Senior Project Reflection

(1) Positive Statement
What are you most proud of in your Block Presentation and/or your senior project? Why?

Within my entire senior project I am most prod of  my mentorship and all the connections and advancements I was able to make throughout the year with that. Considering just my Block Presentation I am most proud that, for the most part, the class seemed very interested. I am proud of this because I was somewhat worried that people would find my topic to morbid or uninteresting and would not pay attention. In my mind, part of the way I addressed and presented the subject attributed to this interest but I could be wrong. 


(2) Questions to Considera.     What assessment would you give yourself on your Block Presentation (self-assessment)?

AE       P          AP       CR       NC

b.     What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project (self-assessment)?

AE       P-          AP       CR       NC

(3) What worked for you in your senior project?
I am extremely pleased with the way my Block Presentation turned out so that is one thing that definitely worked for me. Honestly, I felt I could have continued to talk about my topic for the entire day if given the opportunity. One of the reasons I believe I found this so natural and easy was because throughout the year I never seemed to run out of good, reliable sources. No matter what I was researching, an answer, a case study, or foundational stuff, there was so much to use.
(4) (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would have you done differently to improve your senior project if you could go back in time?
I had a difficult time through the year conducting my interviews, it was a challenge I faced constantly because of the nature of my presentation and the people with whom I was trying to speak with. Maybe to improve my senior project I could conduct interviews on people who would still be helpful but not as hard to meet with, possibly a college professor or retired law enforcement official.

(5) Finding ValueHow has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors?   Be specific and use examples.

As I have mentioned before, I have met so many people throughout local law enforcement and FBI that I will continue to utilize for as long as they allow me to do so.  Also, I am currently a candidate for a scholarship/internship with the CIA through my future college and I believe that being able to list references and provide letters of recommendation from FBI agents I have worked with throughout the year will really give me the upper hand. This project has also helped me realize that this is most definitely something I would like to dedicate my life to, and potentially do for as long as possible after completing my education. 

Mentorship

Literal

     Karen Martin

     Office of Public and Congressional Affairs

     FBI Community Outreach Specialist

     310-996-4212 

Interpretive

     I gained so much throughout the year by working with my mentor in various events. By attending these i have learned so much, seen new things, and met so many people. Yet, I believe the most important thing I have gained from this entire experience is the connections I have made. Not only will I forever remain in contact with my mentor, Karen but I have also met a countless amount of agents, directors, and normal people who all seemed interested and excited about what I planned to do in the future. Through meeting all these people i have fined valuable contacts and ties that will stick with me throughout my life. One example that made me especially prideful was when my mentor introduced me to a director and mentioned how she hoped she would still be in the FBI when I eventually joined. 

Applied

     What I've done through the past year helped explain my EQ in many ways that research never could. By having Karen as my mentor and meeting so many people in all areas of law enforcement and the justice system I was able to constantly get new opinions and ideas. This was a great help because it made a big difference in what i was constantly searching for and learning with my research. Answering my EQ was not something that came to me in two days after talking with my mentor and neither did the answer. It was a process that involved many people within the FBI and multiple aspects and jobs which really made my project larger than even I originally intended with my EQ. 

Exit interview

(1) What is your essential question and answers?  What is your best answer and why?
EQ: What is the most important factor in an unidentified subject's psychological profile?
Answer 1: Using typology based off the evidence to classify behaviors and background characteristics. 
Answer 2: Using victimology as a way to gain insight to the offender's motives in order to narrow down suspects within an investigation. 
Answer 3: Studying all the evidence at face value and drawing conclusions from that is very important when creating a profile. 
Best Answer: Answer 1-Using typology based off the evidence to classify behaviors and background characteristics. 
This is my best answer because it is the technique that most often provides the largest contribution to the profile. Also, throughout the creation and use of psychological profiling it is seen as the first strategy made and the first one applied. Typology also adds a lot to the ability to identify the unsub because it does not necessarily need to be something that requires specific training. 

(2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

I did a lot of research on each answer itself and their uses. Once I felt comfortable enough with the answers and what they did within the cases I began to find crime scenes and offenders that had been profiled so i could attempt to analyze the case and see what I got. While doing this it occurred to me that although it was all based of the evidence, and the victim played an important role, the largest part of the unidentified subjects profile was determined from the typology created. 

(3) What problems did you face?  How did you resolve them?

The problems i faced was of ten finding good credible resource. Often it would be too old or simply about the creation of profiling. It was difficult to find pieces of it in action and i would frequently have to learn the topic and later find out how it is applied. I also has some difficulties with my mentor because of the constant shifts of schedule and availability. 

