Profiling

Profiling

       Since 911, the topic of profiling has been documented in many articles, by many authors and condemned by the self-righteous.  When any individual or society is presented with a threat there is a normal response to that threat, whether it is realized or presumed.  Attribution is a concept in social psychology referring to how individuals explain causes of events, other's behavior, and their own behavior.   Attribution looks to three main types of information from which to make an attribution decision about an individual's behavior. The first is consensus information, or information on how other people in the same situation and with the same stimulus behave. The second is distinctiveness information, or how the individual responds to different stimuli. The third is consistency information, or how frequent the individual's behavior can be observed with similar stimulus but varied situations. From these three sources of information observers make attribution decisions on the individual's behavior as either internal or external.  Certainly there have been some documented misuses in profiling and we need to remain vigilant so that they do not become an accepted practice or the norm.  But, profiling works in identifying potential threats and curtailing them before they are realized. 

     Consider a robbery at a gas station or convenience store, where a 6' 8", white male, in a green hooded parka threatens an attendant with a knife, steals sixty dollars in cash and flees on foot in the downtown area.  When the police post the B.O.L.O.  or the “Be On the Look Out” for an assailant.  They do not look for female midgets, short Asian males or individuals cruising in Cadillacs in the West end.  They turn their attention to the specifics of the real threat.  This is profiling.  And, unfortunately it works because it is logical and it deals with the real threat; an armed man, who may commit more robberies, or actually harm or kill someone.   It would be silly and illogical to pretend that there are not people of certain origins, who do not hold to certain beliefs, do not despise us and do not threaten harm.  But, unfortunately there are individuals and even groups of such who threaten our freedoms with fear tactics.   Until these individuals are identified we should profile and identify all real threats with vigilance, within the law, being mindful of due process.

Rob Cheshire