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Future trends in criminal profiling and behavioral analysis.

This article explores the evolving landscape of criminal profiling and behavioral analysis within the context of the United States criminal justice system. Commencing with a historical overview and significance of these methodologies, the current state of traditional techniques and their integration with advanced technologies, particularly artificial intelligence and machine learning, is examined. Through the lens of case studies, the successes, challenges, and limitations of contemporary practices are delineated. The subsequent section forecasts future trends in criminal profiling, emphasizing the burgeoning role of neuroscientific approaches, big data analytics, and the consideration of cultural and societal factors. Nevertheless, amidst the optimism surrounding these innovations, the article critically examines emerging challenges, including ethical concerns, reliability and validity issues, and legal implications. The concluding section consolidates key insights, summarizing the current state of criminal profiling, forecasting its future trajectory, and underscoring the imperative for a balanced approach that incorporates scientific advancements while safeguarding ethical and legal standards. Overall, this comprehensive exploration provides a nuanced understanding of the dynamic field of criminal profiling and behavioral analysis, shedding light on both its promises and potential pitfalls.

Introduction

Criminal profiling and behavioral analysis represent crucial facets of contemporary investigative methodologies within the criminal justice system. In understanding the complexities of criminal behavior, profiling endeavors to create comprehensive profiles of potential offenders, while behavioral analysis seeks to decipher behavioral patterns indicative of criminal activity. This article delves into these practices, providing a nuanced exploration of their historical roots and contemporary significance.

Criminal profiling involves the systematic analysis of crime scene evidence, witness statements, and other pertinent information to construct a behavioral profile of potential offenders. On the other hand, behavioral analysis delves into the study of actions, reactions, and behavioral patterns exhibited by individuals in a criminal context. Together, these methodologies contribute to a multidimensional understanding of criminal behavior, aiding law enforcement agencies in their investigative pursuits.

The roots of criminal profiling can be traced back to the early 20th century, with pioneers like Dr. James A. Brussel, whose work in the 1950s laid the foundation for psychological profiling. Over the decades, profiling techniques evolved, influenced by advancements in psychology, criminology, and forensic science. Behavioral analysis, as a distinct discipline, gained prominence in the latter half of the 20th century, propelled by the work of notable figures such as John E. Douglas and Robert Ressler. The historical trajectory of these techniques illuminates the dynamic nature of their development and application in criminal investigations.

Criminal profiling serves as a crucial tool for law enforcement agencies in narrowing down potential suspects, prioritizing leads, and allocating resources effectively. By deciphering behavioral clues, investigators can develop targeted strategies to apprehend perpetrators, ultimately enhancing the efficiency of criminal investigations.

The successes of criminal profiling are evident in numerous high-profile cases where accurate profiles contributed to the identification and apprehension of offenders. Notable examples include the capture of the “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski and the profiling efforts in the investigation of the D.C. Sniper attacks. These successes underscore the tangible impact of profiling on solving complex criminal cases and achieving justice.

Current State of Criminal Profiling and Behavioral Analysis

In the contemporary landscape of criminal justice, the practice of criminal profiling and behavioral analysis has evolved to incorporate a diverse array of methods, blending traditional techniques with cutting-edge technologies to enhance investigative precision.

Traditional psychological profiling involves the analysis of offender behavior through the lens of psychology, considering factors such as personality traits, motivations, and potential triggers. Psychologists and criminal profilers leverage their expertise to create profiles that assist investigators in understanding the mindset of the perpetrator.

Behavioral analysis encompasses the systematic examination of behavioral patterns exhibited by criminals. This approach involves studying crime scenes, victimology, and offender modus operandi to discern recurring behavioral traits. The aim is to construct a behavioral profile that aids investigators in anticipating future actions and narrowing down the pool of potential suspects.

In the contemporary era, the integration of advanced data analytics has become pivotal in criminal profiling. Law enforcement agencies leverage vast datasets to identify patterns, trends, and correlations that may elude conventional investigative methods. The analysis of large datasets facilitates a more data-driven and comprehensive understanding of criminal behavior.

The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) has revolutionized criminal profiling. These technologies can process vast amounts of data at unprecedented speeds, enabling the identification of subtle patterns and associations. AI and ML algorithms are increasingly employed to augment traditional profiling efforts, offering a more dynamic and adaptable approach to behavioral analysis.

Numerous case studies illustrate the efficacy of criminal profiling in solving complex crimes. The case of the “BTK Killer” Dennis Rader is a notable example where profiling played a pivotal role in his eventual apprehension. Additionally, the Green River Killer investigation showcased how behavioral analysis contributed to identifying and capturing the serial killer Gary Ridgway.

While advancements in criminal profiling are significant, challenges persist. Issues such as the potential for cognitive biases in profiling, the over-reliance on technology without human intuition, and the need for standardized practices pose ongoing challenges. Striking a balance between technological innovation and established investigative methods remains a critical consideration in the current state of criminal profiling.

Emerging Trends and Innovations

As criminal profiling and behavioral analysis continue to evolve, emerging trends and innovations are shaping the future of these investigative methodologies. The integration of neuroscientific approaches, the utilization of big data and predictive analytics, and the consideration of cultural and societal factors mark key areas of advancement in the field.

A paradigm shift is underway with the integration of neuroscience into criminal profiling. Researchers and investigators are exploring the neural underpinnings of criminal behavior, aiming to identify neurological markers associated with specific criminal tendencies. This interdisciplinary approach seeks to deepen our understanding of the biological factors influencing criminal actions.

The advent of advanced brain imaging technologies, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG), offers unprecedented insights into the workings of the human brain. These technologies hold the potential to reveal patterns of brain activity associated with criminal intent or predispositions. The exploration of brain imaging in profiling opens new avenues for understanding and predicting criminal behavior.

The era of big data has transformed criminal profiling by providing access to extensive datasets for analysis. Predictive analytics, powered by machine learning algorithms, sift through massive amounts of data to identify patterns, correlations, and anomalies. This data-driven approach enables investigators to anticipate criminal behavior, prioritize leads, and allocate resources more efficiently.

While the use of big data and predictive analytics offers unprecedented potential, ethical considerations and privacy concerns come to the forefront. Striking a balance between the benefits of advanced analytics and the protection of individual privacy is a critical challenge. Ensuring transparency, informed consent, and ethical data handling practices is imperative to navigate the ethical landscape of predictive profiling.

Recognizing the influence of cultural factors on behavior, contemporary profiling approaches increasingly consider cultural nuances. Behavioral analysts take into account cultural backgrounds, societal norms, and contextual elements to construct more accurate and culturally sensitive profiles. This shift acknowledges the diversity of human behavior and emphasizes the importance of a culturally informed approach to profiling.

Rapid societal changes, including advancements in technology, shifts in social dynamics, and globalization, have profound implications for criminal profiling. The evolution of online spaces, for example, has given rise to new forms of criminal activity. Profilers must adapt to these changes, understanding their impact on criminal behavior and adjusting methodologies accordingly.

The integration of neuroscientific approaches, big data analytics, and a nuanced consideration of cultural and societal factors represents a transformative phase in the evolution of criminal profiling and behavioral analysis. These emerging trends hold the promise of enhancing the accuracy and efficiency of investigative processes while presenting new challenges that demand careful consideration and ethical deliberation.

Challenges and Criticisms in Future Trends

As the landscape of criminal profiling and behavioral analysis embraces future trends and innovations, a concomitant set of challenges and criticisms emerges. The ethical, scientific, and legal dimensions of these advancements raise important considerations that demand careful scrutiny.

The integration of advanced technologies, particularly those involving big data and neuroscientific approaches, raises profound privacy concerns. The collection and analysis of extensive personal data, including neurological information, demand rigorous safeguards to protect individual privacy rights. Striking a balance between the investigatory benefits of technology and the preservation of civil liberties becomes a paramount ethical challenge.

The vast amount of data collected for profiling purposes carries the inherent risk of misuse. Concerns arise regarding the unauthorized access, manipulation, or misinterpretation of profiling data, leading to false accusations or unwarranted infringements on individual rights. Establishing robust protocols for data access, storage, and disposal is essential to mitigate the risk of misuse.

Despite the promise of emerging trends, skepticism persists regarding the scientific rigor of neuroscientific and predictive profiling approaches. Critics question the reliability and validity of findings derived from these methodologies, emphasizing the need for transparency in research methodologies and the validation of results through rigorous scientific scrutiny. Addressing these concerns is crucial for establishing the credibility of evolving profiling techniques.

The absence of standardized validation procedures for emerging profiling methods poses a significant challenge. Establishing universally accepted benchmarks for the validation of neuroscientific findings and predictive analytics models is imperative. Without standardized procedures, the reliability and generalizability of profiling outcomes may be compromised, hindering the acceptance of these innovations within the scientific and legal communities.

The admissibility of profiling evidence in court proceedings raises intricate legal questions. Courts must grapple with the reliability and relevance of profiling data, weighing its probative value against potential prejudicial effects. Establishing legal standards for the admission of profiling evidence necessitates a nuanced understanding of the strengths and limitations of emerging profiling methodologies.

The integration of advanced technologies in profiling requires a delicate balance between leveraging technological advancements and upholding legal rights. Ensuring due process, protecting against unwarranted intrusions, and safeguarding the rights of the accused are paramount considerations. Legal frameworks must evolve to accommodate technological innovations while maintaining a commitment to justice and individual rights.

In navigating the future trends of criminal profiling and behavioral analysis, addressing these ethical, reliability, and legal challenges is imperative. The responsible development and application of profiling techniques require a multidisciplinary approach that encompasses the perspectives of ethics, science, and law to ensure that the pursuit of justice remains consonant with societal values and individual rights.

In summarizing the intricate landscape of criminal profiling and behavioral analysis, this exploration has illuminated both the current state and promising future trends in investigative methodologies.

The current state of criminal profiling and behavioral analysis reflects a dynamic fusion of traditional methods and cutting-edge technologies. From psychological profiling to the integration of artificial intelligence, the field has witnessed a transformative evolution. Emerging trends, including neuroscientific approaches and big data analytics, hold the promise of unprecedented insights into criminal behavior. However, a nuanced understanding of these trends necessitates acknowledging the challenges inherent in their application.

Amidst the excitement of technological advancements, it is paramount to underscore the critical importance of maintaining vigilance regarding ethical and legal considerations. Privacy issues, potential misuse of data, and the need for standardized validation procedures demand ongoing scrutiny. Balancing the quest for justice with the protection of individual rights is essential for the responsible evolution of criminal profiling.

The future of criminal profiling holds the promise of continued innovation and refinement. As neuroscientific approaches mature, and predictive analytics become more sophisticated, the field is likely to witness a paradigm shift in understanding and predicting criminal behavior. The integration of technologies and methodologies will likely become more seamless, providing investigators with a more comprehensive toolkit for solving complex cases.

The evolving nature of criminal profiling necessitates a collaborative approach. The intersection of psychology, neuroscience, data science, and law enforcement expertise underscores the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration. Researchers, law enforcement agencies, and legal experts must work in tandem to address the challenges posed by emerging trends, ensuring that advancements in profiling are grounded in robust science and aligned with ethical and legal standards.

As we stand on the precipice of a new era in criminal profiling, the lessons gleaned from the past and the challenges identified in the present provide a roadmap for the responsible and ethical evolution of these crucial investigative methodologies. By embracing innovation, staying attuned to ethical considerations, and fostering collaboration across disciplines, the field of criminal profiling is poised to make substantial contributions to the pursuit of justice in the years to come.

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• v.28(5); 2021

Reframing criminal profiling: a guide for integrated practice

Wayne petherick.

a Criminology Department, Faculty of Society and Design, Bond University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia

Nathan Brooks

b School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, Central Queensland University, Townsville, QLD, Australia

Profiling aims to identify the major personality and behavioural characteristics of offenders from their interactions in the crime. The discipline has undergone numerous changes and advances since its first modern use by the psychological/psychiatric community. The current paper reviews the different approaches to criminal profiling, exploring the reasoning and justification utilised across profiling practices. Profiling aims to assist criminal investigators; however, the variance in profiling approaches has contributed to inconsistency across the field, bringing the utility of profiling into question. To address the current areas of practice deficit in criminal profiling, a framework is proposed to promote integrated practice. The CRIME approach provides a framework (consisting of crime scene evaluations, relevancy of research, investigative or clinical opinions, methods of investigation, and evaluation) to promote structure and uniformity in profile development, aiming to assist in the reliability of the practice by providing an integrative framework for developing profiles.

In its most basic form, criminal profiling (also known as offender profiling and behavioural profiling, among others) is an investigative tool to discern offender characteristics from behaviour. This base understanding is common to most, if not all, approaches to profiling, with the main difference between practices being the reasoning and decision-making processes used to arrive at the final profile (Petherick, 2014a , 2014b ). Despite the level of scientific reasoning being notably different across the approaches, there has been little attempt to understand what this reasoning is and how it impacts on profile content. Profiling has been subject to discrepancies across practice, with a dearth of processes or principles to promote integrated practice. There have, however, been many attempts to understand more advanced aspects of profiling such as the accuracy of one group over another (Kocsis et al., 2000 ; Pinizzotto & Finkel, 1990 ), or the assistance offered by profilers to end consumers (Cole & Brown, 2011 ; Copson, 1995 ), mental health professional’s attitudes to profiling (Torres et al., 2006 ) and the operational utility of offender profiling (Gekoski & Gray, 2011 ).

Criminal profiling details the characteristics of the likely perpetrator of a given crime. Far from having an abstract relationship to criminal profiling, logic is pivotal to constructing rational and robust arguments about offender characteristics, not only in the profile itself but also in the communication of the elements of the profile to consumers. Indeed, devoid of any logical process, conclusions about the offender remain nothing more than unfounded assumption or ill-informed guesswork. The type of logic reasoning employed by the profiler is the most fundamental difference between approaches, and it is critical to consider the different types of reasoning employed across profiling practices. Logic, the process of argumentation, is defined by Farber ( 1942 , p. 41) as ‘a unified discipline which investigates the structure and validity of ordered knowledge’. Further, according to Battacharyya ( 1958 , p. 326):

Logic is usually defined as the science of valid thought. But as thought may mean either the act of thinking of the object of valid thought, we get two definitions of logic: logic as the science (1) of the act of valid thinking, or (2) of the objects of valid thinking.

Stock ( 2004 , p. 8) adopts a different approach:

Logic may be declared to be both the science and the art of thinking. It is the art of thinking in the same sense that grammar is the art of speaking. Grammar is not in itself the right use of words, but a knowledge of it enables men to use words correctly. In the same way a knowledge of logic enables men to think correctly or at least to avoid incorrect thoughts. As an art, logic may be called the navigation of the sea of thought.

It is the purpose of logic to analyse the methods by which valid judgements are obtained in any science or discourse, which is met by the formulation of general laws dictating the validity of judgements (Farber, 1942 ). More than simply providing a theoretical framework for structuring arguments, the basic principles of logic allow for a more rigorous formulation and testing of any argument. A better understanding of this theoretical framework provides a better understanding of the processes employed by the profiler, as well as the discipline itself. Additionally, the difference in the ways that profiles are argued is of great practical importance (Goldsworthy, 2001 , p. 30):

One important factor that should be considered is how acceptable the method of profiling is to those who will be using the profile. . . . Like any product, the profile must be end-user friendly. Few law enforcement personnel have qualifications in psychology or related disciplines, and it is this very fact that can make investigators dubious as to how conclusions presented in the profile were reached. For instance, a claim that a particular type of serial murderer will be 40 years old, white and a blue collar worker will be treated with derision by investigators unless it can be shown how that conclusion was reached, and further that the conclusion is likely to be true.

Goldsworthy argues two key points: first, that logic and reasoning should be employed in the construction of the profile, and, second, that the logic and reasoning employed be clearly elucidated throughout. While it should stand to reason that logic and reasoning should be used in profiling, we use the term in a more formal sense to move the process away from such idiosyncrasies as ‘intuition’ or ‘common sense’.

There are primarily three types of logic used in developing profiles: induction, abduction and deduction. Rather than representing different types of logic, these are best thought of as different points along the logical continuum, beginning with various hypotheses about what may have occurred or that may be true (induction), and through the scientific method we falsify each conclusion until we are left with the best possible explanation (abduction) or only one that is based on universal laws or principles and cannot be falsified (deduction). Sometimes, because of the nature of human behaviour, evidence dynamics or active attempts to thwart the investigation (referred to as staging, among others), we are left with the best explanation for the evidence we are observing – that is, abduction.

