Criminal Profiling-2013

Criminal Profiling

Welcome to Criminal Profiling

An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis

What is criminal profiling? Probably not what you think it is, at least not what you may have learned from movies and books. For this class, criminal profiling is a discipline that requires careful evaluation of physical evidence, collected and properly analyzed by a team of specialists from different areas, for the purpose of systematically reconstructing the crime scene, developing a strategy to assist in the capture of the offender, and thereafter aiding in the trial.

Profilers are not forensic psychiatrists or psychologists. Both can perform clinical interviews for the purpose of diagnosis, treatment, and courtroom competency/sanity assessment, but few are qualified to do the work of a criminal profiler. Certainly, both can contribute to the criminal profile but still they are only one member of a team. The same can be said of police officers, crime scene investigators, criminalists, sociologists, medical examiners, and detectives.

The profiler is simply another component in the criminal investigation process, they are advisors - the cops still solve the case and make the arrest. You should also keep in mind that there are several different types of profiling, the area we concern ourselves with in this class is not clinical. The focus is on weeding out suspects, developing investigative strategy, linking crimes and suspects, and assessing risk. In other words, it about catching criminals, not analyzing them.

That being said, you will be learning the techniques of socio-psychological (behavioral) and geographic profiling used to establish leads and detect patterns in unsolved cases and/or classify and predict the behavior patterns of repeat offenders, particularly serial murderers, arsonists, rapists, and child molesters.

Topics include case management, database development, typology validation, motive and pattern analysis, personality assessment, forensic demography, principles of geocoding, statistical prediction, and the ethics of provocation, and interview and interrogation strategies. Four case studies are analyzed in detail. There are a few pictures (of a graphic nature), and you are expected to demonstrate a theoretical as well as practical understanding in assignments involving writing, role-playing, simulation, and scenarios.

Be forewarned, this textbook is not for casual or marathon reading. It requires concentration and diligence. There is a redundancy throughout the text meant to clarify and reinforce important points. Don't be fooled, the chapters are brief, this allows you to assimilate the information. Also, make use of the wide margins, it is intended for note taking.

Dr. Michael Thompson

History of Profiling

Lydia Oliver

History of Profiling

When thinking of Criminal Profiling most of us think of the TV show Criminal Minds or some other crime show, where with a few details they can tell everything about the suspect they are looking for, not of the Salem witch trials, the persecution of Jews, the Spanish inquisition, the stories of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, nor from the many Doctors and Scientists that not only helped shape the idea of Criminal Profiling but the practice as well.
One of the first documented uses of criminal profiling was founded in a report made by a scholar named Apion in 38 CE, He believed the Jews in Alexandria to have too many rights and privileges, and so he falsely reported that the Jews were responsible for ritual killings of Greeks during Passover. The first published texts that offered explicit instructions on the subject and practice of criminal profiling was the Malleus Maleficarum or The Witches Hammer in 1486. This book was written to help those in the inquisition to help identify, prosecute, and punish Witches. Upon its publication it was fully sanctioned by the Catholic Church so the masses would basically accept it as truth.
Much of the beginning history of criminal profiling continues like this, certain people whether they were scholars, popes, or the Catholic Church, could say “Hey, I don’t like this particular group of people how can I wipe them out?”, they could easily say they were doing harm to people or a danger in the society and as long as they could “back” it the masses followed blindly. It was nothing more than Prejudice and Ignorance that fueled this so called “profiling”.
Modern Profiling is a mixture of criminology, psychology and psychiatry, and the forensic sciences, though it ranges from statistical argumentation, to specific criminal behaviors, to intuitive opinions. A necessary part of profiling is criminology which studies crime, criminals, and criminal behavior. Cesare Lombroso is thought to have been one of the first criminologists to formally classify criminals for statistical comparison. Lombroso argued there were three types of criminals born (degenerate, primitive offenders who were lower in physical characteristics), insane (offenders who suffered from mental or physical illnesses and deficiencies) and lastly criminaloids (offenders without specific characteristics), Lombroso had 18 physical characteristics indicative of a born criminal if at least five were present. In 1887 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle through his character Dr. John Watson outlined an evidence-based method of inference and deduction. Dr. Johann (Hans) Baptist Gustav Gross seemed to have been moving in the same direction of Doyle in that science played a very important role in profiling. The modern version of Profiling carried on in the same fashion continuing to grow and evolve.
Criminal profiling evolved so much that in 1927 an FBI agent by the name of Jack Kirsch started the Behavioral science Unit. An Expansion later grew out of the BSU, the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime which in itself had four units, three behavioral analysis units and the computer data-based Violent Criminal Apprehension program unit. In 1999 the Academy of Behavioral Profiling opened which was not associated with any university, organization, or agency.
So as you watch the oh so “special” agents of Criminal minds quote dead guys and solve crimes maybe you will actually stop and think about the long history of criminal profiling and all the ideas, deaths, mistakes, successes and research that shaped and evolved what todays shows now make look “easy”. So if you find that you think profiling is cool and you wish to actually learn how it really works turn off the TV and pick up a book instead.

