Sex Offender Profiling by the FBI - A Preliminary Conceptual Model (From Clinical Criminology, P 207-219, 1985, Mark H Ben-Aron et al, eds. See NCJ-101207)

• NCJ Number: 101217
• Author(s): P E Dietz
• Date Published: 1985
• Length: 13 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: Canada
• Note: Available in microfiche as NCJ-101207

Annotation

This paper describes the process of sex offender profiling used by the FBI National Academy's Behavioral Science Unit.

Abstract

The profiler engages in a five-step process, each step of which is associated with specific checkpoints. He begins by acquiring information about the case (data assimilation), constructs a behavioral reconstruction of the events that took place, develops motivational hypotheses, considers what kind of person would be motivated to behave as the offender did (typological hypotheses), and develops attributional hypotheses about the characteristics of the individual offender. At each stage, the profiler checks his working hypotheses against the data and hypotheses formulated in the preceding stages. Once the attributional hypotheses are fully formulated, some of them are reported as the offender profile. Because the profile serves to guide investigators, a high priority is placed on observable attributes that could narrow the field of suspects under consideration or on characteristics that suggest possible courses of investigation. 41 references.