Top 15 Books About Criminal Psychology Updated 04 /2024

Ever wonder what makes a man kill? This list of the best books on criminal psychology will give you an eerie look into the mind of a killer.You can't really picture murderers and rapists as people when you read about them in the newspaper. Imagining that a person who could have been your next-door neighbor killed other people is hard to do. Even though, all criminals have been someone else's neighbor at some point.

There are a lot of movies and TV shows where criminals are shown as people who do bad things just because they can do them. They are thought of as modern-day boogeymen who aren't able to think normally. They are even portrayed as such in mainstream Hollywood movies, even though they aren't. Criminal psychologists know more than you do.

There's always a reason why people end up becoming violent criminals, and for most of us, it's hard to understand why people do this. Criminal psychology books might help you if you want to know what goes through the mind of a killer, kidnapper, or rapist. Books about some of the most notorious criminals in history have been praised for their deep insight, gripping stories, and mind-blowingly close looks into the minds of some of the most dangerous people in history. Have you been able to get your hands on these things yet?

I: The Creation of a Serial Killer by Jack Olsen

This isn't true for everyone who has done bad things to other people. Many serial killers are. Such was the case with Keith Hunter Jesperson, who was so proud of his killings that he taunted police for arresting the wrong people in a series of notes with his serial killer calling card.

It was scary to see the dark and twisted world of a serial killer's mind in Jack Olsen's book. He let the killer tell his side of the story in his own words. When I: The Creation of a Serial Killer was written, it made Jesperson a real person. It also told his story in a way that was shockingly kind. In the grand scheme of things, it's as close as you can get to seeing a murder from a killer's point of view.

Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison by Michel Foucault

Most books about criminal psychology talk about how a murder, rape, or other crime starts, and what the signs are that someone is going to do something bad. I think this is one of the few movies that talks more about what happens after a crime.

The author of this book is Michel Foucault, one of the most important and well-known philosophers from France since Sartre. His work was mostly about power and politics, which is why he came up with one of the best crime psychology books of the 20th century. Discipline and Punish is a scathing look at how the modern prison system came to be and why it has such a big effect on the souls of both people who are in prison and people who aren't. Discipline and Punish is a book that is both scholarly and insightful. It gives you a good look at why the prison system doesn't work.This book is more important now than ever because of the high rate of re-incarceration in the American prison system.

Dangerous Personalities: An FBI Profiler Shows You How to Identify and Protect Yourself from Harmful People by Joe Navarro

Few people understand criminals like the people who get paid to find them and put them in jail. When it comes to writing a book about criminal psychology, Joe Navarro is more than qualified to do so. He used to work for the FBI as a criminal profiler. He worked with law enforcement for years to predict crime, solve murders, and help cops understand how criminals think.

These are some of the best books you'll ever read. If you're afraid of being hurt by a criminal or just curious about why people get angry, this is the book for you! In Dangerous Personalities, you learn about the four types of people who are most likely to become violent: narcissists, people who are emotionally disturbed and people who are predators. Before he talks about the warning signs for each, he talks about what makes each person violent. Those who want to stay away from dangerous people and learn more about the minds of criminals from all walks of life should read Dangerous People. People sometimes read books that save their lives.

The Psychopath Whisperer: The Science of Those Without Conscience by Kent A. Kiehl

It's a well-known fact that more violent criminals have psychopathy than the rest of the people in the world do. There are a lot of books about criminal psychology that focus on psychopathy, which is also called a lack of conscience. The Psychopath Whisperer is one of these books.

Most people, even if they don't know it, have met a psychopath at some point in their lives. As many as 1 out of every 100 people is a psychopath, and Kent A. Kiehl's book can help. It shows you what a psychopath thinks and how to predict and avoid them at all costs.

This book gives you a better idea of what a psychopath thinks before, during, and after they do something bad.

Whoever Fights Monsters: My Twenty Years Tracking Serial Killers for the FBI by Robert K. Ressler

When Robert K. Ressler worked for the FBI, he was one of the first people to use the term "serial killer." He knows violent criminals in a way that most people won't ever be able to understand them. This book tells how he helped find some of the most well-known serial killers in American history, and how understanding criminals played a big part in it, as well.

It's thought to be one of the best forensic psychology books for people to read because it gives a good look at how killers work. This is a great story, even though it talks about killers' minds. It will make you even more grateful for the FBI's ability to track down violent crimes.

Be warned, though. There are a lot of very graphic descriptions in Whoever Fights Monsters about murder, bodies, and crime scenes. So, you might not want to read this while you're having food.

The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker

The Gift of Fear is often called one of the most important books on criminal psychology ever written. It talks about how to predict violent crimes and how to use your body's instincts to protect yourself, too. Gavin de Becker himself has a lot of evidence that his knowledge works. He is the one who came up with the MOSAIC violence prediction tool, and he has a lot of evidence.

This book looks at real-life stories where people's survival instincts kicked in before trouble started. It also explains all the subconscious signals criminals send before they attack, so that people know what to do. Anyone who lives in a dangerous area or wants to be safe should read this book.

Few books make criminals seem like real people like this one, because he talks about the pasts of many violent criminals as part of the book. He makes it clear that anyone can kill in the right circumstances, and that it only takes one mistake to become a victim or a killer.

As one critic so aptly put it, "this book can save your life."

Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit by John E. Douglas

There are a lot of popular books about criminal psychology out there, but John E. Douglas is the author of the most popular one. It's so popular that Netflix has made a Mindhunter show about his life.

Mindhunter takes readers inside the terrifying situations that Douglas had to deal with while chasing down some of the most notorious criminals in the world, including a run-in with the Green River Killer that almost killed him, but he didn't die.

 

This is one of the best true crime books of all time because it has some of the most disgusting crimes and great writing. The way he looked into the minds of his victims and used forensic psychology in a new way is what makes this book a must-have for anyone who wants to study crime.

It's a New York Times bestseller that deserves a lot of praise.

The Anatomy of Motive: John E. Douglas, the FBI's legendary "mindhunter," talks about how to understand and catch violent criminals.

If there was ever a question that criminal psychology books wanted to know the answer to, "Why?" would be it. Arsonists start fires because they want to get rid of things quickly. Because they want to steal cars. For what reason do killers kill? To find out why some people get angry, while others stay calm.

John E. Douglas, the author of the Mindhunter series, does it again. This time, he answers the question that everyone wants to know. The Anatomy of Motive is a fascinating look into the mind of a criminal profiler as they try to figure out what led to a violent crime. It shows how they think about what led to the crime.

They tell interesting stories about men who break, killers that kill. This book also talks about the buildup that made them go over the edge. All of it is written in the style of a true crime book you can't put down.

The Gates of Janus: Serial Killing and its Analysis by the Moors Murderer Ian Brady by Ian Brady

Most people who study serial killers already know that Ian Brady is the man who killed them. FBI profiler: He isn't one of the couple that killed Moors. He is one of them.

The Gates of Janus is still one of the best-known books written by serial killers about how to think about crime. In this book, Ian Brady helps detectives figure out how murders are done and gives them a sense of what the killer is thinking.

Chilling? Absolutely. Motives aren't clear. You might be able to get more information about a killer's mind from a killer himself.

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