resources
"Criminal Profiling" by Brent E. Turvey
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/criminal_mind/profiling/history_method/index.html

Criminal Profiling Methodologies

Forensic Psychology, Forensic Psychiatry & Profling

Crime Reconstruction

Wound Pattern Analysis

Staged Crime Scenes

Kendra Trussel

There are many reasons as to why a crime scene may have been staged. The hardest part is finding out why the crime scene has been staged. The most common is when someone sets a fire to cover up a potential homicide or for the purpose of insurance profit. Detectives must use their own objective skills along with experience to determine if a crime scene has been staged. The Points of Entry, Weapons left or removed, and Movement of the body are the most common staged crime scene elements.
There are many reasons to help determine if a crime scene was staged or not, a few things that can help are seeing if there are signs of forced entry, seeing if items have been stolen, victim had life insurance, or someone had a motive. Many of these may seem apparent in lots of crimes but most of the time it is very evident that something is off and this had to be staged. A staged crime scene is usually one of the first conclusions an investigator comes too, they have key clues that will set them off.
Points of entry is the most common staged crime scene element. Most intruders come in from a broken or open window and when someone fakes an entry like this it is easily told. They are more gentle and take better care when breaking things, leaving finger prints and or not even making it seem plausible that there was an invasion that took place there.
A firearm is the most common staged crime scene weapon. Investigators have to determine if the weapon was left initially, was the positioning correct, type of injury, and was it the actual source of the injury.

One of the least common staged elements is the movement of the body to a secondary crime scene location. Pooling of blood, stiffening of joints, and any type of drag marks can help assist the investigator to determine if the body has been moved or not.
It is a tough job trying to figure out if a crime scene has been staged or not but as long as you know what to look for it makes your job a whole lot easier. After finding out that a crime scene has been tampered with, the next question you have to ask yourself is why. Statistics show that most of the time when a crime scene has been staged a person close to the victim is the one who did it because they are trying to cover up their own tracks

Criminal Motivation

dante foos
CRIMINAL MOTIVATION
Why did he do it? One of the biggest questions asked in this country today. What was going through his mind? Sometimes a person does not even think about what they are doing before they do it, and a crime is committed. But what about the other people that do think about it? Do they sit around and seriously think about what they are doing? What makes them decide that the risk is worth taking and committing a crime? There are many different interesting theories on why a criminal did what he did, and I am going to try to explain a few. Just what is a person thinking when they decide to become a criminal?
I would like to start by just giving the names of a few theories that I know of. There are free will theories, which are crimes that are committed because of someone exercising their free will. Next there are biological theories, theories which suggest that a person is criminal since the day that they are born, due to their genes. There are also psychobiological theories, which say things like environment and physical trauma can make someone into a criminal. Psychological theories suggest that crime is the result of a rotten mind or wrongful behavioral upbringing. Also there are sociological theories which state that the structure of society create the crimes, as well as social-psychological theories, which state that crime is due to association with bad people and inadequate social roles. And finally there is the conflict theory, which says that regular social life needs conflict. I am sure that there are many more theories but these are the most important.
The first and earliest theory on what makes a criminal came from the classical school. They said that crime is caused by the individual's exercise of his or her own free will. The best possible deterrents to crime with this theory were swift punishments that counter any gain that the criminal obtained. This school of though has remained around and has even re-emerged into the neoclassical criminology.
The next theories were all biological, as is the name of the school. In this theory all crime is genetically based. If you are a criminal, it is said in your genes. Phrenology came from this theory, which is the study of the head to determine a person s behavior. Also things like somatypes, which study the shape of you body to explain you character traits and behaviors, and atavism, which said that features on a criminal s body are similar to those of a earlier stage of evolution. Most of the theories in this group fell through as they were continually disputed.
The psychobiological theories are by far the most interesting from my point of view. These theories deal with environmental factors and hormone imbalances. If the environment of a person is different than that of a normal person, such as a child being adopted or raised in a foster home, criminal actions tend to be more predominant than their fear and avoidance of punishment. Since they have not as much fear of punishment, then it does not matter to them if they are caught and dealt with. Things like a diet and allergies are said to have been causes in this grouping. Allergies are have said to cause swelling in the brain stem and therefore cause less learning to occur during childhood. This is said to contribute to juvenile delinquency and sometimes even adult criminal acts. Also vitamin deficiencies are supposed causes of criminal behavior. These vitamin deficiencies cause chemical imbalances in the body and mind and can slow down thought and learning. These theories have not been shot down, and are still being studied today.
The next school of theories is the psychological theories. These theories say that the individual is fully responsible for the crime that has been committed. The persons personality is the major motivational element because it is their drive, their source of motives.

