Forensic Victimology 2nd Edition

1
Forensic Victimology 2nd Edition

• Chapter Four Constructing a Victim Profile

2
Constructing a Victim Profile

• Forensic victimology is concerned with the
  investigation and examination of particular
  victims alleged to have suffered specific crimes,
  which is an idiographic form of knowledge
  building.
• Idiographic refers to the study of the concrete
  examining individuals and their actual qualities.
  
• An idiographic victim profile is a list of the
  characteristics possessed by a specific victim.
• This includes physical, biological, mental,
  social, educational, occupational, and
  personality descriptors.

3
Constructing a Victim Profile

• Nomothetic refers to the study of the abstract
  examining groups and universal laws.
• The primary goal of nomothetic victim studies is
  to accumulate general, typical, common, or
  averaged characteristics of victim groups.
• Nomothetic victim profiles, therefore, do not
  represent an actual victim that exists in the
  real world.

4
The Purpose of Victim Profiles

• Forensic victimologists serve investigations and
  court proceedings in the following ways
• Assist in understanding elements of the crime
• Assist in developing a timeline
• Define the suspect pool
• Provide investigative suggestions
• Assist with crime reconstruction
• Assist with contextualizing allegations of
  victimization
• Assist with the development of offender modus
  operandi

5
The Purpose of Victim Profiles

• Continued
• Assist with the development of offender motive
• Assist with case linkage
• Assist with public safety response
• Educate the court
• Forensic victimology is intended to serve both
  investigative and forensic goals, which are very
  different in scope and reliability with respect
  to findings.

6
Standards of Pratice

• Practice standards are the fundamental rules that
  set the limits of evidentiary interpretation.
• The following practice standards are designed to
  help reduce bias, encourage the employment of
  analytical logic and the scientific method, and
  require the formation of hypotheses and
  conclusions only in accordance with the known
  evidence.
• Forensic examiners must strive diligently to
  avoid bias.
• Forensic examiners are responsible for requesting
  all relevant evidence and information in order to
  render an adequate victim profile and form
  related opinions.

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Standards of Pratice

• Forensic examiners are responsible for
  determining whether the evidence they are
  examining is of sufficient quality to provide the
  basis for an adequate examination.
• Forensic examiners must, whenever possible, visit
  the crime scene.
• Forensic conclusions, and their basis, must be
  provided in a written format.
• Forensic examiners must demonstrate an
  understanding of behavioral science, forensic
  science, and the scientific method.
• All conclusions must be based on established
  facts. Facts may not be assumed for the purpose
  of analysis.
• .

8
Standards of Pratice

• Conclusions must be valid inferences based on
  logical arguments and analytical reasoning.
• Conclusions must be reached with the assistance
  of the scientific method.
• Conclusions must demonstrate an understanding of,
  and clearly distinguish between, individuating
  findings and all others.
• Forensic examiners must demonstrate an
  understanding of the conditions of transfer
  (Locards Exchange Principle and Evidence
  Dynamics).
• Any evidence, data, or findings on which
  conclusions are based must be made available
  through presentation or citation.
• .

9
Victimology General Guidelines

• The following objective packages must be gathered
  and assessed by the criminal investigator and
  forensic victimologist alike, as with any
  intelligence.
• Personal Package
• Digital Package
• Residence Package
• Relationship Package
• Employment Package
• Financial Package
• Medical Package
• Court Package
• .

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Victimology General Guidelines

• Personal Package
• Sex
• Race
• Height
• Weight
• Hair color/length/dyed
• Eyes color/glasses/contacts
• Clothing/jewelry
• Personal items
• Grooming/manner of dress
• Smoker or non-smoker
• Hobbies/skills
• Routine daily activities and commitments
• Recently scheduled events
• Upcoming scheduled events

11
Victimology General Guidelines

• Digital Package
• Call phone calls, chats, address book, GPS,
  photos, video
• Laptop/desktop email, calls, chats, documents,
  address books, browser history, photos, video
• Personal Web sites recent browser history,
  social network and social media activity, blogs,
  dating Web site, and other personal subscription
  Web sites
• Financial Web sites/payment history stocks,
  mutual funds/401K, credit cards, and online
  banking
• Personal GPS device recent trips, destinations,
  bookmarked points of interest
• .

