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ISearch
Introduction
I have memories as a child of my mom always having a great interest in law enforcement
shows on TV. As I grew older I came to the realization I shared the same passion. In elementary
school I would have days where I could stay up past my bedtime in order to watch the new
episode of CSI with her. When I gained interest in reading, I always had a mystery book in my
hands. Silence of the Lambs became one of my favorite movies, while Criminal Minds was my
favorite show to watch every Tuesday. But as I grew up, I came to realize that these were all
over dramatic representations of the real thing for the sake of entertainment, so I decided I
wanted to study actual facts.
In ninth grade when we were taught psychology, I loved it, which led to me looking into
and making the connections between psychology and law enforcement. At the time I knew the
basics, the few facts from the entertainment industry that were reliable and held some truth. My
interest had led me to learn a bit about it, but I never fully delved into the concept until I decided
to focus on this for my project. But besides the fact that I found this topic extremely fascinating
because of what I had grown up with, I have a great interest in it because of its usefulness. There
are so many uses and possibilities for the application of psychology within law enforcement,
though some people may argue, it is relatively undeniable that it is helpful within case closing. I
have a deep interest in the topic because it is often used to persuade courtrooms, catch
kidnappers or rapists, or put serial killers behind bars. The fact that something as normal and
interesting as studying psychology in this way could result in such amazing outcomes makes me
want to continue studying this for as long as possible.

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Searching
When we were told to decide on a topic to delve into throughout our senior year I was
conflicted. Part of me wanted to do something simple and fun. But once I decided that I wanted
to do something more serious that could be a potential career, it became an issue of narrowing
down which topic I wanted to focus on. In the beginning it was just going to be psychology, yet
at the same time I wanted to study law enforcement. Eventually I came to the conclusion that I
should analyze psychology and its uses within law enforcement. There is a section of the FBI
called the Behavioral Science Unit designated to the use of psychology within cases to assist the
investigations. Unfortunately, because of the sensitivity of cases, and the fact that I am only a
high school student, it was impossible for me to get a mentorship with them.
However, I was able to establish a relationship with one of the FBIs Community
Outreach Specialists, Karen Martin, who agreed to be my mentor. Although she was not
specialized in what my topic was focused on, she had many connections to people within the FBI
she was able to connect me with throughout my senior project. Having her as my mentor was a
great experience because I got to see a whole knew side of the FBI I never knew existed before
this project, while also staying focused on my project and encountering countless agents who
were ready and willing to answer any questions I had.
Within the research and continuation of my project I discovered that basically anything
John Douglas wrote or contributed to could be a great source, being that he was the man who
began the involvement of psychology in the solving of FBI investigations. Finding books,
articles, and interviews conducted or written by Douglas were extremely helpful in many aspects
of this project.

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As I began researching my topic I realized that many things I initially thought were fact
were actually fictional. Because of this, many ideas I originally had for my EQ had to be
modified. When I discovered the use of profiles or psychological analysis of an offenders
behavior and characteristics in cases I knew instantly it was something my project should be
focused on. Eventually I was able to decide that the focus of my project needed to be What is
the most important factor in an unidentified subjects psychological profile? I ended up with
this because it was open to all of psychology and law enforcement while also focusing on the
profiling aspect of the job.
Finding 1
My first answer I came across while talking with one of my mentors, during this
conversation she said that while there are tools that help contribute to and build profiles, the
whole thing is still based off the normal process of going through investigations. This means that
studying all the evidence at face value and making conclusions from that is also very important
when creating a profile because it can provide a better understanding of a case. Although profiles
sometimes involve complicated processes, there is also much that can be included simply by
looking at the evidence and not going past that. Robert K. Ressler stated in Criminal Profiling
from Crime Scene Analysis that evidence speaks its own language of patterns and sequences
can reveal an offenders behavioral characteristics (1).
Most often when a profiler shows up at an investigation, they are not able to see all the
crime scenes fully, or even in real life, simply because of the nature of how their assistance is
requested. When a case needs help from a profiler most often it is not provided until the
investigation has furthered and not much progress has been made. Because of the way this
works, profilers do not always see the crime scene, which means they cannot get a full reading of

