PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILING OF SERIAL MURDERERS.   Term Paper ID:14685 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Defines profiling methods & applications, successes & failures, emphasizing case of mass killer Ted Bundy.... More...

5 Pages / 1125 Words 7 sources, 7 Citations, APA Format $20.00 Return to List of Papers

Paper Abstract: Defines profiling methods & applications, successes & failures, emphasizing case of mass killer Ted Bundy. Paper Introduction: This study will discuss in full the investigative aid of profiling serial murderers and other types of criminals. The study will describe what psychological profiling is, how it is carried out, and its potential and effectiveness. Included in the study will be the consideration of the question of whether such profiling could have brought about a more swift capture of mass killer Ted Bundy. The case of Ted Bundy is particularly instructive in any consideration of the effectiveness and potential of profiling mass killers and other serious criminals, because of the fact that Bundy did not fit in any way the categories generally associated wit the typical mass murderer. That is, as Richard Larsen makes clear in his book, Bundy: The Deliberate Stranger, the use of profiling in the Bundy case, as mu Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. (1985). Those such as Bundy, who appearto have "everything going for them," are eliminated with little or noconsideration at all. It is not altogether fair to dismiss the work of such over-confident profilers as Abrahamsen, simply because he is likely correct whenhe suggests that a deeper examination of the criminal mind will revealcertain commonalties. 2-3). The killers were in fact Italian cousins (O'Brien,1985, p. This study will discuss in full the investigative aid of profilingserial murderers and other types of criminals. New York: Plenum. The factis that profiling depends on a thorough examination of the details of acrime and crime scene and method of operation, just as all othercriminological processes do. The Murderer and His Victim. In the case of mass murderers, for example, the profiler begins withthe assumption that the killer lives on the fringes of society to somedegree or another. . (1983). How Many More Victims? (1979). pp. The profilers' work should not be dismissed justbecause these commonalties do not appear to be present, on the surface, insuch cases of mass murder as Bundy's. The case of Ted Bundy is particularly instructive in anyconsideration of the effectiveness and potential of profiling mass killersand other serious criminals, because of the fact that Bundy did not fit inany way the categories generally associated wit the typical mass murderer. New York: Lippincott. Springfield: CharlesThomas. . 165). McDonald, J. The question of profiling, however, is not a matter of fascinationfor the criminologist, but of necessity and utmost urgency. (1986, March). Larsen, R.W. Two of a Kind: The Hillside Stranglers. The killer, who lives on the fringesof society, lives an isolated life as a result of a pattern of failures.His psychological background reveals a hatred of his father and/or mother,and such hatred and rage is then transferred and projected onto his victimsas he commits his crime (Abrahamsen, 1979, p. The problem with the profiling method, then, in the Bundy case, isprecisely the strength of the method in many other cases. The usefulness of profiling is not as a tool, which is used inisolation from other police work, but as a tool, which is well-integratedinto other criminological procedures. NewYork: New American Library. Most conspicuous among these were difficulty in communicating, rebellion against parents, little or no male identifica- tion, a rich fantasy life, a feeling of unworthiness, the wish for revenge, fears, frustration and depression (Abrahamsen, 1979, p. Bundy, however, seemed to most of those that knew him as a happy,energetic, generous and ambitious man who would inevit-ably succeed as aprofessional and well-educated man. He writes that, One important insight I have gained in my many years of psychiatric work is that there is more to the homicide than the murderers own violent act. at times seemed like a niceguy, but . In the case of Bundy, in fact, it was a growing massof circumstantial evidence which led police to conclude that he was thekiller they sought, and not any indication from profiling work (Larsen,198 , p. (1965). In many cases, such as the "Son of Sam" masskiller case in New York, profiling proved to be far more accurate, thoughthe straw that broke Sam's back was a parking ticket and not psychologicalbrilliance on the part of profilers. Groth, A.N. That is, as Richard Larsen makes clear in his book, Bundy: TheDeliberate Stranger, the use of profiling in the Bundy case, as much as itwas actually used or as much as it might have been used, could not havebeen especially effective because it relies on the formation of asuspected personality on the basis of the crimes committed. References Abrahamsen, David. EnglewoodCliffs: Prentice-Hall. O'Brien, Darcy. very moody" (Larsen, 198 , p. Men Who Rape. The horror ofBundy's murders caused the detectives on that case to suspect a man who wasliving anisolated and outwardly and inwardly miserable life. This link is an aspect of the murdering mind, which is most often overlooked or simply omitted when a case comes to trial (Abrahamsen, 1979, pp. The problem with such classification, however, is that it fits thepersonality of most criminals in general and, in fact, a great bulk of thegeneral population which will never engage in serious criminal behavior ofthe sort considered here. Abrahamsen writes: My original impression, based on my work in psychiatric hospitals, in prisons and in state and federal courts, as well as in my private practice, was that most people who killed could be typed by the 'casebook'---that is, they shared certain well established characteristics. 58-64. New York: Harper &Row. The basis of thesuccess of the profiling system in those cases where it does provesuccessful is its reliance on the principle of cause and effect. Consider the words of psychologist David Abrahamsen in hisdescription of killers, mass and otherwise, with whom he came in contactboth after the fact of the crimes and to some degree in the work he did asa profiler before the criminal wasapprehended. Shultz, G.D. In the case of the Hillside Strangler in Los Angeles in which twocousins were finally convicted, profiling had not concluded that the crimeswere being in fact committed by two individuals rather than one. "Changing a Lifetime of Crime."Psychology Today. And he (another assumption of the profiler), is a man,based primarily on the fact that men have been the mass murderers in thepast and that men kill through careful planning more often than women whokill in the passion of the moment). However,in Darcy O'Brien's Two of a Kind we read that a psychic had accuratelyforecast that the killers when apprehended would be discovered to beItalian and brothers. Profiling is a new science,relatively, and should be carefully integrated into crimin-ological work,never deceiving detectives into believing that profilers are magicians withpowers that transcend the hard work of criminology. . hewas a schizoid . . As Larsen (198 ) writes in the Bundycase, one victim who survived described Bundy as "real schitzy, real wildlooking" (p. Profiling can help police narrow downa list of possible suspects by elimination of those suspects who do not fitthe categories of personality indicated by the patterns of the crimes beinginvestigated. 1 5). (1981). And, particularly in the cases of men who do notfit such categorization, as with Ted Bundy, the profiling technique, basedon the most elemental psychological beliefs about human behavior, can evenhinder an investigation. Freeman-Longo, R. . Included in the study will be the consideration of thequestion of whether such profiling could have brought about a more swiftcapture of mass killer Ted Bundy. Abrahamsen suggests that in those cases where profiling is thrown offthe track and fails to come up with an accurate portrait of the killer, thefailure is due to a lack of available evidence rather than to a fundamentalflaw in the system of profiling itself. The general arrogance of the psychological community with regard toits superior knowledge about the mind of the criminal is an important partof the reliance, which many police agencies have placed on psychologists inmass murder cases. Again, however, profiling should not be rejected because of itsshortcomings or even its glaring failures as in the case of Bundy. . So much for the scientific method in that case. In the case of Bundy, however, the categorization process and methodupon which profiling depends did not prove successful because of the narrowvision which profilers bring to the process in the first place. The Murdering Mind. (198 ). 337). 51). Even the massmurderer, as evil or as insane as he may be, is seeking to avoid detectionand is therefore not going to go around and act as if he were a massmurderer. 2). The fact that in many cases the profiling turns out tobe accurate is simply a result of the general psychological make-up ofcriminals and murderers in the first place. 1 4). As important as it is to probe the deepest recesses of the murderers mind in order to clarify his motivation, it is just as important---and fascinating---to study the victim and the often per- plexingly close tie between killer and victim, a relation-ship which often illuminates the character of each. The study will describe whatpsychological profiling is, how it is carried out, and its potential andeffectiveness. Bundy: The Deliberate Stranger. On investigation of Bundy as the detectives weregathering evidence, one investigator "concluded that Bundy, in his life anddealings with people in Salt Lake City, had been a 'loner' who alwaysseemed short of money, and a 'leech.' He . If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.