http://www.customessaymeister.com/customessays/Criminology/8036.htm

Case Linkage

Victimology

Casey Temmel

Victimology

Victimology is the study of victimization, including the relationships between victims and offenders, the interactions between victims and the criminal justice system-that is, the police and courts, and corrections officials-and the connections between victims and other social groups and institutions, such as the media, businesses, and social movements. Victimology is however not restricted to the study of victims of crime alone but may include other forms of human rights violations.

In criminology and criminal law, a victim of a crime is an identifiable person who has been harmed individually and directly by the perpetrator, rather than by society as a whole. However, this may not always be the case, as with victims of white collar crime, who may not be clearly identifiable or directly linked to crime against a particular individual. Victims of white collar crime are often denied their status as victims by the social construction of the concept. Not all criminologists accept the concept of victimization or victimology. The concept also remains a controversial topic within women's studies.

The Supreme Court of the United States first recognized the rights of crime victims to make a victim impact statement during the sentencing phase of a criminal trial in the case of Payne v. Tennessee 501 U.S. 808. A victim impact panel is a form of community-based or restorative justice in which the crime victims meet with the defendant after conviction to tell the convict about how the criminal activity affected them, in the hope of rehabilitation or deterrence.

Victimology is important in the overall investigative process because it not only tells us who the victims were, their health and personal history, social habits and personality, but also provides ideas as to why they were chosen as victims. In many situations, the offender will hold back from choosing a victim until one that meets his needs comes along, possibly allowing him to fulfill some fantasy or desire he has. Because of this, the way the victim is chosen is important and gives an insight into how the offender thinks, which subsequently affects how the perpetrator acts.

If we are able to determine how the offender is acting now, we may be better able to determine his future behavior, possibly leading to a successful arrest. Closely related to victimology are the concepts of method of approach, method of attack and risk assessment. If we know details of the victims' personalities (i.e. they may be naturally cautious), then we may be able to determine, in conjunction with an analysis of the crime scene, how they were initially approached by the offender.

The same will apply for the way they were attacked and overpowered. If this information is not distinguishable through the crime scene, then an analysis of the victims' overall risk, that is, the chances of them becoming a victim, may be of some help. If we examine this along with the risks the offender was willing to take to acquire a certain victim, then we will have an overall picture of who the victim was and what drove the offender to choose this particular person as a victim.

Resources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victimology
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/criminal_mind/profiling/victimology/1.html

False Reports

Psychological Autopsy

Explosives: Behavioral Aspects

Stalking

Casey Temmel

Stalking

Stalking is unwanted attention by an individual or a group towards another person. Stalking behaviors can be related to types of harassment or intimidation and may include following the victim to and from multiple places. People characterized as stalkers may be accused of having a mistaken belief that another person loves them or that they need rescuing. Stalking can sometimes consist of an accumulation of a series of actions which in themselves can be legal, such as calling on the phone, sending gifts, or sending emails Stalkers might use threats and violence to frighten their victims.

They may also engage in vandalism and property damage or make physical attacks that are mostly meant to frighten. Less common are sexual assaults. Disruptions in daily life necessary to escape the stalker, including changes in employment, residence and phone numbers, may take a toll on the victim's well-being and lead to a sense of isolation. According to one study, women often target other women, whereas men generally stalk women only. However, a January 2009 report from the United States Department of Justice reports that "Males were as likely to report being stalked by a male as a female offender. 43% of male stalking victims stated that the offender was female, while 41% of male victims stated that the offender was another male.

Female victims of stalking were significantly more likely to be stalked by a male (67%) rather than a female (24%) offender. There are many types of stalkers out there in the world today. Rejected stalker: This type of stalker begins to stalk after their partner (romantic or close friendship) has ended their relationship or indicates that they intend to end the relations. This type of stalker wants to be in a relationship with the survivor again or seek revenge on the survivor. The stalker's goals may vary, depending on the reponses of the survivor. This type of stalker may have high levels of narcissism and jealousy. This type of stalker may also have feelings of humiliation, over-dependence, and/or poor social skills and a resulting poor social network.

