For a profiler to succeed in his attempts, several facets of the crime must be taken into account. Modus Operandi (MO) and Signature are two key elements. Through exploration of the crime scene, all parties involved attempt to identify evidence to establish an offender's modus operandi or justify their characteristic behaviors. “The term modus operandi is used to encompass all behaviors required for a particular offender to commit a crime.” The signature, for its part, is “a pattern of distinctive behaviors that characterize and satisfy emotional and psychological needs”. To laymen, these are the characteristics of offenders. Both are imperative in the profiling process. This article will introduce the OM and signature, respectively, and provide illustrations from previous cases that elucidate the specifics surrounding each case connection. Criminal profiling is enhanced through the use of modus operandi and signature, but the specifics of each case are not illustrated in all cases. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on 'Why violent video games should not be banned'?Get the original essayEdwin Sutherland defined OM as the 'principle that a criminal is likely to use the same technique repeatedly and that any analysis and recording of the technique used in each serious crime will provide a means of identification in a particular crime.” However, this definition has been modified over the years. MO is essentially a record of all the offender's actions before and during the transgression. This typology arises from cultivated behavior, both adaptable and vigorous. Behaviors associated with OM are learned from past experiences and are capable of developing – by analyzing each crime and its particularities, as well as weakening – as they become more and more confident in them. Holmes and Holmes (2009) expand on this concept by stating that "this is a prodigious step in logic, and one that has been validated by tradition and common sense, both of which are unreliable sources of knowledge." . Thus, in most criminals, the MO is transformed; but that's because there are minor errors, especially in premature crimes. During the crime itself, offenders study all aspects and then use this information to better prepare themselves before engaging in the next crime. Such was the case with Nathanial Code in 1989. His early modus operandi was that offenses were committed at night and involved burglary, while his later crimes included daytime acts and burglary progressed to forced entry (Douglas , Ann Burgess, Allen Burgess). and Ressler, 2006). There was one thing that remained constant: theft. O'Connor (2010) states: “At a minimum, each MO will contain elements that: (1) ensure the success of the crime; (2) protect identity; and (3) effect an escape. That being said, if one of the three is missing or not fulfilled, the criminal will do everything to ensure that it doesn't happen again. An offender's modus operandi is relevant to evidence obtained at the crime scene, providing insight to profilers. as to what, where, when and how the crime was committed. Sometimes a criminal may use a certain weapon, or even target a specific group of people or environment, thereby reinforcing their modus operandi. To elaborate, serialist David Berkowitz murdered arbitrary victims while they were parked in their vehicles; specifically in the Bronx and Queens areas. An offender's MO is imperative for profilers because it allows them todecode evidence such as a general idea about the offender's familiarity with the location, possible logic behind their victim selection, and intent - whether it is murder, rape, etc. from a crime scene helps investigators create a modus operandi that can systematize premeditation throughout the process. with knowledge, attributes and habits that promote profiling and, hopefully, apprehension of crime. 'a suspect. Two examples that most reflect OM are cases such as that of Jeffrey Dahmer and Robert Berdella. To begin with, Dahmer's MO would lure his victims to his home, rape them, then bludgeon them. At the lowest level, his conduct aroused feelings of deep hatred, “channeled into the sadistic and planned destruction of 17 young men.” The interview with the serial killer, the photographic documentation of the scene and the autopsy results highlight the killer's ambivalent homosexuality, his sexual sadism, his obsessive fetishism and his possible cannibalism and necrophilia. Although Dahmer was not part of a typical family, he lacked many of what researchers previously described as people like him. He was neither poor nor abused as a child, and his parents were educated and respectful middle-class citizens. The only connection to his later crimes was the animal torture he suffered as a teenager and his alcoholic tendencies – which sparked him in high school and continued throughout his college career, albeit short. The puzzle Dahmer created was that his crimes were extremely sadistic but his composure remained placid. Berdella was also somewhat analogous in the vindictive nature of his crimes. As with Dahmer, Berdella was spatially mobile; although its wingspan was much shorter. In the four years before his arrest, Berdella managed to commit heinous and extremely depraved crimes. Berdella brutally tortured, raped, sodomized and murdered his six victims. To make matters worse, the harassment continued for days. Berdella's savagery is disgusting and diabolical to say the least. His stoicism is comparable to that of various other serialists. Chris Bryson, Berdella's last victim, escaped and survived. Miletich (2003) discussed this account stating that “he was beaten, injected with animal tranquilizers and drain cleaner, electrocuted, and sodomized” (Miletich, 2003, p. 210). As if this were not enough, Miletich (2003) goes on to note the following: Berdella took photos of the torture with a Polaroid 600 camera and made notes in a stenographer's notebook. The notebook contained details of his sexual acts, torture methods and the names of the drugs injected into his human sex toys. He dismembered the bodies, then put the parts in garbage bags, which were then taken away by garbage collectors. Berdella was what the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) described as a disorganized criminal. His house was cluttered with various concoctions, prepared for Bob's Bazaar Bizarre, an innovative store comprising several oddities. Instead of having customers, he had victims. Morrison and Goldberg (2004) noted that: Berdella created a rudimentary torture chamber that included a bed, piano wire, black velvet rope, various animal tranquilizers, a wooden club, needles and syringes, cucumbers, carrots, spatula, copper wire. , and a 7,700 volt transformer. Perhaps the only events in Berdella's childhood that subsequently led to his demonic acts were being raped at the age of sixteen, at the same time losing his young father to a heart attackbrutal