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Rhetoric vs Reality

Investigating the Skills and Accuracy of Criminal Profiling

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Criminal Profiling
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Abstract

Through a series of empirical studies, the accuracy of criminal profiles as constructed by expert profilers and numerous other skill-based groups are assessed in this chapter. The findings of these studies provide some tentative evidence to suggest that criminal profiles constructed by expert profilers have a comparatively higher degree of accuracy in their predictions. These studies, however, also suggest that the skill base most likely to be aligned with the proficient construction of a criminal profile primarily relate to an individual’s capacity to engage in logical and objective reasoning. These findings challenge the previously held, yet empirically untested, view that skills inherent to the proficient construction of a criminal profile are sourced in investigative experience.

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© 2006 Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ

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(2006). Rhetoric vs Reality. In: Criminal Profiling. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-109-3_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-109-3_3

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-58829-639-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-59745-109-3

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