Forensics Unit 3 - Criminal profiling

Forensic psychiatrist

Helps determine why the crime was committed.

Competency

Reflects a person's ability to understand both the charges and their consequences, as well as how the court process works.

McNaughten Rule

A legal standard for insanity stating a person is not responsible if they didn't understand the nature or wrongness of their act due to mental illness.

Diminished capacity

When a person's mental functioning is impaired but not enough to declare them legally insane—may reduce their sentence or charges.

Modus operandi (MO)

Describes the tools and strategies a criminal uses to commit a crime. (The "How" the crime was committed.)

Motive

Why a crime was committed: anger, criminal enterprise, financial gain, ideology, power/thrill, psychosis, or sexually based.

Signature

Acts done by an offender that aren't essential to the crime—suggest some special need of the offender.

Personality Inventory

Includes attitudes, behaviors, thoughts, beliefs, and emotional responses. Highly standardized and reliable. Example: Myers-Briggs.

Projective Testing

Designed to evaluate a personality and a person's thought processes. More subjective. Example: Inkblot test.

Intellectual/Cognitive Testing

Designed to assess intellect, mental competency, and ability to understand one's own behavior. Example: SAT.

Most reliable testing methods

Personality and cognitive testing.

Most subjective testing method

Projective testing.

Reasons for false confessions

Fear of police, fame seeking, protecting someone, guilt, false memories.

Reasons someone might lack competency

Mental retardation, severe drug/alcohol addiction, brain syndromes, stroke/tumor, psychosis, or schizophrenia.

Who determines if someone is criminally insane?

Judge or jury.

Two parts of a crime (Latin)

Actus reus = physical act of the crime; Mens rea = mental intent to do the crime (criminal intent).

Low-risk victim

Victims stay close to home, have steady jobs and friends.

Medium-risk victim

May stay close to home with a steady job but occasionally shows signs of promiscuity.

High-risk victim

Works at night, interacts with strangers (e.g., prostitutes); engages in risky behavior like drug use or associating with criminals.

Vulnerability (victimology)

The degree to which the victim is susceptible to attack by the offender.

Desirability (victimology)

The appeal of the victim to the offender.

Mass murder

Kills multiple people at one location/time. Example: school shooting.

Spree murder

Kills multiple people in different locations over a short period without a cooling-off period. Example: Bonnie and Clyde.

Serial murder

Kills three or more over time with a cooling-off period between murders. Example: Ted Bundy.

Seven possible motives for serial killers

Anger, criminal enterprise, financial gain, ideology, power/thrill, psychosis, sexually based.

Organized offender

Skilled employment, social skills, partner, calm before murder, orderly scene, OCD traits, sexual acts on live victims, restraint, clean scene, control over victim, plans the crime.

Disorganized offender

Harsh discipline, below average intelligence, socially inadequate, sexually incompetent, no job, distressed, no plan, messy scene, didn't move victim.

Mixed offender

Shows both organized and disorganized traits.

Harvey Carignan - Motivation

Ideology.

Evidence for Motivation

Claimed he was under orders from God to kill "whores" and felt guilty for failing to finish the job.

Modus Operandi 1 (Harvey Carignan)

Got victims through want-ads.

Modus Operandi 2 (Harvey Carignan)

Raped and sodomized victims.

Signature (Harvey Carignan)

Red circles on map; claimed God ordered him.

Geographical Profiling (Harvey Carignan)

Killer most likely resides in Lewistown.