Many of our Papers can be Downloaded From This Site!

PLEASE READ THIS, IT IS IMPORTANT!

Office hours are Monday through Friday, from 9 am to 5 pm (PST). You may place orders for custom research over the phone during office hours. E-mail requests can be made to our graduate and undergraduate department any time, and will be reviewed during office hours. You may also contact customer service any time through e-mail, and we will review your message during business hours. A great many papers can be downloaded right from this site, but not all of them. If you would like to know if a particular paper is downloadable, just look in the description for: "Available for Internet Download: Y" or "Available for Internet Download: N" If you wish to purchase a paper which is NOT available for immediate download, you will need to make other shipping arrangements. Also, please be aware that these orders are processed Monday through Friday from 9 am to 5 pm (PST). If you place your order after 4:45pm on Friday, it will not be processed until the following Monday morning. We charge $8 per page for all of our pre-written reports, plus shipping (and tax for California residents). However, the highest cost of any ONE report is $136, or 17 pages. Please, take a moment. Make sure you have chosen the report you want or need BEFORE you complete your order. If you are not sure, allow us to help you. We do not offer refunds or exchanges, so it is important for you to let us answer your questions during office hours. Reports which are e-mailed or downloaded are in Microsoft Word format. We are making more reports available for e-mail delivery faster than we can update our listings. Please call to check on the status of particular reports. There are many other shipping options which are listed on the Checkout page.