Analysis of Serial Murder Profiling - Literature review Example

Profiling Introduction: The gradual shift to criminal profiling was developed during the of the twentieth century, with the idea of providinga preventive measure against crime. Criminal profiling aims to discover correlations between the criminal activity in question and certain traits that go along with such crimes, in order to narrow down the range of possible suspects whose activities an then be monitored through surveillance. Some of the criminal profiles developed in the 1960s and 70s were hijacker profiles, smuggler profiles and drug carrier profiles.(Heumann and Cassak, 2001). The development of profiling is a move towards order-maintenance policing, through which the police depend upon offender profiles in order to determine the potential for criminal activity and to take necessary preventive action.(Harcourt, 2001) The profile of the serial killer: Serial killing has been defined as “repetitive killings…where the relationship between the victim and the offender is that of a stranger or slight acquaintance and the motivation to kill……” (Holmes and DeBurger, 1988: 138). Killings of this nature may not be motivated by the need to grab money, rather they may be carried out for sexual satisfaction, the thrill of the act or to achieve dominance over their victims. Through the development of an offender profile, police can often predict when and where a crime is likely to be committed and may be able to save potential victims. Serial killers are classified as such by the FBI when they have carried out three separate murders and some time has elapsed between each of the murders. A general profile of a serial killer is provided by Apsche (1993) as follows: Serials killers are generally (a) white males who are (b) in their late twenties or early thirties. Apsche also states that (c) about 71% of these killers tend to carry out their crimes within a specific localized geographical location, “rather than traveling wide distances to commit their crimes.” (Apsche 1993:16). Moreover, another aspect of the criminal profile of the serial killer is that he is usually the result of a dysfunctional childhood and overbearing parents. Adolescence is generally unhappy, characterized by the inability to integrate socially with others or to relate normally with members of the opposite sex. According to Ressler, Burgers and Douglas (1990), this inability to be socially accepted often plagues these individuals with anxiety and a feeling of helplessness, which in turn pushes such individuals into a fantasy world of their own, where three of the most frequently reported coping mechanisms include isolation, day dreaming and isolation. As a result, the individual retreats more and more into his fantasy world to escape the feelings of inadequacy he experiences when interacting with people. While many people may resort to fantasies, some of which may include undesirable social acts, normal people generally do not play out these fantasies due to their conscience inhibiting such activity. However, in the case of a serial killer, he may begin to live to such a great degree in his fantasy world that he begins to act it out in real life and commits murders in order to gain a feeling of power over his victim and subdue the feelings of helplessness and inadequacy. Profile of the stalker: Stalking is the most prevalent form of threat against women and the greater body of research evidence suggests that women are stalked by people whom they know and that stalking is associated with a “history of having being physically abused” (Kinkade et al, 2005, p 16). Studies also corroborate the fact that “stalking should be treated as a significant social problem” (Kinkade et al, 2005, p 19). Unlike the profile of the serial killer, the victim is generally not an unknown person or an acquaintance, rather stalkers appear to perpetuate their crimes on victims they know or have been in intimate relationships with. Tjaden and Thoennes (1998) discovered that 78% of the victims who were stalked were female and that stalkers were more likely to be males – about 87% of stalkers were identified as male in this study. The authors also discovered that about 77% of the victims are stalked by persons who are not strangers but are actually known to them and may have been in an intimate relationship with them – such as a former or current lover, spouse, friend or cohabitant. While the profile of serial killers shows that they are generally in their late twenties, stalkers tend to belong to the older age groups, and their average age ranges upward from 35. The study by Tjaden and Thoennes showed that stalkers also tend to physically harm their victims and in some cases, rape them, in addition to frightening them by stalking behavior. This is especially so when the stalker and the victim have been physically intimate. Moreover, when stalking behavior may be in existence even while a relationship is current, it generally tends to increase once the relationship has ended. In some tragic cases, the victims of stalkers have also been killed, and Morocco, Runyan and Butts (1998) document that 23.4% of the victims in North Carolina who had been stalked by a former