(4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

1:The first source that really assisted me in my project was Mind Hunter by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker. This book was great because it told the story of, John Douglas, one of the creators of profiling and took you throughout the creations of the process and how it developed. I really enjoyed this because it was a great basis for the rest of my project. 

2:The next source that was really useful was one I found online that focused of crime scene profiling. This article gave me a a fundamental idea for all the answers I used in the end. It talked about profiling and crime scene profiling which basically explained all the things you could gather from analyzing the evidence. the Source Crime Scene Profiling assisted and asserted all my answers and helped me find new focuses within my answers to research. 

Independent Component 2

Content:  

LITERAL
(a)  “I, student name, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.”
(b) My Mentor Karen Martin helped me complete my 30 hours of Independent Component. She is a Community Outreach Specialist for the FBI and allowed me to accompany her to the citizens academy. 
(c) 
(d) I completed 30 hours of additional research by attending the Citizens Academy. The Citizens Academy is a Program frequently done by the FBI that takes citizens, including high powered attorneys, people within the movie industry, business owners, doctors, etc. and places them within a type of miniature FBI training program. By doing this the FBI has more connections throughout the country. 
INTERPRETIVE 
Unfortunately this event was held at a secure FBI location in which i was not allowed to take photos or document in any similar way. Because of this my mentor took some pictures for me but they have to get clearance before they can be posted. Therefore, my documentation will be uploaded in the future. 
APPLIED
This Independent Component helped me with my senior project because it was a great insight to the FBI. Although it was not all about profiling it was great to see a different side of what the FBI does. Also, one day there was a Psychology expert there to present and he basically gave an entire presentation on how to use psychology in everyday life in order to identify things that could protect you and the people around you. Going and meeting these people not only from the community who were all cool people ready to answer any questions I had was great. And continuously meeting new FBI agents that all had mastered their respective field was amazing and put my whole project into perspective for me. 

Third Answer

• EQ: What is the most important factor in an unidentified subject's psychological profile?
• Answer #3: Studying all the evidence at face value and making conclusions from that is also very important when creating a profile
• 3 details to support the answer:

1. Most often when a behavioral science unit shows up to an investigation it is after all resources have been exhausted. 
2. Conclusions must be made on evidence collected from the crime scene until further leads can be gathered. 
3. This evidence being used must be collected and interpreted correctly or cases can be incorrect or illegitimate. 

• The research source (s) to support your details and answer: http://0-site.ebrary.com.opac.library.csupomona.edu/lib/csupomona/docDetail.action?docID=10683125&p00=profiling+criminal
• Concluding Sentence: Evidence is an important part of any investigation but can have extra impart when creating a psychological profile when there is not much else to base predictions on. 

Blog 17: Fourth Interview

1.     How does profiling work?

2.     How does psychology contribute to profiling?

3.     What are the different possible ways to get into profiling as a profession?

4.     How long did it take for you to get to your current position within the FBI?

5.     How did you originally get involved with the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit?

6.     Was there a case that inspired you to join the Behavioral Science unit?

7.     In you opinion what is the best way to become a profiler?

8.     What advice would you give to someone like me who has a great interest this?

9.     What are some qualities a profiler needs to possess, personality-wise? Profile a profiler.

10.  What is the typical workday of a profiler like? What's the strangest, most unusual of bizarre case you handled?

11.  Since you do this everyday and are so trained to notice things about people do you ever find yourself profiling people outside of work?

12.  What is the goal of the FBI in terms of understanding and dealing with psychopaths. 

13.  Since profiling consists of more than just creating profiles what advice do you give to prosecutors when you assist them?

14.  What are some of the assumptions that you have heard about the behavioral sciences?

15.  In your eyes how important is being able to determine the typology of an offender?

16.  From your experiences how has victimology helped further a case or close and investigation?

17.  When you examine a case what is the most important thing to you?

18.  With so many possibilities within cases and evidence how long did it take you to begin seeing patterns within the cases you studied?

19.   What are some things they sexual crimes tend to have in common?

20.  Besides murders where else can profiles be used? How effective are they and are they used frequently in these situations?

February Progress

      Although I have had a bit of trouble with my mentorship the past month, I have tried not to let it affect my senior project too much. Instead of focusing on time spent with my mentor I have tried building new relationships and researching more. This has been a great help because it has put a new spin on my project that I did not have while I was simply going to mentorship. While it has been great expanding my research and my sources I am very excited for the upcoming months and future mentorship opportunities. This includes the Citizens Academy that i will be focusing my Independent Component 2 on, along with the possibility to begin working with a profiling special agent who works with the FBI.