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Why does the maniac kill? This is a question of an intrapersonal, psychological persuasion, and only profilers, professionals, the elite of the investigation, can answer it. Who are they?
The young FBI agent needed a meeting with this prisoner: it was he who could tell about the killer of women. The prisoner was deadly even when talking through the prison bars and definitely did not know the killer – the prisoner Hannibal Lecter, Dr. Lecter, the cannibal Lecter, known for having eaten the liver of one of his victims. And he drank chianti… But he could know why the one whom the FBI was looking for cut off the skin of the dead, why he puts a moth chrysalis in the larynx of each of them, and, in the end, why he kills.
Why is he killing? – the same question, the answer to which leads to the disclosure of the crime. Only an investigator-profiler (profiler) can answer it. We will talk about them – people of a unique profession who put psychological science at the service of the search. Profilers are those who recreate the psychological appearance of the killer on the basis of evidence, signs and signs, sometimes seemingly irrelevant to the case.
Who is capable of killing
It is widely believed that murderers are most often people whose mothers rejected them from early childhood. “But not everyone who has suffered such a psychological trauma becomes a criminal,” says psychologist Sergei Enikolopov***. – 11-13 years old is the age when ideas about morality and morality are formed. And if during this period the child was subjected to physical and psychological abuse by adults, then the influence of these actions affects the development of his personality much more than early rejection. In addition, one should not underestimate some of the features that are inherent in each of us from birth. For example, such as the excitability of the nervous system. “Only a combination of all unfavorable factors: the characteristics of brain activity, the degree of excitability, disruption of relations with the mother at an early age and difficult teenage experience – leads to the fact that a person becomes a criminal,” Sergey Enikolopov is sure. VITA MALYGINA
First episode”
The finale of Thomas Harris’ thriller The Silence of the Lambs is well known. Through psychologically risky contacts with Dr. Lecter, FBI agent Clarice Starling unraveled the mysteries of the chrysalis in the larynx, the identity of the killer, and even her own identity. For us, the most interesting thing is that the heroes of “Silence …” have real prototypes. Clarice Starling worked for the FBI in the behavioral (psychological analysis of behavior) department, which was headed by Jack Crawford. Its prototype John Douglas (John Duglas) founded the real department of behavioral science. In the late 70s of the last century, he was the first in the world to introduce psychology into the practice of searching for cases of murders – unexplained, serial, particularly cruel, or in any way related to sexual motives. While working at the FBI National Academy, he independently explored the possibilities of using psychology in forensic science: he studied the statistics of serial murders in the United States, communicated with convicts … He tried to understand the pattern: who commits heinous crimes and why. The FBI leadership took notice of this work, and Douglas headed the “Personal Crime Profiling” research program. The term “profiler” appeared (from the English profile – “psychological profile”). And the profession itself.
Thanks to the work of profilers, the first serial killer, David Carpenter, was arrested in the United States at the end of 1979. Today, the method of solving crimes by creating a psychological portrait (profile) is recognized by the majority of forensic scientists in the world, and the FBI Behavioral Department is more than 300 cases annually received by dozens of profiler investigators.. From 60 to 80% of criminal cases submitted for consultation to this department are solved. In 67% of cases, the created psychological portrait coincides with the real appearance of the criminal*. The FBI Academy in Quantico (USA) and its branches in Budapest (Hungary) and Bangkok (Thailand) train professionals from different countries – some employees of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs also underwent an 8-week training. The main goal of profiler research, wherever they work, is to find out why people become serial killers, to understand what drives them and what should be the methods of investigation in cases of this kind.
The art of breeding “lambs”
The work of profilers has become a real Klondike for novelists, screenwriters and directors. In cinema, investigators “with a psychological bias” are increasingly reserved for the main roles. The credit for The Silence of the Lambs must be acknowledged: the film introduced the fashion for this type of hero. Profiler methods were used by Mulder and Scully in The X-Files, the characters of Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman in the thriller Seven, Kevin Kline’s character in January Man. Psychotherapist Bruce Willis solved the mystery of the murders of men in The Color of Night. The profiler was Sigourney Weaver in The Imitator; a forensic psychologist is the heroine of one of America’s most popular TV series, Killer Profile. And Lance Hendriksen from Millennium, before solving mystical mysteries, also served as a profiler in the FBI. But it is especially pleasant that our Russian pioneer of the psychological profile, Alexander Bukhanovsky, was also at the center of the film. And American. Citizen X is based on the history of the investigation into the Chikatilo case. And only two heroes act under non-fictional names – the maniac himself and Professor Alexander Bukhanovsky. He is played by the famous Max von Sydow. This is the only deviation of the film from the “truth of life” – Alexander Olimpievich is much younger than the great Swede. V.B.
