Publisher's Synopsis
Offender profiling is a technique for constructing psychological profiles of criminals associated with certain types of criminal behaviour. This technique may be used to help in criminal investigation or in supporting a legal case.;Offender profiling has become an increasingly popular topic for writers of fiction, newspaper journalists and producers of television documentaries and it is often portrayed as an instant device for solving a crime. In reality this is far from the truth.;This book places offender profiling within a more realistic, balanced context. Initial chapters introduce a theoretical, empirical basis for the approach, and are followed by chapters illustrating the pros and cons of its use in an applied, operational setting. The book presents two basic ideas: that offender profiling is not an end in itself, but is purely an instrument for steering an investigation in a particular direction; and that the process of developing a profile depends on a combination of investigative experience together with objective findings from behavioural science research.
