Additional Information
Think you fit the bill for this challenging career? There are several options
you might want to investigate.
"As far as formal education is concerned, there really are no formal criminal
profiling programs," says Brent Turvey. He is the author of a textbook on
criminal profiling. He recommends enrolling in a sociology, criminology or
psychology undergraduate program. Take forensic science electives where available.
"You need a very strong forensic science background, and a very good understanding
of the theories surrounding psychology and sociology," he says. "You have
to have a good understanding of other people. But most important of all, you
have to have a keen, objective mind, and good critical thinking skills."
To build these skills and to gain hands-on experience with cases, he suggests
seeking out internships at a legal aid or public defender's office.
Profiler Candice Skrapec says the multidisciplinary nature of profiling
makes many demands on aspiring profilers. "When students come in, the first
thing I tell them is that no one thing is going to make them a profiler,"
she says.
"It's going to take many years of work and study. The key ingredient is
really being in some position to systematically observe and analyze different
offender types. That could be through being a police officer, working in a
prison or doing academic research."
Don't try to take shortcuts, says profiler Ron Mackay, like some of the
courses in criminal profiling now sprouting up on the web. "I don't think
that the online training offered on the Internet even comes close to meeting
the need," he says.
Too many people calling themselves "profilers" lack experience with actual
cases, says MacKay.
"Profiling the personality characteristics and traits of the unknown offender
has to start with crime scene reconstruction," he says. "The more experience
one has with crime scenes of all kinds, but particularly those involving rape
and murder, the better they can do this first step."
He recommends beginning with a career in law enforcement and then applying
to the International Criminal Investigation Analysis Fellowship (ICIAF). It
offers a two-year program to train criminal investigative analysts.