Criminal & Behavioral Profiling

What is the job of a 'criminal profiler' really like? We see these roles played out nightly on tv shows and in the news, but how does law enforcement today actually use empirical data to correctly assess behaviour and help solve crimes, particularly serial crimes?

Criminal and Behavioral Profiling, written by well-established authors Curt and Anne Bartol, presents a realistic and empirically-based look at the theory, research, and practice of modern criminal profiling, or, as it's more professionally termed, behavioural analysis or behavioural investigative analysis. Designed for use in a variety of criminal justice and psychology courses, the book delves into the process of identifying distinctive behavioural tendencies, geographical locations, demographic, and biographical descriptors of offenders, and personality traits, based on characteristics of the crime. Timely literature and case studies from the rapidly growing international research in criminal profiling help students understand the best practices, major pitfalls, and psychological concepts that are key to this process.