiling—one of the tasks often associated with
investigative psychology—requires sketching the
significant psychological and demographic features of a
person or persons.

Broadly defined, investigative psychology includes
research and practice involving:
-Profiling
-Police Line-ups
-Polygraph Hypnosis
-
-Risk Assessment
-Interrogation
-Other?
3 Questions

What are the important behavioral features of the
crime that may help identify and successfully
prosecute the perpetrator?

What inferences can be made about the
characteristics of the offender that may help
identify him or her?

Are there any other crimes that are likely to have
been committed by the same person?
CRIMINAL PROFILING
Background
What is Criminal Profiling?

Criminal profiling is the process of
identifying personality traits, behavioral
tendencies, geographical location, and
demographic or biographical descriptors
of an offender (or offenders) based on
crime scene characteristics.
Goals of Profiling

The primary goal of profiling is to narrow
the field of possible suspects.

Profiling is also a form of prediction -- the
profiler tries to “predict” who the offender
or offenders might be and where and how
the next crime may occur.
Why Use Criminal Profiles in
Law Enforcement?

Traditional investigative techniques often
fall short in extreme cases.

A subset of offenses/offenders are
considered most suitable for profiling -What subset of offenders and why more
suitable for profiling??
Brief History of Criminal Profiling

1940s - First recorded use by psychiatrist Walter Langer
during WWII commissioned to construct a psychodynamic
profile of Hitler.

1957 - psychiatrist James Brussels worked with NYPD to
construct a profile of the Mad Bomber.

1970s-1980s - FBI (Howard Teten, John Douglas, Robert
Ressler, Roy Hazelwood, and others) became involved in
psychological profiling and popularized the technique.

1990s – 2003 - attempt (by David Canter, Maurice
Godwin, Ron Holmes, Robert Keppel, Brent Turvey, Kim
Rossmo and others) to scientize profiling and move the
practice beyond the purview of the FBI.
The FBI Profilers

Small/prominent group of FBI profilers helped to popularize
the term in 1970s in the Behavioral Science Unit -- called
the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime
(NCAVC) since 1984.

Responsible for establishing the Violent Criminal
Apprehension Program (VICAP). Published Crime
Classification Manual, Sexual Homicide: Patterns and
Motives and true crime novels.

Are known for the ORGANIZED/DISORGANIZED typology
and focus on M.O. and SIGNATURE.

Criticized for relying too much on intuition/faulty use of the
scientific method.
Is Profiling a Science or Profession?

Profiling has not yet achieved the status of a profession. Factors
hindering professionalization:

Lack of consensus (on terms, approaches, training, appropriate
experience/educational background, etc.).

Practical issues (sensitivity and confidentiality of cases).

Ego/territorial issues.

Absence of uniform standards, practices, peer review, and ethics.

Small number (if any) of profiling positions where profiling is the
primary job description.

The notion (and acknowledgement among many profilers)
that profiling is more art than science.
Assumptions Made in the Profiling Process
See Holmes & Holmes (2001). Profiling Violent Crimes. Sage.

Crime scene reflects the personality of
the offender.

M.O. remains similar.

Signature will remain the same.

Offender’s personality will not change.
The Organized-Disorganized Typology

Whether or not the crime scene is left ORGANIZED
or DISORGANIZED is said to provide information
about the offender’s criminal sophistication and
personality.

Organized crime scene reflects offender who
commits crime out of a need for power. Motivation
associated with PSYCHOPATHY.

Disorganized crime scene reflects offender who
commits crime out of passion, compulsion,
frustration, or anxiety. Motivation associated with
PSYCHOSIS.
The Organized Crime Scene
See Ressler, Burgess, & Douglas (1992) Sexual Homicide: Patterns and Motives. Free Press.



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Offense planned
Victim a targeted
stranger
Victim personalized
Controlled conversation
Crime scene reflects
overall control
Demands submissive
victim






Restraints used
Aggressive acts prior to
death
Body hidden
Weapon/evidence
absent
victim or body
transported from scene
Associated with
psychopathy
The Disorganized Crime Scene
See Ressler, Burgess, & Douglas (1992) Sexual Homicide: Patterns and Motives.





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Spontaneous offense
Victim or location
known
Depersonalizes victim
Minimal conversation
Crime scene random
and sloppy
Sudden violence to
victim





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Minimal use of
restraints
Sexual acts after death
Body left in view
Evidence/weapon often
present
Body left at death
scene
Associated with
Psychosis
Interview/Interrogation Strategies
See Holmes & Holmes (1996) Profiling Violent Crimes. Sage.

ORGANIZED






Direct confrontation
Respects competency
One-person interview
Don’t expect “free
information”
No use of “false evidence”
(are too sharp for this)
Conduct when suspect has
no time to gather
thoughts

DISORGANIZED





Relationship motivated
Empathy
Constant stream of
conversation
Use positive personal
relationship
Conduct at night
Distinction Between
Psychopathy and Psychosis

PSYCHOPATHY




Personality disorder made up of a particular constellation
of characteristics)
Lack of attachment, defect in affect, absence of anxiety
In touch with reality
PSYCHOSIS



Clinical mental illness – Schizophrenia
May meet legal definition of insanity
Out of touch with reality
Criticism of the Organized/Disorganized
Typology
See Turvey (2002) Criminal Profiling. Academic Press.

