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Richard N Kocsis

Publications and source records attributed to Richard N Kocsis.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Validities and abilities in criminal profiling: the dilemma for David Canter's Investigative Psychology.

This article discusses misconceptions in Bennell, Jones, Taylor, and Snook's (2006) critique of Kocsis (2003a) concerning the validities and abilities surrounding criminal profiling. It also, in part, serves to canvass the approach of investigative psychology and what may be viewed as an imperative for some of its proponents to challenge evidence into the validity of criminal profiling, which is not easily reconcilable with that ideology.

Crime↗
PubMed2005

Cognitive processes in criminal profile construction: a preliminary study.

This study undertook an empirically based examination of the cognitive processes associated with the accurate construction of a criminal psychological profile. This was accomplished by comparing the abilities of profilers and nonprofilers in two simulated profiling exercises that measured both profile accuracy and an individual's performance on various tests of memory and comprehension related to the case materials presented in each exercise. The results of these experiments suggest that an incremental relationship exists between comprehension of the case materials and accuracy of the profiles generated. In addition, the findings provide some tentative indications that the comprehension of case material in a narrative (i.e., written) format is an integral cognitive function to proficient profiling.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Believing is seeing? Investigating the perceived accuracy of criminal psychological profiles.

This study investigated whether perceptions of criminal psychological profiles are influenced by the identity of the profile's author. Police officers were given a profile they were told was written by either a professional profiler or by an unspecified author. When judged in relation to the actual perpetrator of the crime, police officers tended to perceive greater accuracy in a profile when it was labeled as authored by a professional profiler independent of the actual content of the profile. But officers' judgments of the usefulness of the profile were not affected by knowledge of who wrote the profile. Explanations for this result focus on the ambiguous nature of criminal profiles and how this ambiguity enhances the likelihood that beliefs about the validity of profiling can color perceptions of the content of the profile.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Believing is seeing II: Beliefs and perceptions of criminal psychological profiles.

This study built upon previous research by Kocsis and Hayes (2004) by investigating whether a bias exhibited by police officers in their perception of profiles would replicate in a sample of nonpolice participants. Additionally, the relationship, if any, between the degree of belief harbored by an individual concerning the merits of profiling and their perceptions of a given profile was also investigated. The findings of this study add to the contention that the biases observed in Kocsis and Hayes's previous study with regard to author label may be related to some intrinsic feature of the previously sampled police participants. Additionally, evidence was found to support the proposition that an individual's degree of belief in profiling is related to their perceptions concerning the merits of a profile. Namely, the more an individual believes in the profiling technique, the greater the merit that will be perceived in a profile.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Believing is seeing III: perceptions of content in criminal psychological profiles.

This study explored Kocsis and Heller's findings concerning the relationship between one's belief and the perceived accuracy of a profile. The influence of types of information was also considered. A sample of 353 participants was used in the present experiment that gauged the perception of information contained in a profile. The results supported Kocsis and Heller's earlier findings with a positive relationship found between belief and perceived accuracy. The more an individual believes in profiling, the more likely he or she is to perceive a profile to be accurate. This relationship was most pronounced in participants' perceptions of information contained in a profile concerning an unknown offender's crime behavior and past history. The more an individual believes in profiling, the more information relating to these two factors is likely to be perceived. This relationship was not observed where information in the same profile involved physical features of the offender.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

An empirical assessment of content in criminal psychological profiles.

Although criminal psychological profiling has been in use by law enforcement agencies for almost three decades, there is a paucity of empirical research examining the technique. A fundamental issue that has received little attention is the empirical evaluation of information contained in profiles composed by professional profilers. In this study, a group of profilers, police officers, psychologists, college students, and self-declared psychics were given information from a solved murder investigation, after which the participants composed a written profile predicting the probable offender. Professional profilers tended to write more lengthy profiles that contained more information about the nonphysical attributes of the offender and more information about the crime scene or the offender's behavior before, during, and after the crime. These results are discussed in terms of their implication for our broader understanding of the technique of profiling and future directions for research into profiling.

