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In this part of the article first of all we will seek to explain that every single human being is totally different into criminal activity. Before we continue reviewing this topic we should keep in mind that there are no common rules that can be used to all of the people, who are involved in crime itself (e.g. offender) or investigation process (e.g. witness). As professionals state, this is why criminal psychology is so interesting and why they enjoy their work so much.

The term "criminal psychology" has been defined in a numerous ways. Even today it has no accepted definition. It can be defined as a science, which helps investigative institutions in fulfilling their mission more effectively by applying a psychological knowledge to it.

In this field psychologists mainly focus on offenders. They can engage in a number of activities related to investigation, ranging from profile creation process to conduction of psychological testing of people for courts/trials for various crimes.

People with this profession are also trying to find out why do people commit offence, what are their motives, what made them do so. The research of cause-effect relationship ranges from a serial killer's childhood environment to psychological stress, which leads them to rob a bank in order to deal with financial problems.

In 1981, one of the fathers of UK's criminal psychology - Professor Lionel Haward described four ways, that psychologist may perform upon being professionally involved in criminal proceedings. These are the following:

1. Clinical: In this situation the psychologist is involved in assessment of individual in order to provide a clinical judgment. The psychologist can use assessment tools, interview or psychometric tool in order to aid in his/her assessment. These assessments can help police or other competitive organs determine how to process the individual in question. For example help finding out whether he/she is capable to stand trial or whether the individual has mental illness which means, that he/she is unable to understand the proceedings.

2. Experimental: In this case the task of psychologist is to perform a research in order to inform a case. This can involve executing experimental tests for the purposes of illustrating a point or providing further information to courts. This may involve false memory, eyewitness credibility experiments and such. For example, this way questions similar to "how likely would a witness see an object in 100 meters?" will be answered.

3. Actuarial: This role involves usage of statistics in order to inform a case. For example, a psychologist may be asked to provide probability of an event occurring. Therefore, the courts may ask how likely a person will reoffend if a sentence is declined.

4. Advisory: Here a psychologist may advice police about how to proceed with the investigation. For example, which is the best way to interview the individual, how best cross-examine a vulnerable or another expert witness, how an offender will act after committing the offence.

Nowadays, as society throughout the world is much more developed than about an century ago, everyone agrees that fighting crime gets more and more sensitive and it is not simply "catch and imprison" work anymore. Modern approach considers also that offender is a member of the society, that after imprisonment they need rehabilitation, since the main goal is not to only punish someone, but to prevent them from re-committing a crime. Another very important point is taking care about witnesses and victims. Very often they might get really serious stress and it is concern of police and psychologists to help them recover.

The very main goal of this field of psychology, of course, is reducing the crime in general, but on this web-page we want to share information about the ways serving this main goal and talk about the really exciting challenges people working in this field may face.

In this video Dr. Laurence Miller, PHD (Clinical & Forensic Psychologist), the author of "Criminal Psychology: Nature, Nurture, Culture" is giving out a brief information about criminal psychology.

Criminal psychology as an academic discipline was established not so long ago. It was late 19th century when universities started to teach it. But actually methods of offender profiling was used earlier by the investigators. German psychologist Hugo Munsterberg is considered to truly start the criminal psychology, his works from 19th-20th centuries still are very useful for psychologists. Since early 20th century criminal psychologists role in the whole process of fighting criminal has been increasing rapidly and nowadays their work is highly appreciated in every developed country of the world.

What does a criminal psychologist do?

The term of criminal psychology for most people may associate with Hollywood movies, such as " Silence of the Lambs ". And the criminal psychologist, as we might think, is the person who helps police to catch the offenders, conducting interviews with them and gaining a better insight into the offender's mind by talking to them about committed crime.

Of course these conceptions of the work of criminal psychologist are mainly true, but they do not represent the wide variety of roles their work covers. In this article we will try to give some general information about these roles.

Crime Analysis (AKA Intelligence Analysis) - This field of the Criminal Psychology mostly includes case linkage. The process of case linkage involves analyzing the behaviours of the offender in some specific situation (according to the victim report, if available, or as inferred from the crime scene), and comparing the data to the similar crimes from the database. If matches are found, for example - the same weapon was used, the threats from the offender were the same, the crimes were committed in a close geographical location - this gives the police basis to investigate that potentially the same offender has committed both crimes.