and the introduction of a stepfather just a few months later. In his testimonies, Berdella never really mentioned the motives for his crimes, even if those who profiled him assumed so. Berdella, along with Dahmer and many other offenders, created an MO while they were criminals. It is with this facility, and that of his signature, that profilers help to successfully detain an offender. An offender's signature is different from their MO because there is no "change" involved. This is reflected in their retaining the innate emotional and psychological attributes associated with the crime itself. An offender uses his signature as a "trademark", which further reinforces feelings (i.e. contentment, remorse, dignity, etc.) which purport to justify the crime and which, furthermore, galvanize imminent crimes. It is the inimitable personality of the offender that creates his signature. When trying to formulate a signature, we can take into account "types of injuries, sexual acts, means of control, rituals, words", etc. (O’Connor, 2010). Depending on whether the victim(s) survive, a profiler can distinguish the mark of a criminal. Signature is another way to personalize your act and make more of your claim. If, for example, a victim were to live, their will/verbal statement – ​​and possibly that of a witness – could be used to determine what rudiments of behavior were present in the offender at the time the crime was committed. This facet transcends the fundamentals of actually committing the crime and may even include posing, defiling, achieving a rabid fixation (i.e. torture, disfigurement, etc.) or confiscation of trophies to the victim (i.e. photos or clothing). The reason why determining a criminal's signature is imperative in an investigation is that it signals to profilers the emotional and psychosomatic characteristics of the crime scene and the act itself. This further leads to the question of “why” the offender chose such a method of crime. Behaviors associated with a signature reveal evidence about a criminal's background, personality, feelings, state of mind, and intellect, which helps classify probable motive. For example, if an offender's behavior was sadistic in nature, this could indicate that he retains poignant causal characteristics such as anger, depression, or the condition necessary to gain hegemony over certain individuals, and that he may uncover previous occurrences of sexual assault. abuse or abandonment, as was the case in the Jeffrey Dahmer case. Some examples incorporating a signature are cases such as that of Gary Ridgway and BTK killer Dennis Rader. Ridgway is the leading criminal with the highest number of murder convictions in United States history. His signature included that he gathered a few bodies and posed them – naked. Specifically, they were in or near the Green River in South Seattle; this is also the reason for his nickname "The Green River Killer". Although the exact number of victims murdered by Ridgway is unknown, the time period in which these murders occurred was in the 1980s and 1990s. That said, DNA analysis was not discovered until 1986, making it almost impossible to charge Ridgway. Based on what investigators were able to gather at the crime scene, the killer was likely a Caucasian man, thirty or forty years old, with problems with women and who hung out in wooded areas (Turvey, 2008 ). The problems he had with women probably stemmed from his mother. From a young ageage and until his teens, Ridgway was wetter in bed. It was usually his mother who found him and then scolded him. She did so by bathing him, but made a point of embarrassing him by informing the whole family of his tribulations. During her "punishment", the dress her mother usually wore opened slightly, allowing Ridgway to see her naked. This brought up thoughts of lust as well as fury. It was for this exact reason that investigators later correlated Ridgway's past to the reason for his signing. It was the humiliation he suffered at the hands of his mother that led him to brutally murder women in or near water. By posing them naked, the victims suffered degradation just like him. Rader was yet another serial murderer. His nickname, BTK (Bind, Torture, and Kill), stems from the acts he committed. Some consistencies were evident throughout his crimes. One of them was that when he strangled them, not only would he use different types of knots with the binding cord, but he would torture them to death, allow them to breathe momentarily, and then continue to asphyxiate them until until death is obvious. He considered his actions as “projects” (Waller, 2010). Behind the killer was a devout and respectable church member, a Cub Scout leader, and an employed citizen. From what his social connections could reveal, he was well-mannered and commonplace, and from time to time, a little overbearing. Overall, for someone who has qualms, even minimal ones according to most, his offenses are heinous; but ironically, from his perspective, these were his most important projects in his life, and when it came to his testimony in court, he was all too eager to reveal the truth about his crimes. It was noted that "he found copies of real detective and detective magazines" and, at one point, Rader commented that "he found the magazines exciting and sexually stimulating at the age of 8 and that he would sneak into a barn near the family home to watch them.” hours in magazines, imagining what was happening to the women in the photos.” McClellan's (2010) research found that: Shortly after he began reading the magazines, Rader began capturing, torturing, and killing small animals. Rader would capture an animal, take it to a local barn, attack it with barbed wire and strangle it until it died, imitating the pictures and stories in detective magazines. Rader transposed everything good into his life sentence, for ten consecutive life sentences in a nine-by-nine cell, twenty-three hours a day. Unfortunately, everyone who studies him will forever remember the attention he demanded of his actions. It was his deepest fantasy; and despite the desire not to realize it, we can only learn from it and use this information in hopes of solving the next serial murder case. MO and signature cannot exist without each other. Profiling techniques are used in almost all types of criminal cases, but due to the seriousness and enormity of certain types of crimes, this process is essential. Holmes and Holmes (2009) list the following crimes for which profiling is most suitable: sadistic sexual assault, sexual homicide, post-mortem cases of abuse and humiliation, wanton arson, lust killings and mutilation, rape, occult and ritual crimes, sexual abuse of children. including pedophilia, bank robberies and anonymous lewd communications. With technology constantly evolving and training opportunities increasing, one can only assume that investigators and profilers will become more proficient.