The FBI were often called in by local police departments to assist in serious and complex cases, especially those involving serial homicide, which often had a sexual component to them. Robert Hazelwood, and Ann W Burgess (a forensic nurse, and a consultant to the FBI) were part of the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit who were involved in creating profiles of offenders.
They used a method referred to as top-down profiling, that relies heavily on the subjective judgment and intuition of the profiler i.e., profiles are largely created based on the experiences of those creating them, which means that they are normally based on a relatively small number of interviews and cases etc., which may not represent the broader criminal population, and may not represent crimes that don’t fit neatly into established categories.
This has meant that on occasions profiles can be amazingly accurate, and at other times wildly wrong.
Whilst Hazelwood and his colleagues largely accepted the work of Groth, they believed that his idea of “power” concerning sexual violence was a little too broad and that different offenders might seek to have power over a victim for a variety of reasons.
From their interviews and investigations into sex crimes they deduced there were two main reasons/sub-classifications behind sexual violence that were motivated primarily by power, these were assertiveness and reassurance.
Building on the work of Groth, Hazelwood and Burgess created two new typologies to add to Anger and Sadistic Rapists (they renamed Anger Rapists as Anger Retaliatory Rapists to better describe the motivation for the anger, and Sadistic Rapists as Anger Excitation Rapists, possibly to differentiate between those who engage in consensual acts of sadism, and those who seek out non-consenting targets). These were Power Assertive Rapists and Power Reassurance Rapists, effectively subtypes of Groth’s Power Rapists.
It is also important to note that in the FBI classifications there is an acknowledgment that an offender may have characteristics of their offenses that overlap several of these classifications, rather than fitting neatly into one, and that the presence of anger is a common feature in many rapes/sexual assaults.
1. Power Assertive Rapists – Rapists that belong to this category want to display their ability to dominate and control those they victimize. They use moderate to extreme force to do this – more force than is necessary to manage and control their targets, but they do so in a measured and somewhat disciplined manner, unlike Anger/Anger Retaliatory Rapists. It has been suggested that offenders belonging to this category commit such assaults to assert themselves and by doing so overcome feelings of social and sexual inadequacy. Such rapists may experience sexual dysfunctions such as retarded ejaculation or difficulties in climaxing.
2. Power Reassurance Rapists – With Power Reassurance Rapists their assaults are less about causing harm and/or demonstrating power, dominance and control etc., and more about seeking affirmation that they are a sexually attractive individual. For them “rape” is a pseudo-consensual interaction i.e., they erroneously believe that those they victimize will, if not initially, at some point “consent” to the assault. Those that fall into this category are sometimes referred to as “Gentleman Rapists” as they will enquire about the well-being of those they assault e.g., if they are comfortable/uncomfortable, too hot or too cold etc. They are seeking a “relationship” with those they target, rather than to demonstrate their ability to control and dominate them. They may even apologize to their victim after assaulting them.
These developments/evolutions of Groth’s typologies show a desire by law enforcement to better understand sexual violence and a recognition of its significance and prevalence regarding violent offending. In the next section we will look more closely at Sadistic Rapists/ Anger Excitation Rapists, before looking at the work of Dr. David Canter (the creator/founder of Investigative Psychology), who refined/reworked the FBI categorizations/classifications using a more scientific approach.