An inductive argument is where the conclusion is likely or a matter of probability based on supporting premises, such as physical evidence or research. While a good inductive argument provides strong support for the conclusion, the argument is still not infallible. For example, in research on behavioural consistency, Bateman and Salfati ( 2007 ) found that hiding the body occurred 67.8% of the time, and that moving the body after the homicide occurred in 61.1% of the time. While cited as high-frequency behaviours, these results suggest that each will only be found approximately two thirds of the time. As a result, investigators using a profile that reports such statistical inferences may equate probability with certainty. However, these behaviours occur in some cases and not others, raising an issue with both the utility of this information and in determining where offending behaviour is consistent and inconsistent with research. This may be especially true in cases where the level of certainty is communicated in a vague or general way, such as ‘most of the time the body will be hidden’. While technically true, this argument does not communicate the exact level of certainty.

Induction proceeds from a specific set of observations to a generalisation known as a premise, and the premise is a working assumption (Thornton, 1997 ). From observations in each case, comparisons are made to determine the level of similarity to past cases sharing similar features. These similarities provide generalisations that may then be offered as a conclusion in the current case. For example, a woman is found murdered, and a generalised conclusion is reached that the suspect is likely to be male, due to male offenders perpetrating between 85–90% of homicides (Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI], 2002 ; Mouzos, 2005 ). The central premise in induction is similarity, where analysis of unlawful activity reveals that criminal activity often has common features (Navarro & Schafer, 2003 ). The application of inductive logic where the similarity is drawn from research on criminal behavioural patterns can be appreciated through the following (Kocsis, 2001 , p. 32):

To use this model to produce a psychological profile, behaviours from any of the [behaviour] patterns are compared and matched with those of the unsolved case. Once a behaviour pattern has been matched with the unsolved case it can be cross referenced with offender characteristics.

Abduction is a style of reasoning that could be summed up as reasoning to the best explanation (Davis et al., 2018 ). That is, the evidence in a case is more indicative of a single hypothesis from a number of possible hypotheses, though not inclusive of one to the exclusion of all others. According to Niiniluoto ( 1999 ) this type of reasoning has been the staple heuristic method of classical detective stories, and ‘the logic of the “deductions” of Sherlock Holmes is typically abductive’ (p. S441).

Deduction relies on induction, where hypotheses are drawn based on case similarities and are then tested against the evidence in the current case. Offender characteristics are arrived at through a systematic study of the patterns and themes present in the physical and behavioural evidence, where if the premise is true, the conclusion must also be true (Bevel & Gardner, 2008 ). Neblett ( 1985 , p. 114) goes further, stating that ‘ if the conclusion is false, then at least one of the premises must be false ’. For this reason, when employing a deductive approach, it is incumbent on the profiler to establish the validity of each and every premise before drawing conclusions from them.

Because a deductive argument is structured so that the conclusion is implicitly contained within the premise unless the reasoning is invalid, the conclusion will follow as a matter of course. Put another way, a deductive argument is designed to go from truth to truth. A deductive argument will therefore be valid if (Alexandra et al., 2002 , p. 65):

• It is not logically possible for the conclusions to be false if the premises are true.
• The conclusions must be true, if the premises are true.
• It would be contradictory to assert the premises yet deny the conclusions.

In profiling, deduction relies upon the scientific method which is a ‘reasoned step by step procedure involving observations and experimentation in problem solving’ (Bevel, 2001 , p. 154). Induction, abduction and deduction relying on the scientific method go hand-in-hand in criminal profiling: theories are developed based on research and experience (induction), which are then examined in light of the current case to determine which may or may not be true given the available evidence (abduction), and attempts are then made to falsify those that remain through hypothesis testing and revision (the scientific method that in ideal scenarios would lead to deduction). Only when theories have withstood this process of falsification can they be considered complete, and that a truth has been determined.

While there is no conclusive data on the commonality and occurrences of profiling practices, it would make reasoned sense to suggest that induction is the most common, given that many approaches rely on statistics or case experience in developing the final profile. Furthermore, induction is the foundation for both abduction and deduction. Owing to the nature of crime scenes and criminal behaviour and the lack of universal principle in human behaviour overall, deduction would be considered the least common type of reasoning, making abduction second by default. Although deduction is concerned with absolutes, abduction centres on probable reasoning derived through hypothesis testing. Hence, in abductive reasoning, conclusions are reached without the reliance on a definitive cause, instead determined based on the likelihood, feasibility and practicality of a given hypothesis. According to Niiniluoto ( 1999 ), in consideration of Pierce’s ( 1898 ) position on an abductive argument, the following is concluded (p. S439):

• The surprising fact C is observed.
• But if A were true, C would be a matter of course.
• Hence, there is reason to suspect that A is true.

The use of abductive reasoning is common practice in the clinical process of differential diagnosis, along with providing the underpinnings for crime assessment and profile development (Davis et al., 2018 ; Rainbow & Gregory, 2011 ). As Davis et al. ( 2018 ) observed, ‘profilers should take time to argue against their opinions and consider alternate hypotheses (p. 187–206). Consequently, the current review intends to examine the reasoning and decision making employed across offender profiling. The major profiling practices are discussed, and the utility of these approaches explored. As noted by Fox and Farrington ( 2018 ), ‘there appears to be substantial variation in what is considered to be OP [offender profiling], who is conducting it, the methodology and approach that is used, the findings that are achieved, as well as where and how the results are presented’ (p. 1248). The significant differences amongst approaches to offender profiling, along with widespread disputes between practitioners, have greatly impeded the field (Fox et al., 2020 ). These limitations have caused scepticism about the investigative utility of profiling, along with the scientific efficacy of the practice (Fox et al., 2020 ). For offender profiling to have scientific validity and more widespread recognition in investigations and admissibility in court, a uniformed approach to practise remains essential (Fox & Farrington, 2018 ; Freckelton, 2008 ). The current review contends that for profiling to be recognised as a scientific and evidence-based tool, homogeny in practice must be achieved, best viewed through an integrative approach to offender profiling.

Profiling approaches

While there is considerable overlap between practitioners and how they approach the development of a profile, there are also significant differences. Whether these constitute enough to be considered different methodologies is currently a subject of debate, with some suggesting that differences are more about emphasis on various parts of the process (Davis et al., 2018 ).

Criminal investigative analysis

Owing to its depiction in film and television, perhaps the best known profiling approach would be that developed by the FBI. Criminal investigative analysis, or CIA, is inductive and abductive with its roots in early law enforcement attempts to understand patterns of criminal behaviour. Early CIA thinking allocated offenders to one of two types: The organised asocial and the disorganised nonsocial, with these terms first appearing in The Lust Murderer in 1980 (see Hazelwood & Douglas, 1980 ). Between 1979 and 1983, FBI agents interviewed offenders in federal custody (see Burgess & Ressler, 1985 ) to formalise this taxonomy and determine whether there were consistent features across offences that may be useful in classifying future offenders (Petherick, 2014a ). At these early stages, the FBI method employed this organised/disorganised typology as a decision process model, which classifies offenders by virtue of the level of sophistication, planning and competence evident in the crime scene. According to the study’s authors, ‘the agents involved in profiling were able to classify murders as either organised or disorganised in the commission of their crimes ’ further noting that ‘ because this method of identifying offenders was based largely on a combination of experience and intuition, it had its failures as well as its successes’ (Burgess & Ressler, 1985 , p. 3). Indeed, the study’s two quantitative objectives were to first identify whether there are crime scene differences between organised and disorganised murderers and second to identify variables that may be useful in profiling sexual murderers for which organised and disorganised murderers differ. However, Douglas et al. ( 1986 ), acknowledged that profile development did not solely rely on a classification of organised or disorganised, explaining that profiles are derived through ‘the classification of the crime, its organised/disorganised aspects, the offender’s selection of a victim, strategies used to control the victim, the sequence of the crime, the staging (or not) of the crime, the offender’s motivation for the crime and the crime scene dynamics’ (p. 412).

An organised crime is one with evidence of planning, where the victim is a targeted stranger, where the crime scene reflects overall control, restraints are used, and there are aggressive acts prior to death. This suggests the offender is organised with the crime scene being a reflection of personality; they will generally be above average intelligence, be socially competent, prefer skilled work, have a high birth order, have a controlled mood during the crime, and are more likely to use alcohol (Douglas & Burgess, 1986 ; Ressler et al., 1992 ). Conversely, a disorganised crime shows spontaneity, where the victim or location is known, the crime scene is random and sloppy, there is sudden violence, minimal restraints are used, and there are sexual acts after death. This is again suggestive of the personality of the offender, with a disorganised offender being below average intelligence and socially inadequate, and having lower birth order, anxious mood during the crime and minimal use of alcohol or drugs (Douglas & Burgess, 1986 ; Ressler et al., 1992 ). Despite having discrete classifications, it is generally acknowledged that no one offender will fit so neatly into either type, with most being categorised as ‘mixed’ – that is, having elements of both types. The FBI dichotomy has received criticism from some practitioners (Canter et al., 2004 ; Canter & Heritage, 1990 ; Canter & Youngs, 2003 ), and there have been limited empirical findings published by the FBI in relation to practice changes (Fox & Farrington, 2018 ). One exception to this was the study conducted by Morton et al. ( 2014 ), who observed that ‘Dichotomous typologies by their very nature have challenges, as an “either/or” choice, cannot possibly explain complex, multiple event human interactions’ (p. 5). Further to this, Morton and colleagues suggested that profiling should serve as a tool that provides law enforcement investigators with investigative information, rather than providing classifications from predetermined categories or cumbersome typologies.

Diagnostic evaluations

Diagnostic evaluations do not represent a single profiling method per se but are instead a generic description of the services offered by mental health professionals, and largely rely on clinical judgement (Bradley, 2003 ). The profile provided by psychiatrist Dr James Brussel in 1956 to assist in the ‘Mad Bomber’ case is by far the most famous example of this approach to profiling (Brussel, 1968 ). In the early stages of profiling, the diagnostic and clinical approach occurred on an as-needed basis (Wilson et al., 1997 ), usually as one part of a broad range of psychological services. The contribution of mental health experts to investigations took shape when various police services asked whether clinical interpretations of unknown offenders might help in identification and apprehension (Canter, 1989 ). Even though other methods have come to the fore, largely eclipsing these early contributions, at the time of publication, Copson ( 1995 ) claimed that over half of the profiling done in the United Kingdom was by psychologists and psychiatrists using a clinical approach. In an early study of the range of services offered by police psychologists, Bartol ( 1996 ) found that, on average, 2% of the total monthly workload of in-house psychologists was spent on profiling, and that 3.4% of the monthly workload of part-time consultants was spent on profiling. Interestingly, despite diagnostic evaluations being among the earliest approaches, research on the attitudes of clinical practitioners revealed scepticism of profiling as a whole. For example, Bartol ( 1996 ) found that 70% of those questioned did not feel comfortable giving this advice, and felt that the practice was questionable. What is more (Bartol, 1996 , p. 79):

One well-known police psychologist with more than 20 years of experience in the field, considered criminal profiling ‘virtually pointless and dangerous’. Many of the respondents wrote that much more research needs to be done before the process becomes a useful tool.

Torres et al. ( 2006 ) show similar disdain for the practice. Of the 161 survey respondents, 10% had profiling experience, and 25% considered themselves knowledgeable of the practice. Less than 25% considered the practice to have sufficient scientific reliability or validity. However, despite this, many respondents also considered profiling a useful tool for law enforcement. In examining their role in profiling, McGrath ( 2001 , p. 321) suggests that clinicians may be well suited to the profiling process, owing to the following reasons:

• Their background in the behavioural sciences and their training in psychopathology place them in an enviable position to deduce personality and behavioural characteristics from crime scene information.
• The forensic psychiatrist is in a good position to infer the meaning behind signature behaviours.
• Given their training, education, and focus on critical and analytical thinking, the forensic psychiatrist is in a good position to ‘channel their training into a new field’.

Despite supporting this role, McGrath ( 2001 ) also notes that the clinician should be careful not to get caught up in, or focus too heavily on, treatment issues. This role confusion may come about because those conducting diagnostic evaluations may not often be exposed to the needs and wants of investigations, having little experience in reviewing crime scene data or witness depositions (West, 2000 ). However, the diagnostic evaluation approach to profiling has largely changed since these empirical studies were conducted during the 1990s through to the early 2000s. There has been an uprising in specialised police roles requiring registration as a psychiatrist or psychologist along with knowledge or experience in law enforcement investigations (e.g. see below a description of behavioural investigative advice). Consequently, the clinical and diagnostic approach to profiling is now embedded in specialised police positions, rather than in general forensic psychology and psychiatry practice.

Investigative psychology

Investigative psychology (IP) employs scientific research and is largely dependent on the empirical analysis conducted on individual crime types. Because IP relies more on empirical research than other inductive methods, strengths of this approach to practice are evident. However, a considerable issue in the use of applying this process to developing a criminal profile is the potential variance that may arise between profilers in determining the details of the crime and the applicability of relevant or suitable research. Furthermore, reliance on research may mean that crimes of extreme violence or low frequency may not be adequately researched to base a profile on. As with CIA, IP identifies profiling as only one part of an overall approach (Canter, 2000 , p. 1091):

The domain of investigative psychology covers all aspects of psychology that are relevant to the conduct of criminal and civil investigations. Its focus is on the ways in which criminal activities may be examined and understood in order for the detection of crime to be effective and legal proceedings to be appropriate. As such, investigative psychology is concerned with psychological input to the full range of issues that relate to the management, investigation and prosecution of crime.

Canter ( 2011 ) discussed the action–characteristics equation, whereby crime scene actions are followed by a process of deriving inferences, resulting in the identification of offender characteristics. The stage of inference development employs empirical procedures and a conceptually driven approach to establish actions and characteristics. The inference process seeks to examine interpersonal style, emotions, intellect, knowledge and familiarity, and skills. Upon analysis, conclusions are provided regarding the salience of the crime, case linkage, offender characteristics and based location. At the cornerstone of the IP approach to profiling is advanced statistical modelling and facet theory, forming both the empirical and conceptual approaches to IP practice (Canter & Youngs, 2003 ; Davis et al., 2018 ). However, although IP empirical research has provided a substantial contrition to profiling and investigating the nuanced aspects of offending, there is contention in regard to whether IP constitutes an individual approach to profiling, or instead an essential step in the provision of a profile (Davis et al., 2018 ; Rainbow et al., 2014 ; Snook et al., 2010 ).

Behavioural evidence analysis

The literature on behavioural evidence analysis (BEA) identifies that when rigorously applied to a criminal investigation the method aims to be largely deductive in nature; however, it should be noted than an absence of universal principles in the behavioural sciences renders this more an ideal than a reality. Additionally, given the reliance of deductive logic on inductive theories and the scientific method, it would be wrong to classify the method as wholly deductive. The theory of BEA states that conclusions about the offender should not be rendered unless specific physical evidence (based on a detailed crime reconstruction) exists. In BEA, the profiler spends a great deal of time establishing the veracity and validity of the physical evidence and its relationship to the criminal event. Indeed, this focus on detail is listed by some as a problem with the practice, specifically that deductive approaches are time consuming and provide limited information to investigators (see Holmes & Holmes, 2002 ).

Like many approaches, BEA is composed of steps or stages. The first, forensic analysis , refers to the examination, testing and interpretation of any and all physical evidence (Petherick & Turvey, 2008 ). To be able to understand any behavioural evidence, a full and complete reckoning of the physical evidence must be undertaken. Victimology , the second stage, examines any and all victim-related information such as height, sex, age, hobbies, habits and routines. Information derived during this stage can also help determine victim risk and target selection. Crime scene characteristics seeks to establish the distinguishing features of the crime scene, including the method of approach and attack, the method of control, location type, nature and sequence of any sexual acts, materials used, precautionary acts and verbal activity (Petherick & Turvey, 2008 ).

Offender characteristics , the final stage, assesses all of the above information for themes that collectively suggest personality or behavioural characteristics of the offender. In contrast to other approaches, BEA proposes a smaller number of characteristics that can be definitively established, including knowledge of the victim, knowledge of the crime scene, knowledge of methods and materials, criminal skill and motive (see Petherick, 2014a ).

