Profiling begins with an analysis of the physical
evidence found at individual crime scenes.
The criminal profiler uses deductive reasoning to start
to develop a picture of the offender in terms of the
characteristics of different kinds of criminal.
deductive reasoning: the reasoning involved in using
specific physical facts to arrive at generalizations
The Anthrax Killer and the role of the FBI
On the 18th of September 2001, 7 days after
the twin towers were hit, a hand printed letter
was sent to “NBC TV – Tom Brokaw”. It was
postmarked Trenton, NJ
(New Jersey). On the same name a similar
letter was sent to “NY Post” (New York) and
was also postmarked Trenton, NJ. Inside the
letters was a “coarse brown granular material
looking like Purina dog food”
Subsequent to the letters being sent the following information
became available:
The Anthrax in the second set of letters was more sophisticated
and refined than that first used. Although of different grades,
the Anthrax was derived from the same bacterial strain.
This strain had been originally researched at Fort Derrick, U.S.A.
and distributed to fifteen bio-research labs within the U.S. and
six overseas. The strain had been cultured no more than two
years previously.
On the 9th May 2002 the New Scientist reported that
“The DNA sequence of the anthrax sent through the mail in 2001
has been revealed and confirms that the bacteria originally
came from a US military Laboratory”
In August 2002 investigators found Anthrax spores in a mailbox
at 10 Nassau Street near Princeton University, New Jersey.

The FBI and USA government have yet to
convict anyone for the Anthrax attacks although
there have been several suspects:
Steven Hatfill: A virologist and ex-green beret
Dr Philip Zack: A microbiologist working at
Fort Derrick, accused of leading a hate
campaign against muslim co-workers
Dr Bruce Ivins: Worked in the bio-defense labs at Fort Derrick
for 18 years. Committed suicide on 1st August, 2008. Widely
reported that the FBI were about to accuse him of the anthrax
attacks.
On 6th August 2008 Ivins was declared to be the
sole culprit in the Anthrax attacks. The case is now closed.
Profiling begins with an analysis of the physical
evidence found at individual crime scenes.
The criminal profiler uses deductive reasoning to start
to develop a picture of the offender in terms of the
characteristics of different kinds of criminal.
deductive reasoning: the reasoning involved in using
specific physical facts to arrive at generalizations
Holmes (1989) suggests that the aims of
profiling are:




To reduce the scope of an investigation by
providing basic information in relation to the
social and psychological variables of the
offender’s personality
To allow some prediction of future offences
and their location
To provide a psychological evaluation of
belongings found in the suspect’s possession
To provide strategies for interviewing
offenders which take account of individual
differences.
There are two major
approaches to profiling:
1.The British take a BOTTOM UP approach to
profiling which involves
”Using detailed information from INDIVIDUAL
crime scenes to draw up an INDIVIDUAL
profile of the suspect.”
2.The Americans favour a TOP DOWN approach
◦ “Compares detail of a crime with existing
classifications of crimes to match the crime
with a TYPOLOGY of a criminal.”
Top - down
 Booklet
 the
p35;
FBI interviewed 36
notorious sex murderers
and serial killers in prison

Behavioural evidence
◦ Things that tells us how an offender went about
committing a crime

