https://www.forensicscolleges.com/blog/htb/how-to-become-criminal-profiler

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How to Become a Criminal Profiler
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Criminal profiling—also referred to as criminal investigative analysis—occupies the intersection of psychology and law enforcement. These specialists untangle the behaviors, emotions, and personalities of suspected criminal offenders, basing their judgments on time-tested experience in investigative techniques with learned emotional detachment and patience.

Although this career is often conflated with forensic psychology, they are distinct career paths. Psychology Today reports that criminal profilers typically have an extensive background in criminal justice and law enforcement instead of mental health training. Still, formal education in psychology is typical, particularly for leaders in the field of top-notch organizations.

So what’s the history of this career which has inspired countless movies and TV dramas? The American Psychological Association (APA) reveals that early criminal profiling was used in the 1880s when British doctors George Phillips and Thomas Bond attempted to make inferences about the personality of Jack of Ripper.

However, the formal emergence of the discipline didn’t occur until 1972, when the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit (BSU) was created. This organization began to investigate the rising tide of serial rapes and homicides across the US by examining four crucial aspects of suspected criminals’ behavior: antecedent (i.e., before the crime occurred) tendencies, manner of crime, body disposal method, and post-crime comportment.

Since then, the techniques of criminal investigative analysis have become more sophisticated. According to the Law Enforcement Bulletin published by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), nowadays criminal profilers develop offender profiles in a range of crimes such as arson, hostage-taking, terrorism, child abduction, white-collar crime, kidnappings, extortion, cybercrime, and serial sexual homicide, to name a few.

Before getting started, it’s important to mention that there are very few job opportunities available in criminal profiling. Most of these professionals start as criminal investigators or experienced detectives and choose to transition into the role with extra training and employer demand. There are few crimes committed in the U.S. that require the skills and knowledge of a criminal profiler, and the scarcity of openings reflects this. Please note that people with graduate-level forensic psychology degrees may be more likely to become jury consultants, juvenile offenders counselors, expert witnesses, or professors in forensic psychology.

Read on to discover what to expect from this profession concerning job responsibilities and career pathways to becoming a criminal profiler.