Behavioural investigative advice

In the early 2000s, a new method of supporting police investigation known as behavioural investigative advice (BIA) emerged in the United Kingdom. The BIA discipline seeks to offer a broad range of psychological and scientific assistance to police investigations, including, but not limited to offender profiling (Rainbow et al., 2014 ). The role of BIAs is to offer senior investigative officers extra support and enhance their decision making during serious crime investigations through the use of behavioural science theory, research and expertise (Davis et al., 2018 ). The use of BIAs to assist investigations is considered to be positive and an essential step in incorporating specialised expertise into policing. However, in considering offender profiling, it is unclear as to the processes that BIAs use in assisting investigations and developing profiles. It would seem that BIA is a distinct profession, rather than a variation in profiling practice (Davis et al., 2018 ). Although research presented by BIAs has proposed the use of decision-making models (see Alison et al., 2003 ) to reach profile conclusions, the standards of evidence required for a BIA to develop a profile appears varied. An example of the decision making employed in BIA profiles was provided by Alison et al. ( 2003 ) who proposed the application of Toulmin’s ( 1958 ) philosophy of argument. The principles of applying this structure of argument to profiling was due to ‘the need for the justificatory functioning of substantive argument, whilst also being aware of the limitations of formal deductive, decontextualized logic for practical, ‘real world’ issues’ (Alison et al., 2003 , p. 174). In applying these principles to derive a profile, a profile statement must be derived from backing, warrant, grounds, modality and the consideration of rebuttal. The application of structured argument and evidence-based consideration in a profile is considered to be paramount to scientific practice and demonstrates support for the BIA discipline. BIA appears to be a progressive approach to criminal profiling and has received empirical recognition through a developing body of research (Alison et al., 2010 ; Almond et al., 2011 ; Marshall & Alison, 2011 ). For example, studies have reported positive police satisfaction with BIA involvement in cases and recommendations (Almond et al., 2011 ; Cole & Brown, 2011 ). The development of BIA practice is considered promising for both profiling and investigative assistance; however, the discipline would benefit from further scientific scrutiny in relation to operational approaches. The use of principles to derive a structured argument is essential in profiling, yet the development of a supported argument is only part of the required decision-making processes for producing a profile, with considerable degree and variation possible without a standardised practice framework. BIA is a progressive discipline, although subject to fallibility without process prioritisation and practice uniformity.

Towards integrated practice in criminal profiling

The variation across profiling practices has resulted in inconsistencies emerging in relation to the reliance on evidence, conclusions provided and the investigative utility of profiles (Almond et al., 2011 ; Fox et al., 2020 ). This has ranged from profiles providing statements without justification or the possibility of falsification, being derived predominantly on research conclusions, dismissing inconsistencies in a case, preferencing typology characteristics, omitting victimology evidence, selectively reporting confirmatory evidence, being provided verbally and without documentation, and failing to evaluate all case materials (Almond et al., 2011 ; Morton et al., 2014 ; Petherick & Brooks, 2014 ; Petherick & Ferguson, 2010 ; Turvey, 2012 ; Wilson et al., 1997 ). Each approach is characterised by strengths and weakness. For example, the linking of crime scene evidence with valid conclusions as evident in the BEA method provides scientific efficacy; however, this method can also be limiting, offering a narrow profile and minimal investigate assistance. According to Alison et al. ( 2003 ), the success of a profile is dependent on the types of conclusions provided, rather than the method used to derive these. For substantiated conclusions in profiles, there must be evidence of logical argument and pragmatic utility, ensuring conclusions are both logical and practical (Alison et al., 2010 ; Almond et al., 2011 ). Any conclusion/statement provided in a profile must have grounding, warrant, veracity and the capacity for falsification consistent with principles of the structure of argument (Toulmin, 1958 ). The grounding of the argument must be supported by scientific knowledge, whilst the warrant of the argument must permit this to be demonstrated in specialised research. In relation to veracity, there must be a form of specification in regard to the likelihood or probability of the claim occurring, whilst falsification must be possible, ensuring that that the statement or claim can be tested or disproven (Alison et al., 2003 ; Toulmin, 1958 ). Along with the profiles being derived from evidence and grounded in logical conclusions, statistical regularities between the types of offence and the types of offender characteristics can offer further investigative utility (Fox et al., 2020 ). As Fox and Farrington ( 2018 ) state, ‘all future profiles should be developed using a solid empirical approach that relies on advanced statistical analysis of large data sets’ (p. 1263). Consequently, it appears that the discipline of criminal profiling would benefit from an integrated approach to practice that provides a framework for the provision of profiles. An integrated framework serves to support the strengths of each methodology, whilst providing a structured guide to profile development. The current issues pertaining to profiling are akin to the limitations identified with the early generation of psychological risk assessments, with a need to integrate empirical findings, practitioner expertise and processes of practice. The issues in the field of risk assessment resulted in adjustments to practice and the development of a new generation of assessment instruments known as structured professional judgments (SPJs; Cooper et al., 2008 ; Davis & Ogloff, 2008 ; Gormley & Petherick, 2015 ). The introduction of SPJs has permitted an integrative approach to risk assessment, assimilating the scientific basis of the actuarial approach along with the benefits of the clinical approach. In accordance with the need for integrated practice in criminal profiling, a structural framework is proposed, represented by the acronym CRIME. The CRIME framework seeks to overcome the pitfalls of singular profiling approaches and instead provide a structured framework for profile development, incorporating the strengths of each of the examined practices, whilst acknowledging the limitations and weakness of utilising a specific process. This framework is similar to other recommendations and is based upon a similar philosophy to that of at least the works of Davis and Bennett ( 2016 ) and Ackley ( 2017 ).

• C – Crime scene evaluations
• R – Relevancy of research
• I – Investigative or clinical opinion
• M – Methods of investigation
• E - Evaluation

The CRIME framework is centred on a tiered process of profile development. The first tier, crime scene evaluations , relies largely on the crime scene and the evidence present to determine justifications. Consistent with a BEA approach, conclusions cannot be reached without the presence of evidence at the crime scene indicating that a set behaviour or event has occurred. This tier is considered to carry primary significance in the profile, accompanied by the other tiers, which provide additional information of assistance to investigations. At this first phase, evaluations are determined in respect to crime scene evidence, victimology and offender behaviour. The second tier, relevancy of research , is intended to provide investigators with an overview of research on similar offending behaviour, noting factors of relevance in similar crimes and characteristics that have been found on these occasions. This step must specify the limitations of relying on this research and instead seek to provide education and background on the offending matter. The third tier, investigative or clinical opinion , is considered to carry less weight and should be included in profiles with caution. This may include investigators’ unique understanding of factors such as access of local areas, criminal trends or past victim patterns. These factors are provided in the profile as suggestions and knowledge that may be of note for investigators to consider and review during the investigative processes. This information is considered of lower investigative relevance and not based in fact. The penultimate stage and tier of the CRIME framework is methods of investigation . This stage aims to provide detailed implications arising from the aforementioned steps, indicating avenues for investigators to explore and offering techniques of investigation and advice in relation to the suspect. The final stage is evaluation , and involves a critical examination of the profile itself, the logic, reasoning and sequencing used to arrive at the profile, and any input the investigators have about the document. This also includes an evaluation of the profile in light of new information or evidence that has come to light since the profile was generated, along with a peer review of the profile before this is provided to the consumer.

An example of the application of the CRIME framework to the below scenario (adapted from Aydin & Dirilen-Gumus, 2011 , p. 2615–2616; Douglas et al., 1986 , p. 416) is as follows:

At 3.00 pm a young woman’s nude body was discovered on the roof top of an apartment building where she was living. The female had been extensively beaten to her face, and she had been strangled with the bag strap that belonged to her purse. Her nipples had been cut off after her death, and these had been placed on her chest. On the inside of her thigh in ink, were the words, ‘You can’t stop me’. On her abdomen, the words, ‘Fuck you’ were scrawled on this section of her body. The pendant that was usually worn by the woman, a Jewish sign (Chai) for good luck, was missing from around her neck. The missing pendant was presumed taken by the murderer. Her nylon stockings had been removed and loosely tied around her wrists and ankles near a railing, with her underpants pulled over her face. The crime scene revealed that the victim’s earrings that she had been wearing were placed symmetrically on either side of her head. An umbrella and ink pen had been inserted into the woman’s vagina and a hair comb was placed into her pubic hairs. Her jaw and nose had been broken, her molars were loosened, and due to the blunt force trauma, she had sustained multiple face fractures. The cause of death was determined to be asphyxia by ligature (purse strap) strangulation. There were also post-mortem bite marks on the victim’s thighs, along with several contusions, haemorrhages and lacerations to the body. The killer had defecated on the roof top and this was covered with the victims’ clothing.

The preliminary police reports revealed that another resident of the apartment building, a white male, aged 15 years, had discovered the victim’s wallet. The young male discovered the wallet in the stairwell between the third and fourth floors at approximately 8.20 am, keeping the wallet with him until he returned home from school for lunch that afternoon. Upon returning home, he gave the wallet to his father, a white male, aged 40 years. After receiving the wallet, the father went to the victim’s apartment at 2.50 pm and handed this to the victim’s mother whom she resided with. The mother contacted the day-care centre to inform her daughter about the wallet; however, upon contacting the centre, she learnt that her daughter had not appeared for work that morning. The mother, the victim’s sister and a neighbour began searching the building. Shortly afterwards they discovered the body, and the neighbour called the police. Initial investigations by police revealed that no witnesses had seen the victim after she left her apartment that morning.

The investigation revealed that the victim was a 26-year-old, 4′11″, 90-lb, white female. The victim resided with her mother and father in the apartment building. She awoke around 6.30 am on the day of her murder, dressed, had breakfast (consisting of coffee and juice) and left for work. The woman worked at a near-by day-care centre, where she was employed as a group teacher for handicapped children. When she would leave for work in the morning, she would often alternate between taking the elevator or walking down the stairs, depending on her mood. She had a slight curvature of the spine (kyphoscoliosis) and was a shy and quiet woman. The medical examiner’s report revealed that there was no semen in the victim’s vagina, but semen was detected on the victim’s body. There were visible bite marks on the victim’s thigh and knee area and the murderer had cut the victim’s nipples with a knife after she was deceased and written on her body. The stab wounds that she had sustained were not deep. The examination concluded that the cause of death was strangulation, first manual, then ligature, with the strap of her purse.

While the challenges of developing a profile based on a short scenario are evident, the outline in Table 1 of the integrated CRIME framework details a summary of how the steps may be initially formed and subsequently utilised. The profile should start with an overview of the crime and the details, before integrating the CRIME steps. Upon completion of the five steps, the practitioner producing the profile should summarise the information and provide a review of the importance of the information provided within the profile, again emphasising the reliance of evidence-based information in the profile, from both the standing research corpus and crime scene evidence.

CRIME profile development.

Not only is this approach useful for providing as holistic an understanding of the case as possible, undertaking the CRIME framework may also serve as a bootstrapping process for other types of advice investigators may request as a natural extension of the assistance. For example, having a deep understanding of the crimes of a serial criminal may assist with the process of case linkage where one attempts to link previously unlinked cases to one offender or offender group. Similarly, the profiler/analyst may be able to provide insight into risk assessment of a serial or other offender to determine the likelihood that they will escalate or graduate to other crimes, such as from a sex offender to a killer.

Recommendations and conclusion

For profiling to develop as a discipline, greater scientific rigor is required, with profiles needing to incorporate logic and reasoning that are supported by appropriate evidence and justification. Criminal profiling must have investigative utility, assisting investigations, rather than creating confusion or misleading cases. Secondly, for profiling to advance there must be a move towards scientific practice, with uniformity across the field essential for admissibility in court (Freckelton, 2008 ) should the profiler/analyst be appropriately qualified for such endeavours. Although profiling is intended to develop investigative hypotheses, given the progression towards evidence-based policing, some proponents have suggested that for profiling to constitute a scientific method, court and legal admissibility is essential (Bosco et al., 2010 ; Freckelton, 2008 ; Petherick & Brooks, 2014 ). Currently, profiling regularly fails to add probative value to cases, and instead is considered to have a greater prejudicial effect (Bosco et al., 2010 ). One of the central challenges to profiling meeting admissibility standards in courts has been due to the inconsistencies in practice, with large discrepancies observed across approaches and methods of practice. The reliance on singular methods appears largely problematic, failing to consider the strengths of other profiling modalities, while also exposing investigations to the fragility of a sole method approach.

For profiling to develop as a forensic science and ultimately have admissibility in court, the discipline must be reliable, subject to peer review and scientific publication, be generally accepted amongst fellow practitioners, have guiding or governing standards, have identifiable error rates, and be implemented only in appropriate and applicable cases (Bosco et al., 2010 ). Subsequently, it is proposed that a joint methodology be employed when constructing criminal profiles, focusing on the strengths of each profiling approach and establishing uniformity in practice standards. It is suggested that this approach form the CRIME framework, consisting of crime scene evaluations, relevancy of research, investigative or clinical opinions, methods of investigation and evaluation. The CRIME approach provides a framework to promote the scientific practice of profiling, aiming to assist in the reliability of the practice by detailing a standardised process of developing profiles. It is intended that through the CRIME framework profiles will encompass error rates, specified in the crime scene evaluation and relevancy of research stages, whilst the evaluation stage seeks to incorporate peer review and consultation into practice. For profile to continue as a discipline, systemisation and evidence-based practice is required. Although the CRIME framework is not the ultimate solution to developing a ‘gold standard’ in criminal profiling, the approach seeks to promote integration and unity in practice, an essential first step in establishing practice consistency. It is recommended that future research seek to explore the benefit of profiles derived through the framework, reviewing the consistency and emergence of evidence-based practice. This could be investigated through police satisfaction, profile accuracy and the evidence of reasoning underpinning profiles derived through the CRIME framework. The future of profiling is dependent on the discipline progressing towards science, and integrated practice is the first fundamental step (Fox & Farrington, 2018 ).

Ethical standards

Declaration of conflicts of interest.

Wayne Petherick has declared no conflicts of interest

Nathan Brooks has declared no conflicts of interest

Informed consent

The article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Cognitive Biases in Criminal Case Evaluation: A Review of the Research

• Review Article
• Open access
• Published: 23 June 2021
• Volume 37 , pages 101–122, ( 2022 )

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• Vanessa Meterko   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1207-8812 1 &
• Glinda Cooper 1  

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Psychological heuristics are an adaptive part of human cognition, helping us operate efficiently in a world full of complex stimuli. However, these mental shortcuts also have the potential to undermine the search for truth in a criminal investigation. We reviewed 30 social science research papers on cognitive biases in criminal case evaluations (i.e., integrating and drawing conclusions based on the totality of the evidence in a criminal case), 18 of which were based on police participants or an examination of police documents. Only two of these police participant studies were done in the USA, with the remainder conducted in various European countries. The studies provide supporting evidence that lay people and law enforcement professionals alike are vulnerable to confirmation bias, and there are other environmental, individual, and case-specific factors that may exacerbate this risk. Six studies described or evaluated the efficacy of intervention strategies, with varying evidence of success. Further research, particularly in the USA, is needed to evaluate different approaches to protect criminal investigations from cognitive biases.

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Introduction

Decades of research in cognitive and social psychology have taught us that there are limitations to human attention and decision-making abilities (see, for example, Gilovich et al. 2002 ). We cannot process all the stimuli that surround us on a daily basis, so instead we have adapted for efficiency by attuning to patterns and developing mental shortcuts or rules of thumb to help us effectively navigate our complex world. While this tendency to rely on heuristics and biases can serve us well by allowing us to make quick decisions with little cognitive effort, it also has the potential to inadvertently undermine accuracy and thus the fair administration of justice.

Cognitive bias is an umbrella term that refers to a variety of inadvertent but predictable mental tendencies which can impact perception, memory, reasoning, and behavior. Cognitive biases include phenomena like confirmation bias (e.g., Nickerson 1998 ), anchoring (e.g., Tversky & Kahneman 1974 ), hindsight bias (e.g., Fischhoff 1975 ), the availability heuristic (e.g., Tversky & Kahneman 1973 ), unconscious or implicit racial (or other identifying characteristics) bias (e.g., Greenwald et al.  1998 ; Staats et al. 2017 ), and others. In this context, the word “bias” does not imply an ethical issue (e.g., Dror 2020 ) but simply suggests a probable response pattern. Indeed, social scientists have demonstrated and discussed how even those who actively endorse egalitarian values harbor unconscious biases (e.g., Pearson et al.  2009 ; Richardson 2017 ) and how expertise, rather than insulating us from biases, can actually create them through learned selective attention or reliance on expectations based on past experiences (e.g., Dror 2020 ). Consequently, we recognize the potential for these human factors to negatively influence our criminal justice process.