12
Victimology General Guidelines

• Residence Package
• Physical home address
• Location/condition of bedroom
• Evidence of music/literature/personal interests
• Personal correspondence
• Personal sexual items/explicit material
• Missing items
• Signs of violence
• Location/condition of personal vehicle
• Hard line phone calls
• 911 calls and criminal history of residence

13
Victimology General Guidelines

• Relationship Package
• Current and previous intimate or marital
  partner(s)
• Current and previous family members
• Current and previous household members
• Current and previous friends
• Current and previous co-workers/classmates
• History of relationship counseling
• .

14
Victimology General Guidelines

• Employment Package
• Educational background and history
• Current occupations/job titles
• Place of employment/work schedule/supervisor/cowor
  kers
• Employment history
• Work phone calls, chats, address book, GPS,
  video
• Laptop/desktop email, calls, chats, documents,
  address books, browser history, photos, video
• Business GPS device recent trips, destinations,
  bookmarked points of interest
• Business vehicle logs, travel (times/destinations
  ), GPS device
• Business insurance policies

15
Victimology General Guidelines

• Financial Package
• Wallet/Purse contents, cards, personal items
• Credit cards/history
• Bank accounts/history
• Property ownership
• Stocks/mutual funds/410K/retirement benefits
• Insurance policies

16
Victimology General Guidelines

• Medical Package
• Current state of intoxication (drug and alcohol
  levels)
• Current medical conditions (physical and mental)
• History of serious medical conditions
• Current medications
• Current treatment regimes
• Current treatment professionals
• Recent medical appointments
• Addictions (drugs, alcohol, or obsessive
  behavior)

17
Victimology General Guidelines

• Court Package
• Criminal history
• Civil court history
• Witness history
• In-state and out-of-state records
• Evidence of victim criminal activity during the
  crime
• Evidence of ongoing victim criminal activity
  unrelated to the crime
• .

18
Victimology General Guidelines

• These packages should be used to complete the
  following tasks
• Compile a list of the victims daily routines,
  habits, and activities
• Compile a complete list of victim family members
  with contact information
• Compile a complete list of victim friends with
  contact information
• Compile a complete list of victim
  coworkers/schoolmates with contact information
• Create a timeline of events using witness
  statements, digital evidence, and physical
  evidence.
• .

19
Creating a Timeline The Last 24 Hours

• The purpose of creating a timeline is to
  familiarize the forensic victimologist with the
  last known activities of the victim.
• A good approach to creating this timeline of
  locations and events includes at least the
  following steps
• Compile all witness data
• Compile all available forensic evidence and
  findings
• Compile all of the police/media crime scene
  photographs and video
• Compile all security stills and video covering
  the crime scene and any paths taken by the victim
  or offender to or from it
• .

20
Creating a Timeline The Last 24 Hours

• Continued
• Create a linear timeline of events and locations
• Create a map of the victims route for the 24
  hours before the attack, as detailed as possible
• Physically walk through the victims last 24
  hours using the map and forensic evidence as a
  guide
• Document expected background elements of the
  route.
• .

21
Creating a Timeline The Last 24 Hours

• Then, attempt to determine the following
• The point at which the offender acquired the
  victim
• The place where the offender attacked the victim
• How well the attack location can be seen from any
  surrounding locations
• Whether the offender would need to be familiar
  with the area to know of this specific location
  or get to it
• Whether knowledge of the route would require or
  indicate prior surveillance
• Whether this route placed the victim at higher or
  lower exposure to an attack
• Whether the acquisition of the victim on that
  route placed the offender at higher or lower
  exposure to identification or apprehension
• .