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Douglas et al.: Criminal Profiling from Crime Scene Analysis careful interview of the rape victim about the rapist’s behavior, law enforcement personnel begin to build a profile of the offender (Hazelwood. 1983). The ra- tionale behind this approach is that behavior reflects personality, and by ex- amining behavior the investigator may be able to determine what type of person is responsible for the offense. For example, common characteristics of arsonists have been derived from an analysis of the data from the FBI's Crime in the United States (Rider. 1980). Knowledge of these characteristics can aid the investigator in identifying possible suspects and in developing techniques and strategies for interviewing them. However, studies in this area have focused on specific categories of offenders and are not yet generalizable to all offenders. Criminal profiling has been found to be of particular usefulness in crimes such as serial sexual homicides. These crimes create a great deal of fear because of their apparently random and motiveless nature, and they are also given high publicity. Consequently. law enforcement personnel are under great public pres- sure to apprehend the perpetrator as quickly as possible. At the same time, these crimes may be the most difficult to solve, precisely because of their apparent randomness. While it is not completely accurate to say that these crimes are motiveless, the motive may all too often be one understood only by the perpetrator. Lunde (1976) demonstrates this issue in terms of the victims chosen by a particular offender. As Lunde points out, although the serial murderer may not know his victims. their selection is not random. Rather, it is based on the murderer's perception of certain characteristics of his victims that are of symbolic signifi- cance to him. An analysis of the similarities and differences among victims of a particular serial murderer provides important information concerning the “mo- tive” in an apparently motiveless crime. This, in turn, may yield information about the perpetrator himself. For example, the murder may be the result of a sadistic fantasy in the mind of the murderer and a particular victim may be targeted because of a symbolic aspect of the fantasy (Ressler et al., 1985). in such cases, the investigating officer faces a completely different situation from the one in which a murder occurs as the result of jealousy or a family quarrel, or during the commission of another felony. In those cases, a readily identifiable motive may provide vital clues about the identity of the perpetrator. In the case of the apparently motiveless crime, law enforcement may need to look to other methods in addition to conventional investigative techniques, in its efforts to identify the perpetrator. In this context, criminal profiling has been productive, particularly in those crimes where the offender has demonstrated repeated patterns at the crime scene. THE PROFILING OF MURDERERS Traditionally, two very different disciplines have used the technique of pro- filing murderers: mental health clinicians who seek to explain the personality and actions of a criminal through psychiatric concepts, and law enforcement VOL. 4. NO. 4 + 1986