In an effort to explore the role of cognitive biases in criminal investigations and prosecutions, we conducted a literature review to determine the scope of available research and strength of the findings. The questions guiding this exercise were as follows: (1) what topics have been researched so far and where are the gaps?; (2) what are the methodological strengths and limitations of this research?; and (3) what are the results, what do we know so far, and where should we go from here?

We searched PsycINFO for scholarly writing focused on cognitive biases in criminal investigations and prosecutions in December 2016 and again in January 2020. Footnote 1 We reviewed all results by title and then reviewed the subset of possibly-relevant titles by abstract, erring on the side of over-inclusivity. We repeated this process using the Social Sciences Full Text, PubMed, and Criminal Justice Abstracts with Full Text databases to identify additional papers. Finally, we manually reviewed the reference lists in the identified papers for any unique sources we may have missed in prior searches.

We sorted the articles into categories by the actor or action in the criminal investigation and prosecution process that they addressed, including physical evidence collection, witness evaluation, suspect evaluation, forensic analysis and testimony, police case evaluation (i.e., integrating and drawing conclusions based on the totality of the evidence), prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, juries, and sentencing. Within each of these categories, we further sorted the articles into one of three types of sources: “primary data studies” describing experimental or observational studies that involved data collection or analysis, “intervention studies” that were solution-oriented and involved implementing some type of intervention or training to prevent or mitigate a phenomenon, and “secondary sources” (e.g., commentaries, letters, reviews, theoretical pieces, general book chapters) that discussed cognitive biases but did not present primary data.

To narrow the scope of this review, we did not include articles that focus solely on implicit racial bias or structural racial bias in the criminal legal system. The foundational and persistent problem of racial (particularly anti-Black) bias throughout our legal system—from policing to sentencing (e.g., Voigt et al. 2017 ; NYCLU 2011 ; Blair et al.  2004 ; Eberhardt et al.  2006 )—has been clearly demonstrated in laboratory experiments and analyses of real-world data and is well-documented in an ever-growing body of academic publications and policy reports (e.g., Correll et al.  2002 ; Chanin et al.  2018 ; Owens et al. 2017 ; Staats et al. 2017 ).

Scope of Available Research and Methodology

Cognitive biases in forensic science have received the most attention from researchers to date (for a review of these forensic science studies, see Cooper & Meterko 2019 ). The second most substantial amount of scholarship focused on case evaluation (i.e., integrating and drawing conclusions based on the totality of the evidence in a case). Ultimately, we found 43 scholarly sources that addressed various issues related to the evaluation of the totality of evidence in criminal cases: 25 primary data (non-intervention) studies, five intervention studies, and one additional paper that presented both primary data and interventions, and 12 secondary sources. For the remainder of this article, we focus solely on the primary data and intervention studies. One of the primary data studies (Fahsing & Ask 2013 ) described the development of materials that were used in two subsequent studies included in this review (Fahsing & Ask 2016 ; 2017 ), and thus, this materials-development paper is not reviewed further here. Table 1 presents an overview of the research participants and focus of the other 30 primary data and intervention studies included in our review.

One challenge in synthesizing this collection of research is the fact that these studies address different but adjacent concepts using a variety of measures and—in some instances—report mixed results. The heterogeneity of this research reveals the complex nature of human factors in criminal case evaluations.

Eighteen of the 30 papers (13 primary data and three intervention) included participants who were criminal justice professionals (e.g., police, judges) or analyzed actual police documents. An appendix provides a detailed summary of the methods and results of the 18 criminal justice participant (or document) studies. Fifteen papers were based on or presented additional separate analyses with student or lay participants. Recruiting professionals to participate in research is commendable as it is notoriously challenging but allows us to identify any differences between those with training and experience versus the general public, and to be more confident that conclusions will generalize to real-world behavior. Of course, representativeness (or not) must still be considered when making generalizations about police investigations.

Reported sample sizes ranged from a dozen to several hundred participants and must be taken into account when interpreting individual study results. Comparison or control groups and manipulation checks are also essential to accurately interpreting results; some studies incorporated these components in their designs while others did not.

Most studies used vignettes or case materials—both real and fictionalized—as stimuli. Some studies did not include enough information about stimulus or intervention materials to allow readers to critically interpret the results or replicate an intervention test. Future researchers would benefit from publishers making more detailed information available. Further, while the use of case vignettes is a practical way to study these complex scenarios, this approach may not completely mimic the pressures of a real criminal case, fully appreciate how the probative value of evidence can depend on context, or accurately reflect naturalistic decision-making.

Notably, only two of the criminal case evaluation studies using professional participants were conducted in the USA; all others were based in Europe (Austria, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the UK). The differences between police training, operations, and the criminal justice systems writ large should be considered when applying lessons from these studies to the USA or elsewhere.

Finally, all of these papers were published relatively recently, within the past 15 years. This emerging body of research is clearly current, relevant, and has room to grow.

Research Findings

The primary data studies address a constellation of concepts that demonstrate how human factors can inadvertently undermine the seemingly objective and methodical process of a criminal investigation. To organize these concepts, we used a taxonomy originally developed to describe potential sources of bias in forensic science observations and conclusions as a guide (Dror 2017 ; Dror et al.  2017 ) and adapted it to this collection of case evaluation literature. Footnote 2 As in Dror’s taxonomy, the broad base of this organizing pyramid is “human nature,” and as the pyramid narrows to its peak, potential sources of bias become increasingly dependent on environmental, individual, and case-specific circumstances and characteristics (Fig.  1 ). Some authors in this collection address more than one of these research areas within the same paper through multiple manipulations or a series of studies (Table 1 ).

Organizational framework for case evaluation studies, adapted from Dror’s ( 2017 ) taxonomy of different sources of potential bias that may cognitively contaminate forensic observations and conclusions. The specific factors listed in this pyramid are those that were examined in the collection of studies in the present literature review

Human Nature

The “human nature” studies include those that demonstrate universal psychological phenomena and their underlying mechanisms in the context of a criminal case evaluation. Several studies focused on confirmation bias. Confirmation bias, sometimes colloquially referred to as “tunnel vision,” denotes selective seeking, recalling, weighting, and/or interpreting information in ways that support existing beliefs, expectations, or hypotheses, while simultaneously avoiding or minimizing inconsistent or contradictory information (Nickerson 1998 ; Findley 2012 ). Some authors in this collection of studies used other terms to describe this concept or elements of it, including “context effects,” the term used by Charman et al. ( 2015 ) to describe when “a preexisting belief affects the subsequent interpretation of evidence” (p. 214), and asymmetrical skepticism (Ask & Granhag 2007b ; Marksteiner et al.  2010 ).

Eight studies with law enforcement personnel (Ask & Granhag 2007b ; Ask et al.  2008 ; Charman et al.  2017 ; Ditrich 2015 ; Groenendaal & Helsloot 2015 ; Marksteiner et al. 2010 ; Rassin 2010 ; Wallace 2015 ) examined aspects of confirmation bias; one addressed the distinct but related phenomenon of groupthink (Kerstholt & Eikelboom 2007 ). The importance of this issue was demonstrated by a survey of an unspecified number of professional crime scene officers conducted by Ditrich ( 2015 ), asking for their opinions about the relative frequency and severity of various cognitive errors that could potentially negatively affect a criminal investigation; based on their experiences, respondents highlighted confirmation bias (as well as overestimating the validity of partial information and shifting the burden of proof to the suspect). The other studies within this group used experimental designs to assess police officers’ evaluation of evidence. Charman et al. ( 2017 ) reported that police officers’ initial beliefs about the innocence or guilt of a suspect in a fictional criminal case predicted their evaluation of subsequent ambiguous evidence, which in turn predicted their final beliefs about the suspect’s innocence or guilt. This is not the only study to demonstrate that, like the rest of us, police officers are susceptible to confirmation bias. Ask and colleagues ( 2008 ) found that police recruits discredited or supported the same exact evidence (“the viewing distance of 10 m makes the witness identification unreliable” versus “from 10 m one ought to see what a person looks like”) depending on whether it was consistent or inconsistent with their hypothesis of a suspect’s guilt. Ask and Granhag ( 2007b ) found that when experienced criminal investigators read a vignette that implied a suspect’s guilt (but left room for an alternative explanation), they rated subsequent guilt-consistent evidence as more credible and reliable than evidence that was inconsistent with their theory of guilt; similar results were seen in a study of police officers, district attorneys, and judges by Rassin ( 2010 ).

Marksteiner et al. ( 2010 ) investigated the motivational underpinnings of this type of asymmetrical skepticism among police trainees, asking whether it is driven by a desire to reconcile inconsistent information with prior beliefs or by the goal of case closure, and encountered mixed results. The group who initially hypothesized guilt reacted as expected, rating subsequent incriminating evidence as more reliable, but in the group whose initial hypothesis was innocence, there was no difference in the way that they rated additional consistent or inconsistent information. Wallace ( 2015 ) found that the order in which evidence was presented influenced guilt beliefs. When police officers encountered exculpatory evidence prior to inculpatory evidence, guilt belief scores decreased, suggesting their final decisions were influenced by their initial impressions. Kerstholt and Eikelboom ( 2007 ) describe how teams tend to converge on one interpretation, and once such an interpretation is adopted, individual members are less able to examine underlying assumptions critically. They asked independent crime analysts to evaluate a realistic criminal investigation with fresh eyes and found that they were demonstrably influenced when they were aware of the investigative team’s existing working hypothesis.

Studies in student and general populations examining confirmation bias and other aspects of human cognition (Ask et al. 2011b ; Charman et al.  2015 ; Eerland et al.  2012 ; Eerland & Rassin 2012 ; Greenspan & Surich 2016 ; O’Brien 2007 ; 2009 ; Price & Dahl 2014 ; Rassin et al.  2010 ; Simon et al.  2004 ; Wastell et al.  2012 ) reported similar patterns to those described above with police participants. O’Brien ( 2007 ; 2009 ) found that students who named a suspect early in a mock criminal investigation were biased towards confirming that person’s guilt as the investigation continued. O’Brien measured memory for hypothesis-consistent versus hypothesis-inconsistent information, interpretation of ambiguous evidence, participants’ decisions to select lines of inquiry into the suspect or an alternative, and ultimate opinions about guilt or innocence. In a novel virtual crime scene investigation, Wastell et al. ( 2012 ) found that all students (those who ultimately chose the predetermined “correct” suspect from the multiple available people of interest and those who chose incorrectly) sought more chosen-suspect-consistent information during the exercise. However, those who were ultimately unsuccessful (i.e., chose the wrong person) spent more time in a virtual workspace (a measure of the importance placed on potential evidence) after accessing confirmatory information. They also found that students who settled on a suspect early in the exercise—measured by prompts throughout the virtual investigation—were comparatively unsuccessful.

Other psychological phenomena such as recency effects (i.e., our ease of recalling information presented at the end of a list relative to information presented at the beginning or middle) and the feature positive effect (i.e., our tendency to generally attune to presence more than absence) were also examined in studies with student or general population participants. Price and Dahl ( 2014 ) explored evidence presentation order and found that under certain circumstances, evidence presented later in an investigation had a greater impact on student participant decision-making in a mock criminal investigation. Charman and colleagues also found order of evidence presentation influenced ratings of strength of evidence and likelihood of guilt in their 2015 study of evidence integration with student participants. These results appear to provide evidence against the presence of confirmation bias, but recency effects still demonstrate the influence of human factors as, arguably, the order in which one learns about various pieces of evidence -whether first or last- should not impact interpretation. Several research teams found that a positive eyewitness identification is seen as more credible than a failure to identify someone (Price & Dhal 2014 , p.147) and the presence of fingerprints—as opposed to a lack of fingerprints—is more readily remembered and used to make decisions about a criminal case (Eerland et al. 2012 ; Eerland & Rassin 2012 ), even though the absence of evidence can also be diagnostic. Other researchers highlighted our psychic discomfort with cognitive dissonance (Ask et al. 2011b ) and our tendency to reconcile ambiguity and artificially impose consistency in a criminal case by engaging in “ bidirectional coherence-based reasoning” (Simon et al. 2004 ; Greenspan & Surich 2016 ).

Environment and Culture

The three “environment and culture” studies with police personnel (Ask & Granhag 2007b ; Ask et al.  2011a ; Fahsing & Ask 2016 ) revealed the ways in which external factors can influence an investigation. For instance, type of training appears to impact the ability to generate a variety of relevant hypotheses and actions in an investigation. English and Norwegian investigators are trained and performed differently when faced with semi-fictitious crime vignettes (Fahsing & Ask 2016 ). Organizational culture can impact the integrity of an investigation as well. Ask and colleagues ( 2011a ) concluded that a focus on efficiency—as opposed to thoroughness—produces more cursory processing among police participants, which could be detrimental to the accurate assessment of evidence found later in an investigation. Ask and Granhag ( 2007b ) observed that induced time pressure influenced officers’ decision-making, creating a higher tendency to stick with initial beliefs and a lower tendency to be influenced by the evidence presented.

Individual Characteristics

Seven “individual characteristics” studies with police personnel (Ask & Granhag 2005 ; 2007a ; Dando & Ormerod 2017 ; Fahsing & Ask 2016 ; 2017 ; Kerstholt & Eikelboom 2007 ; Wallace  2015 ) plus two studies with student populations (Rassin 2010 , 2018a ) examined ways in which personal attributes can influence an investigation. Varying amounts of professional experience may matter when it comes to assessments of potential criminal cases and assumptions about guilt. For instance, police recruits appear to have a strong tendency toward criminal—as opposed to non-criminal—explanations for an ambiguous situation like a person’s disappearance (Fahsing & Ask 2017 ) and less experienced recruits show more suspicion than seasoned investigators (Wallace 2015 ). In a departure from the typical mock crime vignette method, Dando and Ormerod ( 2017 ) reviewed police decision logs (used for recording and justifying decisions made during serious crime investigations) and found that senior officers generated more hypotheses early in an investigation, and switched between considering different hypotheses both early and late in an investigation (suggesting a willingness to entertain alternative theories) compared with inexperienced investigators. An experimental study, however, found that professional crime analyst experience level (mean 7 months versus 7 years) was not related to case evaluation decisions and did not protect against knowledge of prior interpretations of the evidence influencing conclusions (Kerstholt & Eikelboom 2007 ).

Two studies examined differences in reasoning skills in relation to the evaluation of evidence. Fahsing and Ask ( 2017 ) found that police recruits’ deductive and inductive reasoning skills were not associated with performance on an investigative reasoning task. In contrast, in a study with undergraduate students, accuracy of decision-making regarding guilt or innocence in two case scenarios was associated with differences in logical reasoning abilities as measured by a test adapted from the Wason Card Selection Test (Rassin 2018a ).

Ask and Granhag ( 2005 ) found inconsistent results in a study of police officers’ dispositional need for cognitive closure and the effect on criminal investigations. Those with a high need for cognitive closure (measured with an established scale) were less likely to acknowledge inconsistencies in case materials when those materials contained a potential motive for the suspect, but were more likely to acknowledge inconsistencies when made aware of the possibility of an alternative perpetrator. In a replication study with undergraduate students, Ask & Granhag ( 2005 ) found that initial hypotheses significantly affected subsequent evidence interpretation, but found no interaction with individual need for cognitive closure. Students who were aware of an alternative suspect (compared with those aware of a potential motive for the prime suspect) were simply less likely to evaluate subsequent information as evidence supporting guilt.

In another study, when Ask and Granhag ( 2007a ) induced negative emotions in police officers and then asked them to make judgments about a criminal case, sad participants were better able to substantively process the consistency of evidence or lack thereof, whereas angry participants used heuristic processing.

Case-Specific

Four studies of police personnel (Ask et al. 2008 ; Fahsing & Ask 2016 ; 2017 ; Wallace 2015 ), one using police records (Dando & Omerod  2017 ), and three studies of student populations (Ask et al. 2011b ; O’Brien  2007 ; 2009 ; Rassin et al. 2010 ) examined “case-specific” and evidence-specific factors. In a study of police officers, Ask and colleagues ( 2008 ) showed that the perceived reliability of some types of evidence (DNA versus photographs versus witnesses) is more malleable than others; similar results pertaining to DNA versus witness evidence were found in a study of law students (Ask et al. 2011b ).

Fahsing and Ask ( 2016 ) found that police recruits who were presented with a scenario including a clear “tipping point” (an arrest) did not actually produce significantly fewer hypotheses than those who were not presented with a tipping point (though they acknowledge that the manipulation—one sentence embedded in a case file—may not have been an ecologically valid one). In a subsequent study with police recruits, the presence of a tipping point resulted in fewer generated hypotheses, but the difference was not statistically significant (Fahsing & Ask 2017 ).