Portrait on the background
“Most profilers do not go to the scene of a crime,” says Oleg Brodchenko, psychologist, police colonel, head of the group for studying the problems of psychological support for the disclosure and investigation of crimes at the All-Russian Research Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. “We are studying photos from the scene, forensic reports, and working with information on other crimes. Not only the details are important to us, but also the method and procedure of the criminal’s actions. We analyze, compare the facts and draw up his psychological portrait.” Profilers describe character traits, personality traits, behavior of the offender, make assumptions about his age, race, gender, marital and official status, sexual maturity, name his habits, inclinations, describe the style of behavior in everyday life, relationships with the victim, predict his next steps. “The conclusions that we draw are just assumptions that help the investigation narrow the circle of the search,” continues Oleg Brodchenko. “And this, of course, is just a general scheme of work.”
Many profilers have their own individual approach to business. Micki Pistorius, one of the few female profilers in the world, works for the South African police. She cannot imagine an effective investigation without action directly at the scene of the crime. Pistorius, Ph.D., graduated from the FBI Academy, but her first profession is a journalist. Perhaps, in her individual method, the reporter’s desire to be present at the epicenter of the event is reflected. She needs to “get into the shoes” of the killer. That is how she uncovered the “Phoenix case”, which killed women in the fields of sugar cane. “I arrived at the scene of the crime and decided to walk through the field,” says Miki. “It was just swarming with snakes, insects… I felt uneasy, but I went ahead because I wanted to feel the same that the killer felt, to inhale the smells that he inhaled, to hear the same sounds. It is very important to go all the way of the criminal in order to understand what he was thinking at that moment and what he planned to do. Without this, you will not catch the course of his thoughts, his state.
“IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR ME TO GO HIS ALL THE WAY TO CATCH THE WAY OF HIS THOUGHTS, HIS CONDITION”
… And then at the scene of the murder, he smoked 15 cigarettes: he felt safe, he was well oriented in the area. The victim’s shoes were neatly set aside. Perhaps the killer is a perfectionist, it is important for him to leave the crime scene in perfect order. If so, then he is like that in life: he has order at home, and he takes care of his appearance. The killer worked his way through the field, cutting the reeds. The nature of the cut from the knife – typical of some local tribes – put Miki on the trail of a killer from among the Zulu people. She accurately described his profile, and the perpetrator was found. Investigator Pistorius’ method is largely based on intuition. Unlike most of her colleagues, they tend to rely on logic and data analysis in similar cases.
About it
- John Douglas, Mark Olshaker “Mindhunters: The FBI Against Serial Killers”, Crown Press, 1999.
- Oleg Brodchenko, Olga Logunova “Psychological and forensic support for the disclosure of serial sexual crimes”, All-Russian Research Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 2004.
- Viktor Obraztsov, Sappho Bogomolova “Criminal Psychology”, Unity-Dana, Law and Law, 2002.
He saw the maniac in the “profile”
A few years before the arrest of the Rostov maniac, psychiatrist Alexander Bukhanovsky * created his psychological portrait. In his main characteristics, he looked like this: “Age – over 40. Height 170 plus or minus 10 cm. Discreet appearance. closed. Passionate about horror films. Asthenic. There is no difference in physical strength. Chronic gastrointestinal diseases, in the past tuberculosis. Perhaps he is married, although he decided on this rather late; secondary education or higher education. For a long time he worked as a teacher or educator. The nature of the work of traveling, for example, in a supply organization. Not homosexual, not schizophrenic. Psychopath on the basis of personality changes that have reached the degree of morbidity. It can stop only for a short time, feeling the aggravation of danger.
