John E. Douglas

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John Edward Douglas (born June 18, 1945),^[1][2] is a former United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent, one of the first criminal profilers, and criminal psychology author. He also wrote four horror novels in the mid 1990s.

Contents 1 Career 2 Controversy 3 Personal life 4 Fictional portrayals 5 See also 6 External links 7 References 8 Bibliography

[edit] Career

Douglas joined the FBI in 1970, and his first assignment was in Detroit, Michigan, and then Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In the field he became a hostage negotiator. He transferred to the FBI's Behavioral Sciences Unit (BSU) in 1976, and he studied applied criminal psychology at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. He received a degree in psychology and then started teaching courses in criminal psychology and hostage negotiation for police officers throughout the United States. He was promoted to unit chief within the FBI’s National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC) in 1990.^[3][4][5]

While traveling around the country providing instruction to police units, he began interviewing serial violent criminal offenders at nearby prisons, in order to see if there were any psychological markers that could help the FBI to figure out why and how criminals committed crimes. Some of the most notable men Douglas has interviewed are: David Berkowitz, Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, Theodore Kaczynski, Charles Manson, Edmund Kemper, James Earl Ray, Sirhan Sirhan, and Richard Speck. The result was the book "Sexual Homicide: Patterns and Motives", then publication of the "Crime Classification Manual" (CCM). For this extensive study he would receive two Thomas Jefferson Awards for academic excellence from the University of Virginia.^[3][4][5]

Douglas was instrumental in the capture of numerous serial killers, and for years he attempted to catch the Green River Killer in the Seattle, Washington metro area. The Green River case nearly cost him his life, when his stressed and overworked body was unable to fight off viral encephalitis.^[6] Following his retirement from the FBI in 1995, Douglas has gained international fame as the author of a series of books detailing his life tracking serial killers, and has appeared numerous times on television.^[3] His books are considered to be some of the most insightful works written on the minds, motives, and operation of serial killers, and the methods and lives of those who track them. He also works as a consultant, most notably in the JonBenét Ramsey murder.^[3][7]

John Douglas pioneered "criminal profiling"; at the time of criminal profiling's conception, Douglas was doubted and criticized by his own colleagues, until both police and the FBI realized that Douglas had developed an extremely useful tool for the capture of criminals.^{[citation needed]}

Douglas has also written text books for criminal profiling classes. He is the author, along with Mark Olshaker, of several books. There is also a screenplay being written for the book, Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit, which was number one on the New York Times Bestseller List for two weeks in a row.^{[citation needed]}

Douglas was also a mentor to Court TV personality and former FBI profiler Dayle Hinman.^[8]

Douglas has joined College Tonight's board of advisers.^[9]

[edit] Controversy

According to journalist Malcolm Gladwell, criminal profiling suffers from the fact that crime scene descriptions can lend themselves to multiple interpretations and from the fact that pieces of the profile are often wrong. Gladwell points out that the opening scene of Douglas' 2007 book, Inside the Mind of BTK, relies on a litany of the tricks of "astrologers and psychics" as elucidated by magician Ian Rowland in his book The Full Facts Book of Cold Reading.^[10]

[edit] Personal life

Born in Brooklyn, New York, to Jack and Dolores Douglas.^[1][2] A veteran of four years in the U.S. Air Force, he holds several degrees: B.S., M.S., Ed.S and a doctorate in Adult Education.^[1]

Douglas is married to Pamela Modica (Pamela Douglas). They have three children: Lauren, Erika, and John Jr. "Jed." Currently, he lives in Fredericksburg, Virginia.^[1][2]

[edit] Fictional portrayals

Jack Crawford, a character in the Thomas Harris novel The Silence of the Lambs was directly based on Douglas.^[2][5] Crawford was played by Dennis Farina in the film Manhunter, by Scott Glenn in the film version of The Silence of the Lambs) and Harvey Keitel in the film version of Red Dragon.

Douglas was also used as the character model for Frank Black in Millennium, as well as Dr. Sam Waters (Ally Walker) on Profiler.^[5]

He is thought to be the inspiration for several other fictional characters in television as well, including Virgil "Web" Webster in The Inside, and (to a degree) Jason Gideon in Criminal Minds and Benton Wesley in the Kay Scarpetta novels by Patricia Cornwell.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] See also

• Crime Classification Manual
• FBI Method of Profiling
• Forensic psychology
• Investigative psychology
• Offender profiling
• Racial profiling controversy
• Robert Ressler

[edit] External links

• John Douglas Mind Hunter website
• John E. Douglas bio @ Planet CRRL Reference Room

[edit] References

[edit] Bibliography

• Non-fiction:
  • Ressler, Robert K., Ann W. Burgess. John E. Douglas. "Sexual Homicide: Patterns and Motives." Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books. 1988. ISBN 978-0669165593
  • Douglas, John E., Ann W. Burgess, R.N., D.N Sc., Allen G. Burgess, Robert K. Ressler. "Crime Classification Manual: A Standard System for Investigating and Classifying Violent Crimes." Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books. 1992. ISBN 978-0669246384
  • Douglas, John E., Mark Olshaker. "Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit." New York: Scribner. 1995. ISBN 978-0671013752
  • Douglas, John E., Mark Olshaker. "Journey into Darkness." New York: Scribner. 1997. ISBN 978-0684833040
  • Douglas, John E., Mark Olshaker. "Obsession: The FBI's Legendary Profiler Probes the Psyches of Killers, Rapists and Stalkers and Their Victims and Tells How to Fight Back." New York: Scribner. 1998. ISBN 978-0684845609
  • Douglas, John E. "Guide to Careers in the FBI." New York: Simon and Schuster. 1998. ISBN 978-0684855042
  • Douglas, John E., Mark Olshaker. "The Anatomy of Motive: The FBI's Legendary Mindhunter Explores the Key to Understanding and Catching Violent Criminals." New York: Scribner. 1999. ISBN 978-0684845982
  • Douglas, John E., Mark Olshaker. "The Cases That Haunt Us." New York: Scribner. 2000. ISBN 978-0684846002
  • Douglas, John E., "John Douglas' Guide to the Police Officer Exams." Kaplan Publishing. 2000. ISBN 978-0684855066
  • Douglas, John E., Stephen Singular. "Anyone You Want Me to Be: A True Story of Sex and Death on the Internet." New York: Scribner. 2003. ISBN 978-0743226356
  • Douglas, John E. "John Douglas's Guide to Landing a Career in Law Enforcement." McGraw-Hill. 2004. ISBN 978-0071417174
  • Douglas, John E., Ann W. Burgess, R.N., D.N Sc., Allen G. Burgess, Robert K. Ressler. "Crime Classification Manual: A Standard System for Investigating and Classifying Violent Crimes, 2nd Edition." San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 2006. ISBN 978-0787986421
  • Douglas, John E., Johnny Dodd. "Inside the Mind of BTK: The True Story Behind the Thirty-Year Hunt for the Notorious Wichita Serial Killer." San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 2007. ISBN 978-0787984847

• Fiction:
  • The Late Show, 1994
  • Cursed, 1995
  • Hard Shoulder, 1996
  • Zoo Event, 1996
  • Douglas, John E., Mark Olshaker. "Broken Wings (Mindhunters)." Atria. 1999. ISBN 978-0671023911
  • Douglas, John E. "Man Down: A Broken Wings Thriller." (alternate title: "Man Down, Vol. 2") Atria. 2002. ISBN 978-0671023928