Offender Profiling - There is an absence of the agreed concrete definition of Profiling, even in academic circles. What we can say for sure is that the end product of Offender Profiling is creating a psychological, and not only psychological portrait of the offender. Criminal psychologists use the information from the crime scene to draw conclusions about the person's nature, who committed the crime. The conclusions must give answers to the questions, like - Was the crime planned, or was it impulsive, under strong emotional circumstances? What is the approximate age of the offender? Is the offender likely to live close to the crime scene? What is the gender of the offender? These types of information in most cases are very useful for the investigators and help them to target resources effectively.

Interviewing - In order to collect reliable and accurate information about the case, interviewing people (witnesses or offenders) is crucially important. The most important point about interviewing them is considering that each person needs different approach - for example, child who was an eyewitness of the crime can give very useful information, but because of the stress a child might have been through psychologist has to be very careful while interviewing. Another example can be an offender, who doesn't want to confess. Police and the criminal psychologist use his or her offender profile to determine the correct and productive approach. In many cases the way the offenders are interviewed determines will the police reach the confession from the offender or not.

Rehabilitation of the offenders - The role of the criminal psychologist is not only helping the police to imprison someone. In most countries the society and government is concerned about the possibilities for prisoners to re-socialize after they leave prison. To achieve this goal government's competent organs work with criminal psychologist and determine specific steps that can be taken to prevent the offenders from re-committing a crime and on the other hand to help them to find their place in the society.

Work environment of criminal psychologists

Criminal Psychologists may be employed in a number of settings. Some work as a private consultant, some may be employed full-time in governmental, usually in law enforcement organs, some of them prefer to work part-time at universities or other educational facilities.

They work closely with police officers and federal agents helping them solve crimes by developing profiles of various kinds, usually of violent offenders, such as murderers, kidnappers, rapists and so on... They can also work with private lawyers, state attorneys and the public defender's office. Most of criminal psychologists spend the majority of their time in court or office settings. They spend a great deal of the workday conducting case research, performing assessments, interviewing people, researching the offender's life history, providing expert testimony in the court. Most of them work full time, but those employed in private practices or educational facilities usually have more flexible hours.

To summarize, criminal psychologists may be employed by:

Private practices

Academic institutions

Forensic hospitals

Correctional facilities

Psychiatric hospitals

Law enforcement organs

Mental health centers.

Is the job as exciting as portrayed in television shows and movies?

Actually, the role of criminal psychologists is glamorized and overestimated in television shows. As a rule, they don't accompany police officers in the detention of suspects. Moreover, solving a crime has been rarely as easy as shown in TV shows. Usually it takes weeks, months or even years to find a solution to the crime.

Despite the fact, that criminal psychology is not what you may expect from television shows, it is far from boring. Working in this field you can do something different every day. For example, you can spend time solving difficult puzzles, counseling those, who have committed crime in order to make a psychological assessment or even work on computer-related fields like online scam.

How to become a criminal psychologist?

You can become a criminal psychologist using a number of ways. Obtaining a bachelor's degree in psychology, criminal justice, criminology or a related field major would be a good start. It will be enough for admission in the most graduate programs. The best way would be to get a BA (Hons) degree in psychology and criminology (many universities in UK offer such programs), but it is not always an option and most professionals in this field begin their career by obtaining a bachelor's degree in psychology. The first stage will take approximately 3-5 years depending on the program itself and and how you plan courses. In the last year you will have the opportunity to choose one of the subjects as your major and at that time you will have an idea which one suits your needs and interests best.

It is recommended to participate in internships or volunteer in criminal or forensic settings. It will give you a valuable experience in criminal psychology and some ideas about planning your career. You will also stand out from other candidates when applying for graduate programs.

The next step is to earn a graduate-level education in forensic or criminal psychology. Master's degree will take approximately two years to complete, while doctor's degree will take approximately 5-7 years. There are several career opportunities available for MS graduates, but according to the Occupational Outlook Handbook of BLS, competition in this field is very tough and those, who have Psy.D (Doctor of Psychology) or Ph.D (Doctor of Philosophy) have better chances to find a desirable job. It is wise to obtain a doctorate in schools, which offer forensic specialty, but if it is not an option, counseling or clinical specialty with a prominence given to forensic psychology is a good alternative. Ph.D is research-oriented, while Psy.D is more practice-oriented. In the end of Ph.D programs, students usually are required to submit a dissertation, while in Psy.D they complete a practical work. Almost all Criminal Psychologists are required to meet a state's license requirements. In most cases these requirements are doctoral degree and at least one year of working experience, you also may have to pass state examinations. There are also other training options for particular fields in criminal psychology. For example, FBI and other law enforcement organs handle trainings in criminal profiling.

