Crime Classification Manual (CCM)
Definition
The FBI taxonomy first published in 1992 by Douglas, Burgess, Burgess and Ressler, classifying crimes by behavioural pattern rather than by statutory category. Now in its third edition.
Related terms
- Modus Operandi (MO)
- The functional, learned behaviours the offender uses to commit the offence: how to gain entry, control the victim, complete the act, and...
- Personation
- Unusual behaviour at the scene that doesn't serve the offence but reflects the offender's personality. The CCM treats personation as a broader...
- Signature
- Psychologically expressive behaviours that go beyond what's needed to complete the offence: posing the body, ritual acts, taking trophies, leaving messages. Signature...
- Staging
- Deliberate manipulation of a death scene to mislead forensic investigation. In firearms deaths, staging typically involves post-mortem wound infliction, weapon placement, or...
- Undoing
- A specific sub-type of post-offence behaviour where the offender symbolically reverses the act, often covering the victim's face or body. Reads as...
Explained in
- Behavioural Evidence Analysis: MO, Signature and StagingThe FBI taxonomy first published in 1992 by Douglas, Burgess, Burgess and Ressler, classifying crimes by behavioural pattern rather than by statutory category....