Deductive criminal profiling is completely different criminal profiling method to inductive criminal profiling.

Deductive Criminal Profiling Key Features:

• Based on the scientific method
• Requires physical evidence and behavioral evidence analysis
• Provides conclusions and profile based on solid deductive techniques and available evidence
• Examines every case individually to render criminal profile

Example Of Deductive Criminal Profiling Logic

Inductive Criminal Profiling Key Features:

• Based on Inductive logic
• Based on empirical evidence and statistics
• Uses generalizations and speculations
• Does not provide infallible conclusions
• Not based on the scientific method

Example Of Inductive Criminal Profiling Logic

As you can see, deductive criminal profiling and inductive criminal profiling methods vary greatly and notably, deductive criminal profiling seems more reliable since it is based on the scientific method and solid conclusions instead of speculations and generalizations.

The most important feature about deductive criminal profiling is it examines every case individually and does not compare cases as each case circumstances are different and should not be generalized at all.

Deductive profiling technique focuses on the offender that committed the crime based on the behavioral evidence he/she left behind, not the general offender population according to the statistics like the inductive criminal profiling does.

The main practitioner of deductive criminal profiling is Brent Turvey, whom is also a guest author at our Deductive Criminal Profiling website.

There are many practitioners of Inductive Criminal Profiling method, such as the FBI behavioral profiling unit, David Canter from investigative psychology school.

I hope that I made it reasonably clear what the differences are between inductive and deductive criminal profiling techniques and helped you understand how each operates.

Keep an eye out on our future posts, we will have a lot more fresh articles on deductive criminal profiling, possible case examples and more at our criminal profiling blog