This type of stalker is often the most persistent and intrusive type of stalker and is more likely to employ intimidation and assault in pursuit of their survivor. A history of violence in the relationship with the partner is not uncommon. This type of stalker is typically the most resistant to efforts aimed at ending their stalking behavior. Predatory stalker: This type of stalker stalks their survivor as part of a plan to attack them, usually sexually, and is motivated by the promise of sexual gratification and power over the survivor. This type of stalker often has poor self-esteem, poor social skills especially in romantic relationships, and may have lower than normal intelligence. This type of stalker may stalk someone they know or a complete stranger. This type of stalker usually does not harass or try to contact their survivor while they are stalking. This type of survivor may engage in behaviors such as: surveillance of the survivor, obscene phone calls, exhibitionism, fetishism, and voyeurism.

Resources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalking
http://sapac.umich.edu/article/320

Domestic Homicide

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Gunnar Hays
The Issues and Profiling of Domestic Homicide

One of the most prevalent issues that investigators in the United States face is domestic homicide. Each and every day there are many crimes that aren’t done to complete strangers but in fact by intimate partners in their own home. There are many things that need to be understood about domestic violence and homicide to help solve the issues at hand.

There is no denying the seriousness of domestic homicide in the United States. According to FBI statistics there are around 3 women murdered by a significant other every day. One important thing to understand is many times domestic homicide is the end result of a process that begins with a relationship and then leads to domestic violence. But how can we tell when something as serious as domestic violence is about to take place and how can we predict someone to do these things? The first sign to look at is history. If a couple moves in together and everything seems fine that doesn’t mean neither of them has a past. If one partner has a history of things like rape or any sore of violence that is a possible red flag of what their capable of. Another sign to look for is extreme jealousy. In a normal relationship one partner will occasionally be jealous about certain things, but it needs to be noted when jealousy crosses the line. If one partner begins going to the lengths of stalking and showing unhealthy possessive behavior domestic violence might shortly follow. Another serious thing to look for is drug or alcohol problems. Some studies have point out that almost 9 out of every 10 domestic abusers used alcohol or drugs in some way before they acted out in violence. (Turvey) Some people may seem perfectly fine sober but if they have an addiction to something that will make them violent help needs to be seeked immediately. It is important to understand domestic violence and homicide is gender neutral. Many more times than not it is in fact females that are victims and not males but these signs to look for can be seen in any gender. These kind of issues that some people may pass of as no big deal cannot be ignored. Problems like that can lead to serious domestic violence and in worst-case scenarios, domestic homicide.

When it comes to domestic homicide one of the main jobs of the profiler is to find intent and answer the question of why a relationship that was possibly abusive or possibly not turned into murder. There are many domestic homicide cases that turn into a manslaughter charge and not murder because it has been determined there was no malice and forethought but in fact just a heat of passion. Certain things may set one partner off for a short period of time. For example an admission of adultery or catching a partner in the act leads to a time of rage in which one partner kills the other. There are other times however where murder of a significant other is planned out. In intimate homicide one partner kills the other with planning possibly because they’re angry or in some cases a desire for profit. There have been many cases in which domestic homicide is committed because one partner wanted insurance profit of some kind. It is important for profilers to study the past relationship, the crime scene, and possible motives to truly find the answer of intent.

Domestic homicide is a crime that can anywhere at any time. It’s a crime that profilers must deal with but also something that can involve every day citizens stepping up and informing the proper authorities so domestic violence and homicide can be prevented.

Sources
"Criminal Profiling" by Brent Turvey
http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/domviol/facts.htm
Google Images

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Mass Homicide

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Gunnar Hays

Profiling Mass Murder

There are many different crimes that profilers must deal with, but in recent years one of the most widely covered is mass murder. Though they may not be as common as other crimes, few things strike as much attention in the media or in the minds of the people. From the Virginia Tech shooting, to the mass murder at Aurora, and most recently the horror at Sandy Hook Elementary School, mass homicide is one of the most unthinkable crimes seen.

There are certain things that must be understood about mass homicide especially in a profiler’s perspective so the actual facts are known. Mass homicide is not the same as genocide; unlike genocide mass homicide is not committed against one specific group of ethnicity, religion, etc. Mass murders are acts of violence and killing to any group of people, not a specific group planned by the killer. Also, profilers must know that when there is a mass homicide it is not the same every time. It is not always a single, lonely, psychotic, American low life out for revenge on a local school or subway. Sure there are stereotypes about who people would think of when they hear mass murderer but it’s important to know that its not always the case.