Developed/oversimplified for use by law
enforcement professionals with little academic
training in criminology, psychology, and forensic
science and encourages unsophisticated
profiling.

Is a FALSE DICHOTOMY --few offenders/crime
scenes it neatly into either type.

Other problems?
M.O. and Signature
(See Douglas, Burgess, Burgess, & Ressler (1997). Crime Classification Manual.
Jossey-Bass; Keppel, R.D. & Birnes, W.J. (1997). Signature Killers. Pocket Books.

METHOD OF OPERATION (M.O.)


How the offender committed the crime. Tells about the
experience of the offender and situational/contextual
factors involved in the crime.
SIGNATURE

The behavior/expression of fantasy the killer must leave
at the scene to satisfy emotional/psychological needs.
Goes beyond what’s necessary to commit crime and
tells about the offender’s psychological needs and
motivation.
Factors that Shape M.O.

Trade/Professional Experience

Criminal experience and confidence

Contact with the criminal justice system

Media and pop culture

Offender Mood/Mental state

X-Factors (unknown/unplanned influences)
Factors that Shape Signature

Personality/Psychopathology

Evolution of Fantasy
Distinguishing M.O. from Signature
See Turvey (2002) Criminal Profiling. Academic Press.

Signature and M.O. needs may be
satisfied by the same behavior. Important
to remember the “two most important
axioms of criminal profiling”:
 Different offenders do similar things for
different reasons.
 Offender behaviors can be the result of
multiple motivations and/or external
influences.
Static and Dynamic Risk
See Andrews & Bonta (2003). The Psychology of Criminal Conduct. Anderson.


Offender risk factors are static and dynamic. Are
important in understanding M.O. and Signature
behaviors.

STATIC RISK: Stay the same over time

DYNAMIC RISK: Change over time
 Stable dynamic: change slowly over months or years
 Acute dynamic: change rapidly over minutes or days.
What type of risk factors are M.O. and Signature
behaviors?
The Psychological Autopsy

The Psychological Autopsy is an attempt to reconstruct the
personality profile and cognitive features of deceased. This
postmortem psychological analysis is also called reconstructive
psychological evaluation and equivocal death analysis .
Psychological autopsies are important to:




Assist certifying officials to clarify deaths that are ambiguous, uncertain, or
equivocal as to the manner of death
Aid in investigation to determine insurance payments and national security issues.
To make a reasonable determination of what may have been in the mind of the
deceased person leading up to and at the time of death—particularly if the death
appears to be a suicide
Psychological autopsies differ from criminal profiling in two
important ways: (1) the profile is constructed on a dead person, and
(2) the identity of the person is already known.
Geographical Profiling and Mapping

Geographical profiling refers to the analysis of geographical
locations associated with the spatial movements of a single serial
offender,

Geographical mapping is concerned with analyzing the
spatial patterns of crimes committed by numerous offenders over
a period of time. Geographical mapping focuses on identifying the
“hot spots” of certain types of crime.

In 1995, D. Kim Rossmo wrote a doctoral dissertation at Simon
Frasier University’s School of Criminology on geographical
profiling. Rossmo developed a computer program called Criminal
Geographic Targeting (CGT). It is designed to analyze the
geographical or spatial characteristics of an offender’s crimes.
The Polygraph

The polygraph—commonly called the “lie detector”—detects
psychophysiological responses that accompany emotional reactions to
guilt, shame, and anxiety through heart rate, blood pressure, breathing
rate, and skin conductance.

In addition to observing the physiological measures, the skillful
polygrapher makes behavioral observations and notations to infer truth or
deception in the subject being examined.

The polygraph can accurately measure and record the physiological
responses but it is unclear whether it can detect actual lying and
deception.
INVESTIGATIVE PSYCHOLOGY AND
OFFENDER PROFILING
Discussion Questions
Discussion Questions:
(Homant & Kennedy/B&B Supp Readings)

What are the major limitations in researching the
effectiveness of profiling?

Why Is Profiling So Inaccurate?

What direction do the authors of your readings
this week (e.g., Homant & Kennedy) suggest we
need to go in terms of conducting research on
profiling? How do Homant & Kennedy define:




Offender Profiling
Psychological Profiling
Geographical Profiling
Equivocal Death Analysis
Discussion Questions:
(Muller/B&B Supp Readings)

What two main approaches to profiling are
reviewed in this article? Explain the
features of each.
Discussion Questions:
(B&B Text – Ch 3)

What might explain the popularity of
profiling, despite the lack of evidence to
support it?

What other applications of psychological
theory and research do the authors
suggest can be considered under the
heading of investigative psychology?
Discussion Questions ~ General:
(B&B (Text)

Explain the significance of static and dynamic risk
factors in the prediction and profiling of human
behavior.

Explain how the processes of a) unconscious
transference and b) own-race bias can affect
identification provided by eyewitnesses to an
event.

Forensic psychologists have offered
recommendations to police in constructing lineups. What are these recommendations? Upon
what research findings are they based?