Resolving the Offender “Profiling Equations” and the Emergence of an Investigative Psychology

Abstract

Determining the characteristics of an unknown offender from details of a crime is at the heart of much crime fiction. Although it has roots in the inferences made by Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle never provided empirical evidence for Holmes' inferences, or models of how such inferences can be made. Yet it ought to be possible to utilize psychological theories to derive inferences about offenders. This possibility has become a significant aspect of the new domain known as investigative psychology, which among other things seeks to establish what are called “profiling equations.” Although these are not equations in the literal, mathematical sense, they serve to summarize the search for consistent associations between aspects of a crime and features of the criminal that will be useful to investigations. Some progress has been made in modeling the process for establishing these links, elucidating consistencies in human actions often ignored in studies of individual differences.