Abstract

Profiling, often perceived as an art rather than a science, has had its legitimacy as an epistemic tool in legal inquiry questioned due to critiques concerning the reliability of statistics and other investigative techniques employed in the profiling process. However, substantial evidence indicates that profiling effectively expedites investigations by examining facts and characteristics common to specific criminal activities, such as serial murder and drug trafficking. In this article, I present a novel defense of profiling's scientific validity in legal inquiries, emphasizing its crucial role in the judicial process of sexual crimes. Section 1 provides a concise introduction to profiling, laying the groundwork for the subsequent discussion. In Section 2, I argue that profiling should be recognized as a science by drawing on the epistemology of imagination and underscoring the scientific nature of its reasoning style, as well as the methodologies used to gather evidence for legal inquiries. Finally, Section 3 further substantiates the epistemological role of profiling by exploring the potential benefits of integrating bias in profiling from a feminist perspective. Through this analysis, I aim to highlight the significance and validity of profiling as an essential tool in contemporary legal inquiries.