Case Assessment Guidebook

Case Assessment Guidebook: A Criminal Profiling of Murders

Introduction

Criminal profiling is basically an investigative and behavioral instrument for analyzing the criminal offenders. It is commonly referred to as offender profiling or criminal investigative analysis. There are several types of crimes that can be profiled under criminal profile, sexual murders, rapes, violent crimes, and so on. Criminal profiling assesses the nature of the crime that is under consideration and the method in which the crime actually takes place.

Discussion

One of the major serious crimes existent in the world today is murder. Although murder is a very grave crime with harsher punishments being carryout out by the criminal justice system and courts, however, the crime is still committed at large all over the world. In order to accurately identify the elements or components of a murder crime, when developing a criminal profile, there are certain aspects that need to be looked at very intricately.

The Appearance of the Murderer

The majority of the criminals who have committed murders move towards their target in a unique and calculated way. Their appearance is normally not very different from the other individuals moving around the target, however, there is a tendency to look a bit reserved and often act weird. Their clothes are usually adjusted for concealing the murder weapon (or weapons) and might seem a bit odd. They might even be carrying a suitcase or any other case (which usually turns out to be a gun case carrying the weapon for murder) (MacDonald, 1961).

The Normal Conduct of Murderers

The criminals who have committed or have yet to commit a crime, both display a similar conduct during (or after) their act. For instance, they seem apparently pre- occupied and immediately stand out of the ordinary crowd, they are fixated over their target (if they have not killed him/her yet) and look extremely suspicious while tailing them or while lying in wait. If they have successfully killed their target then, they are commonly seen leaving the crime scene in a hurry and pacing away in an uncommon manner (as if someone was after them or following them). They are noticeably conscious of any authority or security personnel nearby or in the vicinity, and try to avoid them by merging in crowds, moving away from them or even avoiding eye contact. They often act impulsively in a strange and hurried manner (Winerman, 2004).

Socialization

This is one of the thing you might least expect from a murderer. The element of his murder plans spilling out or the possibility of someone suspecting him, keeps him away from socializing with other people. The murderer is very anti-social during the crime and if interrogated by any authority or security personnel due to being under suspicion (for acting suspiciously) he/she enters the denial phase and denies everything that he might or might have not committed (MacDonald, 1961).

Criminal Profiling Process

Profiling of Inputs

This involves looking at the crime scene and determining all the factors involved with the murder crime. For example consider this case, a women was found ...