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Criminal Profiling is Junk Science

The latest issue of Skeptic has a fascinating critique of criminal profiling entitled, "Criminal Profiling:     Granfalloons and Gobbledygook."  Unfortunately, it's available to subscribers only.  Fortunately, the article's author, psychologist Paul Taylor, has another article on criminal profiling available online: Criminal profiling (CP) is the practice of using crime scene evidence to infer the personality, behavioural, and demographic characteristics of the offender who committed the crime.  The increased usage of CP by police investigators around the world over the past three decades suggests that police officers generally believe that CP works.  Given the lack of compelling scientific evidence that CP is a reliable, valid, or useful psychologically-based investigative technique, it seems prudent to ask officers about their perceptions of CP and its application...continue to full post

Full post as published by Crime & Federalism on August 13, 2008 (boomark / email).