BSU (Behavioural Science Unit)
Definition
The FBI unit founded at Quantico in 1972 that systematised profiling. Renamed and restructured several times; the operational successor is the Behavioural Analysis Unit (BAU).
Related terms
- Atavism
- Lombroso's concept that born criminals were evolutionary throwbacks to a more primitive human type, identifiable by physical stigmata. The concept is scientifically...
- Criminal Investigative Analysis (CIA)
- The FBI BSU's formal method for profiling unknown offenders from crime-scene evidence, involving a structured analytical process that produces an offender description...
- Criminal Profiling
- The inference of an unknown offender's likely characteristics from crime scene behaviour, victimology, and case details. Also called offender profiling, criminal investigative...
- Indian Profiling Practice
- Ad-hoc consults from CFSL Delhi behavioural cells, clinical psychologists at NIMHANS, and forensic psychology faculty at NFSU. There's no statutory BAU equivalent...
- Organised vs Disorganised
- The BSU dichotomy proposed by Ressler and Douglas, classifying offenders by scene presentation. Organised scenes show planning; disorganised scenes show chaos. The...
Explained in
- History of Criminal Profiling: Dr Bond to BSU to Indian PracticeThe FBI unit founded at Quantico in 1972 that systematised profiling. Renamed and restructured several times; the operational successor is the Behavioural Anal...