Criminal consistency
◦ The idea that a person’s behaviour at a crime scene is
consistent with their behaviour in other contexts
◦ These can be used to try to work out which type of
offender has committed a particular crime
What does this crime scene tell you about the offender responsible?
Characteristics of sex criminals
Victims chosen for a r_ _ _ _ _: they possess a
characteristic valued by the killer
Crime driven by s_ _ _ _ _ f _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.
(HINT – where do you think they originate from?
LINK with Freud??)
Choose a victim they can access and
overpower e _ _ _ _ _.
Early sexual fetishes and an interest in p _ _ _
and c _ _ _ _ _ _
Poor s _ _ _ _ _ skills
CARD SORT!
ORGANISED CRIME SCENE
DISORGANISED CRIME
SCENE
ORGANISED CRIMINAL
DISORGANISED CRIMINAL
Planned
Spontaneous
Victim – targeted stranger
Victim known by offender
Control including restraints
Little control
Aggression before death
Sexual acts before death
Body hidden or removed from crime scene
Body not hidden, or left at crime scene
Weapon and evidence absent
Evidence present
Higher than average IQ
Skilled occupation
Controlled observation
Living with partner
Mobile – eg car
Socially competent
Sexually competent
High birth order status
Father’s work stable
Inconsistent discipline in childhood
Lower than average IQ
Unskilled
Uncontrolled
Living alone
Lives near crime
Socially incompetent
Sexually incompetent
Low birth order status
Father’s work unstable
Harsh discipline during childhood
Use of alcohol during crime
Alcohol not used during crime
Follows crime on news
Does not follow crime on news
Limited change in behaviour after crime
Major behaviour change after crime
There’s more information on this topic at:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/gary.sturt/c
rime/offender%20profiling%20definitions.
htm
Organised
Disorganised
General
approach
Planned and controlled
Unplanned and chaotic
Weapons
Brought to the scene
Improvised
Evidence
Destroyed or removed
Left at scene
Victim
Attempts to control
Little attempt at control
Offender
Unknown to victim
Socially & sexually
competent
Normal/high
intelligence
Angry/depressed
Possibly known to victim
Socially & sexually inept
Low intelligence
Anxious/psychotic
Data assimilation
Data compiled from police
reports, post mortems,
crime scene photos etc.
Crime classification
Profilers decide whether
the crime scene is
organised or disorganised
Profile generation
Offender’s physical,
demographic and
behavioural characteristics
Crime reconstruction
Hypotheses about crime
sequence, offender &
victim behaviour etc.

Use the evidence to construct a profile
◦ Organised or disorganised
◦ Behavioural evidence
◦ Known characteristics of serial offenders

Your profile should…
◦ Tell the story of the crime
◦ Describe the person responsible
Organised
Disorganised
General
approach
Planned and controlled
Unplanned and chaotic
Weapons
Brought to the scene
Improvised
Evidence
Destroyed or removed
Left at scene
Victim
Attempts to control
Little attempt at control
Offender
Unknown to victim
Socially & sexually
competent
Normal/high
intelligence
Angry/depressed
Possibly known to victim
Socially & sexually inept
Low intelligence
Anxious/psychotic

What problems can you identify with the FBI’s
approach to offender profiling?
◦ Assumptions about stable types
◦ Incomplete data
◦ Subjective judgements
◦ Small and unusual sample
◦ Validity of methodology
◦ Narrative & anecdotal evidence
For the UK approach,
we’re going to focus on
GEOGRAPHICAL PROFILING
psychlotron.org.uk
• You have two minutes to draw a
map of the KoW catchment area.
Bottom - up
Look at your
booklet p40!
What is geographical
profiling?
psychlotron.org.uk
• A set of techniques for making inferences
about crime and criminals from the location
and timing of offences.
Activity: Crime mapping
– How many offenders do you think are responsible
and why?
– What other suggestions can you make about the
offender(s)?
psychlotron.org.uk
• Plot the crimes listed on p43 of your booklet
on the map on p42 and then decide...
Crime mapping
Source: streetmap.co.uk
Crime mapping
Source: streetmap.co.uk
Offence clusters
Crime mapping
Source: streetmap.co.uk
Source: streetmap.co.uk
Geographical profiling:
1. Routine activity theory
• Crimes occur when three circumstances
coincide:
• Criminal offences are an extension of the
offender’s normal activities, so will occur in
places the offender makes regular use of
psychlotron.org.uk
– A motivated offender
– A suitable (and vulnerable) victim
– Absence of a capable guardian
• A circle drawn to encompass all the crimes in
a series is likely to contain the offender’s base
(Canter & Larkin, 1993).
• Where should the police look for the offender
responsible for the cluster between the
underground line and Durnsford road?
psychlotron.org.uk
Geographical profiling:
2. Circle theory of environmental
range
3. Dragnet analysis
Timing of offences
psychlotron.org.uk
• Information about geographical location of
crimes becomes more useful when combined
with information about when offences
occurred.
Crimes around Manchester University
Street robbery
Burglary
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
How can we explain the fluctuations in
different crimes over the year?
N
D
Mental maps
CHEDDAR MAP
•How accurate is your map of the Cheddar
area?
•How does your map reflect your experiences
and perspective?
Mental maps
• Individuals construct mental maps of the
areas they know.
psychlotron.org.uk
– These are not absolutely accurate. They embody
the person’s experience and perspective on the
area.
– The distribution of linked offences may reflect the
offender’s mental map of the area
• List some different ways geographical profiling
might contribute to police work?
psychlotron.org.uk
• What issues may make geographical profiling
difficult and/or misleading?
CASE STUDY: John Duffy: The “Railway Rapist”
(Canter 1994)
Jan 1994:
Series of sexual assaults in and around London
published in the Evening Standard. David Canter, an
environmental psychologist, notices a pattern in the
attacks.
Canter makes 2 assumptions:
a) Differences between attacks involving one man and those
involving two may offer clues as to the behaviour of the
attacker/s
b) People’s behaviour is predictable but also varies over
time, subtle differences in behaviour over time may
provide clues about the offenders
CASE STUDY:
John Duffy: The “Railway Rapist”
(Canter 1994)
December 1985 and Spring 1986: Two murders take place,
common features identified in both murders.
Forensic details led police to realise murders carried out by
the same man as the previous rapes but no closer to
identifying a suspect.
David Canter asked to assist police in predicting the
attacker’s behaviour.
Canter and police look at two aspects of the cases:

