Criminal Psychology

• Criminology


  Looks at causes of crime, and ways to prevent it
• Criminal profiling


  Focuses on the thoughts, feelings, and behaviours of criminals
• Criminology is different to criminal profiling, as criminology looks at causes of crime, and ways to prevent it, and criminal profiling focuses on the thoughts, feelings, and behaviours of criminals
• Criminal psychologists


  Use psychological knowledge to create criminal profiles, interview criminals, look for clues of deception, evaluate the mental capacity of criminals, and determine if the criminals are legally insane
• Criminal profiles


  Are created to help the police apprehend the unknown offender, by predicting their characteristics
• Steps to creating a criminal profile

  1. Comparing the crime to similar ones from the past

  2. Analysing the crime scene

  3. Analysing the life of the victim

  4. Considering motivations from the crime

  5. Developing a description of the potential offender
• Criminal profiling


  Used to identify potential suspects, or narrow down a list of suspects, which is especially useful when looking to catch a repetitive offender
• Criminal profiles can be released to the public, and individual witnesses can help be identify strange behavior
• Criminal profiling may provide information on the area of work/residence of the killer, physical and psychological characteristics, behaviors prior to the crime, and movements after the crime
• Organised offenders


  More sophisticated, preparing and even rehearsing for the crime, bringing tools to gain access to the victim, to kill them, and disposing of the body and trace evidence. They can maintain social relationships, even being married and having families, as they have enough self-control to avoid impulsiveness
• Disorganised offenders


  Less intelligent, and often have some form of mental illnesses. They are impulsive, attacking victims with sudden violence, leaving behind a messy and chaotic crime scene
• Mixed offenders


  May have evidence of planning and sophistication in the crime, but they may attack in a frenzied way, indicating partial self-control over fantasies
• Offender signature


  The pattern of behaviors that characteristics of the criminal, consisting of two parts, the signature aspect, and the signature behaviors
• Signature aspects


  The motivation for committing the crime, such as the need to control somebody, or express anger
• Signature behaviors


  Acts that are not done to complete the crime, but to satisfy the criminal, such as mutilating the body, or leaving it in a certain state, after the victim is dead
• Serial killer profiles usually contain information as to the killer's age, sex, race, residency, proximity, social skills, work or military history, and educational levels
• Criminals may take something from the crime, such as money, jewels or electronics that can be sold, and incriminating evidence is often taken as well
• BEA


  One method used to profile criminals, looking at the crime scene evidence, offender behaviors, and victims' characteristics
• Steps of BEA


  1. Analysing forensic evidence

  2. Analysing victims' characteristics

  3. Analysing crime scene characteristics

  4. Developing a criminal profile

  5. Apprehending the criminal