Criminal Profiling: The Accuracy Of Criminal Profiling

Improved Essays
The Accuracy of Criminal Profiling
As society keeps expanding, through growth and technology, more opportunities for crimes pop up in our daily lives, ranging from internet gambling, all the way to insider trading. But as with any criminal movement, criminal justice is not far behind. Half the battle of fighting crime is knowing what to look for, and the other half is knowing how to stop it. Criminal profiling does both, and being in a generation with James Holmes and The Columbine shooting, there couldn’t be a better time for criminal profiling. But despite criminal profiling being used in complex investigations, and in a number of jurisdictions, as expert evidence in criminal trials, it hasn’t been proved to be an exact science. This paper will explore evidence for and against criminal profiling by looking at the essence of criminal profiling, the concerns, and the success of criminal profiling.
…show more content…
While criminal profiling derives from the concepts of psychology, which is an acknowledged school of science, the question is whether this is just an educated guess or a science as well. When faced with a crime, a police investigator must figure the most appropriate way to peruse and identify the culprit from the given information (evidence.) But sometimes it’s not that easy. When there are no witnesses, or forensic evidence, they must go look for probable suspects. That is when criminal profiling comes in to play, as it creates a “biological sketch of behavioral patterns, trends, and tendencies” (Rossi, 1982) So from evidence inferences that may be made about the psychological relationship between crimes and offenders, we can deduce potential suspect, giving cranial investigators leads. As “criminals are distinct in personality or psychological profiles.” (Anastasi, 1976). But the degree of how accurate criminal profiling may be brought into

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    In Modern day America racial profiling has become a major issue. According to Higgins (2008), profiling is a conglomeration of physical, behavioral, and psychological components that increase the probability of apprehending a suspect. During the 1980s, law enforcement began introducing race as a trait for profiling an individual. This was during the rise of drug use in the United States. Racial profiling allowed law enforcement officials to identify drug couriers.…

    • 734 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Law enforcement officials use profiling as part of their daily routine, thus giving them an indication of criminal behaviors, acts, threatening and/or dangerous situations. Although profiling is a part of human nature and has been around for decades, it was not until the 90’s that profiling became a major focus and concern in America, separating the two into: criminal profiling and racial profiling. When comparing and contrasting the two, criminal and racial profiling, it is difficult because both have separate yet equal meanings, but are both described as a form of profile in itself. How do they relate? Before the question or situation can be accessed or addressed it is imperative for the officer to take prior training into consideration,…

    • 864 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Racial Profiling Analysis

    • 570 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Katz analyzed different cases of racial profiling and assesses the outcomes of these various situations. It looks at how the Fourth Amendment has been applied in various racial profiling cases and how this affected the results from the prospective trials as outlined. Through an analysis of the outcomes of these cases, one can understand how racial profiling has become a significant aspect of the criminal justice system as well as the various steps in place to reduce the occurrence of racial profiling. The article gives a detailed analysis of different aspects of racial profiling and how it undermines criminal justice. VII.…

    • 570 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Corruption and incompetence plagued many agencies and in some cases exist systematically even today. Undoubtedly recent developments of police shooting unarmed youth can make one question our American criminal justice system. The issue that is not being solved continuously is the subject of racial profiling by law enforcement. Racial profiling by law enforcement is the decision to stop, search, investigate and arrest someone relevant to consideration of racial, sexual, or religious characteristics. .…

    • 855 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Racial profiling is defined as using one’s race or ethnicity as grounds for questioning an individual of having committed an offense (English Oxford Dictionary, n.d). Although, racial profiling does not have a set specific time racial profiling has been occurring since colonial time, and it is also known as a gateway act. A gateway act is an excuse that allows individuals to approach citizens who are assumed to be criminals, and questioned them. This has now led to the mistrust amongst the public and law enforcement. This paper will be based on the agreement that there are several issues that need to be address, such as racial profiling, police use of excessive force, and to adopt more policies that allow one to minimize racial disparities.…

    • 1263 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In modern times, racial profiling is recognized as an important public matter that has drawn and continues to draw the attention of many people, governments, and the world as a whole. Some consider the practice of racial profiling as morally wrong as the division of races and ethnicities seemingly promote racism and supremacy sentiments. Some promoters believe that racial profiling is a healthy contributor to public safety. Others promote its use in all levels of security and law enforcement throughout the entire societal structure. Law enforcement and security agencies are constantly called into question due to their use of racial profiling or suggestive use of it.…

