FBI Behavioral Science Unit profiling
US investigative method analysing offender behaviour to narrow the circle of suspects
FBI Behavioral Science Unit profiling is a US investigative method in which specialised behavioural analysts at the FBI examine an offender's conduct, victim selection, crime scene and patterns of action in order to narrow the circle of suspects and understand the psychological profile behind a crime. The method is not a legal concept in a statutory sense, but an investigative support function developed and applied by the FBI.
The Behavioral Science Unit (BSU) was established in 1972 at the FBI's training centre in Quantico, Virginia. The unit systematically developed a scientific approach to the analysis of violent behaviour, based primarily on interviews with convicted serial killers and rapists. The result was a profiling method combining criminology, psychology and investigative experience. Ann Wolbert Burgess was a central academic collaborator in this work and helped ground the method in research.
In practice, profiling means that analysts assess elements such as the offender's degree of organisation, the relationship to the victim, the character of the crime scene and any signature traits — that is, actions that are not necessary for the crime itself, but reflect the offender's psychology. Such analyses played a role in the investigation of cases including Ted Bundy and Henry Lee Lucas, although the reliability and scientific status of the method have been the subject of professional debate.
The FBI today describes the method as "behavioral analysis" rather than "profiling", as the latter term has acquired a broader and at times imprecise usage among the public and in the media. The Behavioral Analysis Units (BAU), into which the BSU developed, today provide assistance to local and federal authorities in both active cases and cold cases.
Profiling does not constitute an independent basis of evidence in US case law and is not regulated by any specific statutory provision. The analysts' assessments function as investigative instruments that can point an investigation in a particular direction, but they cannot in themselves establish legal probability of a person's guilt. In high-profile cases, however, FBI profilers occasionally appear as expert witnesses, explaining behavioural patterns and offender characteristics to the court.