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the act (Douglas, Olshaker 151). This is one reason why my first answer is so important; because
profilers are not always there, they must pay extra attention to the file when they receive it later
on.
Of course, because this is so important it puts extra pressure on the police and Crime
Scene Investigators, CSIs, at the scene. They must do their best to collect all the evidence they
can as accurately as possible in order for there to be minimal changes when they are reviewed. If
it is not done properly when the profilers look at the case evidence in order to narrow down
suspects, some of their predictions may be thrown off. Throughout my project I have found
countless articles that begin the process of profiling that describe all the evidence that was
collected and how vital of a role it all played. According to The Criminal Profiling Illusion,
evidence can frequently be collected incorrectly which leads to improper analyzing, and possibly
a fail to prosecute the offender (Snook 2).
One of the main reasons profilers use this is because they do not just profile when they go
to a scene, they analyze the scene as any other investigator would. Profiles cannot just be built.
They must be based off basic observations gained from the evidence perceived from the crime. If
evidence is not analyzed by itself before other tools are applied, it is possible for things to be
interpreted incorrectly, which leads to improper profiles or offender characteristics that are going
to be used to narrow the suspect field.
There are many cases and reasons in which simple analysis of the clues is better than a
deep and complicated analysis with the application of psychological tools (Ressler 3). This is
because simple analysis can reveal things that could provide insight to later be used within the
typology or victimology. For example, at times offenders will do something known as staging,
or setting up a scene to look the way they want it. If the evidence is not dissected properly, the

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profiler may not realize the scene was staged, leading to an improper profile. Yet, if it had been
realized sooner that the crime was staged after the offense the profiler does not have to waste
time constructing a profile that is not relevant to the case. Or if a couple is found dead and the
case is initially investigated as a robbery but upon looking at the evidence with fresh eyes it is
evident that the targeted victim was the wife and the husband happened to be home early from
work and was therefore taken out by the offender early in the process, knowing this redirects the
case from a robbery search to a planned offender, simply because the evidence showed that the
man was executed quickly while the offender took his time with the woman.
Other obvious things seen clearly within evidence that can give insight to the case can
also be seen simply by viewing the case. These include things like duct tape, rope, or some other
type of easily used constraint. This could mean that the offender was not confident in their ability
to subdue the victim and therefore had to use other, simpler-to-obtain means. In other cases the
offender can use a drug or some form of chemical to knock the victim out, which can be evident
in toxicity screens and possibly a rash on the mouth or throat. Generally, this means that the
offender was not able to approach their victim directly and had to use a less express approach. If
the victim is a woman and during interviews you read that her boyfriend, who has had anger
management issues in the past, this could lead to the expectation that the victims boyfriend can
be placed, or remain on, the suspect list. As a last example, if there is evidence of rape, or
penetration to the victim, the offense was deemed to have happened post mortem, it is generally
safe to assume that the offender was looking for a significant relationship lost, or simply doing
so out of anger for some way they had been previously wronged.
Once conclusions such as these are drawn from the evidence collected and observed, it is
always a good idea to go back and compare them to the more psychological profiling tools used

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to build profiles. These conclusions combined with processes such as typology and victimology
will enhance and improve the information already obtained and will further the investigation
greatly. In order to make proper assumptions within a case, it is very important when building a
psychological profile that all the evidence is studied at face value and conclusions are drawn
from this data. My third answer is used frequently within crime scene investigations yet not
always considered a proper technique because within cases it is something that is done so
initially and wholly. Moving on with a case investigation before analyzing the evidence in this
way could compromise the entire investigation. Although it may seem like an obvious and
simple step, it is nowhere near as unimportant as some would make it out to be.
Finding 2
Another key factor is using typology based off evidence to classify behaviors and
background characteristics. Typology is a strategy used within law enforcement and psychology
that creates classifications according to general types used to categorize both crime scene
behavior and offender characteristics. When evidence is collected, it is reviewed and begins to
give the analyst possibilities of how to narrow down the offender investigation. Evidence about
how the offender committed the crime is used to assign them to a particular category of
offender. Knowing an offenders type allows us to predict other things about him/her
further in the case.
Typology was one of the first methods devised by psychologists within law
enforcement1. The idea began when John Douglas, one of the creators of profiling, began to
interview offenders who were in jail in order to learn more about them and their backgrounds, or
reasons for committing their crimes (Douglas 38). As he did this, he came to the realization that
The term profiler is not used here because in the beginning it did not exist, there were
simply law enforcement officials who began to create and apply psychological techniques.
1

