PSYCHOLOGICAL-ASPECTS OF CRIME SCENE PROFILING - VALIDITY RESEARCH

Crime scene profiling is distinguished from psychological profiling an d offender profiling. and the profiling process is described. A review of the literature on offender types indicates that it may be possible to generalize from various behavioral aspects of a crime scene to som e characteristics of the perpetrator. There is some evidence that it m ay be possible to type offenders and crime scenes as organized or diso rganized, and that this categorization may be related to certain aspec ts of offender personality. There is also some evidence that those who are FBI trained in profiling may perform better at the task. At this time, however, the evidence for the validity of profiles is weak, and it is recommended that profiling not be relied on to the exclusion of other alternatives. There is a need for more specific validity researc h, especially when profiling is generalized beyond its original purpos e of providing leads and focusing investigations.