Other studies using law students (Rassin et al. 2010 ) or undergraduate students (O’Brien 2007 ) examined the influence of crime severity on decision-making. Rassin et al. ( 2010 ) observed that the affinity for incriminating evidence increases with crime severity, but in one of O’Brien’s ( 2007 ) studies, crime severity did not have a demonstrable impact on confirmation bias.

Interventions

Taken together, this body of work demonstrates vulnerabilities in criminal investigations. Some researchers have suggested theoretically supported solutions to protect against these vulnerabilities, such as gathering facts rather than building a case (Wallace 2015 ) or institutionalizing the role of a “contrarian” in a criminal investigation (MacFarlane 2008 ). Few studies have tested and evaluated these potential remedies, however. Testing is an essential prerequisite to any advocacy for policy changes because theoretically sound interventions may not, in fact, have the intended effect when applied (e.g., see below for a description of O’Brien’s work testing multiple interventions with differing results).

Four studies have examined various intervention approaches with police departments or investigators (Groenendaal & Helsloot 2015 ; Jones et al.  2008 ; Rassin 2018b ; Salet & Terpstra 2014 ). Jones et al. ( 2008 ) created a tool that helped an experimental group of investigators produce higher quality reviews of a closed murder case than those working without the aid of the review tool. Their article provides an appendix  with “categories used in the review tool” (e.g., crime scene management, house-to-house enquiries, community involvement) but lacks a detailed description of the tool itself and the outcome measures. Importantly, the authors raise the possibility that a review tool like this may improve how officers think through a case because of the structure or content of the tool or it may succeed by simply slowing them down so they can think more critically and thoroughly. Another approach that shows promise in reducing tunnel vision is using a pen and paper tool to prompt investigators to consider how well the same evidence supports different hypotheses (Rassin 2018b ). In a study of actual case files, supplemented with interviews, Salet and Terpstra ( 2014 ) explored “contrarians” and found that there are real-world challenges to the position’s efficacy (e.g., personal desire to be a criminal investigator, desire for solidarity with colleagues) and considerable variability in the way contrarians approach their work, with some opting for closeness to an investigation and others opting for distance; individuals also embraced different roles (e.g., supervisor, devil’s advocate, focus on procedure). The researchers concluded that, in practice, these contrarians appear to have exerted subtle influence on investigations but there is no evidence of a radical change in case trajectory. Similarly, members of criminal investigation teams in the Netherlands reported that, in practice, designated devil’s advocates tend to provide sound advice but do not fundamentally change the course of investigations (Groenendaal & Helsloot  2015 ). Groenendaal and Helsloot describe the development and implementation of the Criminal Investigation Reinforcement Programme in the Netherlands, which was prompted by a national reckoning stemming from a widely publicized wrongful conviction. The program included new policies aimed at, among other things, reducing tunnel vision (including the use of devil’s advocates, structured decision-making around “hypotheses and scenarios,” and professionalized, permanent “Command Core Teams” dedicated to major crimes). This deliberate intervention provided an opportunity for researchers to interview investigators who were directly impacted by the new policies. Groenendaal and Helsloot conclude that the main effect of this intervention was an increased awareness about the potential problem of tunnel vision, and they focus on an unresolved a tension between “efficacy” (more convictions) and “precaution” (minimizing wrongful convictions). Their work underscores the importance of collecting criminal legal system data, as interviewees reported their experiences and impressions but could not report whether more correct convictions had been obtained or more wrongful convictions avoided.

Other studies have examined various intervention ideas with student populations (Haas et al.  2015 ; O’Brien 2007 ; 2009 ). Haas et al. ( 2015 ) found that using a checklist tool to evaluate evidence appears to improve students’ abductive reasoning and reduce confirmation bias. O’Brien ( 2007 ; 2009 ) found that orienting participants to being accountable for good process versus outcome had no impact, and that when participants expected to have to persuade someone of their hypothesis, this anticipation actually worsened bias. More promisingly, she discovered that participants who were asked to name a suspect early in an investigation, but were then told to consider how their selected suspect could be innocent and then generate counter-arguments, displayed less confirmation bias across a variety of measures (they looked the same as those who did not name a suspect early). But another approach—asking participants to generate two additional alternative suspects—was not effective (these participants showed the same amount of bias as those who identified just one suspect).

Zalman and Larson ( 2016 ) have observed “the failure of innocence movement advocates, activists, and scholars to view the entirety of police investigation as a potential source of wrongful convictions, as opposed to exploring arguably more discrete police processes (e.g., eyewitness identification, interrogation, handling informants)” (p.3). While the thorough examination of these discrete processes has led to a better understanding of risk factors and, ultimately, reforms in police practices (e.g., see the Department of Justice 2017 guidelines for best practices with eyewitnesses), a recent shift towards viewing wrongful convictions from a “sentinel events” Footnote 3 perspective advances the conversation around these criminal justice system failures (Doyle 2012 ; 2014 ; Rossmo & Pollock 2019 ).

This literature review has identified a body of research that lends support to this holistic perspective. The studies reviewed here address a constellation of concepts that demonstrate how the human element—including universal psychological tendencies, predictable responses to situational and organizational factors, personal factors, and characteristics of the crime itself—can unintentionally undermine truth-seeking in the complex evidence integration process. Some concepts are addressed by one study, some are addressed by several, and some studies explored multiple variables (e.g., demonstrating the existence of confirmation bias and measuring how level of professional experience plays a role).

Several contemporary studies have demonstrated the existence of confirmation bias in police officers within the context of criminal investigations. Other psychological phenomena have not been examined in police populations but have been examined in student or general populations using study materials designed to assess the interpretation of criminal case evidence and decision-making. This collection of studies also investigates the role of environmental factors that may be specific to a department or organization, characteristics of individual investigators, or of the specific case under review. At the environmental level, type of training and organizational customs were influential and are promising areas for further research as these factors are within the control of police departments and can be modified. With respect to individual characteristics, a better understanding of advantageous dispositional tendencies and what is gained by professional experience, as well as the unique risks of expertise, could lead to better recruitment and training methods. Case-specific factors are outside the control of investigators, but awareness of factors that pose a greater risk for bias could serve as an alert and future research could identify ways to use this information in practice (see also Rossmo & Pollock 2019 for an in-depth discussion of “risk recipes”).

Charman and colleagues ( 2017 ) present a particularly interesting illustration of the way in which a criminal case is not merely the sum of its parts. In this study, the researchers presented law enforcement officers with exonerating, incriminating, or neutral DNA or eyewitness evidence, collected initial beliefs about guilt, asked participants to evaluate a variety of other ambiguous evidence (alibi, composite sketch, handwriting comparison, and informant information that could be reasonably interpreted in different ways), and then provide a final rating of guilt. As hypothesized, the researchers found those who were primed with incriminating evidence at the beginning were more likely to believe the suspect guilty at the end. However, even those who initially received exonerating information and initially rated the likelihood of suspect guilt as relatively low ended up increasing their guilt rating after reviewing the other ambiguous evidence. It appears that the cumulative effect of ambiguous evidence tilted the scales towards guilt. This unexpected outcome underscores the value of understanding how the totality of evidence in a criminal case is evaluated, and has implications for the legal doctrine of “harmless error” rooted in assumptions of evidentiary independence (e.g., Hasel & Kassin 2009 ).

Consistently incorporating control groups into future study designs and including complete stimulus materials in future publications could build on this foundation. This would help future researchers fully interpret and replicate study results and would assist in determining what elements of intervention strategies work. Since the majority of these studies were conducted in Europe, it would be worthwhile to explore whether or not these results can be replicated in the USA, given the similarities and differences in our criminal justice systems and the variety of approaches used to select and train detectives across police departments. Finally, valuable future research will move beyond the demonstration of these human vulnerabilities and will design and test strategies to mitigate them in the complex real world. Footnote 4 Vignettes and mock-investigations are clever ways of studying criminal investigations, but it is worth remembering that these approaches cannot fully capture the dynamics of a real criminal investigation. Collaboration between academic researchers and criminal investigators could generate robust expansions of this work.

Evidence evaluation and synthesis in criminal investigations is, of course, just one part of a larger legal process. In addition to police, defense attorneys, prosecutors, and judges have powerful roles in determining case outcomes, especially in a system that is heavily reliant on plea bargaining. Critically addressing the potential influence of cognitive biases throughout this system, and promoting and implementing proven, practical protections against these tendencies will advance accuracy and justice.

We used the following search terms and Boolean Operators: (criminal OR justice OR police OR investigat* OR forensic* OR jury OR juries OR judge* OR conviction* OR prosecut* OR defense OR defender* OR attorn*) in any field (e.g., text, title) AND (“cognitive bias” OR “cognitive dissonance” OR “tunnel vision” OR “confirmation bias” OR “interpretive bias” OR “belief perseverance” OR “asymmetrical skepticism”) in any field (e.g., text, title).

As Dror ( 2017 ) notes, the development of this taxonomy began in a paper in 2009 (Dror 2009 ) and was further developed in a 2014 paper (Stoel et al. 2014 ), with additional sources of bias added subsequently (in Dror 2015 , and Zapf & Dror 2017 ).

According to the National Institute of Justice ( 2017 ), a sentinel event is a significant negative outcome that (1) signals underlying weaknesses in the system or process, (2) is likely the result of compound errors, and (3) may provide, if properly analyzed and addressed, important keys to strengthen the system and prevent future adverse outcomes.

As Snook and Cullen ( 2008 ) assert, “it is unrealistic to expect police officers to investigate all possible suspects, collect evidence on all of those suspects, explore all possible avenues concerning the circumstances surrounding a crime, search for disconfirming and confirming evidence of guilt for every suspect, and integrate all of this information” (p. 72). Dando and Ormerod ( 2017 ) illustrate this real-world complexity when they describe an investigation that was delayed because a call for tips led to a flood of false leads, suggesting that more information is not always better. Further, though it addresses procedural justice in street policing rather than evidence integration in a criminal investigation (and thus was not included in this review), Owens et al. ( 2018 ) provide an example of a field study, complete with published scripts. Recognizing the automated thinking and behavior that comes with job experience, these researchers tested an intervention to reduce the number of incidents resolved with arrests and use of force by implementing a training program aimed at encouraging beat officers to think more slowly and deliberately during routine encounters; they also assessed the cost of this intervention in the police department.

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Acknowledgments

Thank you to Dr. Karen Amendola (Police Foundation), Ms. Prahelika Gadtaula (Innocence Project), and Dr. Kim Rossmo (Texas State University) for their thoughtful reviews of earlier drafts.

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Appendix. Detailed Summary of 18 Studies with Police Participants or Source Materials

• a Homicide case vignette was the same as the others with this designation
• b Assault case vignette was the same as the others with this designation
• c Homicide case vignette was the same as the others with this designation
• d Missing person case vignettes were the same as others with this designation
• e The second study reported in this article used undergraduate student participants

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Meterko, V., Cooper, G. Cognitive Biases in Criminal Case Evaluation: A Review of the Research. J Police Crim Psych 37 , 101–122 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-020-09425-8

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Home » 500+ Criminal Justice Research Topics

500+ Criminal Justice Research Topics

Criminal justice is a complex and critical field that encompasses various aspects of crime prevention, law enforcement, legal proceedings, and punishment. Research plays a crucial role in understanding and addressing the challenges and opportunities in this field. From studying the causes and consequences of crime to exploring the effectiveness of policies and interventions, there is a wide range of fascinating and important criminal justice research topics to explore. Whether you are a student, a scholar, a practitioner, or a curious citizen, delving into the world of criminal justice research can deepen your knowledge, sharpen your critical thinking skills, and contribute to creating a safer and fairer society. In this post, we will introduce some of the most compelling and relevant criminal justice research topics that you may find intriguing and informative.

Criminal Justice Research Topics

Criminal Justice Research Topics are as follows:

