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First published on March 22, 2007, doi:10.1177/0093854806296925

Criminal Justice and Behavior 2007;34:437.

A more recent version of this article appeared on April 1, 2007

Article

Taking Stock of Criminal Profiling: A Narrative Review and Meta-analysis

Brent Snook*, Joseph Eastwood, Paul Gendreau, Claire Goggin, Richard M. Cullen

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: bsnook{at}play.psych.mun.ca.


  Abstract
The use of criminal profiling (CP) in criminal investigations has continued to increase despite scant empirical evidence that it is effective. To take stock of the CP field, a narrative review and a 2-part meta-analysis of the published CP literature were conducted. Narrative review results suggest that the CP literature rests largely on commonsense justifications. Results from the 1st meta-analysis indicate that self-labeled profiler/experienced-investigator groups did not outperform comparison groups in predicting offenders’ cognitive processes, physical attributes, offense behaviors, or social habits and history, although they were marginally better at predicting overall offender characteristics. Results of the 2nd meta-analysis indicate that self-labeled profilers were not significantly better at predicting offense behaviors, but outperformed comparison groups when predicting overall offender characteristics, cognitive processes, physical attributes, and social history and habits. Methodological shortcomings of the data and the implications of these findings for the practical utility of CP are discussed.
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This article has been cited by other articles:


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 Criminal Justice and BehaviorHome page
B. Snook, R. M. Cullen, C. Bennell, P. J. Taylor, and P. Gendreau
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