#criminal profiling

I have created a personal curriculum that focuses on forensic psychology inspired by my love of Criminal Minds

Here is a breakdown of what I plan to study and some notes for module one on criminology! I have curated it based on how I feel it’s important to have a foundation of certain things. I already have taken a basic psychology and sociology course so I do not feel the need to study those, but you may! Take inspiration and use what you like!

lia zhang - lie detector

"i killed a man when i was nine."

The Fundamental Flaw in Luo Wenzhou's Profiling: A Criminal Minds Perspective

Let's put on our profiler hats for a second and dissect a critical, haunting failure in Justice in the Dark: Luo Wenzhou's misread of Pei Su.

As a detective—especially one in a world obsessed with the "apath" label—his job is to see past bias and analyze behavior. But in the case of young Pei Su, his prejudice overrode his professional duty, creating a blind spot with devastating consequences.

Here's the critical behavioral evidence he ignored:

The Bird.

Let's break it down logically, like the BAU would:

Hypothesis (Wenzhou's): Pei Su is a potential apath. He killed the bird in a cold, empathy-less act.

Contradictory Evidence (The Burial): The subject didn't discard the bird. He didn't leave it. He buried it. He performed a ritual act associated with respect, regret, and closure.

An individual devoid of empathy, acting on impulse or curiosity, would have no compunction about disposal. Toss it. Forget it. The act is over. The burial is a post-act behavior that screams of emotional processing. It's guilt. It's sorrow. It's a futile attempt to make things right.

Furthermore, consider Pei Su's context: He is the heir to a powerful, amoral man. If he were truly aligning with his "inherited nature," his father would have covered for any callous behavior. So why hide it? Why the secret, solemn burial? Because it shamed him. Because it hurt him.

Wenzhou saw the potential crime, but he failed to analyze the criminal's ritual. He saw confirmation of apathy in the bird's death, but missed the profound, damning evidence of humanity in its burial.

This will, and should, hit Wenzhou like a ton of bricks when he learns the truth. In the end, Wenzhou got to witness the man that scared, distrustful boy became. And in retrospect, he could finally see all the desperate cries for help Pei Su had tried to convey—the withdrawn silences, the cautious distance, the buried bird. Yet, even with hindsight, the most painful deduction eluded him: Pei Su's distance wasn't a symptom of his supposed apathy; it was his only available shield. Every time he pulled away from someone he cared for—from Wenzhou himself, from Tao Ze—it wasn't coldness. It was a frantic, sacrificial attempt to protect them from the very real monster that was his father, and from the danger his own cursed bloodline was supposed to bring.

There was a period of time where I was really into forensic psychology, I was intrigued by the concept of it depicted in Criminal Minds so I started reading forensic psychology textbooks and coursework. There was one section in Criminal Profiling: An Introduction To Behavioral Evidence Analysis by Brent E. Turvey (Fourth Edition) that touched on a now retired FBI profiler called Jim Clemente, in a section about the often flawed and biased nature of the court testimony given by so called "expert profilers". In fact the first half of the textbook is basically just dedicated to explaining how untrustworthy and frequently inaccurate profiling is. Turvey preceded to absolutely rip apart the way Clemente presented his credentials and proof of expertise in the most coldly brutal yet academic manner. For context there were ten whole pages specifically just discussing SSA Clemente's expert witness testimony.

And obviously what I'm getting at is the fact that Clemente was the advising expert on Criminal Minds. He was naturally retired by this point, since I don't think agents are allowed to advise on TV shows when they're still active, but he had worked on numerous high profile (hah) cases before he left the FBI.

Now, onto why I really don't like this dude.

Just looking at the show, it's not clear how much of an influence he had on it, at least not without knowing a little bit about our man Jimmy. Once you do, it becomes clear that he straight up copy and pasted elements of his own life onto the show in some bizarre cool person narrative ego trip.

Have you ever noticed how many times the members of the BAU bring up the case of the DC snipers? It's more than once if you weren't counting. How they often mention how accurate the profile was and generally just use it as a touchstone of "good" profiling?

You'll never guess who created that profile in real life.

They never go so far in the show as to actually name drop Clemente but the constant reference of it is as good as.

We all know and love the team leader of the BAU, right? Good old Aaron Hotchner. His backstory is pretty interesting as well, wouldn't you agree? Prosecutor to BAU profiler, that's neat.

You know who else started as a prosecutor before being recruited as a profiler for the BAU? If you said Robert Ressler you would be wrong but if you said Jim Clemente you would be bang on the money.

There are more, much smaller bits and pieces I've noticed on rewatches. Phrases and metaphors that I've heard Clemente use on video before that he's clearly adding to the scripts (he's done several breakdown style videos on YouTube), it's just a little bit here and there and it irks me to no end.

I have watched almost every season and every episode of NCIS and I love it! It's my favorite show. But criminal Minds is much more intense and gorier then NCIS so that is probably why I don't care for it as much.

My favorite characters are Hotchner and Reid. (No surprise on Reid since he seems to be everybody's favorite!)