Even though there can’t be a stereotype to every mass murder, there are certain statistics that profilers can use to get a decent idea about the crime. For example, over 90 percent of the time mass murderers are male, over half the time are white, and nearly half the time are in their twenties all according to a study in 1998. Another thing fairly common in mass murder is not just the physical aspect of the murderer but also motive. Many times these murderers have recently faced some sore of rejection or failure and they have little to no regard for any human life including their own, which is why many times these killers will end their own life weather by their own hand or from police force.

While there are certain things to look for as previously stated, not all mass murderers are the same, and certainly no one incident is the same, so profilers still must follow protocol to get the correct analysis of the murderer down. One of the first things to look at is the killing itself. Ask things like what weapon was used, how was it used, and just how much damage was inflicted. These things can all lead to clues about the killer. You can also determine his intelligence and organization by studying how the crime was carried out and just how much planning went into the whole situation. Another key aspect is looking at the targets. Were these all just innocent victims who were apart of just a random tragedy, or were some actual targets for the killer while others may have been collateral victims. A thorough victimology must be done to answer these questions because it is a key in determining the killer’s motive. Also it’s important to look for things that could have led up to the crime. Sometimes these murderers will leave messages in some way or another hinting at about what is going to come. These messages may give clues to what the killer intends on doing next. Overall it is important to analyze and study the crime and crime scene to get a good picture of what the offender is really like.

Very few things are as tragic or hit as hard as mass homicide; it is an act of incredible violence that most people would consider unthinkable. When these terrible acts are committed it is just one of the many cases when a criminal profiler has to start analyzing. It is an important factor to getting answers, and bringing justice.

Sources
"Criminal Profiling" by Brent E. Turvey
http://chronicle.com/blogs/conversation/2012/12/18/top-10-myths-about-mass-shootings/
Google Images

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Terrorism

Terrorism

Jason Manning

Terrorism is a radical use of violence were civilians are purposely targeted for religious, political or other causes. The main purpose of terrorist acts is to insight fear or terror into the minds of the populace in the hopes that the terrorists radical outburst will set an example for their goals. Unlawful violence and other act of war crimes are also classified as terrorism. Certain politically motivated groups have also moved to the prospect of using terrorism to get their ideals out and known to the public. Terrorism has been practiced by many groups using primarily violent acts of violence that can and usually is lethal on non combatant people to exploit fear to achieve their higher objective.

The exact definition of terrorism is very obscure in its actual meaning, and as such it definition has been proven to be a controversial topic to define and talk about. Different agencies and legal agencies have opted to use their own specific definition of terrorism instead of using one uniform definition, this is caused by the fact that terrorism is kind of a broad perspective. While the majority of crimes are a lethal violent act against civilians not all are. Certain political organizations may use drastic means to get their point across some may not use a lethal mean, simply favoring a mean that might insight fear. As such, this calls for the reason different agencies use different definitions of terrorism, because terrorism is not a universal constant definition.

Terrorist attacks are usually carried out in such a manner as to cause the most psychological trauma and damage as possible to the populous in general. They are treated as a type of performance to the people usually to showcase a type of power and strength the terrorist faction has over the people, leaving the people with a sense of insecurity and fear, which is exactly what the terrorists want. Acts of terrorism usually have an effect on the government a a wildly negative manner as the general populous develop trust issues with the government that is supposed to protect them. Which can lead to inner conflict within the nation which is currently suffering from the terrorism, as there is an outcry from the populous and the a distrust of the government which is the opposite what needs to happen as this action can lead to an unresolvable problem at hand.

In the year of 1975 the Law Enforcement Assistant Administration developed and created a task force to counter act terrorist actions. This task force then decided to classify terrorism into multiple category’s which fallow as. Civil Disorder, which is an act of terrorism that focuses mainly on a collective area of violence which is mainly targeted at the community. Political Terrorism focuses on violent behavior directed towards a community for political purposes. Limited political terrorism is similar to political except in the case that true Political Terrorism focuses on an idea of generating a revolution. Official or State Terrorism, is the act of terrorism done to the noncombatant general populous by its own government to strike fear and oppress the general populous to hinder an uprising. This kind of terrorism is similar to the kind of terrorism you would find being caused by a dictatorship.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism
http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/pub207.pdf

