Forensic Psychology

Forensic psychology has become a passionate interest for me. It is the branch of psychology concerned with the collection, examination and presentation of psychological evidence in the context of criminal investigations and court proceedings. It aims to expose and clarify the thought processes of the criminal mind, and provide an insight as to what motivates a criminal to act in seemingly inexplicable ways.

Take the example of the serial killer. Forensic psychologists have established a list of criteria which may apply to a serial killer. He may be sadistic, and choose his victims at random. Those who suffer at his hands are predominately strangers. He may be involved in the pursuit and fulfilment of a fantasy of domination He is more likely to prey on those least able to defend themselves – such as vagrants, hitch hikers, runaways, children, women and the elderly. All such people are vulnerable, easily overpowered and the theme of power and control is easily reinforced. His acts are apparently without motive, but he may enjoy the thrill, dominance and sometimes achieve sexual gratification. It is usually a compulsive act. There need not be any direct connections between the murders. He may choose to kill close to home, feeling comfortable in areas he knows well. In Australia, offenders are overwhelmingly male, between the ages of eighteen and thirty, and from blue collar backgrounds. He may be an unpopular person devoid of meaningful friendships. Childhood factors may have an impact. He may grow up in a dysfunctional family, and have suffered various forms of abuse – physical, psychological or sexual. He could have been a victim of poverty and hardship, and have a preoccupation with fantasy and murder. He may have established a psychological link between violence and pleasure. He may have exhibited cruelty to animals and young children.

Paul Denyer is a serial killer. The whole concept intrigued and sickened me. During the investigation the expertise of Claude Minisini had been employed. Minisini had been a member of the Victorian Police Rape Squad where it was a daily task to investigate frightening crimes of an interpersonal nature. He began to study the relatively new science of criminal profiling, and was selected to complete a year long fellowship at the Behavioural Science Unit at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. The course explored human behaviour and linked the clues that behaviour could provide to the identification of an offender. After he left the police he set up FBIS International Issues Management. He was able to construct a profile of Denyer.

“Each serial killer acts out for his own personal motivation that’s unique to him because the activities that we see as the end product, the killing, has developed through a personal fantasy…serial killers are defined as those who had killed two or more people, with an emotional cooling off period in between…serial killers are highly egotistical…it is all about power and assertion. It’s the ultimate power of all – controlling the destiny of someone’s life. It is a psychological need. What is difficult for the community to accept is that there are some individuals amongst us who enjoy killing. What we have seen in their backgrounds is their family life has been somewhat dysfunctional…They do have a very active fantasy life…employment has been spasmodic or irregular. They lack commitment to any purposeful activity. They have little regard to behaviour outside their killing.”

I will write more about Denyer in my next post.