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many people who had committed certain crimes, or had resemblances within their evidence, had
a tendency to have similar personalities or backgrounds (Rhodes 67). With this came the idea of
using it in a crime scene analysis in order to shrink the suspect pool. Upon the arrival at a crime
scene the first order of business is always to collect evidence. After that a profiler will most
commonly take that evidence and compare it to typologies.
Usually, there are two basic categories in which an offender is entered that give many
basic clues to the offenders personality and background (Behavioral Analysis Unit 4). These
categories have been labeled Type A and Type B. Type A profiles tend to depict that the
offender seeks power reassurance, retaliating to something due to anger, and organized. Type B
profiles represent an unsub who is power assertive, sadistic, and most commonly disorganized.
Generally, in order to better differentiate the two types, Type A is referred to as organized while
Type B is considered disorganized.
Organized offenders are, as it stated in the name, more organized, and because of this
they have a tendency to not be caught as quickly. Many different things contribute to an offender
receiving a classification of organized. An organized unsub tends to have planned the event in
advance. This means that they most likely brought a weapon to the scene and took it with them
when they left, along with an attempt to remove substantial evidence. They also tend to have no
relation to the victim prior to the offense and are able to gain and maintain control of them while
committing the offense. Personality wise organized offenders are often of normal to high
intelligence, believe themselves to be competent, and tend to be very depressed or angry. These
unidentified subjects are more capable of eluding officers, and if they are serial offenders, tend to
have a higher victim count.

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Disorganized offenders are much more unraveled and disorganized and are the unsubs who
are more likely to be apprehended by officers quickly. However, this does not always mean they
have a lower victim count as organized offenders, because this type of unidentified subject is
more likely to go on a spree, in which they attack multiple people at the same time, or in quick
succession. Disorganized crime scenes tend to involve an improvised weapon often left at the
scene, along with no attempt of removing or discarding evidence. It is also more likely that these
offenders know the victim and have a harder time gaining control of them and therefore have to
act more quickly within their attacks. Disorganized offender traits tend to include being inept
within society, having low intelligence, and a tendency to be severely mentally ill or having
recently developed a mental breakdown or disorder.
Typology contributes to ideas of both the offenders personality and behavior, which is all
based off the evidence left behind and gathered at the scene. For example, upon entering a scene
with blood trail through the house, beginning in the kitchen, and ending in the living room where
the victims body lays it is safe to assume the offender was disorganized. This conclusion was
drawn simply because of the initial fact that there was no attempt to remove evidence. With
further investigation, evidence depicts that the victim was stabbed with a knife matching the set
in the kitchen would further prove this theory because the weapon was improvised. This
evidence will only further prove the assumption already made that the offender was disorganized
and conclusions can begin to be made about the case and the offender. These initial expectations
may include facts such as the offender having some sort of relationship with the victim and is of
low intelligence, or simply did not care much about the possibility of imprisonment.
Of course, like any theory and strategy applied, there are always exceptions or contingencies.
A large one is the fact that many serial killers have a tendency to stage their crime scene or

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victims, in order to leave them in a way that they want the police to find them. If they do this,
they can remove or place evidence that can lead to misinterpretations and incorrect categorizing.
Another possibility is the case of a spree killer. This type of offender can be either organized or
disorganized and its simply dependent upon the offender and their reasons themselves. Most
often with these offenders, using typology is useless until a vital piece of information about them
is uncovered or an important connection within the victims and the crime scene is made.
Typology is not only one of the first things created when beginning to profile offenders, but
it is also one of the first things put into place by a profiler when analyzing a new crime scene.
Typology is used to take the evidence and gather information from what is there, and
occasionally what isnt there, in order to gain insight about the unsubs personality or
background.
Finding 3
Often with cases with very little evidence, law enforcement calls in for help from
profilers because they are not sure where they can go with the investigation. Yet, most often they
are simply ignoring the biggest source of evidence they have, the victim. Victimology is a large
part of creating an unknown subjects psychological profile because while it is difficult to collect
information on the offender without a lot of evidence, a surplus of details can be gathered about
the victim (Petherick1). Finding details about the victim and all the aspects of their life can often
lead to identification of the perpetrator, or person who committed the crime. Studying the
interactions between the victim and the offender can lead to gaining a lot of knowledge and even
the possibility of apprehending the offender. It is best to analyze all areas of the victims life, and
then build a profile of the victim from there. This is why analyzing the evidence using

