Assignment: Forensic Psychology and Criminal Profiling

Prepare: Interact with the Forensic and Addiction Psychology learning objects located in the left navigation bar for this week, and ensure you have finished reading Chapters 5 and 6 in your textbook and reviewed any relevant Instructor Guidance prior to completing this discussion. Doing so will introduce you to topics in the field of forensic psychology

Reflect: For this discussion, you will select one high-profile serial killer from real life or character from a television show, movie, book, game, and so forth.

Write: Briefly describe this person/character, including the medium (real life, television, movie, book, etc.) from which he or she comes, why you selected him or her, his or her background, and the background of the crimes he or she committed. Based on your reading this week, define, in your own words, forensic psychology as a specific example of applied behavioral science, and describe how forensic psychology could have been helpful in this case. Identify trends in forensic psychology that would prove helpful. Discuss why profiling is or is not a science. Examine the similarities and differences between what you have read about forensic psychologists' work and the way television and movies present their work. Identify ethical considerations forensic psychologists need to consider.

Your initial post must be a minimum of 200 words, and you must utilize at least one scholarly source.