Distinguish between deductive criminal profiling and inductive criminal profiling. Identify a ...

•   Deductive profiling: involves the prediction of an offender’s background characteristics by analysing the crime scene evidence left by that particular offender. The main problem with this approach is that the logical foundations upon which the profiling predictions are based might be flawed.
•   Inductive profiling: involves the prediction of an offender’s background characteristics on the basis of a statistical comparison of that particular offender’s crimes with similar crimes committed by other, known offenders. The main problem with this approach is that it will never be possible to obtain a representative sample of offenders from which to draw valid profiling conclusions.