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Criminal psychologist salary

How much a criminal psychologist will earn depends on the organization, location he/she will carry out the practice and skills and other circumstances. According to Occupational Outlook Handbook, in 2012 the median pay for psychologists was $69,280 per year. According 225 individuals reported on PayScale, the income of criminal psychologists varies from $38,598 to $122,478 total pay per year. In UK, the income typically is between £25,000 - £63,000.

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In this part of the article first of all we will seek to explain that every single human being is totally different into criminal activity. Before we continue reviewing this topic we should keep in mind that there are no common rules that can be used to all of the people, who are involved in crime itself (e.g.

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Ed Gein was a notorious killer and grave robber. He inspired the creation of several film characters, including Norman Bates (Psycho), Jame Gumb (The Silence of the Lambs) and Leatherface (Texas Chainsaw Massacre).

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American serial killer and rapist Ted Bundy was one of the most notorious criminals of the late 20th century. Learn more at Biography.com.

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Notorious sex offender and serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer killed 17 men between from 1978 to 1991. He was sentenced to 15 consecutive life terms, and then murdered by a fellow prison inmate in 1994.

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Roseanne Montillo is a part-time professor at Emerson College whose upcoming book is titled "The Wilderness of Ruin"; she wrote this piece for Crimesider

On April 23, 1874, the mutilated body of a young boy named Horace Millen was found in a pit on the beaches of South Boston. Two brothers, George and James Power, had gone there in search of clams. But, having miscalculated the tide's arrival, they took to wandering the area in search of other treasures. What they found instead was a small child left dead inside a ditch. Nearly naked, numerous stab wounds crisscrossed the child's body, one of which ran across his neck from end to end. It appeared that a sharp object had been shoved into one eye, while his genitals had been nearly severed. The body had also been set on fire.

There was no question in the minds of those who gathered at the site that only an individual with a monstrous constitution must have committed the crime. As it happened, as the detectives delved deeper into the case, they discovered that two witnesses had stood on the beach not far from the spot where the boy had died, and what they had seen pointed to someone even more disturbing than a monster. At around noon on that April 23rd, Edward and Benjamin Harrington had noticed a very young boy running away from the murder site. He was tall for his age, wore a cap, but the two men recognized him to be a boy nonetheless.

The community was disturbed that a child, or a young boy might have been the perpetrator of such an act. Yet, it was not impossible. Most recently, the area had seen a rush of crimes committed on young children by someone who was no more than a child himself. Could this boy have graduated to murder? The police wondered.

Jesse Pomeroy was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, on November 29, 1859. From the very beginning, he did not fit in. A defect in his right eye set him apart. A white film so thick and unappealing covered the pupil, the people who crossed his path were revolted by it, by him. Those people included his father. At school, Jesse Pomeroy became the target of many jokes, bullied viciously by those bigger, taller, and stronger than himself. In turn, he bullied those who were smaller, shorter, and weaker than he was.

He was a loner, preferring to spend his time reading the cheap "dime novels" published at the time, stories full of blood, gore, sex, wars, battles and mayhem, the equivalent of today's violent video games. His brother, Charles, older by seventeen months, ignored him in favor of girls, and his father, Thomas Pomeroy, frequently beat him up with a horsewhip or a leather belt, often demanding that he strip completely naked so as to inflict further punishment on his bare skin. The only person in Jesse's life who offered a measure of comfort, or, at the very least, understanding, was his mother, Ruth Ann Pomeroy. She believed her son's issues were due to bullying; if others stopped bullying him, then he would stop bullying others. Even when he began to torture and kill small animals, Ruth Ann saw this as a sign of his sadness.

In late 1871, in the city of Chelsea, just across the river from Charlestown, children began to suffer vicious beatings at the hands of a boy some described as bigger, taller, and stronger than they were. Some were sexually assaulted as well. The boy would befriend them, offer them money and treats, accompany them to a remote location, and there have his way with them. He became known as The Boy Torturer and The Red Devil. A description of the boy was subsequently published in the Boston Globe, which Ruth Ann Pomeroy read and recognized. Immediately, she transferred the family to South Boston.

