PSYCHOLOGY & CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR 1

Psychology & Criminal Behavior

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Psychology & Criminal Behavior

Introduction

           Psychological profiles shape the core of studying criminal behavior, especially because

professionals target solving crimes and prevent them. Walter Langer wrote Adolf Hitler’s profile

in 1943, which he suggests, would have changed global geopolitics if published earlier

(Waggoner, 1981). Langer’s profile of Adolf Hitler and subsequent works by the likes of Teten

and Mullany provide evidence of the critical role of criminal profiles in crime-solving and its

potential in the prevention of criminal patterns. 

Langer's life and profile 

           Dr. Walter C. Langer was a psychoanalyst from America who secretively and

prophetically produced a psychological study of the German dictator, Adolf Hitler (Waggoner,

1981). The work was useful to the Office of Strategic Services in America in the quest to top

Hitler’s destructive campaign in Europe and its potential consequences on the USA. The fact that

Dr. Langer could predict how Hitler’s life would end is a clear hint that there are some ways of

intervening to stop neurotic leaders. Although he did not interview the main subject, Hitler, so

the book is not categorized under psychoanalytical works, the report still produced some insights

into a psychopathic criminal's mind. 

Views on the work with some facts related to Teten and Mullany

           Authoritative figures in psychiatry have admitted that Dr. Langer had a good

understanding of Hitler’s and the German general psyche (Waggoner, 1981). He understood how

Hitler’s self-perception and what the German people thought of him (Langer, 1943). Hitler’s

authentic self-knowledge and how his associates perceived him was more important than what

the general German and European populace imagined. If the doctor could isolate the reality that
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Adolf was a “weakling bully and failed Fuhrer” (1981), the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit is

expanding the same to analyze serial crime. 

           Patrick Mullany wrote a comprehensive book on a criminal-mind hunter's life in Matador

of Murder  (Ramsland, 2018). Howard Teten and Mullany were part of the first team that created

a profile that fit the Susan Jaeger abduction and murder perpetrator in 1973 (2018). Like in Dr.

Langer’s works, there is some evidence that serial killers have one vie of who they are, while the

public holds another. The two criminal-mind hunters explain how murderers subliminally know

who they are but soon believe the front of a personality that they uphold to trick neighbors and

relatives about their potentials for evil.

           In the isolated case, David Meirhofer did not fit the public image that a psychopath killer

is expected to have. However, neither did Hitler reveal his weaknesses nor admit neurosis to

himself or others. Only the truth revealed who Hitler was by the end of the war, just as Mullany

and Teten contended with their main suspects' general perceptions until there was undeniable

evidence against them. The FBI professionals reveal how criminal minds are so complex that

Meirhofer lied despite being injected with truth serum. However, an associate who anonymously

proposed that Meirhofer be the subject of investigation for kidnapping and murder must have

known the criminal better than his social circles, acquaintances, and neighbors.

Conclusion

           In summary, it is possible to link the ideas by Dr. Langer on Hitler’s mind and those by

Teten and Mullany based on their experiences in the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit. The BSU

and other psychoanalytical departments and firms are essential to understanding the types of

people who are likely to perpetuate specific crimes. With such knowledge, professionals can

alter the course of solving crimes and, more importantly, preventing them. 
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References

Mullany, P. J. (2015). Matador of murder: An FBI agent’s journey in understanding the criminal

mind. Create Space.

Ramsland, K. (2018, July 15). The Original Mindhunters. Psychology Today.

www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/shadow-boxing/201807/the-original-mindhunters

Waggoner, H. W. (1981, July 10). Walter Langer is dead at 82; wrote secret study of Hitler. The

New York Times. www.nytimes.com/1981/07/10/obituaries/walter-langer-is-dead-at-82-

wrote-secret-study-of-hitler.html