Crime↗
PubMed2003

Criminal psychological profiling: validities and abilities.

Criminal psychological profiling has attained unprecedented recognition despite little empirical evidence to support its validity and the absence of any thorough exposition of the skills involved with the technique. This article reports on the empirically derived conclusions of studies that sought to examine the accuracy and skill of various groups performing a profiling task. The conclusions provide some support for the contention that professional profilers can produce a more accurate prediction of an unknown offender in comparison to other studied groups. The results also give an indication of the type of skills required for proficient profiling.

Criminal Law↗
PubMed2003

Visual versus narrative case material: the impact on criminal psychological profiling.

Although some literature has emerged to examine the validity and constituent skills required for psychological profiling, little research has scrutinized how the technique works. This study examined the effects of case material on profiling proficiency. This was accomplished by alternating the case material available to participants in a profiling exercise. Groups of participants were presented with either a full case package, only narrative or visual case material, narrative material with a written description of the visual material, or a control condition where no case material was provided. All participants then completed a profiling exercise designed to measure the accuracy of their predictions. The results found that profiling proficiency is influenced by the amount of case material available, with optimal proficiency likely achieved by the presence of all forms of material. A trend was also observed where participants supplied with only the narrative case materials surpassed those with visual materials.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Psychological profiling of sexual murders: an empirical model.

Psychological profiling represents the investigative technique of analyzing crime behaviors for the identification of probable offender characteristics. Profiling has progressively been incorporated into police procedures despite a surprising lack of empirical research to support its validity. Indeed, in the study of sexual murder for the purpose of profiling, very few quantitative, academically reviewed studies exist. This article reports on the results of a 4-year study into Australian sexual murders for the development of psychological profiling. The study involved 85 cases of sexual murder sampled from all Australian police jurisdictions. The statistical procedure of multidimensional scaling was employed. This analysis produced a five-cluster model of sexual murder behavior. First, a central cluster of behaviors was identified that represents common behaviors to all patterns of sexual murder. Next, four distinct outlying patterns--predator, fury, perversion, and rape--were identified that each demonstrated distinct offense styles. Further analysis of these patterns also identified distinct offender characteristics that allow for the use of empirically robust offender profiles in future sexual murder investigations.

Australia↗
PubMed2002

Criminal psychological profiling of serial arson crimes.

The practice of criminal psychological profiling is frequently cited as being applicable to serial arson crimes. Despite this claim, there does not appear to be any empirical research that examines serial arson offence behaviors in the context of profiling. This study seeks to develop an empirical model of serial arsonist behaviors that can be systematically associated with probable offender characteristics. Analysis has produced a model of offence behaviors that identify four discrete behavior patterns, all of which share a constellation of common nondiscriminatory behaviors. The inherent behavioral themes of each of these patterns are explored with discussion of their broader implications for our understanding of serial arson and directions for future research.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Psychological profiling of offender characteristics from crime behaviors in serial rape offences.

Criminal psychological profiling has progressively been incorporated into police procedures despite a dearth of empirical research. Indeed, in the study of serial violent crimes for the purpose of psychological profiling, very few original, quantitative, academically reviewed studies actually exist. This article reports on the analysis of 62 incidents of serial sexual assault. The statistical procedure of multidimensional scaling was employed in the analysis of this data, which in turn produced a five-cluster model of serial rapist behavior. First, a central cluster of behaviors were identified that represent common behaviors to all patterns of serial rape. Second, four distinct outlying patterns were identified as demonstrating distinct offence styles, these being assigned the following descriptive labels brutality, intercourse, chaotic, and ritual. Furthermore, analysis of these patterns also identified distinct offender characteristics that allow for the use of empirically robust offender profiles in future serial rape investigations.

Crime↗