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Do your students understand the job of a "criminal profiler"? Yes, they see them nightly on tv shows and in the news, but do they have a real understanding of how law enforcement can use empirical data to correctly assess behavior and help solve crimes, particularly serial crimes?

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

 
Chapter 1: Introduction
 
Chapter 2: Crime Scene Profiling
 
Chapter 3: Scientific Approaches to Crime Scene Profiling
 
Chapter 4: Geographic Profiling and Mapping
 
Chapter 5: Profiling Applied to Specific Crimes
 
Chapter 6: Psychological Profiling: A Focus on Threat and Risk Assessment
 
Chapter 7: Suspect-Based Profiling
 
Chapter 8: Reconstructive Psychological Evaluation: The Psychological Autopsy
 
Chapter 9: Profiling In Court

(Due to changes in the curriculum we have not adopted this book or any similar text.)
The book gives a good basic overview of the field of criminal and behavioural profiling. The text is very accessible and should be ok to read even for non-native English readers. I would not hesitate to use this book at our university of applied sciences or at a university in the Netherland.
The development of the field is described along historical lines and works towards the current way that theory, research and practice are still evolving. It’s very much a relatively young discipline and not without it’s controversies. These and different schools of thought within the field are well presented in the book. The book is a very nice and concise introduction into the field of criminal and behavioural profiling.

Mr Pepijn van Amersfoort
Social Work, The Hague University of Applied Sciences
September 13, 2021

throughout the book there are interesting articles that relate to the study my learners have to complete in certain modules, especially on difference and diversity and assumptions a great book to use for reference in study and in professional parctice.

Miss Sam Ford
Psychology, Southend Adult Community College
July 18, 2019

This book has been considered as supplemental reading for our MSc programme. It provides a comprehensive overview of criminal profiling in an interesting and accessible manner. Case studies help bring the theory and techniques to life.

Dr Michael Lewis
Social Science , Kaplan Professional
August 3, 2016

Very good text. up-to-date and includes an international perspective

Ms Jan Nicholson
Sport & Public Policy, Bishop Burton College
June 15, 2015

This is a really well-written and interesting book that our students will hopefully connect with well. Uses a good range of examples and relevant research.

Dr Gillian Harrop
Psychology, University of Worcester
January 28, 2015

Most appropriate for my new course called Profiling and Threat Assessment Hits on all the appropriate topics in a writing style well-liked by the students and is more than authoritative enough for my requirements

Daniel Kennedy
Sociology Anthropology Dept, Oakland University
October 8, 2013

My profiling class is very specific and this just didn't quite fit it.

Dr Mark Leymon
Criminology and Criminal Justice, Portland State University
September 12, 2013

Easy to read and useful for entry level learners in crime investigation

Dr Bernadine Benson
Forensic Investigation Dept, University of South Africa
July 16, 2013

Interesting coverage of the subject area. Recommended as additional reading

Dr Maria Ioannou
School of Human and Health Sciences, Huddersfield University
May 19, 2013

Used a lot of the information for the topic of offender profiling and have recommended the book to the students if they want to take this topic further in their final year dissertations.

Ms Allison Savory
Department of Social Sciences, Bucks New University
April 24, 2013
Key features

FEATURES & BENEFITS

  • Presents an international perspective, integrating research, theory, practice, and examples from not only the United States, but also Great Britain, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Finland, and more.
  • Includes case examples to illustrate theory and techniques.
  • Offers historical information about the origins of profiling, including its development by the FBI Behavioral Science Unit.
  • Highlights the victimology approach, with an emphasis on the importance—for profiling purposes—of gathering information about the victim and how serial offenders treat their victims.
  • Features Focus Boxes in each chapter to provide applied information from practice.
  • Integrates timely literature from the rapidly growing international research in criminal profiling

Sample Materials & Chapters

toc

ch 2

Chapter 1


For instructors

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