Criminal psychology

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Criminal psychology is the study of the wills, thoughts, intentions and reactions of criminals. The study goes deeply into what makes someone commit crime, but also the reactions after the crime, on the run or in court. Criminal psychologists are often called up as witnesses in court cases to help the jury understand the mind of the criminal. Psychiatry also may deal with aspects of criminal behavior.

[edit] History

Criminal psychology also known as offender profiling began in the 1940's when the United States Office of Strategic Services asked William Langer, a psychiatrist, to draw up a profile of Adolf Hitler. After the Second World War British psychologist Lionel Haward while working for the Royal Air Force police, drew up a list of characteristics which high-ranking Nazi war criminals might display, to be able to spot them amongst ordinary captured soldiers and airmen.

In the 1950's, US psychiatrist James A Brussel drew up what turned to be an uncannily accurate profile of a bomber who had been terrorising New York.

The fastest development occurred when the FBI opened its training academy in Quantico, Virginia. It led to the establishment of the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime and the violent criminal apprehension program. The idea was to have a system which could pick up links between unsolved major crimes.

In the United Kingdom, Professor David Canter was a pioneer helping to guide police detectives from the mid 1980's to an offender who had carried out a series of serious attacks, but Canter saw the limitations of "offender profiling" - in particular, the subjective, personal opinion of a psychologist. He and a colleague coined the term investigative psychology and began trying to approach the subject from what they saw as a more scientific point of view.