In August of 1872, a young boy was found tortured on the sands of South Boston. That following September, another child was discovered beaten, assaulted and tied up to a telephone post, also in South Boston. But unlike the rest of the victims, this latest one gave a very good description of his assailant, including the fact that he had a very peculiar right eye, a white eye that resembled a marble. Jesse Pomeroy was arrested, and due to his age was sentenced to the State Reform School at Westborough for the term of his minority, six years.

Though the inhabitants of Boston were relieved, Ruth Ann Pomeroy had other plans in mind. Through her machinations, Jesse was released only months later, to the detriment of the community.

On March 18, 1874, Katie Curran disappeared from her home in South Boston. She had gone out to buy a notebook and was never seen again. Upon inquiry, it was discovered the last place she had been was the Pomeroys' shop, where Jesse worked. The place was searched and Jesse interrogated, but nothing was found.

Some five weeks after Katie's disappearance, the dead boy on

the beach, four-year-old Horace Millen, was discovered. When brought to the police, it was found that Jesse Pomeroy had blood on his clothes, scratches on his skin, and the sole of his boots matched the imprints left on the sands on the beach.

People wanted to know why a child had committed such atrocities, a tangible reason why Jesse Pomeroy had done what he had done. Experts were hired, and, much like in today's trials where children are involved, each expert had an answer.

Jesse must have suffered from some kind of familial mental illness, although despite some thorough investigations, none was found in his relatives. He was the product of a broken family, they said. Indeed, his parents were separated and when they'd been together, there had been plenty of physical and mental abuse. He was bullied, they concluded, which had caused him to be a bully and want to kill others. Perhaps he was jealous, they said, jealous of the children's beauty and loving homes. Maybe he had been merely reenacting the violence he had seen depicted in the dime novels, much like psychologists today believe children react to the violence they see depicted on television. Or perhaps he had just been born bad. The truth was, all of the explanations were plausible reasons.

Jesse Pomeroy was not a singular case: following in his footsteps, in 1924, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, teenagers themselves, kidnapped and murdered Bobby Franks just to see what it would feel like. In the 1960s, Mary Flora Bell, together with her friend, Norma Bell, barely children themselves, killed four-year-old Martin Brown, also for the sheer fun of it. In 1983, Cindy Collier and Shirley Wolf, 15 and 14 respectively, prowled condominiums in search of victims they could rob and stab to death. And in 1999, 11-year old Nathaniel Abraham was arrested for the shooting death of 18-year-old Ronnie Greene. They are members of a group that is large and becoming larger.

Although psychologists prefer not to label children and young adults who commit such crimes as psychopaths, they have come up with a pattern of behavior that falls under the umbrella of conduct disorders. These disorders include traits such as the failure to attach meaning to the lives of others, a grandiose feeling of self-importance, cruelty toward others, cruelty toward animals, especially troublesome if starting at a young age, lack of empathy and remorse, lack of friendships, and a propensity for telling lies.

Jesse Pomeroy displayed all of these traits, along with many others. Although he was found guilty for the murder of Horace Millen (and eventually that of Katie Curran) and sentenced to death, his sentence was commuted to life in prison, to be spent in solitary confinement. On September 7, 1876, just three months shy of his seventeenth birthday, he was locked up in the Massachusetts State Prison, in Charlestown, where he grew into adulthood and old age behind the walls of solitary confinement, spending the longest stretch in such a facility, second only to the Birdman of Alcatraz.
"The Wilderness of Ruin" is due to be published by William Morrow, an imprint of Harper Collins, on March 17, 2015.

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The story of Jesse Pomeroy, 14-year-old serial killer

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Roseanne Montillo is a part-time professor at Emerson College whose upcoming book is titled "The Wilderness of Ruin"; she wrote this piece for Crimesider On April 23, 1874, the mutilated body of a young boy named Horace Millen was found in a pit on the beaches of South Boston.

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A serial killer is a someone who has killed three or more people. The criteria a person needs to fit a serial killer may   change from law enforcement agencies to another agency. Serial killings differ from killing sprees in that a killing spree is multiple killings that occur back to back. While typically serial killers have a cooling off period in when they get back to normal before they commit another crime. Killing sprees are considered one event that happens in seperate locations. Mass murders are individuals or groups who kill more than four people in one location. 