One of my favorite scenes so far is in season 2 when they are all at a bar. Emily Prentiss has joined the team and they are all enjoying doing different things.

Morgan dancing, The girls drinking with other guys. Gideon and Hotch sitting in a corner. And the one that I thought was hilarious: Reid having people quiz him on certain stuff! All the others are having a relaxing good time, and we see that Reid's version of a good time is having people quiz him! 🤣

I do love the profiling aspect of the show. That is very interesting to watch, but it's the dark cases they take on that gets to me sometimes.

Welcome to Book-Keeping and my stop on the TBR and Beyond Tours blog + bookstagram tour for Some Shall Break by Ellie Marney, the sequel to 2020’s breakout hit None Shall Sleep! I absolutely loved the first book and this follow-up, and below you’ll find my top 5 reasons to read the series!

About the Book

title: Some Shall Break (None Shall Sleep #2) author: Ellie Marney publisher: Little, Brown release date: 6 June 2023

This sequel to the New York Times bestselling None Shall Sleep is an equally electrifying, chilling thriller that brings us back into the lives of junior FBI consultants Travis Bell and Emma Lewis with a new case that may unravel everything they’ve been working for.

After a harrowingly close contact with juvenile sociopath Simon Gutmunsson, junior FBI consultants Emma Lewis and Travis Bell went their separate ways: Emma rejected her Quantico offer and Travis stayed to train within a new unit of the FBI Behavioral Science division. But the unit’s latest case is feeling eerily familiar and Kristin Gutmunsson—Simon Gutmunsson’s eccentric twin—reaches out to Travis to send a warning: Emma is in peril. When Travis and Kristin turn up evidence that points back to Daniel Huxton, the serial killer that Emma had escaped, things become more complicated. With a copycat on the loose, Emma returns to Quantico and is thrown back into her past traumas. Compelled to prevent more tragedy—even if it means putting herself in danger—Emma turns to Simon for help once again. But Simon is keeping secrets that could impact their entire investigation. Will the team be able to stop the Huxton copycat before time runs out for his next victims?

Content Warning: Murder, gore, trauma, sexual assault, sexism, violence, drug use, racism

Add to Goodreads: Some Shall Break (None Shall Sleep #2) Purchase the Book: Amazon | B&N | Bookshop.org

About the Author

Ellie Marney is a NYT bestselling author of crime fiction. Her most recent book is The Killing Code, and her other titles include the Aurealis-winning None Shall Sleep, the Every series – starting with Every Breath – and the companion novel No Limits, White Night, and the Circus Hearts series, starting with Circus Hearts 1. Ellie’s next book, Some Shall Break, the sequel to None Shall Sleep, will be released June 2023.

Ellie’s books are published in eleven countries and have been optioned for television. She’s spent a lifetime researching in mortuaries, talking to autopsy specialists, and asking former spies how to make explosives from household items, and now she lives quite sedately in south-eastern Australia with her family.

Connect with Ellie: Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Facebook

Top 5 Reasons to Read

I must admit I’m kind of glad this isn’t a traditional review because I’d just be gushing incoherently about how freaking much I loved Some Shall Break (and its predecessor, None Shall Sleep). So instead of rambling, let me give you my top 5 reasons to read this incredible series!

1. The early 1980s setting had me nostalgic for my childhood! Granted, I was only 7 in 1982, but I loved all the little references to things I remember from that time - songs, fashion, cars, etc.

2. I loved getting a (fictional) peek inside the beginnings of the FBI’s now-famed Behavioral Science Unit, which quickly became the gold standard for serial killer profiling.

3. These books give us the most creepy and terrifying serial killer this side of Hannibal Lecter, and I am absolutely chuffed to see the grittiness of this thriller series in young adult lit!

4. Emma Lewis is a badass, incredibly complex character that you root for with every single page you turn. Her badassery lies not in brute strength or actual abilities to kick butt, but in her strength of character, her tenacity, her intelligence, her unwillingness to be pushed around, and her feminist sensibilities (back when more mainstream feminism was still fairly new). She has *been through some shit* and has come out the other side fierce and strong, while also still dealing with the effects of her captivity. I love the quote from Adrienne Rich that she cites as her favorite: “Her wounds came from the same source as her power.”

5. Finally, more on the feminism: again, we’re dealing with very early ‘80s, so mainstream feminism was in its nascent stage, but Marney exposes the sexism inherent in not just police culture but also the culture at large at the time -- and which unfortunately still exists today. At one point Kristen says, “People only listen when women expose their pain, I suppose.” Emma later remarks, “Every woman lives in a constant state of battle-readiness.” Later, when Emma shoos away a creep in a bar by referring to her FBI partner, Travis, as her boyfriend, she notes “the irony that she has to claim connection with one man to avoid another.” I doubt I’m alone in saying each of these is all too familiar even now, 40 years after the setting of this book.

I’m not sure I can adequately convey how darn much I love this series, but I hope this list is a start! If you are *at all* a mystery/thriller lover, PICK THESE UP! Even if you don’t normally read YA, I am confident you’ll love these. And DM me with thoughts once you’re done!

RATING: 5 stars!