• The effectiveness of community policing in reducing crime rates
• The impact of body-worn cameras on police accountability and public trust
• The causes and consequences of police use of excessive force
• The role of race and ethnicity in police-citizen interactions and perceptions
• The effectiveness of diversion programs in reducing recidivism among juvenile offenders
• The impact of mandatory minimum sentencing on crime rates and prison populations
• The challenges and opportunities of restorative justice as an alternative to punitive justice
• The role of mental health and substance abuse treatment in reducing criminal behavior
• The ethics and implications of using predictive policing algorithms
• The impact of private prisons on the criminal justice system and society
• The effectiveness of victim-offender mediation in reducing the harm of crime
• The prevalence and causes of wrongful convictions and the implications for justice
• The role of media in shaping public perceptions of crime and justice
• The effectiveness and fairness of the death penalty as a form of punishment
• The role of international law in addressing transnational crimes such as terrorism and human trafficking
• The impact of the War on Drugs on drug use, drug-related crime, and public health
• The effectiveness of gun control laws in reducing gun violence and crime rates
• The role of technology in enhancing or challenging the criminal justice system, such as DNA analysis or facial recognition software
• The prevalence and causes of domestic violence and the effectiveness of intervention programs
• The impact of sentencing disparities based on race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status
• The role of plea bargaining in the criminal justice system and the implications for justice
• The effectiveness of sex offender registries and notification laws in reducing sex crimes
• The impact of pretrial detention on defendants’ rights and outcomes
• The role of community-based corrections in reducing recidivism and promoting reentry
• The ethics and implications of using unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) for surveillance and law enforcement
• The effectiveness and implications of using risk assessment tools in pretrial decision-making
• The prevalence and impact of hate crimes and the challenges of prosecuting them
• The role of eyewitness testimony in criminal trials and the reliability of memory
• The effectiveness of drug courts in reducing drug-related crime and improving outcomes for offenders
• The impact of race and ethnicity on the administration of the death penalty
• The role of juries in the criminal justice system and the factors that affect their decisions
• The effectiveness and ethics of using informants in criminal investigations and prosecutions
• The prevalence and impact of cybercrime and the challenges of investigating and prosecuting it
• The effectiveness of juvenile justice reforms in promoting rehabilitation and reducing recidivism
• The impact of community-based policing on police-citizen relations and trust
• The role of social media in shaping perceptions of crime and justice
• The effectiveness of prison education and vocational training programs in promoting rehabilitation and reducing recidivism
• The prevalence and impact of human rights abuses in the criminal justice system, such as torture or discrimination
• The effectiveness of gang prevention and intervention programs in reducing gang-related crime
• The role of implicit bias in the criminal justice system and its impact on outcomes
• The impact of solitary confinement on mental health, behavior, and reentry outcomes
• The impact of police body cameras on public trust and police accountability.
• The effectiveness of diversion programs for juvenile offenders.
• The impact of community policing on crime reduction
• The use of predictive policing in law enforcement
• The impact of decriminalizing marijuana on crime rates
• The role of mental health professionals in the criminal justice system
• The effectiveness of de-escalation training for police officers
• The impact of technology on police surveillance practices
• The relationship between gender and sentencing disparities in the criminal justice system
• The relationship between poverty and crime
• The effectiveness of restorative justice programs in reducing recidivism
• The impact of the War on Drugs on mass incarceration
• The use of cognitive-behavioral therapy in offender rehabilitation
• The effectiveness of diversion programs for people with substance use disorders
• The role of implicit bias in jury selection
• The impact of police officer stress on use of force incidents
• The use of big data in criminal investigations and decision-making
• The effectiveness of restorative justice practices in school disciplinary policies
• The relationship between mental illness and homelessness in the criminal justice system
• The impact of mandatory minimum sentences on juvenile offenders
• The role of drug courts in the criminal justice system
• The effectiveness of offender reentry programs for people with disabilities
• The impact of restorative justice programs on victims of crime
• The use of therapeutic jurisprudence in the criminal justice system
• The relationship between race and ethnicity and the use of force by private security personnel
• The effectiveness of educational programs in correctional facilities
• The impact of eyewitness identification procedures on wrongful convictions
• The role of community-based policing in reducing crime rates
• The use of predictive analytics in bail decisions
• The effectiveness of correctional education programs on recidivism
• The impact of immigration enforcement policies on immigrant communities’ trust in law enforcement
• The relationship between mental health and juvenile detention
• The use of biometrics in criminal investigations and identification
• The effectiveness of mental health courts in reducing recidivism among people with co-occurring disorders
• The impact of gender and sexuality on hate crime victimization and reporting
• The role of cultural competence in police training
• The use of risk assessment tools in pretrial detention decisions
• The effectiveness of community supervision programs for people with substance use disorders
• The impact of social and economic policies on criminal justice outcomes
• The relationship between race and ethnicity and criminal case outcomes
• The use of therapeutic communities in correctional facilities
• The effectiveness of specialized courts for domestic violence cases
• The impact of gun violence on public safety and crime rates
• The role of eyewitness memory and recall in criminal investigations and trials
• The use of DNA evidence in criminal investigations and exoneration
• The effectiveness of probation and parole programs for people with disabilities
• The impact of victim impact statements on sentencing decisions
• The relationship between criminal justice policies and racial and ethnic disparities in incarceration rates
• The use of unmanned aerial vehicles in law enforcement
• The effectiveness of community-based restorative justice programs for juvenile offenders
• The impact of public defender workload on criminal case outcomes
• The role of community activism and advocacy in criminal justice reform
• The use of risk assessment tools in school disciplinary policies
• The effectiveness of family-focused interventions in reducing juvenile recidivism
• The impact of police officer race and ethnicity on use of force incidents
• The relationship between race and ethnicity and prosecutorial decision-making
• The use of virtual reality simulations in police training
• The effectiveness of mental health diversion programs for people with traumatic brain injuries
• The impact of juvenile life without parole sentences on individuals and society.
• The use of drones in criminal investigations
• The effectiveness of community-based alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders
• The impact of wrongful convictions on the criminal justice system
• The role of implicit bias in criminal justice decision-making
• The use of risk assessment tools in child welfare investigations
• The effectiveness of offender reentry programs in reducing recidivism
• The impact of hate crimes on marginalized communities
• The relationship between mental health and the use of force by police officers
• The use of body language analysis in criminal interrogations
• The effectiveness of community policing strategies in building trust between police and communities
• The impact of race on police use of force and police brutality
• The role of prosecutorial discretion in the criminal justice system
• The use of algorithms in pretrial detention decisions
• The effectiveness of victim-centered approaches to sexual assault investigations
• The impact of domestic violence on child custody decisions
• The relationship between social media and cybercrime
• The use of facial recognition technology in law enforcement
• The effectiveness of police officer training programs on cultural sensitivity and bias reduction
• The impact of the school-to-prison pipeline on youth
• The role of mental health courts in diversion programs
• The use of virtual reality technology in criminal justice education and training
• The effectiveness of crisis intervention teams in responding to mental health crises
• The impact of immigration policies on crime reporting and victimization rates in immigrant communities
• The relationship between police department size and use of force incidents
• The use of predictive analytics in parole and probation supervision
• The effectiveness of juvenile justice system diversion programs for LGBTQ+ youth
• The impact of bail reform on pretrial detention rates and recidivism
• The role of trauma-informed care in the criminal justice system
• The use of artificial intelligence in forensic investigations
• The effectiveness of prison entrepreneurship programs in reducing recidivism
• The impact of COVID-19 on the criminal justice system
• The relationship between mental health and incarceration rates
• The use of social network analysis in criminal investigations
• The effectiveness of drug testing and monitoring programs for probationers and parolees
• The impact of mandatory minimum sentences on drug offenses
• The role of the media in shaping public perceptions of crime and the criminal justice system
• The use of body-worn cameras in courtroom proceedings
• The effectiveness of mental health diversion programs for veterans involved in the criminal justice system
• The impact of race and ethnicity on the plea bargaining process
• The relationship between police department diversity and community trust
• The use of crime mapping in law enforcement strategies
• The effectiveness of animal therapy programs in correctional facilities
• The impact of the death penalty on families of victims and offenders
• The role of prosecutorial misconduct in wrongful convictions.
• Racial disparities in the use of capital punishment
• The effectiveness of electronic monitoring as an alternative to incarceration
• The role of restorative justice in reducing recidivism
• The relationship between mental illness and criminal behavior
• The effectiveness of drug courts in reducing drug-related offenses
• The impact of body-worn cameras on police behavior and citizen complaints
• The use of risk assessment tools in sentencing and release decisions
• The effectiveness of boot camp programs for juvenile offenders
• The use of eyewitness testimony in criminal trials
• The impact of victim-offender mediation on the criminal justice system
• The relationship between education level and criminal behavior
• The effectiveness of parole and probation in reducing recidivism
• The use of artificial intelligence in criminal justice decision-making
• The role of public defenders in the criminal justice system
• The impact of mandatory minimum sentences on the prison population
• The effectiveness of therapeutic courts for individuals with substance abuse disorders
• The impact of social media on the reporting of crimes and public perception of crime
• The effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy in reducing recidivism
• The impact of mental health courts on the criminal justice system
• The role of community service in reducing recidivism
• The relationship between domestic violence and gun ownership
• The effectiveness of diversion programs for individuals with mental illnesses
• The impact of sentencing guidelines on judicial discretion
• The use of police body language in detecting deception during interviews
• The relationship between incarceration and employment opportunities post-release
• The effectiveness of community-based supervision programs for released offenders
• The impact of the war on drugs on the criminal justice system
• The role of race and ethnicity in plea bargaining decisions
• The use of risk assessment tools in juvenile justice
• The effectiveness of animal-assisted therapy in correctional facilities
• The impact of restorative justice on the victims of crime
• The relationship between gun laws and gun violence rates
• The effectiveness of pretrial diversion programs for individuals with mental illnesses
• The role of reentry programs in reducing recidivism
• The impact of mandatory arrest policies in domestic violence cases
• The use of polygraph tests in criminal investigations
• The relationship between gang membership and criminal behavior
• The effectiveness of drug treatment courts in reducing recidivism
• The impact of solitary confinement on mental health and behavior
• The role of gun buyback programs in reducing gun violence
• The relationship between substance abuse and child abuse
• The effectiveness of victim impact panels in reducing drunk driving
• The impact of juvenile detention on mental health and behavior
• The use of forensic science in criminal investigations
• The relationship between race and wrongful convictions
• The effectiveness of prison education programs in reducing recidivism
• The impact of police militarization on community trust and safety
• The relationship between race, ethnicity, and police use of force.
• The impact of mandatory minimum sentencing laws on incarceration rates.
• The effectiveness of community policing in reducing crime rates.
• The relationship between mental illness and criminal behavior.
• The role of gender in criminal justice sentencing and outcomes.
• The impact of the war on drugs on incarceration rates and drug use.
• The effectiveness of restorative justice programs in reducing recidivism.
• The impact of solitary confinement on mental health and rehabilitation.
• The relationship between poverty and crime rates.
• The role of technology in modern policing and criminal justice.
• The effectiveness of drug courts in reducing drug-related crime.
• The relationship between immigration and crime rates.
• The impact of mandatory arrest policies in cases of domestic violence.
• The effectiveness of victim-offender mediation in reducing recidivism.
• The role of social media in modern crime and policing.
• The impact of police militarization on community trust and safety.
• The effectiveness of rehabilitation programs for incarcerated individuals.
• The relationship between gun ownership and violent crime.
• The impact of wrongful convictions on individuals and the criminal justice system.
• The role of race and ethnicity in jury selection and decision-making.
• The effectiveness of mental health courts in reducing recidivism.
• The relationship between education and crime rates.
• The impact of body-worn cameras on police officer behavior and decision-making.
• The effectiveness of drug treatment programs in reducing recidivism.
• The relationship between domestic violence and gun ownership.
• The impact of the death penalty on deterrence and sentencing outcomes.
• The role of implicit bias in policing and criminal justice decision-making.
• The effectiveness of community-based reentry programs for formerly incarcerated individuals.
• The relationship between crime rates and social inequality.
• The impact of predictive policing on crime rates and community trust.
• The effectiveness of probation and parole programs in reducing recidivism.
• The relationship between mental health and policing.
• The impact of police unions on police accountability and reform efforts.
• The role of the media in shaping public perceptions of crime and justice.
• The effectiveness of pretrial diversion programs in reducing incarceration rates.
• The relationship between police use of force and police training.
• The impact of mandatory minimum drug sentences on racial disparities in the criminal justice system.
• The effectiveness of juvenile detention alternatives in reducing recidivism.
• The relationship between mass incarceration and economic inequality.
• The impact of police body language on civilian compliance.
• The role of community organizations in crime prevention and intervention.
• The effectiveness of reentry programs for people with disabilities.
• The relationship between mental health and criminal justice reform.
• The impact of immigration policies on community safety and trust.
• The role of prosecutorial discretion in the criminal justice system.
• The effectiveness of job training programs for formerly incarcerated individuals.
• The relationship between race and drug policy.
• The impact of pretrial detention on case outcomes and incarceration rates.
• The effectiveness of diversion programs for offenders with mental health issues
• The prevalence and impact of police corruption and the challenges of rooting it out
• The role of victim impact statements in the criminal justice system and their impact on sentencing
• The impact of social inequality on crime rates and the criminal justice system
• The role of political ideology in shaping criminal justice policy and practice
• The effectiveness of rehabilitation and reentry programs for adult offenders
• The prevalence and impact of sexual harassment and assault within the criminal justice system
• The role of the Fourth Amendment in regulating police searches and seizures
• The effectiveness of restorative justice practices in addressing campus sexual assault
• The impact of mass incarceration on families and communities
• The ethics and implications of using artificial intelligence in criminal justice decision-making
• The role of bail reform in promoting justice and reducing pretrial detention
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• The role of public defenders in ensuring access to justice for indigent defendants
• The effectiveness of mental health courts in diverting mentally ill offenders from the criminal justice system
• The impact of the criminal justice system on immigrant communities and the challenges of immigrant detention and deportation
• The role of forgiveness in restorative justice and its implications for healing and reconciliation
• The effectiveness of alternative dispute resolution in reducing court congestion and promoting justice
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• The effectiveness of harm reduction strategies in reducing drug-related harm and promoting public health
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• The role of hate crime legislation in promoting justice and reducing hate-motivated violence
• The effectiveness of police training programs in reducing racial and ethnic bias and promoting cultural competence
• The prevalence and impact of gun violence and the challenges of gun control policy
• The role of the Eighth Amendment in regulating cruel and unusual punishment
• The effectiveness of problem-solving courts in addressing complex social issues and promoting justice
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• The effectiveness of mental health screening and assessment for individuals involved in the criminal justice system
• The use of virtual courtrooms in criminal proceedings
• The impact of juvenile detention on mental health and future criminal behavior
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• The use of eyewitness identification procedures in criminal investigations and court proceedings
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• The use of risk assessment tools in sentencing and parole decisions
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• The relationship between parental incarceration and children’s wellbeing
• The effectiveness of diversion programs for drug-related offenses
• The use of cognitive-behavioral therapy in offender rehabilitation programs
• The impact of solitary confinement on mental health and recidivism rates
• The relationship between social capital and crime rates
• The use of DNA evidence in criminal investigations and court proceedings
• The effectiveness of crisis response teams in reducing police use of force incidents
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• The use of forensic psychology in criminal investigations and court proceedings
• The effectiveness of cognitive interviewing techniques in witness testimony
• The impact of the media on public perceptions of the criminal justice system
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• The use of body-worn cameras in police-community interactions
• The effectiveness of reentry programs for individuals with intellectual disabilities
• The impact of mandatory minimum sentences on sentencing disparities
• The role of mental health providers in prisons and jails
• The use of civil asset forfeiture in law enforcement practices
• The effectiveness of diversion programs for individuals with mental illness involved in the criminal justice system
• The impact of police militarization on community trust and police accountability
• The relationship between unemployment and crime rates
• The use of artificial intelligence in identifying and preventing human trafficking
• The effectiveness of reentry programs for individuals with traumatic brain injuries
• The impact of community-based alternatives to policing on public safety and crime rates.
• The impact of the militarization of police on community relations
• The effectiveness of restorative justice practices in reducing recidivism
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• The role of community courts in addressing low-level offenses
• The effectiveness of reentry programs for people who were formerly incarcerated
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• The use of artificial intelligence in criminal investigations and sentencing
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• The role of public opinion in shaping criminal justice policy
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• The role of prosecutorial discretion in plea bargaining and sentencing
• The use of facial recognition technology in criminal investigations and surveillance
• The effectiveness of problem-solving courts in addressing specialized criminal cases
• The impact of prison privatization on inmate rights and access to services
• The relationship between race, gender, and criminal justice outcomes
• The use of mental health courts in diversion programs
• The effectiveness of community policing strategies in building trust and reducing crime rates
• The impact of police militarization on community perceptions and police-citizen interactions
• The role of forensic evidence in criminal investigations and court proceedings
• The use of artificial intelligence in predicting criminal behavior and recidivism.
• The use of restorative justice in the criminal justice system
• The impact of police militarization on community policing efforts
• The effectiveness of diversion programs for individuals with substance use disorders
• The relationship between economic inequality and crime rates
• The use of artificial intelligence in pretrial risk assessment
• The impact of mandatory minimum sentences on non-violent drug offenses
• The impact of the War on Drugs on communities of color
• The relationship between mental health and probation violations
• The effectiveness of drug courts in reducing recidivism rates
• The role of eyewitness testimony in wrongful convictions
• The use of facial recognition technology in criminal investigations and prosecutions
• The effectiveness of diversion programs for juvenile offenders
• The impact of probation and parole supervision on recidivism rates
• The relationship between police use of force and mental health disorders
• The use of predictive analytics in criminal sentencing
• The effectiveness of reentry programs for individuals with mental illness
• The impact of bail systems on low-income individuals and communities
• The role of implicit bias in sentencing decisions
• The use of social media in criminal investigations
• The impact of mandatory sentencing on judicial discretion
• The relationship between drug addiction and property crime
• The use of predictive analytics in risk assessment for pretrial release
• The effectiveness of substance abuse treatment programs in correctional facilities
• The impact of police body-worn cameras on police-citizen interactions
• The role of forensic evidence in wrongful convictions
• The use of drones in border patrol and immigration enforcement
• The effectiveness of community supervision programs for individuals with mental illness
• The impact of mandatory sentencing on the prison population and corrections costs
• The relationship between gang activity and violent crime
• The use of artificial intelligence in criminal investigations and evidence collection
• The effectiveness of juvenile diversion programs for first-time offenders
• The impact of prosecutorial misconduct on wrongful convictions
• The role of implicit bias in police use of force incidents
• The use of risk assessment tools in pretrial detention decisions for juvenile defendants
• The effectiveness of prison education programs in reducing recidivism rates
• The impact of racial profiling on policing practices and community trust
• The relationship between homelessness and criminal behavior
• The use of predictive analytics in identifying and preventing cybercrime
• The effectiveness of mental health treatment programs for incarcerated individuals
• The impact of the school-to-prison pipeline on students of color
• The role of community-based programs in reducing crime rates and recidivism
• The use of neuroscience in criminal investigations and sentencing decisions
• The effectiveness of diversion programs for individuals with co-occurring disorders
• The impact of solitary confinement on mental health and recidivism rates.
• The effectiveness of diversion programs for offenders with substance use disorders
• The impact of judicial discretion on sentencing outcomes
• The relationship between access to legal representation and sentencing disparities
• The use of body-worn cameras in reducing police misconduct and brutality
• The impact of bail practices on pretrial detention and racial disparities
• The relationship between police unions and police accountability
• The effectiveness of community supervision in reducing recidivism
• The impact of solitary confinement on mental health outcomes for inmates
• The relationship between criminal justice policies and racial wealth inequality
• The use of risk assessment tools in sentencing decisions
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• The impact of victim impact statements on sentencing outcomes
• The relationship between criminal justice policies and environmental justice
• The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) in law enforcement
• The effectiveness of juvenile justice diversion programs for at-risk youth
• The impact of police militarization on community relations
• The relationship between immigration enforcement and public safety
• The use of artificial intelligence in predicting recidivism risk
• The effectiveness of police training on de-escalation tactics
• The relationship between the criminal justice system and income inequality
• The use of geographic profiling in criminal investigations
• The effectiveness of mental health courts in reducing incarceration rates
• The impact of mandatory arrest policies on domestic violence victims
• The relationship between criminal justice policies and public health outcomes
• The use of body-worn cameras in reducing false accusations against police officers
• The effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy in reducing domestic violence recidivism
• The impact of race and ethnicity on police use of force during traffic stops
• The use of predictive analytics in parole and probation revocation decisions
• The effectiveness of offender treatment programs for intimate partner violence offenders
• The impact of prison education programs on post-release employment and recidivism
• The relationship between prison labor and modern-day slavery
• The use of predictive modeling to prevent child abuse and neglect
• The effectiveness of community courts in reducing recidivism rates
• The impact of community-based organizations on crime prevention
• The relationship between mental health and substance use disorders in the criminal justice system
• The use of mobile forensic technology in criminal investigations
• The effectiveness of gender-responsive programming in reducing female recidivism rates
• The impact of anti-immigrant sentiment on policing in immigrant communities
• The relationship between police legitimacy and public trust
• The use of data analytics in law enforcement resource allocation
• The effectiveness of reentry programs for people with disabilities
• The impact of police misconduct on wrongful convictions
• The relationship between restorative justice and school discipline
• The use of location tracking technology in the criminal justice system
• The effectiveness of anti-bias training for law enforcement officers
• The impact of drug decriminalization on public safety and health.

