When someone first looks at a stranger, there are physical characteristics like hair, body, attitude, race, sex and age that that are first noticed and the observer likely prejudges based on what he sees. Those are exactly what a psychological profiler uses when working in an investigation. Psychological profiling is a very complex study and profession. There are many ways that an investigator can figure out who committed what crime by evidence or inference. There is also a very long process that psychological profilers go through to get the results needed to solve a case. There are more than enough case studies out there about psychological profiling that help solve many different types of criminal cases. But only some really knows what it …show more content…
Almost every factor related to crime is used in criminal profiling. Some of the most important information is forensic evidence, such as finger prints, blood splatter and weapons. Other information would be crime scene characteristics and victim characteristics (Psychological Profiling). The first step is to gather all the information about the crime scene. The police need to be very thorough when going over the whole crime scene (Psychological/Criminal Profiler). Next is to answer relevant questions based on the evidence; e.g. where did the crime take place? How violent was the crime? What type of risk did the criminal take? What was the primary motive for the crime? (Psychological Profiler Career). Patterns can start to form as these questions are answered. Investigators will attempt to determine details about the behavior of the criminal and the victim from the answers. The personality of the criminal is determined by answering questions about his behavior at four phases. The first phase is Antecedent, which are the fantasies and plans he was presumed to have had before the crime (Psychological/Criminal Profiler). Then it is the method and manner, or in other words, the way he committed the crime. Next is the body disposal and whether the body remained or was removed from the scene of the crime. Now, in a case where no one was harmed they would look at what specific things were taken or moved. Last but not least is the post offense behavior for his/her actions after the crime was committed (Psychological Profiler). Finally the last step in the process is that a psychological profile is created using all the information. This profile will describe the most likely typology of the suspects that committed the crime. This determination usually consists of age, race, sex, psychological characteristics, religious beliefs, and intelligence (Psychological Profiling (Criminal Profiling)). This process is one of