Offender profiling is an investigative tool used to narrow down the range of potential suspects for a crime by predicting the personality, behavioral, and demographic characteristics that an offender is likely to possess, based upon information collected at the crime scene. While offender profiling has been popularized by TV shows and movies such as Criminal Minds, Silence of the Lambs, and Mindhunter, the real-world impact of offender profiling is largely unknown. This book discusses the history of offender profiling, summarizes research on offender profiling methods, and reviews offender profiling evaluations of accuracy and applied impact. This book also describes a promising new offender profiling methodology called evidence-based offender profiling. This new method relies upon empirical data and scientific methods to develop, evaluate, and replicate offender profiles, thereby increasing offender profiling's accuracy and utility for active police investigations. It uses prior information about statistical regularities between types of offenders and types of offenses to predict the characteristics of offenders in unsolved cases. A discussion of the future of offender profiling research and implications for law enforcement is also included. This book also explains how practitioners can benefit from the use of empirically tested and validated profiles in their unsolved investigations and how the use, continued research, and evaluation of evidence-based offender profiling can advance the quality, prestige, and utility of the field of offender profiling.

This book brings together an international group of experts to present cutting-edge psychological research on crime, policing and courts. With contributors from the UK, Germany, Italy, Norway, Cyprus, Israel, Canada and the USA, this volume explores some of the most interesting and contemporary areas of criminological and legal psychology. The Psychology of Crime, Policing and Courts is divided into three parts. Part I explores crime and anti-social behaviour, including the concentration of offending within families, juvenile delinquency, adolescent bullying, cyberbullying, violence risk assessment, and psychopathy. Part II examines policing and the detection of deception, with chapters on interrogational practices, police interviews of children, and modern detection methods. Part III focuses on courts and sentencing, with chapters exploring wrongful convictions, the role of juries, extra-legal factors in sentencing decisions and an examination of sentencing itself. Representing the forefront of research in developmental criminology and criminological and legal psychology, this book is a comprehensive resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying psychology and criminology, with particular value for those studying forensic psychology. This book is also a valuable resource for psychologists, lawyers, social scientists and law enforcement personnel.

This volume is the result of an EU project involving two different European countries (Italy and Cyprus) on risk and needs assessment for juvenile violent offenders. The book is based on a longitudinal data base of juveniles who have committed violent crimes and who have been followed up after six months to measure their recidivism rate. The aim of this book is to provide practitioners who are dealing with juvenile (violent) offenders, with scientifically-based theories and knowledge derived from results about risk assessment. In particular it shows how a newly developed and tested instrument/approach, the EARN (European Assessment of Risk and Needs) works and how it can be used to help practitioners. Recidivism of violence in juveniles is based on several risk factors and is reduced on the basis of protective factors. Efficient legal intervention and treatment are more and more tailored according to the risk factors but also to the needs of juveniles. Juvenile Justice Systems in Europe tend to approach the juvenile who has committed a crime not only from a sanction point of view but more as an opportunity for the juvenile, his or her family and the social context in general, to reduce the risk of recidivism. This book will be of interest to researchers, students, social workers, police officers and lawyers.

Offender profiling is an investigative tool used to narrow down the range of potential suspects for a crime by predicting the personality, behavioral, and demographic characteristics that an offender is likely to possess, based upon information collected at the crime scene. While offender profiling has been popularized by TV shows and movies such as Criminal Minds, Silence of the Lambs, and Mindhunter, the real-world impact of offender profiling is largely unknown. This book discusses the history of offender profiling, summarizes research on offender profiling methods, and reviews offender profiling evaluations of accuracy and applied impact. This book also describes a promising new offender profiling methodology called evidence-based offender profiling. This new method relies upon empirical data and scientific methods to develop, evaluate, and replicate offender profiles, thereby increasing offender profiling's accuracy and utility for active police investigations. It uses prior information about statistical regularities between types of offenders and types of offenses to predict the characteristics of offenders in unsolved cases. A discussion of the future of offender profiling research and implications for law enforcement is also included. This book also explains how practitioners can benefit from the use of empirically tested and validated profiles in their unsolved investigations and how the use, continued research, and evaluation of evidence-based offender profiling can advance the quality, prestige, and utility of the field of offender profiling.

This volume is the result of an EU project involving two different European countries (Italy and Cyprus) on risk and needs assessment for juvenile violent offenders. The book is based on a longitudinal data base of juveniles who have committed violent crimes and who have been followed up after six months to measure their recidivism rate. The aim of this book is to provide practitioners who are dealing with juvenile (violent) offenders, with scientifically-based theories and knowledge derived from results about risk assessment. In particular it shows how a newly developed and tested instrument/approach, the EARN (European Assessment of Risk and Needs) works and how it can be used to help practitioners. Recidivism of violence in juveniles is based on several risk factors and is reduced on the basis of protective factors. Efficient legal intervention and treatment are more and more tailored according to the risk factors but also to the needs of juveniles. Juvenile Justice Systems in Europe tend to approach the juvenile who has committed a crime not only from a sanction point of view but more as an opportunity for the juvenile, his or her family and the social context in general, to reduce the risk of recidivism. This book will be of interest to researchers, students, social workers, police officers and lawyers.

This book brings together an international group of experts to present cutting-edge psychological research on crime, policing and courts. With contributors from the UK, Germany, Italy, Norway, Cyprus, Israel, Canada and the USA, this volume explores some of the most interesting and contemporary areas of criminological and legal psychology. The Psychology of Crime, Policing and Courts is divided into three parts. Part I explores crime and anti-social behaviour, including the concentration of offending within families, juvenile delinquency, adolescent bullying, cyberbullying, violence risk assessment, and psychopathy. Part II examines policing and the detection of deception, with chapters on interrogational practices, police interviews of children, and modern detection methods. Part III focuses on courts and sentencing, with chapters exploring wrongful convictions, the role of juries, extra-legal factors in sentencing decisions and an examination of sentencing itself. Representing the forefront of research in developmental criminology and criminological and legal psychology, this book is a comprehensive resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying psychology and criminology, with particular value for those studying forensic psychology. This book is also a valuable resource for psychologists, lawyers, social scientists and law enforcement personnel.

Now in its fourth edition, Psychology and Law is a comprehensive guide to the complex interactions between psychology and criminal law. Andreas Kapardis explores contemporary psycho-legal issues both in and out of the courtroom, from eyewitness testimony, investigative interviewing, jury decision making, and sentencing as a human process, to restorative justice, terrorism, police prejudice and offender profiling. The book draws upon sources from Europe, North America and Australia to investigate the subjectivity and human fallibility inherent in our systems of justice. It suggests ways of minimising undesirable influences on judicial decision making, and discusses procedures for dealing with witnesses and suspects. Fully revised and with greater emphasis on relevant law, Psychology and Law remains the leading text on legal psychology for students and practitioners in psychology, law, criminology, social work and law enforcement.