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Forensic Psychology

Skeptical of fbi criminal profiling’s validity, there are alternative profiling approaches..

Posted September 27, 2020

Not everyone believes in the FBI criminal profiling process that has been popularly depicted in the hit Netflix series Mindhunter .

For several decades now, clinical and forensic psychologists have been conducting research in order to assess the scientific rigor and validity of criminal profiling techniques. In that regard, a number of experiments have been conducted by psychologists on the central assumptions and techniques of FBI criminal profiling, but these studies have usually involved recreations in a controlled setting and were not based on actual criminal cases. Moreover, many of these studies have never been replicated, so their reliability is questionable or unknown.

Despite an inability to conduct utility tests on actual serial homicide cases, several prominent psychologists who oppose the FBI system have nonetheless developed new approaches to profiling which they claim outperform the FBI process. At least two of these newer approaches have gained acceptance among criminal justice practitioners over the past few decades. They are as follows.

Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling

This approach is based on the work of applied psychologist David Canter, Ph.D., who pioneered the field of investigative psychology in the early 1990s. He founded the Centre for Investigative Psychology at the University of Liverpool in England. Investigative psychology, according to Dr. Canter, includes many areas where psychology can contribute to criminal investigations, including behavioral profiling.

The goal of offender profiling, as performed by investigative psychologists, is similar to the goal of the FBI system of profiling—that is, to infer the defining characteristics of an unknown suspect based on his/her behavior during the commission of a crime. The difference between the two systems, according to Canter, is that all of the inferences made by investigative psychologists are based on empirical, peer-reviewed research, as opposed to the FBI model where inferences are based on the anecdotal experiences of individual criminal investigators.

Canter and his colleagues analyzed crime scene data from 100 serial homicide cases they found in the Centre for Investigative Psychology database to test the FBI's organized/disorganized dichotomy of serial crimes.

Their findings indicate that, contrary to the assertions of FBI profilers, virtually all serial murderers in their study exhibited some level of organization. Canter contends that organized behaviors such as concealing the victim's body are “constants“ of serial homicide that tend to occur along with variables such as mutilation or necrophilia.

Canter and his colleagues concluded that the actual difference between serial murderers lies in the type of “disorganized behaviors they exhibit” rather than the organized/disorganized dichotomy adhered to by the FBI. They further concluded that serial murderers can be divided into categories based on their interactions with their victims, including sexual control and domination, mutilation, or torture.

Canter argues that empirical research studies performed by investigative psychologists, based on proven scientific methods, are the only way to establish valid and reliable descriptions, categories, and classifications of serial killers. The approach utilized by investigative psychologists, according to Canter, "considers all the information that may be apparent at the crime scene and to carry out theory-based studies to determine the underlying structures of that material" (1).

Canter and his colleagues have little faith in the serial offender descriptions and categories developed by FBI agents from their own personal crime scene investigations. Canter believes that investigative psychologists must work from the ground up to gather data, develop theories, and classify offenders using empirical research methods that are not limited or biased by the experiences of criminal investigators.

Forensic Psychology and Crime Action Profiling

In the late 1990s, forensic psychologist Richard Kocsis, Ph.D., sought to construct criminal profiles for serial crimes that are not readily solved through conventional police investigative methods. Dr. Kocsis and his colleagues developed highly regarded profiling models based on large-scale analyses of serial murder, rape, and arson. Their system which is known as Crime Action Profiling (CAP) came into being as a result of a massive research study funded by the Australian government.

It was developed by Kocsis in collaboration with law enforcement agencies in that country. Their approach is distinctly different than the FBI system. The models developed by Kocsis and his associates are similar in design to in-depth structured interviews that clinical psychologists use to make diagnoses of their patients (2).

Kocsis, who is now in private practice, says that crime action profiling models are rooted in practical knowledge developed by forensic psychologists, psychiatrists, and criminologists. CAP models provide demographic, geographic, and psychographic measures or predictors of unknown subjects. He contends that a vital part of every crime action profile is an examination of the process of behavioral profiling itself. Kocsis says:

What seems to have been overlooked is any systematic examination of how to compose a profile. What type of information… should profiles contain? What type of case material do you need [in order] to construct a profile? How does the presence or absence of [case] material affect the accuracy of a profile? (3).

Kocsis and his colleagues in forensic psychology believe that the future of behavioral profiling lies in more empirically-based scientific research, similar to the beliefs of Canter and investigative psychologists. He believes that profiling is an acquired skill and that levels of ability vary greatly among practitioners. Just as some clinical psychologists are better therapists than others, some forensic psychologists are better practitioners of CAP than others. Kocsis readily admits that CAP is not an exact science.

When asked by the APA Monitor on Psychology whether the practice of profiling is more of an art or a science, Kocsis said, “Realistically, I think it is probably a bit of both." Nevertheless, his CAP system has received acceptance among forensic psychologists, criminologists, and profilers around the world.

Follow me @DocBonn on Twitter and visit my website at docbonn.com.

1. Canter, D.V., Alison, L.J., Alison, E. and Wentink, N. 2004. “The organized/disorganized typology of serial murder: Myth or model? Psychology, Public Policy and Law, 10 (3), pp. 293-320.

2. Kocsis, R.N. 2006. Criminal Profiling: Principles and Practice. Totowa, NJ: Humana Press.

3. Winerman, L. 2004. “Criminal profiling: The reality behind the myth.” Monitor on Psychology, 35 (7), p. 68.

Scott Bonn, Ph.D., is a criminologist, TV news commentator, and best-selling author of Why We Love Serial Killers: The Curious Appeal of the World's Savage Murderers.

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256 Research Topics on Criminal Justice & Criminology

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Criminal Psychology Research Topics

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Criminology Topics on Victimization

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Criminology Topics on Racism and Discrimination

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💂 116 Criminal Justice Research Topics & Questions

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• Jury selection: how is it performed?
• Experimental criminology: the latest innovations.

• Wildlife crime: areas of prevalence, ways of prevention.
• Felony disenfranchisement laws: when do they apply?
• The relation between organized crime and corruption .
• Victim services: what help can a victim of a crime get?
• Prison rape and violence: the psychological aspect, ways of prevention.
• Juvenile recidivism : what are the risk groups?
• Forensic science : role and functions in modern criminal justice.
• Shoplifting: how to prevent theft?
• Witness Protection Program: who is eligible and how to protect them.
• Date rape : what are the ways for the victims to seek legal assistance?
• Substance abuse and crime: correlation or causation?
• Identity theft: dangers and consequences in the modern world.
• Online predators: what laws can be introduced to protect kids? Real-life examples.
• Civil and criminal cases: how to differentiate?
• Domestic abuse victims: what laws protect them?
• Elder abuse : what can be done to prevent it?
• The strain theory : the unachievable American dream.
• Concepts of law enforcement: pursuing criminal justice .
• Ethics and criminal justice: the unethical sides of law enforcement.
• The top problems to be solved by law enforcement today.
• Information sharing technology: how has it helped in the fight against terrorism ?
• Terrorism in perspective: characteristics, causes, control .
• Serial killers : types.
• Drug use and youth arrests.
• Aggressive behavior : how does it correlate with criminal tendencies?
• Community corrections : are they effective?
• Sentencing: how does it take place?
• Punishment types and the established terms.
• Unwarranted arrest: when is it acceptable?
• Human trafficking in the modern world.
• Human trafficking: current state and counteracts .
• The role of technology in modern forensics .
• Similarities and differences between homicide , murder, and manslaughter.
• Types of offenders: classification.
• Effects of gun control measures in the United States .
• The role of crime mapping in modern criminal justice.
• Male crimes vs female crimes: are they different?
• Prisons : the problems of bad living conditions.
• Victimization : causes and ways of prevention.
• Victimology and traditional justice system alternatives .
• Rape victims: what are their rights?
• Problem-solving courts: what underlying problems do they address?
• Mandatory sentencing and the three-strike rule.
• Have “three-strikes” laws been effective and should they be continued?
• Criminal courts : what can be learned from their history?
• Hate crimes : what motivates people to commit them?
• Youth gangs: what is their danger?
• Fieldwork: how is it done in criminology?
• Distributive justice : its place in criminal justice.
• Capital punishment : what can be learned from history?
• Humanities and justice in Britain during 18th century .
• Abolition of capital punishment .
• Criminals and prisoners’ rights .
• Crime prevention programs and criminal rehabilitation .
• Campus crime: what laws and precautions are there against it?
• Criminal trial process: how does it go?
• Crimes committed on a religious basis: how are they punished?
• The code of ethics in the Texas department of criminal justice .
• Comparison between Florida and Maryland’s legislative frameworks .
• Fraud in the scientific field: how can copyright protect the discoveries of researchers?
• Prosecution laws: how are they applied in practice?
• The classification of crime systems.
• Cyberbullying and cyberstalking: what can parents do to protect their children?
• Forgery cases in educational institutions, offices, and governmental organizations.
• Drug courts : how do they work?

Controversial Topics in Criminal Justice

Want your work to be unconventional? Consider choosing one of the controversial topics. You will need to present a number of opposite points of view. Of course, it’s acceptable to choose and promote an opinion that you think stands the best. Just make sure to provide a thorough analysis of all of the viewpoints.

You can also stay impartial and let the reader make up their own mind on the subject. If you decide to support one of the viewpoints, your decision should be objective. Back it up with plenty of evidence, too. Here are some examples of controversial topics that you can explore.

• Reform vs. punishment: which one offers more benefits?
• Restorative justice model : is it the best criminal justice tool?
• The war on drugs : does it really solve the drug problem?
• Criminal insanity: is it a reason enough for exemption from liability?
• Juvenile justice system : should it be eliminated?
• Drug testing on the school ground.
• Police brutality in the United States .
• How to better gun control ? 
• Why Gun Control Laws Should be Scrapped .
• Pornography: is it a type of sexual violence?
• Whether death penalty can be applied fairly?
• Jack the Ripper: who was he?
• The modern justice system: is it racist?
• A false accusation: how can one protect themselves from it?
• Concealed weapons: what are the criminal codes of various states?
• Race and crime: is there a correlation?
• Registering sex offenders: should this information be in public records?
• Juvenile delinquency and bad parenting: is there a relation?
• Assessing juveniles for psychopathy or conduct disorder .
• Should all new employees be checked for a criminal background ?
• Are delinquency cases higher among immigrant children?
• Restrictive housing: can it help decongest prisons?
• Homegrown crimes: is there an effective program against them?
• Prostitution: the controversy around legalization .
• Eyewitness testimony : is it really helpful in an investigation?
• Youthful offenders in boot camps: is this strategy effective?
• Predictive policing : is it effective?
• Selective incapacitation: is it an effective policy for reducing crime?
• Social class and crime: is there a relation?
• Death penalty: is it effective in crime deterrence?
• Extradition law: is it fair?
• Devious interrogations: is deceit acceptable during investigations?
• Supermax prisons: are they effective or just cruel?
• Zero tolerance: is it the best policy for crime reduction?
• Marijuana decriminalization: pros and cons.
• Marijuana legalization in the US .

Now that you have looked through the full list of topics, choose wisely. Remember that sometimes it’s best to avoid sensitive topics. Other times, a clever choice of a topic will win you extra points. It doesn’t depend on just the tastes of your professor, of course. You should also take into account how much relevant information there is on the subject. Anyway, the choice of the topic of your research is up to you. Try to find the latest materials and conduct an in-depth analysis of them. Don’t forget to draw a satisfactory conclusion. Writing may take a lot of your time and energy, so plan ahead. Remember to stay hydrated and good luck!

Now, after we looked through the topic collections on criminology and criminal justice, it is time to turn to the specifics in each of the fields. First, let’s talk more extensively about criminology. If you are training to be a criminologist, you will study some things more deeply. They include the behavior patterns of criminals, their backgrounds, and the latest sociological trends in crime.

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In the field of criminology, the specialties are numerous. That’s why it’s difficult to pinpoint one career that represents a typical member of the profession. It all depends on the background of a criminologist, their education, and experience.

A criminologist may have a number of responsibilities at their position. For example, they might be called forth to investigate a crime scene. Participation in autopsies is unpleasant yet necessary. Interrogation of suspects and subsequent criminal profiling is another essential duty.

Some professionals work solely in research. Others consult government agencies or private security companies. Courts and law firms also cooperate with criminologists. Their job is to provide expert opinion in criminal proceedings. Some of them work in the prison systems in order to oversee the rehabilitation of the convicted.

Regardless of the career specialty , most criminologists are working on profiling and data collection. A criminologist is another word for an analyst. They collect, study, and analyze data on crimes. After conducting the analysis, they provide recommendations and actionable information.

A criminologist seeks to find out the identity of the person who committed the crime. The time point of a crime is also important, as well as the reason for it. There are several areas covered by the analysis of a criminologist. The psychological behavior of the criminal or criminals is closely studied. The socio-economic indicators are taken into account. There are also, of course, the environmental factors that may have facilitated the crime.

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Some high-profile cases require a criminologist to correspond with media and PR managers extensively. Sometimes criminologists write articles and even books about their findings. However, it should be noted that the daily routine of a professional in the field is not so glamorous. Most criminologists do their work alone, without the attention of the public.

The research a criminologist accumulates during their work is extensive. It doesn’t just sit there in a folder on their desk, of course. The collected statistics are used for developing active criminal profiles that are shared with law enforcement agencies. It helps to understand criminal behavior better and to predict it. That’s why a criminologist’s work must be precise and accurate for it to be practical and useful. Also, criminology professionals must have a good grasp of math and statistics.

Thinking of a career in criminology? You will need to, at the very least, graduate from college. There, you’ll master mathematics, statistics, and, of course, criminology. An associate’s degree may get you an entry-level position. But the minimum entry-level requirement is usually the bachelor’s degree. The best positions, though, are left for the professionals with a master’s degree or a PhD.

Just having a degree is not enough. To succeed as a criminologist, you will require all your intelligence, commitment, and the skill of analyzing intricate situations. An aspiration to better the society will go a long way. You will need to exercise your creative, written, and verbal communication skills, too. An analytical mind will land you at an advantage.

Criminology: Research Areas

Times change and the world of crime never ceases to adapt. The nature of criminal transgression is evolving, and so do the ways of prosecution. Criminal detection, investigation, and prevention are constantly advancing. Criminology studies aim to improve the practices implemented in the field.

There are six unified, coordinated, and interrelated areas of expertise. Within each, the professionals are busy turning their mastery into knowledge and action.

The first research area is the newest worry of criminology – cybercrime. The impact of this type of crime is escalating with every passing day. That’s why it’s crucial for the law enforcement professionals to keep up to date with the evolving technology. Cybercrime research is exploring the growing threat of its subject at all levels of society. Cybercrime may impact people on both personal and governmental levels. Cybercrime research investigates the motivation and methodology behind the offenses and finds new ways to react.

The second research area is counter fraud. Crimes that fall under this category include fraud and corruption. The questions that counter fraud research deals with are many. How widely a crime is spread, what method is best to fight it, and the optimal courses of action to protect people and organizations.

The third research area is that of forensics. The contemporary face of justice has been changed by forensic science beyond recognition. Nowadays, it’s much harder for criminals to conceal their activity due to evolved technologies. The research in forensics is utilizing science in the identification of the crime and in its reconstruction. It employs such techniques as DNA recovery, fingerprinting, and forensic interviewing.

What is forensic interviewing? It helps find new ways to gather quality information from witnesses and crime scenes. It also works on developing protocols that ensure the protection of this human data and its correct interpretation by police.

The fourth research area is policing. Police service is facing a lot of pressing issues nowadays due to budget cuts. At the same time, police officers still need to learn, and there are also individual factors that may influence their work.

The fifth research area is penology. It’s tasked with exploring the role of punishment in the criminal justice system. Does punishment aid the rehabilitation of perpetrators, and to what extent? The answer will help link theory to practice and thus shape how criminal justice practitioners work.

The sixth research area is that of missing persons. Before a person goes missing, they may display a certain pattern of behavior. The study of missing persons helps to identify it. The results will determine the handling of such cases.

Now that we know what criminology is, it’s time to talk about criminal justice.

