Profiles tell very little


Save us from the amateur hour
Last night I said I would talk about profiling.

Yesterday the media was focusing on stories that the VA Tech gunman had written, the implied message was "someone should have DONE something!"

Now the best profilers will tell you that a good profile has to be supported with evidence. It works to point in the right direction after a series of crimes has been committed. It's not proof in and of itself.

That is very important in this context, because we all have dark corners that we would prefer that other people didn't look at too closely. At least not all people all the time.

In an earlier post, I talked about some of my books and the impression that someone might get if they judged me on those alone. I hate to think what they might make of some of my DVDs and tapes. And let's not talk about my writing, which includes some pretty graphic stuff.

We haven't even gotten to the Paganism yet.

And let's not forget that I write a website that regularly calls for the reduction in government.

The point is, without the shooting, the things that are being called "obvious" now would not have been so different.

Context is everything, and there was no context before the crime.

*Disclaimer - I do not claim to be a profiler, I have some idea how it might work and I have some training in behavioral interviewing and a little less in behavioral psychology.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Wed - April 18, 2007 at 05:21 AM  Tag


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