**THIS ASSIGNMENT HAS FOUR (4) SEPARATE QUESTIONS**
QUESTION 1:
Overview
The FBI has a way of figuring out who might have committed a crime like murder. They look at clues from the crime scene and what they know about the victim. These clues (also known as profiling inputs) can help them make educated guesses about things like the person’s age, how much of a criminal risk they might be, and what their motivation was to commit the crime. This assignment will teach you how forensic psychologists find patterns to guess who the criminal might be and why they intended to commit the crime.
Supporting Materials
Resource: Module Two Journal Criminal Profiles Use this document to review two serial murder cases.
Resource: Module Two Journal Profiling Questions Use this document to review the process that the FBI uses to create an estimated criminal profile.
Directions
Explore the supporting materials and module resources on criminal profiling and psychological autopsy techniques. Then, write a journal reflecting on the methods and factors that influence estimated criminal profiles in murder cases, focusing on how these elements are demonstrated in the cold case profiles and suggesting opportunities for further exploration or improvement.
Specifically, you must address the following rubric criteria:
- Essential Information: Summarize the essential information from the profiling inputs of each case.
- Profiling Methods: Discuss the methods that the FBI uses for generating criminal profiles based on the given cold cases. Consider the following:
- Demographic characteristics
- Biopsychosocial background
- Risk level of the offender
- Organization level of the crime(s)
- Additional Considerations: Describe additional considerations to potentially explore in each case. Consider the following:
- Other potential causes behind the case
- Challenges in establishing a profile
- Inferences that could be incorrect or misleading
What to Submit
Submit your journal as a 1- to 2-page Microsoft Word document with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins. Sources should be cited according to APA style.
QUESTION 2:
Overview
A psychological autopsy is an important method used by forensic psychologists (FPs) to try to understand the mindset of a deceased victim, usually in cases of suicide or suspicious death. By collecting information about the person’s lifestyle, beliefs, relationships, and more, FPs can begin to make inferences about the factors that led to a person’s death, perhaps even the likely cause. This assignment directs you to review a case study and put yourself in the position of the FP performing a psychological autopsy.
Supporting Materials
Case Study: Module Two Worksheet Case Study This case study will help you complete the worksheet template.
Directions
After reviewing the supporting documents and module resources, complete the psychological autopsy by filling in the worksheet template. Complete Table 1 by entering the weight and investigator comments and evidence of risk factors based on information from the Module Two Worksheet Case Study in the supporting materials. In the Weight column, enter a 0 if you believe the subject of the case study showed no indication, a 1 if you believe they showed a moderate indication, or a 2 if they showed a significant indication. Complete Table 2 by adding the numbers from the Weight column from Table 1 and entering the sum in the Total Weight column of Table 2. Complete the Overall Conclusions column by entering your thoughts about the case, including your personal perspective on whether it was a suicide, and a brief justification of why the evidence leads to that conclusion.
Specifically, you must address the following rubric criteria:
- Risk Factors: Rank the weight of risk factors for suicide from the case study consistently among indicators by assigning each factor a value based on perceived evidence.
- Commentary: Discuss how evidence from the case study, from a personal perspective, shows the level of a suspect’s risk.
- Overall Conclusions: Explain your personal thoughts about the case, including a personal perspective on whether it was a suicide. Support with a brief justification of why the evidence leads to that conclusion.
What to Submit
Submit your completed Module Two Worksheet Template for grading. Sources should be cited according to APA style.
QUESTION 3:
Each discussion is meant to be a collaborative space for conversation in which to process the concepts within the course. To ensure an interesting and respectful discussion, you are encouraged to think creatively about your initial posts and build on the points made by your peers. Discussing challenges that face our world often means investigating opinions and ideas different from your own. Remember to remain thoughtful and respectful towards your peers and instructor in your discussion post and replies, as discussed in the Module One Overview. It is also important to review the module resources and read the prompts in their entirety before participating in the discussion.
This week's discussion asks you to consider how understanding bias and intersectionality affects your perceptions of diversity.
Create one initial post and follow up with at least two response posts.
For your initial post:
- How does the exploration of bias in the module overview and resources influence your thoughts about diversity?
- How does thinking about intersectionality bring you to a new awareness of bias?
QUESTION 4:
Overview
For your project, you will examine a specific topic, such as an issue or event in diversity, and how it impacts individuals and society. You will demonstrate your ability to think critically, investigate, and communicate clearly. Diversity influences society, and society influences diversity, creating a feedback loop between them. You will critically analyze a feedback loop in this project through social, historical, and theoretical approaches to diversity as well as the four general education lenses: history, humanities, natural and applied sciences, and social science.
For this assignment, you will select the topic you will be working on and begin to collect the required elements for your analysis. This assignment requires you to gather reliable evidence from varied sources and use them to introduce your topic effectively. All these elements will prepare you to complete the project, where you will need to use evidence to support your points.
Directions
Review the module resources and the instructor feedback you received on the previous activity. Then, visit the IDS 400 Library Guide for guidance on how to select and narrow a topic. You may use the topic that you worked with in the previous module or choose something different now that you have reflected further. Do some preliminary research on your topic to make sure you can address each of the required elements. Please remember that you will not be able to change your topic after the end of this module. You should begin to gather the sources you will integrate into your project, which must include two resources from course materials and two resources from the library.
You are not required to answer each question below the rubric criteria but may use them to better understand the criteria and guide your thinking.
Specifically, you must address the following rubric criteria:
- Integrate reliable evidence from varied sources throughout your paper to support your analysis.
- It is important to draw from a more diverse pool of perspectives from varied sources to support the analysis. This is different from the Citations and Attributions rubric criterion.
- Reliable evidence from varied sources should be interwoven throughout the paper itself, while citing and attributing sources will be represented as APA in-text citations and a reference list at the end of your work.
- You will be evaluated on both criteria.
- Describe your topic with effective details and contextual information.
- What main points should you include about your topic? What other details are needed to ensure a thorough description?
- Describe a population significant to your topic. Include information such as demographics, cultural practices, social identity, and key challenges.
- Examples could include a population who is directly impacted by the topic, a group that works with those directly impacted, or a group that has strong feelings about the topic.
- Articulate how the topic has shaped the lives and experiences of your chosen population.
- What stories clearly illustrate how the topic has impacted the lives and experiences of your chosen population?
- Explain your choice of one general education interdisciplinary lens for analyzing your topic.
- What made you choose one lens over the others? Was it an easy decision? Why or why not?
- Construct a thesis statement that combines your topic, population, cultural situation, and choice of general education interdisciplinary lens.
- Your thesis statement should clearly and concisely state the relationships between your topic, population, cultural situation, and lens. It acts as a hypothesis proposing how these elements will work together during your critical analysis.
What to Submit
Submit your short paper as a 1- to 2-page Microsoft Word document with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins. Sources should be cited according to APA style. Consult the Shapiro Library APA Style Guide for more information on citations.