Forensic Psychology

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Criminal profiling is used mostly by behavioral scientists and the police to narrow down an investigation to those suspects who possess certain behavioral and personality features that are revealed by the way a crime was committed. Therefore, the primary goal is to aid local police in limiting and refining their suspect list so they can direct their resources where they might do the most good. Profiling in itself, however, does not identify a specific suspect, i.e. reveal a certain individual, give an address or a phone number. Instead, profilers sketch a general biographical description of the most likely type of unknown suspect.

Take Pause To Ponder What They Meant (Keys to human nature)
What do these say to you?
"I'll moider da bum." - Heavyweight boxer Tony Galento, when asked what he thought of William Shakespeare
"From the moment I picked your book up until I laid it down I was convulsed with laughter. Some day I intend reading it." - Groucho Marx
"Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever." - Napoleon Bonaparte
"Most people would sooner die than think; in fact, they do so." - Bertrand Russell
"The average person thinks he isn't." - Father Larry Lorenzoni

The following sites provide some good background information on the field of Forensics, which is so new that it is changing almost daily.
(Stars indicate personal estimation of site's usefulness.)

Links

American Academy of Forensic Psychology
http://www.abfp.com/

**Criminal Psychology
http:www.oocities.org/CapitolHill/lobby/6027/

David's Forensic Psychology and Psychiatry Links
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~dwillsh/

****Forensic Science Resources
http://www.w3street.com/forensic

How to Cross-Examine a Psychological Witness
http://members.aol.com/Psychquery/index.html

Psychology Assessment Connections
http://www.foren-psych.com

***The Monster in the Mirror
http://neptune.spacesports.com/~tmitm/

***Zeno's Forensic Site
http://www.forensic.to/forensic.html

**Forensic Psychology - Expert Pages
http:www.epertpages.com

Gradschools.com - graduate and post-graduate programs
http://www.gradschools.com

****The Ultimate Forensic Psychology Database
http://flash.lakeheadu.ca/~pals/forensics/

Training and Employment Opportunities in Forensic Psychology
http://www.psych9.com/training.htm

The Institute for Forensic Psychology
http://www.ifp-testing.com

Forensic Psychology - Suite 101.com
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/forensic_pschology

Swenson's Forensic Psychology Website
http://www.css.edu/users/dswenson/web/FORENSIC.HTM

"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some Books are to be read only in parts; others to be read but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with Diligence and Attention."
- Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

"Books say: she did this because. Life says: she did this. Books are where things are explained to you; life is where things aren't. I'm not surprised some people prefer books. Books make sense of life. The only problem is that the lives they make sense of are other people's lives, never your own."
- Julian Barnes (1946- )

Books

Obsession - John Douglas & Mark Olshaker (non-Fiction)
--gives some good criminal profiles

Dead Men Do Tell Tales - William R. Maples, ph.D. & Michael Browning (non-Fiction)
--good review of cases, including Anastasia

Deathwork - Robert Johnson (non-Fiction)
--a review of capital punishment

Private Practices - Stephen White (Fiction)
--a Psychiatrist works with the police to solve several crimes

The Madman's Diary - Thom Racina (Fiction)
--a Psychological thriller with an unexpected ending

The Anatomy of Motive: The FBI's Legendary Mindhunter Explores the Key to Understanding and Catching Violent Criminals - John E. Douglas, Mark Olshaker (non-Fiction)
--motivations for killings

The Handbook of Forensic Psychology (Wiley Series on Personality Processes) - Allen K. Hess, Irving B. Weiner (non-Fiction)
--the name says it all

The Forensic Documentation Sourcebook: A Comprehensive Collection of Forms and Records for Forensic Mental Health Practice - Theodore H. Blau (non-Fiction)
--an essential

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 4th Ed) - David Keirsey (non-Fiction)
--another essential

Forensic Evaluation of Juveniles - Thomas Grisso (non-Fiction)
--for those interested in juvenile delinquency

Forensic Science Bookstore
http://www.corpus_delicti.com/FSbooks.html

NetStore USA Psychology Books
http://www.opengroup.com/pvbooks/welcome.shtml

The Catalyst for Forensic Popularity:
Hannibal: First principles, Clarice. Read Marcus Aurelius. Of each particular thing ask: What is it in itself? What is its nature? What does he do, this man you seek?
Clarice: He kills women...
Hannibal: No! That is incidental. What is the first and principal thing he does, what need does he serve by killing?
Clarice: Anger, social resentment, sexual frustration...
Hannibal: No, he covets. That's his nature. And how do we begin to covet, Clarice? Do we seek out things to covet? Make an effort to answer.
Clarice: No. We just...
Hannibal: No. Precisely. We begin by coveting what we see every day. Don't you feel eyes moving over your body, Clarice? I hardly see how you couldn't. And don't your eyes move over the things you want?

Clarice: If you didn't kill him, then who did, sir?
Hannibal: Who can say. Best thing for him, really. His therapy was going nowhere.

Hannibal: You know what you look like to me, with your good bag and your cheap shoes? You look like a rube. A well scrubbed, hustling rube with a little taste. Good nutrition has given you some length of bone, but you're not more than one generation from poor white trash, are you, Agent Starling? And that accent you've tried so desparately to shed? Pure West Virginia. What's your father, dear? Is he a coal miner? Does he stink of the lamp? You know how quickly the boys found you... all those tedious sticky fumblings in the back seats of cars...while you could only dream of getting out... getting anywhere... getting all the way to the FBI.
Clarice: You see a lot, Doctor.
Official FBI Website

May the God of peace guard the door to your house, the door of your heart. May the road rise to meet you, and the sun stand at your shoulder. May the wind be always at your back, and the rains fall softly upon your fields. May life itself befriend you each day, each night, each step of your journey. May the peace of the spirit be with you and with your children, from the day that we have here today until the day of the end of your lives.
- a Celtic Blessing