ABSTRACT
First, the birth of oender proling will be considered within a historical context, outlining the development of ngerprinting and the struggle for acceptance against the prevailing dominant culture of psychological thought – that favouring the study of positive human behaviour. In this chapter we will explore the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in particular Robert Ressler, who introduced the term serial killer, and with other colleagues founded the FBI classication of serial killers: organised and disorganised. The traits of the organised and disorganised typologies will be described in detail and applied to a famous serial killer, Albert Fish. We will also explore other approaches such as the typologies introduced by Holmes and DeBurger and the Model of Personal Violence. These are described and considered in relation to examples of dierent serial killers to understand the underlying motivations for their crime scene behaviours.
