TOPIC- CRIMINAL PROFILING: COGNITION

BY- RAM KUMAR YADAV

SEMESTER- 4TH
SECTION- B
ROLL NO- 951
WHAT IS CRIMINAL PROFILING
- A technique for predicting the personality,
behavioural, and demographic characteristics of an
individual based upon an analysis of the crimes he or
she has committed.

- Typically used in low volume serious crimes such as

serial murder, serial rape, serial arson.
- It may be used to predict the identified offender’s
future action.
- An educated attempt to provide specific information
about a certain type of suspect.
- A biographical sketch of behavioral patterns, trends
and tendencies.
- Criminal Profiling is used mostly by behavioral
scientists and the police to narrow down an
investigation to those suspects who possess certain
behavioral and personality features that are revealed
by the way a crime was committed.
- The Primary goal is to aid local police in limiting and
refining their suspect list so they can direct their
resources , where they might do the most good.
- Profilers sketch a general biographical description of
the most likely type of unknown suspect . Another
key use of a profile is , when necessary, to go
proactive, which means letting the public become a
partner in crime solving.
Types of Profiling
Inductive Profiling
 Profiling an offender from what is known about other

offenders

Deductive profiling
 Profiling an offender from evidence relating to the

crime of that offender

Inductive Profiling
 80% of serial killers who attack people in parking
lots are white males

Our offender has attacked three people in parking,

therefore it is likely that our offender is a white male.
Deductive Profiling
 Body of a victim is found in a locked warehouse in
busy waterfront section

Offenders can easily access warehouse and feels

comfortable in the area.
Steps in Criminal Profiling

- Analyzing the criminal act and comparing it to similar

crimes in past.
- An in-depth analysis of the actual crime scene.
- Considering the victim’s background and activities
for possible motives and connections.
- Considering other possible motives.
The Process of Criminal Profiling
The Process of Criminal Profiling can be divided into
five stages:
 Profiling Inputs
 Decision Processing
 Crime Assessment
 The Offender Profile
 Investigative Use
Cognition
- The term Cognition describes those mental process
that allow us to perform day to day functions.
e.g. The ability to pay attention, to remember and to
solve problems are all parts of cognition.
- Cognition or Cognitive process is used in Criminal
Profiling.
- Cognitive process or cognition aims to recall by
subjects who are co-operative but unable to narrate
the incident.
 The Cognitive process consist of some strategies for
criminal profiling
-The questioning should be compatible with the
cognitive abilities of the person.
-The Probe should be of a specific nature to facilitate
the flow of information and to ensure that all
elements are covered specifically asking about things
such as the time at which events took place.
- Mentally reinstate the incident including their feelings
associated with it and external factors that they are
able to recall.
- Try to report the events in a number of different
sequences.
- Report events from alternative Perspectives like that
of another witness, the offender or from other
physical location.
- Retrieval method has to be varied and extensive in
order to facilitate recall to the maximum.
- The techniques like cognitive test is also used in
forensic field, in cases involving head injury, toxic
exposure or questions of competency or capacity.
REFERENCES
 Canter, D. V. (2011). Resolving the offender "profiling
equations" and the emergence of an investigative psychology.
Current Directions in Psychological Science, 20(1), 5-10.
 Schlesinger, L. B. (2009). Psychological profiling: Investigative
implications from crime scene analysis. Journal of Psychiatry
and Law, 37(1), 73-84.
 Yonge, K. C., & Jacquin, K. M. (2010). Criminal profile
accuracy following training in inductive and deductive
approaches. American Journal of Forensic Psychology, 28(3), 5-
24.
 Criminal profile information by Gregg McCrary, former FBI
agent and professor forensic pathology, for trutv.com
THANK YOU