Criminal investigative analysis: A move toward a scientific, multidisciplinary model

Abstract

The concept of criminal profiling, also known as “offender profiling,” “psychological profiling,” “personality profiling,” “behavioral profiling,” and, most recently, “Criminal Investigative Analysis,” has been developing along two paths since the 1980s. Although profiling techniques had been practiced elsewhere in the world (e.g., David Canter in the UK), in the USA profiling was first used by agents assigned to the Behavioral Sciences Unit (BSU) of the FBI. In the USA, profiling techniques have long been defined as a nonscientific model that relies primarily upon the judgment of the profiler or “Behavioral Analyst.” Douglas, Burgess, Burgess, and Ressler (1992) likened the process to that “used by clinicians to make a diagnosis and treatment plan: data are collected and assessed, the situation is reconstructed, hypotheses are formulated, a profile is developed and tested, and the results are reported back.” (p. 310).