This unit gives an introduction to profiling, this is an essential part of the course and requires concentrated study if the learner is to gain maximum benefit from working through the case studies.
Our first case study of the Psychology of Criminal Profiling Course takes us to Argentina and Buenos Aires of the early 1900s and a study of the infamous ‘Big Eared Pest', the child killer Santos Godino.
In our next case study we will go back to Germany in the 1930s and examine the case of Peter Kurten, ‘The Monster of Dusseldorf', and the groundbreaking work of Professor Carl Berg.
Next, we move to the United States of the 1940s and the incredibly accurate profile of George Metesky, ‘The Mad Bomber of New York' by Manhattan psychiatrist Dr. James Brussel.
Our Case study brings us to war time London and Sussex in England in the 1940s and the case of John George Haigh, ‘The Acid Bath Murderer'.
Our next Case study of the Psychology of Criminal Profiling Course takes us back to the United States where we once again meet Dr. James Brussel in the investigation of a series of murders committed in Boston of the 1960s by Albert de Salvo, ‘The Boston Strangler'.
Our Case study takes us back to Yorkshire of the 1970s where Dr. Stuart Kind helped to bring an end to the reign of terror of Peter Sutcliffe, ‘The Yorkshire Ripper'.
We return to the United States and Chicago of the 1970s where we encounter John Wayne Gacy and his alter-egos, Pogo and Patches the Clown and the gruesome murders of more than thirty young men and boys.
Next we return to Muswell Hill, London in the late 1970s and early 1980s, where we examine the serial murders committed by Dennis Nilsen, ‘The Muswell Hill Killer'.
The old mill town of Hyde, Cheshire some five miles from the centre of Manchester provides the 1990s setting for our case study, which examines the murderous medical practice of ‘Doctor Death', alias Doctor Frederick Harold Shipman.
Our final case study takes us to Stirling, Scotland in 1996 where we encounter disgraced scout master and jobless shopkeeper, Thomas Hamilton, who in a murderous frenzy slaughtered sixteen children and a teacher at Dunblane Primary School.
At the end of each case study within the Psychology of Criminal Profiling Course the learner is required to use the information contained in the study material and any other information they have collected, either from further reading, research on the internet or other media, to complete a profiling sheet. The learner will then use this information to compile a detailed pen portrait of the offender(s) studied. In the conclusion to this Psychology of Criminal Profiling Course we examine some of the differences in definition of and approach to profiling, and consider more recent developments such as computer aided geographic profiling. At the end of this last Unit the learner is invited to carry out research in the media and on the internet to draw up a profile of Raoul Moat.
