Psychology & CrimeOffender Profiling

Recap: HISTORY OF PROFILING

Year Profiler Subject of Profile1888 Dr Thomas Bond

(police surgeon)Jack the Ripper

(unsolved)

1943 Dr Walter Langer (Psychoanalyst)

Adolf Hitler(predicted suicide)

1956 Dr James Brussel(Psychiatrist)

George Metesky

Extract from letter written by Dr Thomas Bond (1880s).

Definition of OFFENDER PROFILING?

Offender Profiling refers to the process of using all the available information about a crime, a crime scene and a victim in order to compose a profile of the (as yet) unknown perpetrator (Ainsworth, 2001)

Write down as many of the aims of profiling as you can think of

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 offenders possession

• To provide strategies for interviewing offenders which take account of individual differences.

INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN A PROFILE

Information Example

MO of the Offence (nature of crime)

Mathew Hardman - ‘Vampire killer’

Timing of offences Anthony Imiela ‘M25 Rapist’Increased freedom at work

Location of Offending site/next site

Peter Sutcliffe ‘Yorkshire Ripper’ worked as a long distance lorry driver

Trophies / souvenirs John Duffy ‘Railway Rapist’ collected 33 door keys from his victims.

Offender Profiling Watch this clip

what criticism of profiling is the lawyer making?

How is profiling being represented?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WToUQ5aT1uA&feature=related

Real Profiling Fictional Profiling

Duffy; 1988 Hardman; 2002

Wright; 2008

Some profiles have been successful and others not

Colin Stagg; 1992

Geographical profiling• A field of investigative psychology used in the UK.• Involves generalising from the locations of linked crime

scenes to the likely home /work/social base of the offender.

• The assumption is that most offenders like to operate in areas they know well - many offenders have a crime range of as little as 2 miles (Canter & Gregory, 1994).

• A distinction has been drawn between marauders who like to commit crimes in their own neighbourhoods, and commuters who travel to commit their crimes.

According to Canter, the following three characteristics are important in creating a profile

Interpersonal Coherence

Time and Place – spatial factors

Forensic Information

“What does a criminal reveal about himself by the way he commits a crime?...as well as material traces, he also leaves psychological traces, tell-tale

patterns of behaviour that indicate the sort of person he

is” Canter, (1994)

David Canter – leading UK profiler

Mental maps People store information about their lives in schemas/mental maps - organised knowledge of our experiences.

Each person’s mental map is highly individual and the location of crime scenes can be used to infer where the offender is based and also other information about the offender’s likely interests, employment and relationships.

A surveillance area for the next crime can then be set-up.

Geographical profiling• uses a computer system

called Criminal Geographic Targeting.

• Spatial data is analysed to produce a three-dimensional model known as a jeopardy surface.

• The codes produced are then superimposed onto a map where the crimes have taken place.

Remember there are different types of profiling .

• The American system looks at the way the crime is committed and links this to existing typologies based on interviews with serial killers.

• British systems are more data driven.

• It relies more on statistics

• It looks at probabilities

• It focuses on behaviour consistencies

Now……………it’s your turn…………..

Can you profile as well as the FBI?

7 days after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, letters laced with anthrax began appearing in the U.S. mail.

5 Americans were killed and 17 were sickened in what became the worst biological attack ever waged.

The ensuing investigation by the FBI was one of the largest and most complex in history.

On 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 day 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”

Robert Stevens, a journalist was the first person to contract and die from inhalation of anthrax spores.In total at 22 people developed the infection.5 died of the infection, including the aide of Senator Daschle and two postal workers who handled the letters.

The FBI were called in to investigate to case and create a profile of the possible offender/s.

Time to look at the evidence –open your packs

Your job is to try and come up with

A Linguistic Assessment What can you tell about the perpetrator based on the letters and envelopes

A behavioural Assessment What can we say about the perpetrator, gender, profession, education, etc.

Pre - offence and post-offence behaviour

How might the perpetrator behave before and after the offence?

More information will be made available shortly……………

Characteristic

Justification

Age

Gender

Education level

Occupation

Personality type

Likely residence

Psychopath?

Organised/disorganised?

Likely motivation?

After the letters were 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 labs. 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 in Nassau Street near Princeton University, New Jersey.

The 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.

.

Another case????

THE MICHAEL SAMS CASE

Julie Dart kidnapped in Leeds

(July 9th, 1992)

Police receive kidnapper’s letter(July 12th, 1992)

Julie’s body found(July 19th, 1992)

Paul Britton (profiler) begins involvement with

case

Further letters / threats received

(July – Nov)

Abduction of Stephanie Slater from Birmingham

(Jan 22nd, 1993)

Police receive kidnapper’s letter(Jan 25th, 1993)

Ransom delivered and victim released(Jan 29th, 1993)

Kidnapper identified by ex-wife following

‘Crimewatch’ appeal

Michael Sams convicted and sentenced to life

(July, 1993)