This process, which involves analyzing various aspects of violent crime to derive a set of hypotheses about the characteristics of an unknown perpetrator, is generally regarded as more art than science. However, new methods of standardizing violent crime classification, the qualification of professional profilers as expert witnesses, and standard computerized databases all point to the potential for a science of profiling. Further involvement by behavioral science researchers and the integration of comprehensive theories of personality could aid its development. Profiling spans the fields of law enforcement and behavioral sciences and will best be served by approaches that use not only the empirical and theoretical strengths of the behavioral sciences but also the practical experience and needs of those in law enforcement. 20 references (Author summary modified)