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Journals : 2000

Salfati, C. G. (2000)

Profiling Homicide: A Multidimensional Approach.

Homicide Studies Vol4, No3, 265-293

One of the main areas of concern regarding offender profiling has been the general lack of extensive empirical studies on the psychological processes underpinning this process. The lack of any robust empirical studies has lead to a lack in the validity and reliability of current methods used in the area of investigative profiling. The current study aimed to investigate the possibility of establishing a model of homicide behaviors that could be used as a basis for evaluating the scientific validity of offender profiling. The first hypothesis of the study aimed to establish what consistent styles would be found in the way offenders act during homicide. The second hypothesis put forward that these styles would not only be specific to the homicide situation, but would also reflect general interpersonal strategies that would be mirrored in an offender's past interactions with their environment. The third aim of the study sought to evaluate the nature of the links between an offender's crime scene style and their background style. A sample of 247 British single offender-single victim solved homicide cases were analyzed using a non-metric multidimensional scaling procedure known as Smallest Space Analysis. The results indicated that homicide crime scenes could most readily be differentiated in terms of the expressive and instrumental role the victim had to the offender. The backgrounds of the offenders could similarly be differentiated an expressive/instrumental thematic split. The analysis of the link between an offender's crime scene style and their background characteristics, showed that only 55% of cases could be classified as exhibiting the same dominant style across both their crime scene style and their background characteristics. Further analysis highlighted that there is a substantial mix between crime scene themes and themes of background characteristics. The results from this study are discussed in relation to two major issues. Firstly, results are discussed in terms of classifying homicide into the two categories of expressiveness, and instrumentality. Secondly, the results are discussed in terms of the implications they have for offender profiling.


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