    • 365 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    One of the most common techniques used by law enforcement to narrow down the criminal suspect pool is racial profiling. Racial minorities are being targeted by the key factors of race or ethnicity. I strongly disagree with this idea, for a person should only be held accountable if they are proven guilty. For my advocacy paper, I will address minorities; since I am one myself I will be able to relate to my audience more while informing them of the reasons this happens. This proposal includes my research methods.…

    • 763 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The first type of profiling mention in the textbook is behavior profiling, which is associated with the suspect’s assumptions and inferences. Within this profile, the detective relies on the methods and psychological stereotypes to identify the suspect. However, research has shown that this type of profiling is not accurate or helpful when catching criminals (Schwartz, 2016). The second type of profiling found in the textbook is one of the most controversial profiling techniques because is often associated with the suspects’ racial and religious identity. When a detective tries to use this type of racial profiling, they tend to rely on the racial, ethnic and religious stereotypes to identify the suspect (Schwartz, 2016).…

    • 725 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    One very contradictory issue that has emerged over the recent years within community policing is racial profiling. Racial profiling is defined as the use of race or ethnicity as grounds for suspecting someone of having committed an offense. Profiling of this nature impacts communities, minority groups, and even policing agencies in a negative manner ultimately. Many argue that criminal profiling differs from racial profiling and is a vital part of the job therefore it must be done. Others argue that it is not as great of a problem as the media sometimes portrays it to be.…

    • 1673 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Racial Profiling involves the targeting by a law enforcement official simply based on the color of one’s skin, physical features, religion, and race. One form of racial profiling is criminal profiling, practiced by law enforcement officials as focus on a group of characteristics; believe to be associated with crime (ACLU, 2015). This form of racial profiling isn’t always fair; however, criminal profiling can be effective in identifying and preventing possible criminal activity. The benefits of racial profiling are more than the risks and should be permitted by law enforcement officials because it helps preventing terrorist attacks, an aids in a helpful tool in policing, and saves resources. Racial profiling by law, enforcement officials should…

    • 841 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Profiling is used to narrowing down list of suspect. This method cannot solve the case, but develops potential suspects and further investigative follow-up (Hadley, 2005). The profile seeks for the offender’s behaviors, psychological climate, and physical persona.…

    • 1048 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Topic: Psychological Profiling General Purpose: To inform Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about psychological profiling. Central Idea Statement/Thesis: I will discuss (1) what psychological profiling is, (2) the profiling of Jack the Ripper, and (3) the most important uses of psychological profiling. Introduction I. [Attention Getter] Which well-known murderer is not defined as a serial killer? (Pictures of known offenders) II.…

    • 1236 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ethics Midterm Question 1 Egoism can be defined as a person’s tendency to act or decide on moral issues solely based on an exaggerated concern of selfishness. In the criminal justice system, egoism can certainly lead to breaches of ethical behavior as an egoist person acts by simply overlooking anyone else’s needs. Some authorities who may be willing to act immorally and although they are aware that their actions are unethical, they would only want to satisfy their self interest needs as motivation for their behavior. The utilitarianism theory would be the opposite of the term egoism as this ethical standard focuses on actions that will positively affect most people, not only an individual. In other words, problems caused by egoism in the justice…

    • 990 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jack the Ripper is arguably, the first serial killer to ever be profiled. The Whitechapel murders are infamous in the history of unsolved crimes and whodunit cases. The case of Jack the Ripper was influential in the conception of criminal profiling. Although, it was unsuccessful in the Ripper case, criminal profiling has come a long way since the 1900’s. Originally criminal profiling was considered an art form, however, it is slowly being accepted as a science.…

    • 179 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Introduction: Offender profiling can be defined as making predictions about offender’s characteristics from the way they behaved during a crime (Davies & Beech, 2012). Offender profiling can play an important part in criminal investigations, especially when there is no DNA left at crime scenes. It requires using other types of evidence such as characteristics of the crime scene and eye-witness testimonies from victims and witnesses. Profiling techniques can be unified with police forces to help elicit and prioritise suspects and may predict what an offender may do next (Canter & Youngs, 2009). However, it’s important to assess the reliability of such psychological procedures as they are frequently applied to serious and violent forms of crime…

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays