As crimes have devolved from basic motives such as love and money into sexual gratification and sadism, how do you catch a killer whose actions are the accumulation of personal fantasies? Lying in the realm between law enforcement and psychology, profiling, a complex art used to narrow down a suspect pool, became the answer law enforcement was looking for. This seminar will examine how interviews with serial killers such as Ed Kemper were turned into a tool that has allowed law enforcement to track down some of the most notorious killers. Beginning in the basement of the FBI, profiling began as a way to describe the characteristics of a suspect. Now, profiling has expanded to instruct officials on how to interact with the media, interrogation tactics, and has given society vocabulary such as “serial killer” itself. 

Profiling, however, is not comparable to an algorithm on a computer; it is an innately human process. Each killer exhibits important differences despite similarities in upbringings and their crimes. This is why profiling has many critics because even though it is based on scientific research, profiling also relies on one’s opinion. So how do people become serial killers? Are children born evil? What are the different types of serial killers? Is profiling really a “science” or “black magic”? These are all questions that this seminar aims to review in depth.