Deck 4: Criminal Profiling

Question 1

Profiling, the text explains, has not yet been validated, mostly because it relies so heavily on:

A) stereotyping.
B) inferential leaps.
C) existing police data.
D) actuarial data.

Answer 1

inferential leaps.

Question 2

The type of serial killer most likely to use torture is referred to as:

A) disorganized.
B) organized.
C) sexually incompetent.
D) interpersonally incompetent.

Answer 2

organized.

Question 3

When assessing for common traits among stranger rapists, Mokros and Alison (2004) found that there was _____ among criminals who committed similar crimes.

A) no demographic resemblance
B) similarity in demographics but not in psychological profiles
C) similarity in psychological and demographic profiles
D) similarity in childhood histories

Answer 3

no demographic resemblance

Question 4

Which is NOT one of the Canadian agencies with a unit specifically dedicated to criminal profiling?

A) Service de Police de la Ville de Montreal
B) Sureté du Quebec
C) Ontario Provincial Police
D) Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Question 5

Which statement about the characteristics of serial killers is FALSE?

A) They tend not to use guns to kill their victim.
B) They tend to select victims of a certain type.
C) Most are of very high intelligence.
D) Often they show an obsessive interest in violent pornography.

Question 6

The distinctive, personal features of an offence pattern that are critical for profiling are often referred to as the _____ of the crime.

A) thematic content
B) hallmark indicators
C) psychic fingerprints
D) signature aspects

Question 7

Which was NOT one of the serial sex offenders methods of attack identified by Canadian researchers Beauregard et al.?

A) ambusher
B) trapper
C) stalker
D) raptor

Question 8

Which is NOT one of the criticisms of profiling argued by the authors?

A) Instinct and intuition are not the same as drawing logical inferences.
B) Research widely supports the notion that a personality is situationally stable over time.
C) Crime scene characteristics do not appear to be related to any personality type.
D) Crime scenes seem to be both disorganized and organized on some features.

Question 9

According to the text, _____ is considered to be the first individual to develop a criminal profile when working on the Jack the Ripper case.

A) Dr. Theodore Brussel
B) Dr. Thomas Bond
C) Dr. James Morstal
D) Dr. Joseph Heeley

Question 10

Which is NOT one of the criticisms of the various classification models for serial murderers and sexual predators?

A) There is minimal systematic research validating the models.
B) The models do not adequately allow for overlap between types.
C) There is a tendency to rely on empirically driven arguments in model construction.
D) Anecdotal and testimonial accounts are the basis for most models used.

Question 11

The earliest criminal profiler discussed in the text investigated the infamous Jack the Ripper case. His work was different from that of profilers today in that he:

A) disguised himself as a homeless person to get information from the streets.
B) never saw any of the evidence himself; he only read reports.
C) conducted the autopsies himself.
D) never took any notes and worked entirely from memory.

Question 12

When two or more crimes are determined to have been committed by the same person, it is referred to as:

A) case linkage.
B) dual taxonomy.
C) cross-compiling.
D) portfolioing.

Question 13

According to the text, it is hypothesized that the disorganized murderer possesses _____, whereas the organized murderer possesses _____.

A) below average intelligence; at least average intelligence
B) at least average intelligence; below average intelligence
C) at least average intelligence; well above average intelligence
D) well above average intelligence; below average intelligence

Question 14

The two-part taxonomy of disorganized/organized crime is often criticized because it attempts to join together:

A) unsolved crimes with new case information .
B) the offender's past and his or her present.
C) the crime scene and the offender's personality.
D) the victim's traits and the perpetrator's needs.

Question 15

When Canadian officers were asked about the value of criminal profiling, the consensus was that it was:

A) valid but not particularly useful.
B) both useful and valid.
C) neither useful nor valid.
D) useful but not likely valid.

Question 16

When looking specifically at serial sexual homicide offenders, an early typology was developed. Which was NOT one of the categories for this offence?

A) retaliatory-aggressive
B) power-assertive
C) anger-excitation
D) power-assurance

Question 17

Which was NOT one of the serial sex offender hunting patterns identified by Canadian researchers Beauregard et al.?

A) poacher
B) troller
C) trapper
D) ambusher

Question 18

Which is NOT one of the categories of serial killers in Ronald Holmes's classification scheme?

A) mission-oriented
B) apocalyptic
C) visionary
D) hedonistic

Question 19

Which of the statements about characterizing serial killers is FALSE?

A) According to Holmes, not all serial killers fall neatly into one type or category.
B) Serial killers usually kill three or more people in separate incidents with a cooling off period each time.
C) The mission-oriented serial killer is most likely to be psychotic.
D) Sex after death is usually found in the disorganized crime scene.

Question 20

Concerning the case of the "Mad Bomber" in 1940s and 1950s, which statement is FALSE?

A) The profiler was a retired fraud investigator who had worked for the FBI.
B) The profiler made as many accurate as inaccurate assumptions.
C) The offender basically gave himself up by revealing too much personal information.
D) The most accurate parts of the profiler's work would today be part of a routine investigation.

