READ: Profiling and Serial Killers

Offender Profiling

Offender profiling is the process of using the information about how and where a crime was committed to narrow down who the suspect might be. 

Click HERE to go to a page with more information about profiling. Read the page.

After you have read the information about profiling, watch the video below. The video clip explains how geographic profiling works. 

Serial Killers

Serial Killers

Serial killers are people who kill multiple people over an extended period of time. Serial killers usually kill for thrill or attention. Their reasons for killing people are psychologically based and they often target a specific group of people. For example, Ted Bundy is an infamous serial killer who targeted young women between the ages of 15-25. He was executed for killing at least 30 women in the 1970’s, but he likely killed many more. John Wayne Gacy, Jr. is another example. He targeted young men ages 15-20, killed them and buried them under his house.

Serial killers are psychopaths. Psychopathy refers to the presence of a personality disorder strongly characterized by having no remorse. The Hare psychopathy checklist is used to analyze people for psychopathy. The more items a person exhibits the more likely they are to be a psychopath. Most of the items on the list are directly related to the presences of certain personality disorders.

Click Here to view a simplified version of the Hare psychopathy checklist.

Psychopaths generally look and act like normal people, at least at first. Many serial killers seem very kind and charming in order to win the trust of their victims. The video below explains how serial killers have no empathy or remorse and explains a little bit about how the Hare psychopathy checklist works.