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A serial killer is a someone who has killed three or more people. The criteria a person needs to fit a serial killer may   change from law enforcement agencies to another agency. Serial killings differ from killing sprees in that a killing spree is multiple killings that occur back to back. While typically serial killers have a cooling off period in when they get back to normal before they commit another crime. Killing sprees are considered one event that happens in seperate locations. Mass murders are individuals or groups who kill more than four people in one location. 

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Serial killers usually chose their victims and plan their crimes carefully. There are four subcategories of serial killers. The first being visionary, most commonly psychotic, kill because the voices in their heads tell them to, while others have visions that compel them to kill certain individuals. The next are mission oriented killers. They believe that the world would be a better place without certain types of people. Hedonistic killers, kill for the thrill of killing. Most become sexually aroused by the act of killing. Typically not psychotic, these killers choose their victims with the intent of having full control over them.

Common behaviors of serial killers include organized or disorganized behaviors. Social behavior is a big part in determining what type of serial killer they are dealing with. Non social or Anti social behaviors are common among serial killers. An organized serial killer is of average intelligence. Typically is married with children. They have a normal social life and are stable figures in family life. They usually toy with the police and often return to the crime scene to watch law enforcement do their job. They kill in one place and take the body to a seperate location. The crime scene is neat and controlled. They talk with their victims before killing them and respond best to direct interveiwing during interrogation. This type of killer usually has a history of physical abuse by a parent or caregiver. A disorganized anti social killer is of lower intelligence.
They do not date and are not married. They are socially inept. They have poor housekeeping skills and hygiene. They most likely dropped out of high school. This type of serial killer avoids the police, but will contact the victims' families to toy with them. They think of thier victims as objects rather than human beings. They leave their victim where they killed them and leaves behind a chaotic scene. This killer respomds best to a conseling type of interview. They have a history of being emotionally abused as a child.

Many times a serial killers backround is what prompts them to commit such devious crimes. They have had a emotionally, physically, or sexually abusive childhood. Serial killer can be victims themselves. Living in a home where drugs and alcohol are abused can cause a child to become a serial killer. The child feel depressed, inadequate, or has attachment issues. 70% of serial killers come from homes where alcohol or drugs were used heavily. Phychological abuse is another factor that can cause a child to become a serial killer. Children who lives with psychological abuse fear punishment because it is often given erratically, maliciously, and nonsensically. Punishment like this tends to make a child become shy and introverted. A mindset of non existance become prominent because they believe if they don't exist they will not be able to do anything that will cause them to be punished. They develop a sense of worthlessness. Neglect is another form of psychological abuse. Ignoring a child can lead to that child becoming void of feelings or make them believe the world is void of emotions. They find themselves possessing no empathy of people, thus when they kill they have no remorse. Emotional abuse scars a child's developmental growth. They lose self esteem and the desire to form relationships. Head injuries can lead to agression, which in turn can lead to behavior such as killing. When is a head injury to the limbic brain, pre frontal cortex, hypothalamus, or temporal lobe there is more likely to be violent acts of agression. 70% of serial killers that were examined were diagnosed with extensive brain injuries during their childhood. Brain injuries can lead to agressive behavioor, violent outburts and memory loss. Sexual abuse in childhood can lead to a persons' serial killings. A child who is sexual abused often become confused about how a normal relationship works. The child may grow up to be promiscuous or asexual. As they grow into adults, love equals sex. They simply don't understand how to have an intimate relationship without having sex.

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Psychopath- a person suffering from chronic mental disorder with abnormal or violent social behavior.
Sociopath- a person with a psychopathic personality whose behavior is antisocial, often criminal, and who lacks a sense of moral resposibility or social consience.
Serial killer- when a person kills two or more people.
Killing spree- when two or more killings happen back to back.
Mass murderers- induviduals or groups who kill more than four people in a single location.
Visionary killers- these people, usually psychotic, kill beacuse of the voices in their head tell them to, while others have visions that compel them to kill certain types of individuals.
Mission- oriented killer- they believe the world would be a better place without certain types of individuals in it.
Hedonistic killer- they kill for the thrill of killing
Delusional- Characterized by or holding idiosyncratic beliefs or impressions that are contradicted by reality or rational argument. (psychotic)
Motive- a reason for doing something, especially one that is hidden or not obvious.
Psychological abuse- characterized by a person subjecting, or exposing, another person to behavior that may result is psychological trauma.
Sexual abuse-  aslo refered to as molestation
Socially inept- little to no skill in social understanding