Offender Characteristics

Offender Characteristics
Taryn Di Rito

We all are human beings so it’s only natural to want to judge people by their looks or their demeanor. As we look around the places that surround us we usually find others that are different than us and we characterize them as, let’s say, categories. There are times when, girls in particular, judge males or even other females as “creepy” or “weird”. It’s a natural thing, but there are actual jobs out there that require you to not only use your instincts to judge but to use scientific evidence to prove that this man or woman is guilty of committing a certain crime.
In our world, there are killers, rapists, and kidnappers that aren’t always easy to find if they aren’t caught right away. Before catching the criminal there has to be a profile of the person to be able to narrow down the search. The analyst can predict offender characteristics based on statistical models, prior research, or experience; the analyst can use hard physical evidence to make deductions about physical characteristics (DNA to give sex and race, hairs to give hair color, footwear impression to give shoe size, etc); or the analyst can use analytical logic, critical thinking and the scientific method to make deductions about offender relational and psychological characteristics based on an analysis of crime scene behavior. (e.g., behavioral evidence analysis).
The offender characteristics are a very big part of profiling. There are steps to profiling. These steps are a part of the finding the offender and are part of his/her characteristics.
1. Antecedent: What fantasy or plan, or both, did the murderer have in place before the act? What triggered the murderer to act some days and not others?
2. Method and manner: What type of victim or victims did the murderer select? What was the method and manner of murder: shooting, stabbing, strangulation or something else?
3. Body disposal: Did the murder and body disposal take place all at one scene, or multiple scenes?
4. Post-offense behavior: Is the murderer trying to inject himself into the investigation by reacting to media reports or contacting investigators
The purpose of a criminal profile is to assist in the process of establishing the core and cardinal characteristics of an offender that separate and ultimately distinguish him or her from the general population. Like everything else in the world, this process isn’t perfect. There are problems with the characterizing system. Incorrect information from profiling can lead to false positives or false negatives. Investigators may find a suspect who appears to fit an incorrect profile and ignore or stop investigating other leads.

In the end profiling and offender characteristics help us more than hurt. If it weren’t for profiling or offender characteristics it would be nearly impossible to track down the criminals that got away.

Resources:
Turvey, Brent E. "Offender Characteristics." Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis. Fourth ed. San Diego, CA: Academic, 2002. 405-20. Print.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offender_profiling

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Psychopathy & Sadism

Psychopathy & Sadism

Jason Manning

Psychopathy is very challenging disorder identify in the large numbers of known disorders. Individuals with the disorder psychopathy are normal in outward appearance, and are know to be very charismatic. One of the characteristics for psychopathy is anti social behavior in which the individual shy’s away from society as a whole refraining from interaction with other individuals. Another characteristic that the individual that has psychopathy exhibits is a high level lack of remorse or empathy, which is that the individual exhibits no show of affectionate behavior to another individual who is experiencing an unfortunate event in a period of time. One more traits that individuals who posses the mental disorder psychopathy display is poor behavioral control, meaning that the individual has a poor grasp on the control over their behavior such as acting in a erratic or other abnormal state in their actions and the way they behave.

Early on in the coarse of history psychopathy or the term for an individual known as a psychopath, was use to describe a large variety of known personality disorders ranging from anti social behaviors, and character disorders to mental and sexual deviance’s including homosexuality. Later on psychopathy went under a reform and was corrected to not carry such a wide variety of disorders under its namesake. Psychopathy is commonly scored with a psychopathy checklist. High scores on a psychopathy checklist are commonly associated with the characteristics of impulsiveness, aggression, and persistent criminal behavior. Other characteristics are malicious intentions and lack of empathy and remorse. In criminology psychopath is a term that is applied to criminals who exhibit characteristics of of psychopathy and individuals who are diagnosed by a psychiatric who fit under the category of a psychopath. Individuals who scored high on a psychopathy test usually are ones who have a high correlation to violence and violent acts.

Sadism is commonly to referred to the act of finding pleasure through the act of inflicting or causing pain or humiliation to another individual. In medical terminology sadism is a behavioral disorder categorized by the individual exhibiting viscous behavior, manipulative behavior, and other degrading acts of pain and humiliation to another individual in hopes of acquiring pleasure and satisfaction. It is still unknown as to what the exact cause and reasoning behind sadism is, meaning what is the reason of sadism. Individuals who posses sadism or sadistic behavior usually show behavioral characteristics of cruelty and heightened aggression. Sadists also have a interest and fascination with emotional cruelty such as emotional abuse, manipulation of others through fear, and preoccupying themselves with acts of violence. Commonly Sadistic Personality Disorder correlates in unison with other behavioral disorders. Sadists exhibit aggressive social behaviors to feel empowered over another individual.

