Week 2 – Discussion

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initial post 300 words

reply: 200 words .. 100 words each 

Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Refer to the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric under the Settings icon above for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.

Offender Profiling [WLOs: 1, 2] [CLOs: 1, 2]

Prior to beginning work on this discussion, review Chapter 8 in your textbook and the article Psychological Profiling ‘worse than useless’ (Links to an external site.).

Your initial post should be at least 300 words in length. Please elaborate on the following as you complete your discussion. Support your claims with examples from the required materials and/or other scholarly sources, and properly cite any references:

• In your textbook, five different categories of criminal profiling are covered. What are they? Please define each type. What are the pros and cons of each type of profiling?
• Of the five, which is the most promising method of offender profiling?
• Now focus on crime scene profiling. What do your textbook authors and the article authors say about the research on this type of profiling?
• Is it a reliable and valid method of catching criminals?
• Given what you have learned about this type of criminal psychology profiling, is it ethical for psychologists to engage in this type of activity? Why or why not?

Guided Response: Review several of your peers’ initial posts and, in a minimum of 100 words each, respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts by Day 7. Be sure to provide constructive feedback; ask follow-up questions to your peers regarding your agreement with their opinion on whether profiling is a reliable and valid method of catching criminals. Be sure to focus on what research shows about the efficacy of offender profiling in solving crimes. Respond in a substantive manner with specific examples to extend their thinking. Support your claims with examples from the required materials and/or other scholarly or credible sources, and properly cite any references. You are encouraged to post your required replies earlier in the week to promote more meaningful and interactive discourse in this discussion forum. Continue to monitor the discussion forum until 5:00 p.m. (Mountain Time) on Day 7, and respond with robust dialogue to anyone who replies to your initial post.