Psychological Profiling of Criminals in Violent Crime Investigations in Nigerian Criminal Justice System

Abstract

The Nigerian criminal justice system is not entirely ignorant or unaware of the use and the merits of the application of criminal profiling as a tool in crime investigation. The technique was introduced to help law enforcement agencies solve serious crimes such as serial rape or murder and to a lesser extent arson and property crime. At the heart of profiling lies the belief that by combining psychological principles with crime scene analysis, it is possible to identify the likely characteristics of a perpetrator. However, criminal profiling in Nigeria has not nearly reached the level of recognition, functionality, or institutionalization that it has attained in other jurisdictions. This study aims to examine the feasibility and the practicality of offender profiling in a criminal investigation of violent crimes with a particular focus on the Nigerian criminal justice system. It will also give an expository critique of the loopholes and impediments in the Nigerian criminal justice system and ways criminal profiling can fill up these holes. The research methods employed in this study include a combination of both primary and secondary sources. The work highlighted the effectiveness of this field and thus concluded that criminal investigative analysis should be effectively immersed into the justice system and should also receive as much recognition as it has in other jurisdictions especially in the United States and in major parts of Europe.

Spatial pattern of burglary in residential neighbourhoods: a case study of Abuja, Nigeria

“…Crime occurs due to the motivation of criminal offenders, the appropriate targets and the absence of oversight that can prevent the occurrence of crime in the environment as established in Masron et al (2021). Offender's targets may involve people or objects, and the lack of guardianship will increase the risk of crime occurrence as also found out by Adewumi et al (2017). The observed low or declining rate of crime incidence in some neighbourhoods was due to the intensive supervision from authorities such as police as well as community induced surveillance within and around the residential neighbourhoods.…”

“…Urban areas in developing countries especially in Nigeria have had constant pressure from growing population and lack of employment opportunities, which mostly results to individuals turning to criminal activities. This can be seen from the rate of residential burglary in the country which affects the aspect of social environment, which forms an important component of spatial planning of cities (Adewumi et al , 2017). Recently, residential neighbourhoods in Abuja have become a heaven for crime due to increasing population (immigration), emergence of sprawls and lack of effective physical planning to accommodate these changes (Peter et al , 2018).…”