Some of the characteristics of sadism are using cruelty and violence to establish dominance in a relationship. Another characteristic of sadism is humiliating or demeaning someone in the presence of others, amusement or taking pleasure from someone’s pain is also a characteristics of sadism. A fascination in violence, acts of torture, injury of others, and weapons in general is also a trait of sadism. There are many sub genres of sadists which include the explosive, the tyrannical, the enforcing, and the spineless. The explosive sadist is known for unpredictable bouts of violence because they are unhappy with their lives. The tyrannical sadist is more frightening in their demeanor because they relish in brutalizing others. The enforcing sadist are individuals commonly located in a position were they may enforce regulations, because they feel the need to control and punish those who have broken code, law or regulation. Finally, the spineless sadist is an individual who is in direct contrast to the aforementioned three types of sadists. This type of sadists are paranoid and anticipate danger, usually they are the ones to strike first and ask questions later.

Resources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadism

Psychopathic & Sadistic Behavior in Scenes

Sexual Asphyxia

Erotic Asphyxiation

Taryn Di Rito

It is normal to have something to make someone feel “turned on”. There is something called sexual asphyxia or erotic asphyxiation. This generally isn’t a normal turn on, but it is a fixation. This constitutes that a person will intentionally restrict their oxygen intake to the brain for sexual arousal. Sometimes a person that practices this is called a gasper.

The practice of autoerotic asphyxiation has been documented since the early 17th century. It was first used as a treatment for erectile dysfunction. The idea for this most likely came from subjects who were executed by hanging. Observers at public hangings noted that male victims developed an erection, sometimes remaining after death (death erection), and occasionally ejaculated when being hanged. However, ejaculation occurs in hanging victims after death because of disseminated muscle relaxation; this is a different mechanism from that sought by autoerotic asphyxiation practitioners.

There are multiple different ways that people practice this fixation. They use ropes, cords, scarves and ties or they suffocate themselves with sealing their heads in plastic bags.

The vast majority don't mean to kill themselves. They usually devise some kind of rescue mechanism to stop the asphyxiation once they've climaxed. But the fail-safe often fails. For example, they may tie a slip-knot or hang themselves from something that's shorter than they are, so they can simply stand up to stop the strangulation. But they may get so weak and disoriented from lack of oxygen that they can't pull out the knot or stand up, and they pass out and die. In some fatality cases, the body of the asphyxiophilic individual is discovered naked or with genitalia in hand, with pornographic material or sex toys present, or with evidence of having orgasmed prior to death. Bodies found at the scene of an accidental death often show evidence of other paraphilia activities, such as fetishistic cross-dressing and masochism. In cases involving teenagers at home, families may disturb the scene by "sanitizing" it, removing evidence of paraphilia activity. This can have the consequence of making the death appear to be a deliberate suicide, rather than an accident.

Doctors don’t necessarily want this fixation be out in the open just yet. They are scared that teenagers will get different ideas about it. The suicide rates are high among teens, but they may have mistaken. In all actuality some of those suicides could have been ruled autoerotic asphyxiation accidents. The problem is that teens already know all about this because they experiment with it. The kids that have experimented have experienced the “high” the lack of oxygen gives the body. When you restrict your oxygen intake you experience euphoria, dizziness, and lowered inhibition or also known as the “high”.

Finding a turn on is normal and practicing it is also normal. As much as some people think autoerotic asphyxiation is normal, it is probably the most deadly way of masturbating.

Resources
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=51776
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erotic_asphyxiation