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victimology in order to attempt to gain more knowledge about the unidentified subject or unsub
is such a main part in the profile.
Victimology, in its simplest form, is the creation of a profile of the victims life in order
to gain insight on aspects of the offenders personality and behavior that will add to their profile.
John Douglas, a leading profiler for the FBIs Behavioral Analysis Unit, has stated on multiple
occasions that the victims body is the single most important piece of evidence at a crime scene
(95). The belief that surrounds victimology is that when we understand the victim as thoroughly,
as possible we will be able to identify more about the perpetrator. It seems like an odd concept
because at first it does not involve the offender very much. Although the same thing is created
for both the victim and offender, their content varies greatly. Victim profiles tend to include vital
information such as their lifestyle, marital status, occupation, and physical description (Wilcox
3). Whereas offender profiles are developed from victimology and include things like physical
build, risk they took, and what they are capable of.
A crime scene investigation with an unknown offender that does not consider the victim a
vital source of evidence is going to be lacking a considerable amount of information. Because the
integrity of the entire case is a direct result of the completeness and accuracy of the data
collected, it is important for investigators to spend as much time focusing on the victim as they
do on any suspects.
Generally, there are four things to examine in order to see how the victim and the
offender are linked: victim background, method of approach, method of attack, and risk
assessment. Studying the victim itself can show desires or needs of the offender, while studying
the victims surrounding and reaction can provide insight to their psychological and behavioral
traits. For example, if his mother mistreated the perpetrator as a child and he is still having

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difficulty coping with this, he may act out in aggression to a motherly figure or someone with a
look similar to his own.2 After this evidence has been collected, it important to gather
information on how the victim was approached.
Scrutinizing the method of approach shows us the way the offender was able to get close
to the target while also giving fundamental comprehension of the attacker. The main clues
provided by this analysis are a concept of the offenders social skills, physical build, and ability
to charm or manipulate. There are three possible ways for an offender to attack the victim and
each will provide a unique set of data about the attacker. These include con, surprise, and blitz. A
con deludes the victim into believing a made-up scenario in order to bait them into a more
favorable, or preplanned situation. A surprise attack involves the perpetrator lying in wait for the
victim, then attacking and quickly subduing them. In the case of a blitz, the perpetrator applies
rapid and extreme force to overthrow any defenses the victim may have and gain control of the
situation.
Once the assailant has made their advances and approached the victim, they move onto
the attack. Understanding the method of attack is vital when attempting to understand what they
are capable of, what they are comfortable with in various or given environments, and how they
react to that particular victim. Analyzing the method of attack mainly consists of assessing the
degree of force and violence. The degree of force can range from mild, which is comprised
mainly of verbal threats to severe which includes physical assault. The level of violence
considers things such as how much aggression is evident at the scene or the amount of hatred
displayed to the victim. Within investigations it is best to fully understand the method of

Within my paper I will generally use men examples because I have focused my research
on serial offenders and these cases have a tendency to be male offenders rather than
female.
2

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approach and the method of attack separately and then analyze them as one in order to create a
possible timeline of the crime.
The final thing to review within victimology is the risk assessment. The risk assessment
is for not only the victim but the offender as well, and is used to determine the risk of a specific
person within a crime. The victims risk is determined by the likelihood of coming to harm by
their personal, professional, and social life. Victims are classified as low risk, medium risk, or
high risk. The offenders risk is considered his MO, or Modus Operandi (Miller 2). This is
determined by the nature and extent of planning, along with precautionary acts taken before and
after the crime. Offenders risk could also include the risk of incident, meaning his or her own
possibility of harm or loss.
Studying victimology also gives investigators the opportunity to get in their shoes; this
could be for both the offender and the victim. Analyzing the scene from the victims view will
give the investigation ideas as to why they would be involved with the offender, how they
reacted to the attack, or possibly what they were thinking as the events unfolded. The offenders
perspective would show why they attacked that victim or how they overpowered them or why
they chose this time or place.
Using victimology within cases is an important factor to building an unknown subjects
psychological profile. Studying and applying victimology can apply to many different
perspectives, information, and background to a case and its perpetrator. There are multiple
processes and areas to examine when viewing victimology; but in the end they will most likely
add to a more complete understanding of the crime committed and the unsub who committed it.
When applying psychology to law enforcement, it is considered ignoring half of the evidence
given when the victim itself is not analyzed for what he/she can add to the investigation.

