Psychological Profiling - Silence of the Lambs

The movie Silence of the Lambs is a good example of psychological profiling. In

that, it uses accurate techniques used in today's field of forensic psychology. Throughout

the film, we see several different examples of criminal profiling. Some of the approaches

are psychological autopsy, signature characteristics and organized criminal just to

mention a few.

Clairce Starling is a recruit in the FBI training academy. She is approached by

Jack Crawford, who is in the Behavioral Science Unit of the FBI. He enlist her to present

a Violent Criminal Apprehension program questionnaire (VICAP). questionnaire to

Hannibal Lecter. According to our text, the VICAP was established by the FBI. When

Clarice sees Hannibal for the first time, he inquires about Buffalo Bill and asked to see

the case file. When Clarice would meet with Hannibal, he would use anagram. Clarice

would have to decipher them to determine what they meant

During the film, a victim's body was recovered., and an autopsy was completed

in order to determine the cause of death. In the text "mode of death is how the death

occurred. During the autopsy, Clarice noticed that the

victim had something in her mouth, which was a moth. According to the text " a

psychological autopsy may uncover new facts about the case.

As Clarice was putting together a profile on Buffalo Bill, she estimated his age to

be between 30-40. In the profile, it suggested that he was not impulsive since he waited

for a particular size victim. Clairce also suggested that Buffalo Bill would need to own

his own home for privacy.

After Buffalo Bill kidnapped a senator's daughter, Clarice went to speak with

Hannibal again. Clarice informed Hannibal that if he helped find the Senator's daughter

then he would receive a transfer. Hannibal inquired if the victims were "big in the hips,

and if a butterfly was found in her mouth." It was also suggested that Buffalo Bill