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.

Advisory Meeting #2

EQ

What is the most important factor in an unidentified subject's psychological profile?

Answer #2 

Using victimology as way to gain insight to the offender's motives in order to narrow down suspects within an investigation. 

3 Details  

1. Victimology is the study of victimization, focusing on the interactions between the offender and the victim. 

2. Similarities between victims or crimes provide information about likely perpetrators while giving insight about the victims themselves. 

3. Involves examining all areas of the victims lives to gain knowledge, including their lifestyle, career, background, health, and physical characteristics as a way to learn about the unsub. 

Research source 

http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_mind/profiling/victimology/1.html

Concluding Sentence

Victimology involves learning about all areas of the victims life in order to understand why this person was the victim and what person would have done this. 

Independent Component 2 Approval

1.  Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

For my Independent Component 2 I plan to attend the FBI Citizens Academy with my mentor. This Academy is a course for people from all different areas of the community that is given to teach about law enforcement and how they can do their part. By going this I will constantly be meeting new people that can help me with my project topic and help me learn in general.
2.  Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

When I am there I will be sure to take pictures and take notes while the agents are teaching. I will also conduct interviews if possible with people that can  help me understand my topic.
3.  And explain how what you will be doing will help you explore your topic in more depth.

This Academy will help me explore my project more because it will help me meet many new people while also learning and being part of an event that many people are not invited to.

4.  Post a log on the right hand side of your blog near your other logs and call it the independent component 2 log.

Independent Component 1

LITERAL 
(a) I, Analysa Gallegos, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work. 
(b) During my independent component I attempted to focus mostly on psychology. Having previously taking a college Psychology class, I decided to find someone who could help me expand my research in the topic even more. Unfortunately, I was not able to get a FBI Profiler to help me, yet, but my mom's friend Elvia Arriaza who is in the FBI was able to help me by talking to people she knew and giving knowledge to me as to what to research and what to read. 
(c) Refer to the Independent Component Log 1 under Lists. 
(d) Through this new contact i was able to talk to many different and new people within the field my project is I'm. Mostly, I found credible sources and things to read that were a big help. I completed lots of research and made many new contacts that can help me in the future. 

INTERPRETIVE
My work for the Independent Component 1 consisted of lots of meeting new people and having interesting conversations with them. Because I talked to people who had already gone through the same process i hope to go though, they were able to provide me with materials and advice to use in the future. 

APPLIED
This helped me understand my topic better because unlike with research checks I knew a bit about the things I was about to look up and how it would be beneficial. Doing this for my Independent Component expanded knowledge of my foundation because unlike with my mentor Karen I was able to focus on the Psychology aspect, and not just FBI and law enforcement. This connection and expanded sources and information making it easier to narrow down my EQ while we were working on that and more recently develop my first answer and activity for my Lesson 2 Presentation. 

Lesson 2 Reflection

Content:

1. Positive Statement
What are you most proud of in your Lesson 2 Presentation and why?

Within my Lesson 2 Presentation I am most proud of my activity. Unlike my original plan of using known or "textbook" cases I tried to make it different by coming up with my own examples from the class. By doing this I was able to test my own knowledge on the subject before actually testing the class. I was also able to tie it into the serial killer aspect of my project and make it easy to understand that way the entire class would appreciate the lesson. 

2. Questions to Consider
       a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 2 Presentation (self-assessment)?

       AE       P          AP       CR       NC

       b.     Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 2 component contract.
I believe I met all the qualifications for a P grade. I was very happy with the outcome of my presentation and believe overall it was a success. I also took into consideration suggestions from the last time we presented and attempted to improve my presentation as best I could. 

3. What worked for you in your Lesson 2?
In my Lesson 1 Presentation I did not use a powerpoint. this time I did use one and I'm glad I did. I may not have needed on it and I was not dependent on it but it was helpful to use as a way to stay on track, not repeat myself, and keep my thoughts organized and concise. 
4.  (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 2?
if i could do my Lesson 2 Presentation over again there is not much I would change. The only thing I would want to improve on would be to try and mention my research and mentorship more. Although iIdid refer to them I would have liked to be able to tie them in more and while I was presenting I just forgot to do that. 
5. Finding Value
What do you think your answer #2 is going to be?  
Another very large aspect of profiles for unidentified subjects is their victims, for my next answer i think it would be interesting to research Victimology. 

Blog 12 - Third Interview Questions

1. What is the most important factor in an unidentified subject's psychological profile?
2. What are some of the different aspects that go into building a profile?
3. Normally, how accurate are psychological profiles in making predictions?
4. How would you define an "unidentified subject"?
5. How does using psychology within law enforcement make a difference? How has it developed and made changes within the feild?
6. From what you have experienced, how often is the profile actually applied within the field?
7. What is the best way to build a profile?
8. What methods have proven most effective in your career?
9. What is absolutely necessary when putting together an unsub's profile?
10. How do different crimes and criminals reflect on differences within profiles?

Blog 11 - Mentorship 10 hours check.

1.   Where are you doing your mentorship?
I am doing my mentorship with a Community Outreach Specialist for the FBI. 2.   Who is your contact?
My contact is Karen Martin. 
3.   How many total hours have you done (total hours should be reflected in your mentorship log located on the right hand side of your blog like your WB)?   
So far, I have completed 21 total hours with my mentor at various events and meetings. 
4.   Summarize the 10 hours of service you did.
The first piece of my 10 hours was a meeting with the West Covina Youth council I accompanied my mentor in which she presented and I helped answer questions. Along with this, we went to the FBI Teen Academy which is a thing my mentor created to get teens more interested in a future in the FBI. During this event i also helped answer questions, set up and tear down, and accompany the teens there around the FBI headquarters. 

Senior Project, The Holiday

1.  It is important to consistently work on your senior project, whether it is break or we are in school.  What did you over the break with your senior project?
Over the break my mentor was not working, therefore I had to do research and other activites on my own. I spent some time reading a book on what it takes to gain a job within the FBI, but I also communicated with different contacts in and attempt to further expand my project. 

2.  What was the most important thing you learned from what you did and why?  What was the source of what you learned?
One thing I learned during my research was how truly valuable my mentorship was. While reading the book "FBI Careers" there were many sections that i could skip because it was information that not only my mentor Karen had already shared with me but things I had presented other people while working alongside her. This book also gave me much more knowledge to how the FBI worked because it is much more of a complicated are then I had ever realized. 

3.  If you were going to do a 10 question interview on questions related to answers of your EQ, who would you talk to and why?
Since my topic is specific I would want to talk to someone in that field. Unfortunately, my mentor would not work so I would like to find someone who either studied psychology, criminology, and applies it within law enforcement. This would be the ideal person to talk to because they would know which are the best and more important things to focus on and would have experiences to back it up, whereas currently i am reading books and attempting to be correct in my answers.