From criminal profiling to the psychological autopsy of the victim

Investigative psychology as a field of research, study and application of forensic psychology has come into being in our country in the last fifteen years. In particular, act 397 on defensive investigations in 2000, has, at the stage of preliminary investigation, expanded the possibilities for action and cooperation with the judicial authorities and with the defense. It is therefore necessary to test and spread tools and techniques to improve investigative strategies as well as techniques to interrogate witnesses, people informed of the facts, suspects, and the victim's family and people close to him or her. This article aims to explain that psychological autopsy of the victim is more effective as a tool centered on the offender-victim relationship, rather than on the method of criminal profiling which centers on the personality of the offender.