Criminal profiling.edited (1) (1)
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Unraveling Suspect-Based Profiling, Racial Profiling, and the Controversies within the
Field of Criminal Profiling
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Unraveling Suspect-Based Profiling, Racial Profiling, and the Controversies within the
Field of Criminal Profiling
Introduction
Criminal profiling is one of the significant aspects of modern-day policing, which aims at
establishing what offenders do or will do. Nevertheless, several issues surround this area, including suspect-profile-based profiling as well as racial profiling. Therefore, it is important to explore the differences between suspect-based and racial profiling and analyze how debates and disagreements within the discipline impede or promote its path forward for better understanding.
Suspect-Based Profiling Vs. Racial Profiling
Although suspect-based profiling and racial profiling may appear alike, they are inherently different concerning their methodology and the basis for them. Each of these has an approach regarding individualized characteristics or broad demographic factors.
Suspect-based profiling is one of the methods used in criminal investigations where different parameters such as traits, actions, and other features relevant to individual suspects are scrutinized (
Sahni & Choudhury, 2021). This approach is psychologically based on behavioral and forensic analyses that help create detailed profiles to narrow the number of prospective suspects for law enforcers. With this in mind, investigators scrutinize trends, motives, and individual peculiarities to discover the offender's psyche.
On the other hand, racial profiling involves taking one’s race or ethnicity into account to determine if they may carry out a crime (
Harcourt, 2019). This practice is much criticized as it promotes stereotyping and leads to systematic racism. Racial profiling is ethically questionable because it tends to cause innocent people to be unnecessarily targeted for no good reason other than how they look.
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Contradictions and Disagreements within Criminal Profiling
Criminal profiling, like any other field, suffers internal discrepancies and conflicts that may inhibit forward movement yet bring about advancement in strategies and practices. Criminal
profiling consists of many different theories, such as psychodynamic, behavioral, and geographical theories (
Petherick & Brooks, 2021). Such diversity among professionals could mean that a practitioner relies on a particular profiling model that another practitioner avoids. Criminal profiling theory development lacks a unified conceptual framework that will provide the basis for standardizing applied methodology. The lack of cohesion among these various profiles makes it difficult for the profiling approaches to be effective and consistent. This situation's unreliable nature limits the field's potential advancement and its usefulness in addressing and even stopping criminal acts.
Profiling can be interpretative as it entails interpreting behavioral patterns, for instance. The implied subjectivity will always allow for a dispute over evidence meaning and varying profiles for the same matter. The discernments undermine profiling as the exact science since their perceptions suggest that these profiles are crafted according to some predefined parameters;
thus, they are biased (
Sahni & Choudhury, 2021). Such objective and reliable measurements face
standardization challenges in the field so that the field can deal with such subjectivism.
There are significant debates that arise as a result of profiling from an ethical perspective,
especially racial profiling. Basis on demographic factors used in suspicion raises the issues of a violation of civil liberties and re-instates racism (
Harcourt, 2019). This ethical issue has resulted in arguments as to whether law enforcers should maintain the individualistic freedom of people or uphold their effectiveness in discharging their roles.
Hindrance to Advancements
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Criminal profiling is beset by contradictions and disagreements inside the discipline, which slow its development. Law enforcement remains skeptical because consensus is lacking, and there are methodological disagreements and ethical dilemmas (
Petherick & Brooks, 2021). The result is that such profiling methods become difficult to popularize, and development needs to improve. Profiling also results in some legal challenges where it is perceived as discriminating
or lacking scientific foundation. The complex nature of these issues highlights the need for conflict resolution, improved techniques, and the utilization of ethics in the use of crime profiling
approaches by criminal justice systems.
Contributing to Advancements The paradoxical landscape of crime profiling contains disputes and contradictions that propel the development of the domain. The presence of different theoretical frameworks and profiling models leads to a more diverse group of opinions. This diversity may sometimes trigger
disputes but also fosters a suitable milieu for innovations (
Petherick & Brooks, 2021). As such, criminologists have been subjected to various models, helping them cross-fertilize their knowledge. The diversity fosters learning from others' experiences, thereby leading to strong methodologies embedded in these multiple views. This makes the field itself an active setting in which the search for diverse options helps improve the general effectiveness of criminal profiling.
Further, it is these disputes and criticisms that serve to perpetuate the constant improvement involved in criminal profiling. Challenge or alternative viewpoint forces them to go back to review themselves on how they can improve their approaches. Internal constructive feedback within the field is coupled with the scrutinizing external process, leading to stronger profiling models supported by empirical evidence (
Petherick & Brooks, 2021). This cyclic
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procedure considers current drawbacks and improves criminal profiling, enhancing its credibility
in science.
Criminal profiling has become an area associated with ethical controversies, especially matters that touch on racism, like racial profiling (
Harcourt, 2019). This controversy leads to legal and policy debates aimed at re-assessing current situations. These challenges to the status quo could result in the development of professional codes based on ethical issues relating to society, law and crime (
Petherick & Brooks, 2021). More specifically, the evolution of this field depends on its capacity to utilize, learn through, and convert the issues into grounds for improvement and advancement.
Conclusion
The differences in suspect-based profiling and race profiling reveal varying concepts behind them. Criminal profiling is threatened with backwardness due to existing contradictions and discords within the field, making it hard to establish a universal procedure. The controversies
inspire innovation, create different viewpoints and keep refreshing the profiling methods. Criminal profiling needs to be revisited to produce more solid and ethical findings. This will only
be realized through an ongoing discussion among stakeholders in the field.
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References
Harcourt, B. E. (2019).
Against prediction: Profiling, policing, and punishing in an actuarial age
. University of Chicago Press.
Petherick, W., & Brooks, N. (2021). Reframing criminal profiling: a guide for integrated practice.
Psychiatry, Psychology and Law
,
28
(5), 694-710.
Sahni, S. P., & Choudhury, T. (2021). The science of criminal profiling.
Criminal Psychology and the Criminal Justice System in India and Beyond
, 51-68.
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