Offender profiling has captured the attention of students and the public alike, due to what some have termed the “Hollywood effect.” This chapter presents an argument that much of the attention surrounding traditional approaches to offender profiling is misplaced. The type of profiling considered here involves the extrapolation of lists of characteristics of offenders based on an assessment of a “type” of offender as identified by a profiler investigating a crime scene. The plausibility of this type of profiling approach and the assumptions that underlie traditional profiling are examined. Recent studies critical of traditional profiling approaches are reviewed as the authors argue that much of the advice contained within traditional profiling perspectives is not only ambiguous, but also unverifiable. Moreover, traditional perspectives contain many erroneous assumptions about the consistency of human behavior and the ability to accurately classify humans into typologies. The chapter moves on to a discussion of the interpretation of profiles and how the creative interpretation of a profile may help fill in gaps in the evidence through the process of story construction. Story generation helps individuals make sense of complex forensic information, but the stories may not be accurate. The authors argue that it is the process of story generation that leaves police with favorable views of offender profiling. Finally, novice versus expert offender profilers are considered and the argument is put forth that the better the investigative data, the better the interpretation of the profile. Note, references