Serial Crimes: Patterns

dante foos
serial crime patterns
Though the crime analysis process begins with collecting and managing data, actual analysis of acrime pattern begins with its initial identification.
Pattern identification can be an overlooked and underestimated art. Good crime analysis requires: That the analyst strive to be the one to identify all crime patterns. If the analyst waits for the rest of the department to notify him of the pattern’s existence—or waits for the media to notify everyone—then any brilliant analysis that follows is clouded by the fact that the analyst has allowed the pattern to continue long past its point of identifiability (see below). That the analyst attempt to identify 100% of identifiable patterns, in all crimes and calls for serve that fall within the analyst’s scope of responsibility. That the analyst identify each pattern once it reaches its point of identifiability. The point of identifiability describes the moment, after n incidents, when the analyst can confidently assert that a pattern exists. The actual number of incidents can vary greatly depending on the types of crimes and the strengths of their commonalities. Some patterns will be identifiable after the second incidents; others will require a dozen or more. The idea is simply to identify the pattern as soon as possible, so that the agency can intercede as soon as possible, so that as few people as possible need become victims. Accomplishing all three of these goals requires the analyst to make information scanning a daily process. Furthermore, the analyst must ensure that he has real-time access to incident reports. If the point of identifiability is reached upon the third incident, reported at midnight, then the analyst should identify it shortly after arriving for work the next morning.
The analyst may determine the possibility of a pattern based on one of three factors:
1. Modus Operandi Commonalities, found through a careful review of incident reports and their
narratives;
2. Exceptional Volume, found through some brand of threshold analysis, either deliberate or
unconscious;
3. Geographic Proximity, found through crime mapping.
Report review should be a daily process. The usual objections to this statement—lack of time or manpower—become moot once the agency adequately staffs its crime analysis unit. This process is the least scientific of all the means to identify patterns, but it is probably the most effective. Many patterns exhibit neither high volume nor geographic clustering, making the other two methods often ineffective. Each analyst will develop a method of daily report review that An analyst reviews daily crime works best for him, but here is a typical example:
1. At least once a day1, the analyst gathers all incident reports since his last review2. For most
analysts’ minds, a physical written report is the best source, but some analysts work for
“paperless” agencies and will have to settle for electronic reports. The key is that the analyst
has access to all applicable narratives.
2. The analyst conducts an initial scan of the reports, removing incidents that are unlikely to ever
exhibit any patternability, or which do not fall within his scope of responsibility.
3. The analyst reads the remaining reports, paying careful attention to the M.O. factors. At this point, the analyst’s memory may alert him to patterns—particularly those with strong M.O. commonalities or SIGNATURES.
4. The analyst compares his current reports with past reports received by the agency. It is at this point that the analyst’s experience, knowledge, intuition, and creativity most come into play. It is also at this point that the analyst most benefits from a good RECORDS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM or computerized database with strong querying capabilities and the ability to display the results in matrix form. Comparing current reports with past reports can be more art than science. The scope and complexity of the analyst’s search depends on the nature of the crime and the peculiarities of its various factors. Assume, for instance, that the analyst has before him a report of a commercial burglary committed between 22:00 and 04:00 the previous night. One or more burglars entered a hair salon in the City Square business district, pried open the register, and stole $400 in cash. They also poured bottles of hair conditioner all over the floor and smeared it on the salon’s mirrors and windows. If the analyst works for a small town in which commercial burglaries are rare, he may decide to review
all commercial burglaries in the past year and compare the current incident to it. In city in which commercial burglaries are more common, the analyst may try any or all of the following searches, and more:
• Commercial burglaries in the City Square district in the past three months
• All commercial burglaries for the past two weeks
• Commercial burglaries in hair salons over the past year
• Commercial burglaries in retail establishments in which cash was stolen, or registers targeted,during the past three months
• Commercial burglaries involving unnecessary vandalism (the crime’s signature) over the past
three years
• All crimes reported at this location or in this block in the past month
The goal is to broaden the scope of the search as much as possible, without returning more reports than is reasonable for the analyst to review and compare. For crimes with unique signatures (e.g., the burglar writes “Helter Skelter” on the wall with his own blood), it would not be unreasonable for the analyst to search his entire database for similar incidents. For more standard and common crimes (e.g., the theft of a cellular telephone from a car), the analyst does better to limit his search to crimes in the same area that happened fairly recently. The analyst’s ability to design effective queries will increase as he better learns both his jurisdiction and the nature of crime committed within it.

http://www.iaca.net/Resources/Articles/identifyingcrimepatterns.pdf

Cyberpatterns

CyberPatterns

By: Kendra Trussel

In todays day in age cyber bullying is on the rise, higher than it has ever been before. This is going on with students from the age of lower middle school all the way up into college. Everywhere you look people are using computers for banking, messaging, school work, keeping up with families, gaming, and many other things. People are leaving much to many things open to the public when it comes to the internet. Cyber crime is causing big problems from criminologist nowadays because technology is improving so quickly, and it is difficult to detect through law enforcement channels. There are many times of cyber crime such as fraud, cyber bullying, and cyber terrorism. Many of these are on the rise and only growing. 

The two growing the most right now are cyber bullying, and identity theft. This is the reason why so many sites have multiple passwords security questions, and multiple other things you have to go through to even get into your account. People in todays society want everything easy and at their disposal but this is what makes it easier for others to get a hold of their information but they use it so loosely.  This is why hackers are having more troubles getting to information so quickly. 

Cyber bullying is on the rise and it is going fast, I think this is something we will be seeing for years to come. There are so many social media sites out there that it is making it more assessable for people to get bullied. With Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Myspace it is easy to track and stalk anyone at the source of your finger tips. 

There are many laws that are now coming into affect with cyber crimes. But this is not stopping them completely, and until we get better technology that people can purchase to completely make sure this doesn’t happen and they can protect themselves and their information, I don’t see these problems going away. 

Resources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victimology
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/criminal_mind/profiling/victimology/1.html

Legal Issues