Behavioural Profiling In Serial Crime: Emerging Patterns And Limitations
- IJLLR Journal
- May 11
- 1 min read
Megha Sharma, LL.M. in Criminal and Security Law, LLB. from Delhi University
ABSTRACT
Behavioral profiling has become an integral part of serial crime investigations that integrates criminology, psychology, and analysis of forensic evidence . It attempts to deduce the personality of the offender by studying the crime scene and victimology through the integration of psychological and sociological criminological theories. Groundbreaking books such as John Douglas's Mindhunter and Stanton Samenow's Inside the Criminal Mind have defined the theoretical model of offender profiling, and demonstrated to us the psychological basis of serial crime. Profiling methodologies have developed through case studies such as Ted Bundy and others have honed our knowledge of serial offenders. However, cases such as BTK (Dennis Rader) and the Green River Killer (Gary Ridgway) demonstrate the limitations, since offenders do not always meet the usual profiling requirements. Legally profiling remains controversial, since courts usually state that the conclusions are too speculative to qualify as evidentiary standards. Also, globally profiling methods vary from the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) in the US to the investigative psychology units in the UK. This paper synthesizes all these references by looking at the evolution of behavioral profiling and its integration into modern investigation strategies, and the need for empirical validation and legal scrutiny.
Keywords: Behavioral profiling, criminological theory, psychological insight, forensic evidence, serial crime, FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit, Ted Bundy, Dennis Rader, Gary Ridgway, investigative psychology, legal admissibility, empirical validation.
