8.1: CRIMINAL/PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILING

Criminal profiling according to Muller (2000) “is the process of using available information about a crime and crime scene to compose a psychological portrait of the unknown perpetrator of the crime” (as cited in Bartol & Bartol, p.56). Criminal profiling in this fashion is instrumental providing investigators with a psychological evaluation of relevant information of offender and his/her possessions and the technique for interviews (Bartol & Bartol, 2008). Additionally, the information from a crime scene of an unsolved homicide may offer legitimate information for the investigator; however not all offenses are appropriate for criminal profiling. Crime Scene Analysis (CSA) probably the most romanticized by the media is the most popular (Bartol & Bartol, 2008).

As asserted by Ressler, Burgess & Douglas (1988) CSA “Criminal profiling is a six-stage process” (p.58). The stages: Profiling Inputs and concerns, collection of all information; Decision Process Model in which the information is analyzed; Crime Assessment or in this stage is the term, getting into the mind of the criminal; Constructing the Profile is performed in this stage consisting of age, characteristics of the offender, race general appearance of offender, relationship to victim and any other notable features; Investigation whereby the profiler submits a report to the agency; and finally Apprehension assuming the correct offender is caught (Ressler et al., as cited in Bartol & Bartol, p.58-59).

Is criminal profiling of use to the police profession or perhaps in diagnosis of perpetrators for rehabilitation purpose, the evidence provided is scant however it does indicate promise (Bartol & Bartol, 2008). CSA is more reliant upon experience and intuition. Criminal profiling will be tested longitudinally as evaluation of offenders prove positive and providing testing is best available with the IP as more empirical studies can make its claim (Bartol & Bartol, 2008). Criminal profiling as described thus far has been primarily reserved for serial killers.

Maillette et al. (2001) insist that “one instrument developed to measure specific aspects of criminal thinking regardless of offender type, is the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS)” (p.105). The PICTS assesses eight thinking styles including: Mollification rationalization; Cutoff-rapid elimination of deterrents to crime; Entitlement-ownership or misidentification of wants and needs; Power Orientation-aggressive behavior; Sentimentality compensating for previous conduct; Super optimism-ego to maintain criminal life style; Cognitive Indolence-lazy thinking; and Discontinuity-little premeditation (Maillette et al., 2001).

The PICTS instrument is a better fit than is the CSA as the former removes more of the assumptions and speculation from offender behaviors. Again, as previously stated CSA is made for television and big screen as compared to the latter that is descriptive and is more open to other criminal conducts unlike CSA which is restrictive to serial killers (Bartol & Bartol, 2008).

Thus, is descriptive of other types of profiling and providing a segue to the next portion of this discussion.

The longevity of CSA or IP is essential in long term investigations; however currently are without empirical studies of any magnitude; yet PICTS provides evidence that certain characteristics may be tested. It is incumbent upon police leadership to provide training and education and ethics guiding the conduct of officers so that profiling is of the legitimate form (White, 2007).

Getting into the minds of the criminal has its place, especially in treatment of offenders but not in the fast pace of policing from the street level. Again, it has come a long way; demonstrating merit nonetheless has not passed the empirical research test to date (Bartol & Bartol, 2008). On the other hand, Terry type profiling has been in place for over forty years and remains solidly situated based on court fashioned reasoning.

There are two other forms of profiling offered which will receive no other attention than honorable mention in this discussion. These are Investigative Psychology (IP) and Diagnostic Evaluation (DE) and as pointed out by Bartol & Bartol (2008) “CSA does have the potential to be scientific with some work, but the main problem seems to be that it does not want to be scientific. Unlike, CSA, IP was designed from the beginning with science in mind…IP has a great deal of potential to become a science, but it still has a long way to go before it will be recognized as a discipline in itself” (p.62).

Serial Killers

For the purposes of the present study, the term 'serial killer' will only be used to refer to men who committed three or more sexual serial killings, separated by intervals of varying duration. There are other forms of serial killing, such as murders committed by health professionals (nurses, physicians) who poison patients in hospitals or even in their residences, or killings committed by women, in which there is often no sexual element. As previously stated, the present study addresses crimes committed by men who killed for sexual reasons. There are various biological, psychological, and sociological factors that are relevant in sexual serial killings.

With regard to personality characteristics, in a study carried out by Stone, 86.5% of the serial killers met the Hare criteria for psychopathy, and another 9% presented only a few psychopathic traits (not enough to be classified as psychopaths). A remarkable finding of that study was the fact that approximately half of the serial killers presented schizoid personality, as defined in the DSM-IV. Some schizoid traits were present in another 4% of the research subjects. Sadistic PD, as described in the appendix of the DSM-III-R, were present in 87.5% of the men and discrete traits were found in 1.5% of them (Stone, 2001).

Finally, that study showed great superposition between psychopathy and sadistic PD: 93% of the serial killers with psychopathy also presented sadistic disorder. Half of the psychopaths were schizoid. Almost half presented criteria for the three types of PD: psychopathic, schizoid, and sadistic.

Whereas the schizoid personality might reflect a hereditary disposition in many instances, the sadistic personality seems more likely to be the result of severe aggression in childhood (physical, sexual, or verbal) that were neglected. Throughout the development of the individual, sadism frequently appears as an "antidote" against the experience of having been abused, and those who were victimized in the past become victimizers as adults.

However, there are some serial killers with decidedly sadistic tendencies who do not have a history of having suffered abuse in childhood. Their path to sadism is not clear, although it may be a combination of extreme narcissism and a cerebral configuration in which regions related to empathy are significantly deficient, and this would lead the killers to be totally indifferent to the suffering of their victims. Among the most sadistic serial killers, there are various who experienced great violence and humiliation at the hands of one or both parents (Glatt, 2002, Michaud, 1994) although there are also those who did not experience such violence (Lasseter, 2002).

According to Hazelwood and Michaud (2001), most serial killers present sexually sadistic behavior. Although taking pleasure in the suffering of another is a common and important ingredient in sexual sadism, the desire to dominate the other person and for the complete subjugation of that person to the wishes of the perpetrator are crucial ingredients for many sexual sadists. Various findings indicate that serial killers can present a variety of sexual perversions, including necrophilia and cannibalism.

With regard to the possibility of treatment, most serial killers prove to be psychopaths. Many deceive their would-be victims and lure them to areas where they (the victims) cannot resist. When these serial killers are arrested, they deceive penitentiary employees, as well as mental health professionals, making them think, after a certain period of time, that they now understand where they were wrong and are ready to be re-introduced into society. The decisions made by such authorities lead to grave errors that can cost the lives of new victims. The literature is full of such examples (Stone, 2006).

In addition to the explicit danger of releasing these men, who have already concretely committed sadistic sexual killings, back in the community, there is a need for additional caution in terms of considering public sentiment. Releasing murderers who present this degree of risk for committing further violent acts would rarely be tolerated by society. Once individuals have been proven to be serial killers and have been identified as incorrigible enemies of the people, their permanent exclusion from the community by means of imprisonment seems to be the only prudent alternative.