In Sacramento (USA) a brutal murder was committed. After examining the crime scene, comparing this murder with others similar, having studied the results of the medical examination, investigator Robert Ressler** came to the following conclusions: “The offender is a white male, about 25-27 years old, thin, malnourished. A bachelor, he has no friends. His apartment is a complete mess. If he does not live alone, then probably with his parents, but this is unlikely. He may have been treated by a psychiatrist in the past. It is possible that he is using drugs. Unemployed. Possibly receiving a disability pension. Didn’t serve in the army. Dropped out of school very early. Suffering from paranoid psychosis, that’s for sure.” This is how the psychological portrait of Richard Shaz looked, who entered the history of forensic science under the name “Vampire of Sacramento”. Shaz was arrested a few weeks later—the profile was accurate. And it was based on purely logical reasoning.
Man The sexually mutilating killer is always male.White Such crimes, as statistics show, are committed by a person of the same race as his victim. Age – 25-27 years old By the nature of the crime, the killer belongs to the type of people suffering from psychosis. This disease usually begins to develop during adolescence. It takes about 10 years for the disease to reach a critical point. Thin Most people with psychosis don’t eat well.Single Patients of this type do not care about personal hygiene and appearance. Women do not agree to live next to such a man.Didn’t serve in the army For health.Dropped out early Also due to illness.Unemployed For the same reason, he cannot find a permanent job and has to live on a disability pension. He, therefore, is also unable to drive a car. Therefore, we can conclude that the killer lives in the same block as the victim.
Our compatriot from Rostov-on-Don, psychiatrist Alexander Bukhanovsky * was also guided by logic, creating one of the most famous psychological portraits – the profile of Andrei Chikatilo. If the police had listened to the psychologist in time, there would have been no false arrests and innocent executions in this case … And it was Alexander Bukhanovsky who managed to “talk” Chikatilo during the investigation.
Recognition… merit
Knowing the subtleties of psychology allows profilers not only to help in the search for killers, but also to extract confessions from them – already arrested. American investigator Robert Keppel (Robert Keppel) tells about the tactics of conducting one interrogation: “An 11-year-old girl disappeared in Canada. It was known that some man invited her to sit in his car. The suspect was arrested. It was necessary to go to the trick to get his confession. I asked the police to contact me when the body was found. I needed to know what he had done to the girl. It turned out that she was strangled, raped, her face was severely beaten. Then the offender only sprinkled the head of the victim with earth; the body remained on the surface. I assumed that the killer was very angry, but he did not have the courage to turn his rage on the one who caused his anger, and he chose a defenseless child. During interrogation, it turned out that on the day of the murder, his girlfriend kicked him out. She was a slender woman of small stature. Maybe her refusal and pushed him to kill? I caught on to this assumption and tried to convince him that I understand: his anger was justified, moreover, the girl herself could be to blame for what happened to her. It was those words that provoked him, made him relive the fit of anger that I had hoped for. And he confessed…
Creators of “Monster”
In the USSR and Russia, the profiling method was never denied. Back in the years of stagnation, psychologists compiled psychological profiles for the special services of foreign leaders arriving in the country … Today, psychologists who help the investigation in the most difficult cases work at the All-Russian Research Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. A few years ago, they developed an automated information retrieval system “Monster” to create a psychological portrait of a criminal in cases of serial murders. The search was based on a set of signs describing the event and its main forensic characteristics. But there was no money to implement this system. There is no single database in Russia where all the information about serial killers would be stored. Several years ago, the Main Directorate of Criminal Investigation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia prepared a proposal to the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation on a separate procedure for recording cases of serial murders and the creation of a separate data bank, at least for new cases. No decision has been made yet…
“THEY HELP NOT ONLY TO FIND THE CRIMINAL, BUT ALSO GET A CONFESSION FROM HIM”
Other countries were more mobile and far-sighted. In 1983, the FBI leadership organized the National Center for the Study of Violent Crimes at the FBI Academy. At the same time, a single national computer database was created – ViCAP (Violent Crime Apprehension Program) – a database of arrests for violent serial crimes. In 1986, a computerized database of sex-related murder offenses and child abduction cases was assembled in the UK. It was found that people who committed such crimes have common features, they have a similar marital status, age and other characteristics … To be continued?
About it
The site www.trutv.com/library/crime, registered by the Courtroom Television Network LLC (Court TV channel), has a unique section called Criminal Mind. It combines rare facts, accurate information, describes the experience of profilers in many countries of the world in the sections “Forensic Psychology”, “Profiling”, “Litigations and Investigations”. All information in English.