NCJ Number
205952
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 31 Issue: 3 Dated: June 2004 Pages: 341-361
Date Published
June 2004
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This study examined whether criminal psychological profiling is applicable to serial arson offenses by comparing the accuracy of professional profilers with other groups in their construction of a profile of a serial arsonist based on the same case information.
Abstract
The general design of the current study attempted to replicate and extend the findings of previous research studies by Kocsis et al. (2000) and Kocsis, Hayes, et al. (2002) with reference to criminal profiling for homicide, but with a previously resolved arson case being the test. These previous studies assessed the skills necessary for effective profiling. The two key findings from these studies were the importance of logical and objective analysis and, conversely, the apparent irrelevance of investigative experience. In accordance with this previous research, the current study used samples of professional profilers (n=3), police detectives (n=13), fire investigators (n=12), science students (n=21), and a control group (n=47) of participants given no information about the case. These groups were compared on their abilities to profile accurately the known offender in a series of arson offenses. The study involved the completion of a questionnaire with three sections. The first section contained a case description of 13 linked arson offenses. The second section required participants to respond to questions about the physical characteristics of the offender, cognitions relevant to the offense, behaviors associated with the offense, and personal history of the offender. The third section contained a form that requested participants to sign a declaration that indicated they were not personally familiar with the facts of the case. The professional profilers produced the most accurate profiles, followed by the group of university science students. Senior detectives and fire investigators tended to perform the worst and never better than a control group that had no specific information about the crime and could do little more than guess at the offender's profile. The results of the previous studies were confirmed, in that the key factor in accurate profiling was the capacity for objective and logical analysis, a characteristic shared by the science students and the professional profilers. 1 table, 37 references, and appended Offender-Characteristics Questionnaire