While criminology focuses on the analysis of crime, criminal justice concentrates on societal systems. Its primary concern is with the criminal behavior of the perpetrators. For example, in the USA, there are three branches of the criminal justice system. They are police (aka law enforcement), courts, and corrections. These branches all work together to punish and prevent unlawful behavior. If you take up a career in criminal justice, expect to work in one of these fields.

The most well-known branch of criminal justice is law enforcement. The police force is at the forefront of defense against crime and misdemeanor. They stand against the criminal element in many ways. For instance, they patrol the streets, investigate crimes, and detain suspects. It’s not just the police officers who take these responsibilities upon themselves. There are also US Marshals, ICE, FBI Agents, DEA, and border patrol. Only after the arrest has been made, the perpetrator enters the court system.

The court system is less visible to the public, but still crucial to the criminal justice system. Its main purpose is to determine the suspect’s innocence or guilt. You can work as an attorney, lawyer, bailiff, judge, or another professional of the field. In the court, if you are a suspect, you are innocent until proven guilty. You are also entitled to a fair trial. However, if they do find you guilty, you will receive a sentence. Your punishment will be the job of the corrections system.

The courts determine the nature of the punishment, and the corrections system enforces it. There are three elements of the corrections system: incarceration, probation, and parole. They either punish or rehabilitate the convicts. Want to uptake a career in corrections? You may work as, including, but not limited to: a parole officer, a prison warden, a probation officer, and a guard.

📈 Criminal Justice: Research Areas

The research areas in criminal justice are similar, if not identical, to those of criminology. After all, those are two very closely related fields. The one difference is that criminal justice research has more practical than theoretical applications. But it’s fair to say that theory is the building blocks that practice bases itself on. One is impossible without the other unless the result you want is complete chaos.

So, the question is – what topic to choose for the research paper? Remember that the world of criminal justice is constantly changing. Choosing a subject for research in criminal justice, consider a relevant topic. There are many pressing issues in the field. Exploring them will undoubtedly win you points from your professor. Just make sure to choose a direction that will give you the opportunity to show off both your knowledge and your analytical skills.

Not sure that your original research direction will be appreciated? Then choose one of the standard topics. Something that is widely discussed in the media. And, of course, make sure that you are truly interested in the subject. Otherwise, your disinterest will translate into your writing, which may negatively affect the overall impression. Also, it’s just more enjoyable to work on something that resonates with you.

What can you do with your research paper? Literally anything. Explore the background of the issue. Make predictions. Compare the different takes on the matter. Maybe there are some fresh new discoveries that have been made recently. What does science say about that?

Also, remember to backup all your arguments with quotes and examples from real life. The Internet is the best library and research ground a student could hope for. The main idea of the paper, aka the thesis, must be proven by enough factual material. Otherwise, it’s best to change your research direction.

And, of course, don’t put it all off till the last minute. Make a plan and stick to it. Consistency and clever distribution of effort will take you a long way. Good luck!

🤔 Criminal Justice Research FAQs

Criminological and criminal justice research are the scientific studies of the causes and consequences, extent and control, nature, management, and prevention of criminal behavior, both on the social and individual levels.

Criminal justice and criminology are sciences that analyze the occurrence and explore the ways of prevention of illegal acts. Any conducted personal research and investigation should be supported by the implemented analytical methods from academic works that describe the given subject.

There are six interrelated areas of criminology research:

• Cybercrime research makes law enforcement professionals keep up to date with the evolving technology.
• Counter fraud research investigates cases of fraud and corruption.
• Forensics research utilizes science: DNA recovery, fingerprinting, and forensic interviewing.
• Research in policing investigates individual factors that may influence the work of police officers.
• Penology explores the role of punishment in the criminal justice system.
• The study of missing persons helps to identify patterns of victims’ behavior.

There are seven research methods in criminology:

• Quantitative research methods measure criminological and criminal justice reality by assigning numerical values to concepts to find patterns of correlation, cause and effect.
• Survey research collects information from a number of persons via their responses to questions.
• Experimental research assesses cause and effect in two comparison groups.
• Cross-sectional research studies one group at one point in time.
• Longitudinal research studies the same group over a period of time.
• Time-series designs study the same group at successive points in time.
• Meta-analysis employs quantitative analysis of findings from multiple studies.

The basis of criminological theory is criminological research. It influences the development of social policies and defines criminal justice practice.

Criminological research doesn’t just enable law students to develop analytical and presentational skills. The works of criminal justice professionals, scholars, and government policymakers dictate the way law enforcement operates. The newest ideas born out of research identify corrections and crime prevention, too.

Here is a step-by-step instruction on how to write a criminal justice research paper:

• Choose a topic
• Read the materials and take notes
• Come up with a thesis
• Create an outline for your work
• Draft the body
• Start with a cover page, an abstract, and an intro
• List the methods you used, and the results you got
• Include a discussion
• Sum it up with a conclusion
• Don’t forget a literature review and appendices
• Revise, proofread, and edit

The most common types of methodologies in criminal justice research include:

• Observation of participants.
• Surveys and interviews.
• Observation of focus groups.
• Conducting experiments.
• Analysis of secondary data and archival study.
• Mixed (a combination of the above methods).

Learn more on this topic:

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• The Differences Between Criminal Justice and Criminology: Which Degree Is Right for You? (Concordia St. Paul)
• Corporate Crime: Britannica
• The Development of Delinquency: NAP
• Databases for Research & Education: Gale
• A CS Research Topic Generator: Purdue University
• A Introduction To The Federal Court System: US Department of Justice
• Criminal Justice Research Topics: Broward College
• Research Topics in Criminology: Cambridge Institute of Criminology
• CRIMINOLOGY: University of Portsmouth
• Research: Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice, University of Maryland
• Criminal Justice: RAND
• Research Methods in Criminal Justice: Penn State University Libraries
• Research: School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Arizona State University
• Criminology – Research Guide: Getting started (Penn Libraries)
• Criminology Research Papers: Academia
• The History & Development of the U.S. Criminal Justice System: Study.com
• CRIMINAL JUSTICE & CRIMINOLOGY: Marshall University
• Criminal Justice: Temple University
• Criminal Justice: University of North Georgia
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Criminal profiling: The techniques used by police to catch dangerous offenders

C riminal profiling, the technique of deciphering the psychological makeup of offenders, is a crucial part of solving true crime mysteries.

By examining patterns, motives and psychological triggers, criminal profiling provides insights that often prove crucial in cracking the most puzzling cases.

Continuously evolving alongside advancements in forensic technologies, criminal profiling has proven to be effective in aiding law enforcement.

Read on to learn more about the inner workings of criminal profiling and the role it plays in the pursuit of justice.

SERIAL KILLER JOHN WAYNE GACY TRIED TO 'MANIPULATE' CRIMINAL PROFILER IN DISCLOSED DEATH ROW LETTER

Criminal profiling is a method used to identify the perpetrator of a violent crime by analyzing their personality and behavior based on crime scene analysis, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

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This specialized investigative technique is often used by law enforcement agencies.

The criminal profile aims to provide insights into the offender's personality, habits and motivations.

This assists investigators in narrowing down suspect lists, prioritizing leads and developing investigation strategies. By analyzing crime scenes and details about the victim, profilers can create a more detailed picture of the person who they are looking for.

This helps law enforcement focus their efforts on people who fit the profile, increasing the chances of catching the perpetrator.

FORMER FBI CRIMINAL PROFILER CANDICE DELONG ON HOW 'DR. DEATH' CASE HAUNTED HER: 'I WAS TERRIFIED'

While not a definitive solution to solving crimes, criminal profiling serves as a valuable tool in assisting law enforcement agencies in their efforts to apprehend criminals.

The origins of criminal profiling trace back to the pioneering work of figures such as John Douglas and Robert Ressler. 

These trailblazers played instrumental roles in shaping the field by introducing innovative techniques that merged psychology, criminology and forensic science.

Douglas, the former chief of the FBI’s Investigative Support Unit, is known as the man who ushered in a new age in behavioral science and criminal profiling. He conducted extensive interviews with serial killers to gain insights into their motivations, thought processes and behavior.

Ressler was one of the key figures involved in the creation of the FBI's Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (VICAP). Still active today, VICAP is an initiative designed to facilitate communication among law enforcement agencies regarding violent crimes, particularly those involving serial offenders.

Douglas and Ressler laid the foundation for modern profiling methodologies, revolutionizing the approach to understanding criminal behavior.

Their insights paved the way for the systematic analysis of behavioral patterns to identify suspects, marking a significant advancement in law enforcement practices.

Building a criminal profile involves gathering and analyzing various types of information to construct a detailed picture of the perpetrator. 

Investigators begin by thoroughly examining the crime scene, collecting evidence and noting any distinct characteristics or behavioral patterns exhibited by the offender. This includes looking for potential signatures left at the scene of the crime.

They also focus on the victim, studying the background and circumstances of the victims to identify potential links or motives.

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Investigators often consult with forensic experts, psychologists and other specialists to gain further insights into the case.

Through a combination of empirical data, deductive reasoning and psychological analysis, investigators can begin to piece together a comprehensive profile that can aid law enforcement in identifying and apprehending the criminal.

Murderers are often classified into two categories: organized and disorganized.

An organized offender maintains a structured lifestyle and typically kills after a critical life event occurs, such as a personal or financial crisis, a relationship breakdown or traumatic experience.

Disorganized offenders are prone to committing crimes that are impulsive, often driven by emotions rather than premeditation. They are known to leave behind evidence such as blood or the murder weapon.

Understanding these distinctions is critical for law enforcement agencies in their efforts to investigate suspects. This information can be valuable in generating leads and directing investigative efforts.

Becoming a criminal profiler involves several steps, including education, training and experience.

Criminal profilers typically have backgrounds in psychology, criminology or forensic science. They often have advanced degrees and specialized training in behavioral analysis and criminal investigation.

Gaining practical experience in law enforcement or related fields is important for developing a solid understanding of criminal behavior and investigative techniques.

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Specialized training programs or certifications in profiling cover topics such as crime scene analysis, behavioral profiling and criminal psychology.

While many criminal profilers work within law enforcement agencies, there are also private consultants and academics who provide profiling services.

Dedication, persistence and a commitment to serving justice are vital attributes for those pursuing a career in criminal profiling.

Famous cases where criminal profiling played a significant role include the Unabomber case and the hunt for serial killers Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer.

Ted Kaczynski, known as the Unabomber , was a domestic terrorist who carried out a series of bombings over nearly two decades. These bombings resulted in multiple deaths. FBI profiles played a critical role in analyzing his manifesto and behavior patterns to identify and apprehend him in 1996.

Bundy was responsible for the murders of at least 30 young women across several states in the 1970s. Investigators utilized behavioral analysis to develop a profile of Bundy, recognizing patterns in his personality traits. This profile helped focus the investigation, leading to his arrest in 1975.

Dahmer murdered at least 17 men between 1978 and 1991. Dahmer's case involved the use of criminal profiling techniques to understand his behavior and motives.

Profilers helped investigators analyze his crimes, identifying patterns such as his method of luring victims, his preference for particular types of victims and how he disposed of their bodies. Understanding these patterns aided in the investigation and led to Dahmer's arrest in 1991.

Criminal profiling has evolved as a valuable tool in law enforcement, with these notable cases serving as examples of its success.

The world of high-profile true crime cases showcases the indispensable role of criminal profiling, a tool that illuminates the darkest corners of human behavior and steers the course of justice toward resolution.

Original article source: Criminal profiling: The techniques used by police to catch dangerous offenders

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Amazing 50 Criminal Psychology Research Paper Topics

When it comes to criminal psychology research papers, you have the freedom to write any relevant topic on the subject. You could explore any topic under the sun related to crime, forensics, and criminal behavior. To get you started, we’ve put together a list of 50 intriguing topics to spark your imagination. Are psychopaths born or made? How can we rehabilitate offenders? What motivates serial killers? These are just a few criminal psychology research questions you could explore in your criminal psychology research paper. Whatever criminal psychology topics you choose, make sure to do your due diligence and provide citations for all of your sources.

Interesting Criminal Psychology Research Topics

Intriguing forensic psychology research topics, well-thought forensic psychology research paper topics, fascinating psychology and law research topics, hot topics in forensic psychology.

• Do You Need Forensic Psychology Topics For Research Paper?

Are you looking for an interesting topic for your research on criminal psychology? Whether you are a high school student, undergraduate, or postgraduate student, be sure to develop an excellent criminal psychology research paper. Let’s discuss several research topics that you can explore.

• The role of psychological theories in explaining criminal thoughts
• Understanding criminal sentiments and behaviors in adult men
• Weaknesses of psychological theories in explaining crime
• How emotions inhibit and facilitate crime among young adults
• Is there a relationship between personality attributes and crime?
• Is poverty the main cause of crime? A psychology review
• The relationship between antisocial behavior and crime among the youth.
• Does childhood aggression and divorce contribute a lot to crime?
• Clinical psychologists and police investigators: A detailed relationship
• Criminal psychology and genetics: Is there any relationship?

It can be tough to come up with forensic psychology topics because you can’t tell where to start most times. Issues in forensic psychology will provide some great suggestions. If you’re just starting or looking for new ideas, read our list keenly.

• How forensic psychologists’ prowess in communication influences the roles
• Forensic psychology in showcasing tragedy. pathologies and human frailties
• Mental health and committing a crime: A forensic study report
• Forgery crimes and the nature of victim’s handwriting: An expert view on the true relationship
• How witness profile affects the overall results in forensic studies
• Is forensic psychology more of science or common sense?
• The role of criminal forensic psychology programs meant for experienced psychologists
• Evaluations of crime risks and forensic psychology
• Understanding abnormal behaviors in forensic assignments
• How drugs and psychopharmacology influence forensic results.

Are you a history student looking for great forensic psychology topics for paper? Forensic psychology combines psychology and law, and it offers many psychology and law topics to explore. Here are some well-thought-out topics to get you started:

• The impact of mental health on criminal behavior
• Forensic assessment in the courtroom setting
• Ethics is a major challenge in forensic psychology examinations
• A psychological perspective on how testimonies and false information hinder crime evaluation
• Psychotherapy with incarcerated individuals
• Forensic psychologists and social media: A review on how social media platforms continue to play a major role
• Forensic psychology stereotypes and the best way forward in developed countries
• Rehabilitation and recidivism rates in convicted criminals
• Religious and ethical beliefs and practices as a hindrance to forensic audits
• The use of forensic psychologists in death investigations

History students are always busy when writing their final papers. It’s because writing criminal and legal psychology papers isn’t a walk in the park. You must analyze several forensic psychology research questions to come up with forensic psychology paper topics that work for you. If you want the best psychology and law research topics, look no further!

• Religion rules and regulations and contributions to crimes in developed countries
• Capital punishment is a way to create a productive and crime-free society
• The role played by courts of law in lowering criminal activities
• Is there any justice in lengthy convictions after committing minor crimes?
• Understanding human rights and what needs to change to protect women from crime better
• Human trafficking and slavery as the basis of today’s crime and torture
• How jury selection influences justice in criminal cases that start at the prostitution level
• Bullying and crime and why legal enactments are needed to avoid crime due to frustrations.
• Psychology and legal crimes among top security officials
• Internet laws and criminal psychology: A review of must-have changes

As forensic psychology students, you need to know about the latest forensic psychology issues, trends, and developments in the field. We will explore the most current and controversial topics in forensic psychology. Here we go!

• Is criminal profiling effective?
• Profiling methods and accuracy of the different information revealed
• Myths about criminal profiling that most people are not talking about
• Criminal psychology behavior analysis: Amber alert informative speech
• African-Americans and their relationship with criminal police
• Sexual abuse has a major impact on crime in middle-class society
• Technological signs of progress in handling crime: A focus on psychology, crime, and technology.
• Authorities and their contribution to crime: Criminal psychology view on power.
• A study on peer pressure and criminal psychology
• How Violence in the homes and media facilitates crime

Do You Need Forensic Psychology Topics For Research Paper? Talk To Us

Criminal psychology research often goes into the minds of criminals and their thought processes to better understand them. That’s why there’s a lot you can handle in criminal psychology. You’ll often get topic ideas from criminal Sentiments and psychological theories, historical happenings around criminal psychology , criminal profiling, criminal behavior, and the causes and effects of crime.

Again, a lot of criminal psychology research is centered on trying to understand what causes individuals or groups of people to commit crimes or specific types of crimes. We go beyond that and suggest captivating psychology and the law research topics and, more so, write your paper irrespective of the issues in forensic psychology you want to talk about. Talk to us now.

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