Debating the Value and Ethical Concerns of Psychological Profiling
Introduction
A psychological profile is created by combining individual profiles, such as a victim profile with an offender profile or a geographical profile and even a DNA profile. Through the combination of individual profiles, the psychological profile emerges with a comprehensive view of the type of person most likely to be found at a particular place at a particular time with such and such type of victim or such and such type of crime/offense being committed. Psychological profiling is both an “investigative aid” and a “conceptual tool” that is used by police to understand cases and create leads (Wilson, Lincoln & Kocsis, 1997, p. 1). Vorpagel (1982) described psychological profiling as the exercise of identifying “behavioral patterns, trends, and tendencies” used to develop a complete picture—not just of the individuals involved in a crime—but of the type of individuals who would likely be involved in crimes of a similar nature in the future. As such psychological profiling has been viewed as a key tool in the development of criminal justice. However, critics have claimed that it unfairly generalizes and creates ethical issues that should be of concern for criminal justice professionals. This paper will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of psychological profiling, the ethical concerns, and the approaches that can be used to overcome them.
Advantages
The advantages of psychological profiling are: (a) it gives law enforcement personnel the opportunity to work with mental health experts to identify patterns of behavior that can be linked with specific types of criminal activity, (b) it allows for a database to be created with profiles developed based on real cases that can be used to help law enforcement personnel solve cases and in some instances even prevent crimes from occurring, and (c) profiles can be established that will predict not just criminal behavior but ordinary behavior as well, which allows a complete picture of a suspect to be created (Kocsis, 2003; Wilson et al., 1997). In short, the art or science of psychological profiling allows law enforcement agents to follow a standard that can be applied to crime scene...
References
Egger, S. A. (1999). Psychological profiling: Past, present, and future. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 15(3), 242-261.
Kocsis, R. N. (2003). Criminal psychological profiling: validities and abilities. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 47(2), 126-144.
Snook, B., Cullen, R. M., Bennell, C., Taylor, P. J., & Gendreau, P. (2008). The criminal profiling illusion: What's behind the smoke and mirrors?. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 35(10), 1257-1276.
Vorpagel, R.E. (1982). Painting psychological profiles: charlatanism, coincidence, charisma or new science. Police Chief, 3(8), 156-59
Wilson, P., Lincoln, R., & Kocsis, R. (1997). Validity, utility and ethics of profiling for serial violent and sexual offenders. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 4(1), 1-11.
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