Details of each individual attack

Changes in behaviour over time
Canter was particularly interested in
a) How the attacker related to the victims may
relate to how he relates to others
b) How much domination he exercised over the
victims
28th July 1986: Canter produces profile!
Now its YOUR turn to think like a profiler!
1.
2.
Read through the John Duffy case study.
Look carefully at the profile on page 48 and read
the first paragraph on page 47 & 49. (This explains
how Canter reached ONE of his profile points)
3.
For each profile bullet point try and decide HOW
Canter came up with this description. For example
link between sexual activity and marital status.

How are geographical (UK) and typological (US)
offender profiling similar and different?
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
Purpose
Assumptions
Use of categories/types
Types of crime applicable
Evidence base
EVALUATION OF PROFILING:
1.VALIDITY:
(Wilson et al: 1997 Validity, utility and
ethics of profiling for serial and sexual offenders)
What is profiling meant to achieve?
(slide 2)
The majority of profiles are mildly to severely flawed
(Wilson et al)
Pinizzotto, 1984. Analysis of FBI profiling (192 cases):
46% were “of benefit” but only 17% were of “assistance in
identification of suspect”
Copson, 1995. Analysis of Profiling in GB (180 cases)
50% of police officers said the profile had helped but only 14%
said it had “shed light” on the investigation.
3% of the profiles were useful in positively identifying the
offenders.
2. Usefulness
77% of cases gave a “clearer focus for the investigation
process” (Pinnizotto)
Over 60% of police officers surveyed felt that it was
helpful to have the profiler present. (to reinforce
judgments made by the police)
About the same number of officers reported that they
would certainly consult a profiler in future (Copson)
Wilson suggests that profiling is MOST useful for serial
murder and other violent crimes and least useful for
crimes against property and drug related crimes.
3. ETHICS
The Rachel Nickell case raised doubts over the
use of profiling in a covert operation to try
and identify if Colin Stagg was actually her
Killer
The FBI have been accused of hounding
Dr Bruce Ivins as a suspect in the Anthrax attacks and
were responsible for his suicide.
Wilson argues that the use of profiling is not
unethical but the professionals carrying
out the profiling must be COMPETENT
4. Reliability
Wilson rated 32 cases of serial murder in which profiling was used
in order to assess
a) how ACCURATE the profile was
And
b) Whether the crimes were solved.
Number of cases / 32
Accurate
Case Solved
Yes
22
28
No
4
3
Doubt
2
1
Partially
2
/
Assisted
2
/



From the slides on this sheet, any other
relevant resources and your own opinions as a
psychology student, answer the following
question:
b) evaluate offender profiling as a method of
using psychology to solve a crime (15)
DUE IN FRIDAY 30 NOVEMBER