ABSTRACT
The original scientifically grounded studies that individually test the validity (i.e. accuracy) of the criminal profiling technique are reviewed. Results from subsequent omnibus re-analyses of these original studies are thereafter considered. Issues concerning factual inaccuracies and construct invalidity inherent to the methodologies of these re-analyses are examined, and suggest that their findings are compromised. A holistic assessment of the extant research into the validity of criminal profiling is canvassed; empirically grounded evidence is presented supporting the validity of criminal profiling. The implications of these research findings for differing theoretical approaches to criminal profiling are considered.
