Profiling: Psychic Visions or Scientific Soudness?

When it comes to offender profiling, the argument often boils down to proponents claiming it is a science, while critics claim it is simple subjectivity. The truth is that profiling does indeed rely on a certain amount of subjective reasoning. In the same token, research on past offenders, as well as the psychological research on human behavior that has occurred for far more than a century, is also relied upon heavily in devising a profile. Science generally likes everything to be neat and tidy. However, when one is dealing with the human element, not as a whole, but on an individual basis, neat and tidy are not luxuries one can depend upon.

In addition to this, profiling is not meant to single handedly solve every crime. It’s one of many investigative tools that can aid law enforcement. Like many aspects of law enforcement, this investigative tactic has received an idealized reputation due to Hollywood, and movies such as Silence of the Lambs and Mindhunters, which make superheroes out of everyday people, granting them abnormal powers akin to x-ray vision and movement equal to a speeding bullet. In reality, we study cases of past offenders, delving into every orifice we can find, and from the results of this detective work, find similarities and patterns that can be extrapolated to other offenses and offenders. Every individual is unique in background, experiences, beliefs, and cognitions. These are unpredictable variables that make it nearly impossible to fit any offender strictly within the parameters of one category; however, as humans, we are alike enough that the factors that influence our motives often result in similar behavioural patterns.

While many critics of offender profiling claim that this practice is merely a combination of common sense and the guess and check method, the fact of the matter is, in the words of former F.B.I. profiler John Douglas, “…it all comes from interviewing a lot of subjects and getting a sense of what they’re all about.”

The argument over the practicality of profiling is an important one. It is pertinent to consider though, that our traditional methods of law enforcement have been based on a reactive mentality. Today, we focus more on being proactive, meaning we seek to stop crime before it happens. In order to do this we must be open to experimenting with progressive and innovative techniques. Much of the resistance facing profiling has stemmed from the old school veterans who entered law enforcement at a time when maintaining law and order meant responding to calls once that radio crackled to life. Today, we realize that simply responding to calls is like putting a band aid on a broken bone. We are doing nothing to prevent crime and keep society safe if we do not seek new methods to cut crime off at the pass.

Profiling works towards two goals. The first, is to apprehend suspects as quickly as possible to prevent future victims; the second, is to develop an understanding of why criminals do the things they do, how they become involved with the criminal element, and whether there are physical and mental characteristics that exist among specific types of offenders that are absent from the generally law abiding element of society. If the latter can be uncovered, we may find the elusive key to unlocking the formidable lock on the criminal mind, and thus have the capability of reaching these individuals before the innocent are forced to suffer.

Profiling is still a young practice that needs to develop more fully. Good profilers do not claim to have all of the answers, are not reading the stars, and warn that a profile is based on statistical and empirical data, but will not match the offender on every point. As most psychologists will tell you, when one works with people on a daily basis, studying behavior and thought processes, one develops a deeper understanding of human nature and the factors that play into the development of each individual. Profilers are trained to see what most lay persons would find no significance in, and are capable of reading between the lines of the physical evidence. Intuition, knowledge, experience, training, common sense, and investigative abilities all equip profilers with the tools that are necessary to mold from a lump of formless clay, a Michelangelo masterpiece that shortens, or in the best of cases, eliminates the lead that the offender has managed to maintain over law enforcement.