Serial Killer Profiling is Still Just a Best Guess

In society’s search for the reasons behind why individuals commit crime, there have been many theories. These theories, while still only theories, along with advancements in technology and a scientific approach to evidence collection, have led to the development of a structured approach to understanding crime in general and serial killers in particular. This approach is called profiling. While most profiling of crime is based on the prediction of behavior based on known motive, violent serial crimes are profiled in reverse, that is the unknown motive is explained in terms of known behavior (Turvey, 1995).