Question 21

Discuss some of the historical aspects of the development of interest in profiling, including the famous cases that popularized the topic.

Question 22

What have courts in Canada said about criminal profiling? Do you agree?

Question 23

Which is NOT one of the criticisms of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) cited by the authors?

A) It has not resulted in any arrests where a terrorist act was intercepted.
B) It violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
C) It increases the risk of racial profiling, stereotyping and false arrests.
D) There is a risk of law enforcement tunnel vision and actual criminals may be overlooked.

Question 24

The development of the Violent Crime Linkage Analysis System was a joint effort between:

A) The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.
B) The Ontario Provincial Police and the International Criminal Investigative Analysis Fellowship.
C) The Sureté du Quebec and the Service de Police de la Ville de Montreal.
D) The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Ontario Provincial Police.

Question 25

Which statement about geographic profiling is FALSE?

A) Because geographic profiling is based on statistical applications, it is more promising than personality profiling based on intuition.
B) Research found officers trained in geographic analysis predicted offenders' homes as well as sophisticated software
C) Profiling today is evolving more toward a model called behavioural investigative advice.
D) Geographic profiling in the U.S. case of the Beltway sniper accurately pinpointed a home base.

Question 26

From the research on profiling, the safest conclusion to reach about the accuracy of profiling would be that:

A) there is no difference between the predictive accuracy of profilers compared to seasoned investigators.
B) profilers do appear to be at least somewhat more accurate than nonprofilers at predicting physical traits of offenders.
C) college students were as successful as profilers at identifying the physical characteristics of sex offenders.
D) there have not been any studies that compared the predictive accuracy of profilers relative to other types of criminal investigators.

Question 27

Explain how some of the typologies have been developed regarding serial offenders and discuss whether you think they have been effective.

Question 28

Which statement is NOT true about the FBI profiles on the BTK killer in Kansas in 2005?

A) The killer was only caught because he slipped up and police traced him by computer use.
B) The profile correctly identified the killer as a married, family man with ties to the church.
C) The profile contained a number of traits that contradicted each other.
D) The profile was ambiguous, and traits were not those that could easily be verified.

Question 29

To date, three major cases have argued the issue of profiling evidence in Canada and the results can be summarized as:

A) Profiling evidence was allowed in the most recent case only, R. v. Ranger.
B) In R. v. Mohan and R. v. Ranger it was not allowed, but it was accepted in R. v. J-L.J.
C) It was allowed in all three cases because sexual offender profiles are more accepted.
D) It was not allowed in any of the three cases discussed.

Question 30

The fact that the existence of serial killers might go undetected even though a number of crimes have been committed can best be explained by:

A) dangerous decisions theory.
B) distance decay.
C) linkage blindness.
D) false positives.

Question 31

Although geographic profilers assume serial killers use a familiar _____ to launch attacks, they still believe there is a _____ relative to the home that is less likely to be used for the crime.

A) buffer zone/decay distance
B) Rigel area/anchor point
C) anchor point/buffer zone
D) dragnet area/Rigel zone

Question 32

Geographic profiling was first developed in Canada and formalized by:

A) Kim Rossmo.
B) Rene Russo.
C) Randolph Young.
D) Robert Koslo.

Question 33

Which is NOT one of the findings of the 2004 survey of the Canadian Council of American-Islamic Relations?

A) Eight percent of Arabs and Muslims reported being contacted by security officials.
B) Male Muslims were four times more likely to be contacted by security than females.
C) Almost 25 percent of respondents said they felt discriminated against by harsh security tactics.
D) Forty-three percent of those not contacted by security knew a Canadian Muslim who had been.

Question 34

What are some of the criticisms of geographic profiling and what has research contributed to these criticisms?

Question 35

Which statement about the ViCLAS system is FALSE?

A) It includes data from both unsolved and solved cases.
B) When case data was re-coded in an experiment there was 77 percent agreement in the two versions of the variables.
C) The questionnaire contains roughly 156 variables on each case which are then entered into the system.
D) The data set has attracted international attention and is currently being used various countries.

Question 36

According to the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) law enforcement agents can arrest and hold suspected terrorists:

A) for up to six months before charges are filed.
B) for up to 12 months before charges are filed.
C) for up to 24 months as long as charges have been filed.
D) indefinitely.

Question 37

In geographic profiling it is assumed that as the number of crimes increases in an area, the usefulness of any spatial map:

A) decreases.
B) stays the same.
C) increases.
D) varies by type of crime.

Question 38

Which is NOT one of the problems with profilers cited by the president of the International Association of Forensic Criminologists?

A) There are no accepted educational requirements for the job.
B) The field does not engage in meaningful peer review.
C) The Criminal Profilers Association does not publish a research journal.
D) There are no ethical guidelines for those working in this field.

Question 39

When Alison, Smith, Eastman and Rainbow analyzed 21 American and European criminal profiles, they found that of the statements made, _____ percent were unsupported.

A) 26
B) 43
C) 61
D) 80

Question 40

Discuss racial profiling, tunnel vision and stereotyping in general and the way they might interfere in police investigations. What can be done to reduce the influence of these tendencies?