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Criminal profiling as a plotting activity based on abductive processes
1University of Genoa, Italy. alverde@tin.it
Summary
This study examines criminal profiling, highlighting how modern scientific approaches, particularly for serial crimes, rely on abductive reasoning. Profiling shifts from strict induction-deduction to narrative-based abduction for understanding criminal characteristics.
Area of Science:
- Forensic Psychology
- Criminology
- Epistemology
Background:
- Modern criminal profiling aims for scientific rigor, especially in serial homicides and sex crimes.
- Compulsive acts, due to their ritualistic nature, are often linked to offender psychology.
Purpose of the Study:
- To theoretically analyze the nature and aims of criminal profiling.
- To examine profiling from an epistemological perspective.
- To explore the shift in reasoning models within profiling.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical analysis of criminal profiling.
- Epistemological examination of profiling methodologies.
- Application of Charles Sanders Peirce's abductive reasoning model.
Main Results:
- Criminal profiling's scientific advancement is noted, particularly for serial offenses.
- Profiling practice deviates from strict deductive-inductive models.
- The reasoning process in profiling is better described by abduction, emphasizing narrative construction.
Conclusions:
- The epistemological basis of criminal profiling is fundamentally abductive, not purely deductive-inductive.
- Narrative plotting is crucial in the abductive reasoning of criminal profiling.
- Understanding profiling requires acknowledging its shift towards narrative-based, abductive inference.
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