Serial Crime

Theoretical and Practical Issues in Behavioral Profiling

Wayne Petherick, Wayne Petherick

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2009
• ISBN:
  9780080961750
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Ciencias sociales
• Subtopic: Criminología

Serial Crime, Second Edition, examines serial predatory behavior and is divided into two main parts.

Part one deals with behavioral profiling, and covers a variety of critical issues from the history of profiling and the theoretical schools of thought to its treatment in the mainstream media. This updated edition includes new sections on the problems of induction, metacognition in criminal profiling, and investigative relevance. Part two deals more specifically with a number of types of serial crime including stalking, rape, murder, and arson. Chapters on each of these crimes provide definitions and thresholds, and discussions of the offenders, the crime, and its dynamics. Considerations for behavioral profiling and investigations and the development of new paradigms in each area are interwoven throughout. Topics are conceptually and practically related since profiling has typically seen most application in serial crimes and similar investigations.

The unique presentation of the book successfully connects the concepts and creates links to criminal behavior across crimes—murder, sexual assault, and arson—something no other title does. The connection of serial behavior to profiling, the most useful tool in discovering behavior patterns, is also new to the body of literature available and serves to examine the ideal manner in which profiling can be used in conjunction with behavioral science to positively affect criminal investigations.

• Provides a theoretical and practical foundation for understanding the motivation and dynamics in a range of serial offenses
• Illustrates the promise, purposes and pitfalls of behavioral profiling in the investigation of various serial crimes
• Numerous case examples show the real world uses of behavioral profiling in investigations, as well as highlighting a variety of issues in understanding and investigating serial crime

Chapter 1. Criminal Profiling

A Continuing History

Gareth Norris

Contents

Introduction

Early Beginnings

James Brussel and Forensic Psychiatry

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Crime Scene Analysis

David Canter and Investigative Psychology

Kim Rossmo and Geographical Profiling

Brent Turvey and Behavioral Evidence Analysis

Conclusion

References

Key Terms

Cesare Lombroso

An early anthropometrician who attempted to infer criminality from bodily features.

Thomas Bond

A police surgeon who provided an ad hoc profile of Jack the Ripper, a serial murderer from Whitechapel, in the late 1800s.

Walter Langer

A psychiatrist who was asked by the Office of Strategic Services to provide a profile of Adolf Hitler, including his future actions.

James Brussel

A New York-based psychiatrist who provided the profile of the Mad Bomber of New York, George Metesky, in the 1950s.

Howard Teten and Pat Mullany

FBI agents who started profiling in the FBI in the 1970s.

David Canter

A British psychologist who provided the profile of the Railway Rapist, John Duffy, for Scotland Yard and later developed investigative psychology.

Kim Rossmo

Developed Criminal Geographic Targeting and is an advocate for geographic profiling.

Brent Turvey

A forensic scientist from the United States who developed the deductive profiling method called behavioral evidence analysis.

Introduction

To the viewer of Hollywood thrillers or television crime dramas, the idea that an offender type can be identified through his or her behaviors at the crime scene—very often with little or no accompanying forensic evidence—understandably captivates one's attention. A certain air of mystique often surrounds the “profiler” in these instances, who is usually portrayed as a humble yet troubled individual in possession of an innate ability to decipher behavioral cues that ultimately leads to the capture of the suspect. Numerous accounts of the accurate representation of profiling and its depiction in mainstream media precede this writing (Alison and Canter, 1999 and Petherick, 2003); however, the technique we now refer to as profiling has a relatively short but fascinating history, drawing on a range of diverse disciplines throughout its inception and evolution. Some of the first attempts at profiling could feasibly be attributed to early anthropologists, such as Cesare Lombroso and his attempts to link physical attributes to criminal activity (Turvey, 2008 and Woodworth and Porter, 1999). Others even associate the basic principles to fictional characters such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes (Egger, 1999). Although these may fit into many of the definitions of what profiling aims to be, they are often too simplistic in their portrayal, and a wide range of scholarly and professional debate has developed to encompass this absorbing and important field of criminal investigation.