intimate partner were later killed. However, in most cases, while stalking is reported to the police, the stalkers are charged with a variety of offenses such as harassment, trespassing, robbery, breaking and entering, etc. (Tjaden and Thoennes, 1998). White collar offender: The white collar offender belongs to a completely different category as compared to the serial killer and the stalker, since the category of his crime does not revolve around physical violence but around crimes using mental acuity. White collar crimes are financial crimes involving cheating, extortion or tampering with funds. Weisbud et al (1991) have carried out an extensive survey of white collar offenders in America. While existing notions about white collar criminals is that they are wealthy people who are manipulating funds for the thrill of it and to greedily feather their own pockets, Weisbud et al have revealed that the average white collar criminal is actually from the middle class. Most of these criminals are educated, white males in their thirties, employed in medium scale and large size corporations. Being in a position where they handle large amounts of funds every day, yet are faced with what they perceive to be a lack of financial wherewithal in their own lives, many middle class employees may resort to such crimes. Greed is also a factor propelling such crimes. Unlike the serial killer, most white collar criminals do not come from dysfunctional homes but are raised in normal backgrounds. They do not engage in violent physical crime, however the normal perception of white collar criminals receiving less severe punishment on the basis of lower levels of severity of their crime is a false one. As Weisbud et al (1991) reveal, judges are not lenient with these criminals. On the contrary they administer much stricter punishment to these individuals who are more privileged than dysfunctional individuals such as serial killers and who should have therefore maintained higher standards of integrity in their conduct. This category of offenders comprises the largest number among all the three groups mentioned above and is most commonly found among mid level management employees who are in a position of some responsibility. Conclusions: On the basis of the above therefore, it may be noted that by profiling, the police can more easily categorize the likelihood of criminal activity. Each of the three categories mentioned above comprises distinct profiles, which are different from each other. While it is some form or the other of insecurity that drives all individuals to criminal activity, a white collar criminal is unlikely to turn out to be a serial killer except in rare cases. The nature of the crime that a white collar criminal engages is not a mindless act geared towards generating fear and submission in the victim, like a serial killer. The white collar crime is a more sophisticated crime that is committed by an educated, possible refined individual. Similarly, the profile of the stalker is often one that targets the women he has been intimate with, while a serial killer attacks indiscriminately but within his particular geographical location. The serial killer’s crime is the most serious, however punishment meted out by the courts may be more severe in the case of white collar workers because they are more aware of the consequences of their actions and therefore more responsibility will accrue upon them. However, when offender profiles are drawn up in every case, policing work is facilitates because it becomes easier for the police to reliably predict the kind of individuals who are likely to commit offences and also the precise kind of offences that they are likely to commit. As a result, surveillance can be introduced upon these individuals which can in turn, function as a preventive measure against crime. By being able to predict the occurrence of criminal activity, the police are also able to effectively perform the deterrent function and pre-empt the crimes before they ever actually take place and thereby protect individual victims of serial killers and stalkers and the general public in the case of the white collar criminal offenders. References: * Apsche, J, 1993. “Probing the mind of a serial killer”. International information Associates. * Harcourt, Bernard E, 2001. “Illusion of order: The False Promise of Broken Windows Policing.” Harvard at pp 23-55 * Heumann, Milton and Cassak, Lance, 2001. “Profiles in Justice? Police Discretion, symbolic assailants and stereotyping.” 53 Rutgers Law Review, 911 at 916-18 * Kinkade, Patrick, Burns, Robert and Fuentes, Angel Ilarraza. (2005). “Criminalizing attractions: Perceptions of Stalking and the Stalker.” Crime and Delinquency, 15 (1):3-25. * Moracco, K., Runyan,W.W., & Butts, J. D, 1998. Femicide in North Carolina, 1991-1993: A Statewide study of patterns and precursors.” Homicide Studies, 2, 422-446. * Ressler, R.K., Burgess, A.W. & Douglas, J.E., 1990.”Sexual Homicide patterns and Motives”. Lexington Books * Tjaden, P., & Thoennes, N, 1998. “Stalking in America: Findings from the national violence against women survey” (NCJ-1669592). National Institute of Justice, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice. Read More