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Conclusion
Although each of these techniques adds to the profile in its own right, the most important
one when creating a psychological profile is typology. There are many things typology is able to
contribute to the profile which are different than what is obtained from victimology and evidence
analysis. Victimology gives profilers an idea of the motive, what the offender is like, and
possibly his background if it is applicable enough. Gaining these things while analyzing the
victimology is very important and can contribute greatly to the progression of the case.
Profiles are used often within law enforcement because they are a great aspect in analyzing
cases and narrowing down a field of suspects. Most often, profiles are created and applied during
the analysis of serial offenders. This is because there is more than one scene to apply the profile
to, meaning that similarities or differences can be observed at the scene and even more
conclusions can be drawn about the offender (Freeman 4). Unfortunately, this also leads to a
misconception being created by the population. Because serial killers tend to have many things
in common and have profiles that represent each other, it has led to a common belief that all
serial killers must fit into that preconceived profile, which of course is not the case.
Applying profiles within criminal investigations is very important when solving criminal
investigations. It is especially important when the offender is a serial killer. This is because they
tend to be good at what they do and are capable of eluding capture. When dealing with serial
killers, it is important to capture them as quickly as possible. This is because these offenders will
only stop murdering if they are caught, kill themselves, are murdered, or if they burn out (Bartol
3). Applying profiles and the psychology within them helps bring an end to these crimes.
Although they are not one hundred percent accurate, they are a great tool for law enforcement to
use within cases.

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Throughout my senior project I have learned a lot about serial killers, what the FBI does,
how psychology is used, how criminology is applied, and how profiles are created. I have spent
the last year going to events with my mentor and the FBI, meeting new people, and learning
interesting things along the way. Although I faced some hardships with my mentor I would not
trade it for anything, the experiences and connections I made there are ones that will be with me
throughout the rest of my life. My goal is still to join the FBIs Behavioral Science Unit, and
because of the work I have done, and the people I have met my senior year I feel I am ready to
achieve just that. Ive learned that there are many things that are important when creating the
profile for an unidentified subject including evidence analysis, typology, and victimology. Of
these, typology adds the most to a case and helps it progress the most by providing information
to the investigators that assist in narrowing down the suspect pool.

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Works Cited
Behavioral Science Unit. "Serial Murder (pdf)." FBI. FBI, 21 May 2010. Web. 28 Apr.
2014.<http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/serial-murder/serial-murder
1#one>.
Bartol, Curt. "Crime Scene Profiling." Criminal and Behavioral Profiling. N.p.: Sage
Publications, 2012. 21-56. Print.
Douglas, John and Mark Olshaker. Mind Hunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit. 2nd
ed. New York: Scribner, 1995. Print.
Freeman, Shanna. "HowStuffWorks "Serial Killer Profiling" HowStuffWorks. Discovery,
n.d. Web. 02 May 2014. <http://people.howstuffworks.com/serial-killer6.htm>.
Martin, Karen. Personal Interview. 16 Nov.2013
Miller, Laurence. "Criminal Profiling in Serial Homicide Investigations."
PoliceOne.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Jan. 2014.
<http://www.policeone.com/investigations/articles/1719635-Criminal-profiling-in-serialhomicide-investigations/>.
Petherick, Wayne. "VICTIMOLOGY: THE STUDY OF VICTIMS IN
CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS." Conclusion Victimology: The
Study of Victims in Criminal Investigations by Wayne Petherick Crime Library.
Crime Library, n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_mind/profiling/victimology/6.html>.
Ressler, Robert K. "Criminal Profiling from Crime Scene Analysis."
Behavioral Sciences & the Law. 4th ed. Vol. 4. N.p.: John Wiley and
Sons, 1986. Print.

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Rhodes, Richard. Why They Kill. 1st ed. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1999. Print.
Snook, Brent. "Criminal Justice and Behavior." Criminal Justice and
Behavior. N.p., 2008. Web. 23 Jan. 2014. <http://cjb.sagepub.com/>.
Wilcox, P. Victimization, theories of. In B. Fisher. & S. Lab, Encyclopedia of victimology and
crime prevention. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications.

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