Criminal profiling has been referred to by many other titles, such as psychological profiling, offender analysis, behavioral profiling, or offender profiling, and these terms are often used interchangeably. Likewise there exist numerous definitions of what actually constitutes a profile and what its overriding aims are deemed to be. One of the most cited is from Geberth (1996, p. 492), who defines it as “an educated attempt to provide investigative agencies with specific information as to the type of individual who would have committed a certain crime.” Although others offer variations to this, the general aim of a profile is to provide the police with a composite “sketch” of the likely offender. This usually includes common demographic variables, such as age, ethnicity, and marital status, and the more specific considerations of past criminal history, possible motivation, and likely area of residence (Ault & Reese, 1980). The level of detail, and indeed the overall style of a profile, will depend not just on the actual technique being utilized but also very much on the individual who is creating it. With a range of often conflicting schools of thought providing the theoretical paradigm on which profiling is based, there are often contradictory accounts of the various elements, from evidence examination to the nature of investigative advice. Depending on who is consulted to provide such a profile could therefore have a profound influence on the investigation of a crime—should it rely on the profile for guidance.

Early Beginnings

One of the earliest examples of profiling comes from the infamous case of Jack the Ripper, who terrorized the streets of Whitechapel, London in the late 1800s. Police pathologist Dr. Thomas Bond was to infer that the offender may have been suffering from a condition known as satyriasis—excessive and uncontrollable sexual desire in males (Rumbelow, 1988, p. 140). Contrary to popular belief, Bond also cast doubt on previous speculation that the offender was a surgeon or butcher due to the deft use of his weapon of choice (or, in his opinion, the lack thereof). Whereas some had speculated over the proficiency of dismemberment, the physical evidence suggested to Bond that the offender did not have particularly specialized anatomical knowledge. Unfortunately, and in a similar vein to many modern attempts at profiling, the offender in this case has never been identified, and people still speculate as to the likely perpetrator to this day. A similar case involving early manifestations of profiling—the Dusseldorf Vampire, Peter Kurten—also included a number of psychological considerations by pathologist Dr. Karl Berg in 1929. In this case, Berg believed the offender to be a narcissistic psychopath due to the degrading treatment of his victims (Berg, 1945). Both of these examples demonstrate how the two pathologists speculated as to the type of individual who was likely to have committed these crimes. Somewhat unintentionally, the opinion served to indicate who the authorities should be looking for, even though these affirmations may have been uninformed.

Although medical doctors made what we identify as the first criminal profiles, ¹ as a branch of medicine, psychiatrists have also engaged in various forms of assessment. Whereas pathologists and other medical specialists are occasionally involved in criminal investigations, psychiatrists are more often involved in forensic settings, such as in the assessment of mental illness and fitness to plead/stand trial. Similarly, military psychiatrists/psychologists are more often employed in the assessment of personnel, although one other aspect of their work may involve the creation of propaganda materials, such as creating information for leaflet drops behind enemy lines. Judging the opinions of those involved in a conflict has often been used to guide strategy, and there are numerous accounts of German psychologists who were involved (involuntary or otherwise) in the Nazi war effort (Billig, 1978).

¹Interestingly, Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective Sherlock Holmes was based on one of Doyle's instructors, a doctor, at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

In 1943, a psychiatrist named Walter Langer² was asked to provide a psychological profile by the Office of Strategic Services. ³ With psychodynamic theory being at the forefront of behavioral analysis at the time, the resulting assessment indicated the individual to be a neurotic psychopath and in dire need of expressing his manliness to his mother. He predicted that at the ultimate climax to conflict, the individual would most likely commit suicide. The focus of this profile was Adolf Hitler, and although a thorough comparative clinical examination could not be performed, Langer was at the very least correct about Hitler committing suicide, who did so in his Berlin bunker 2 years later. Interestingly, commentators place much emphasis on the suicidal realization of Hitler when, in fact, the prediction was the most probable in a list of eight such scenarios:

²The actual document was authored with the collaboration of Henry Murray, Ernst Kris, and Bertram Lawin.

³The Office of Strategic Services was a part of the U.S. Army in charge of gathering intelligence during the war effort. It disbanded in 1945, and many of its functions were taken over by the Central Intelligence Agency.

1 Hitler may die of natural causes—deemed to be a remote possibility because he was in good health aside from a stomach ailment, probably linked to a psychosomatic disturbance.

2 Hitler might seek refuge in a neutral country—unlikely because it would cast doubt on his myth of immortality by fleeing at the critical moment.

3 Hitler might be killed in battle—a possibili...