Although previous studies have investigated whether the algorithm-driven technique is more accurate than human judges in geographic profiling (GP), those studies have used inappropriate methods in evaluating those accuracies. This study compared the algorithms (Geometric Region Methods: GRM, Spatial Distribution Strategies: SDS, and Probability Distance Strategies: PDS) in GP with the expert profilers’ judgments based on the 36 records of serial crimes. Most of the expert profilers’ analyses applied GRM such as circle hypothesis and suspicious area. Whereas the areas predicted by the expert profilers were significantly smaller than those of GRM, there was no significant difference between them in the rate of offenders’ home bases included in the predicted areas. Additionally, when comparing similarly-sized areas calculated using SDS and PDS to the areas predicted by the profilers, more offenders’ home bases were included in the predicted areas in experts’ judgments than SDS and PDS. The reasoning used in experts’ judgments that formed the basis of their accurate and efficient predictions and the practical use of PDS were discussed.

The case study of a female drug-offender in her fifties on parole is analyzed using her life narrative, from the perspective that it is desirable to treat criminals with a gender-sensitively approach. This woman had murdered her mother and killed an elderly woman in a car accident. However, she only displayed symptoms similar to PTSD for the murder. The differences between the two offenses and her progression since the murder were examined. She had participated in murdering her mother to help her elder brother. However, her brother had repeatedly betrayed her. Nevertheless, she wanted to maintain a relationship with him. This phenomenon was interpreted from the perspective of the Japanese concept of “Amae” or dependence. She felt unstable concerning the murder of her mother, although she had been maltreated as a child by her mother. She felt drugs help her overcome her harsh feeling, and she had been repeatedly imprisoned for drug offenses. It was considered that telling her life-story, finding the meaning of her experiences, and managing her complicated and accumulated feeling, including the memory of her mother, would induce her drug desistence.

After the Certified Public Psychologist Act came into effect, the “Forensic and Criminal Psychology (F & CP)” course in Japanese undergraduate study programs has been an urgent requirement. This study aimed to examine lecturers in charge of delivering this subject. The official homepages of all Japanese universities (N＝783) in fiscal year (FY) 2019 were examined to collect information on syllabi for the “F & CP” courses being offered (if any). Overall, 137 lecturers were teaching students in 155 universities. Based on the scientist–practitioner model, criminal psychologists were defined according to three conditions: (1) membership of the Japanese Association of Criminal Psychology, (2) research articles accepted in the Japanese Journal of Criminal Psychology, and (3) practical experience in forensic and/or criminal fields. In FY 2019, 30 criminal psychologists, with 77 professionals in criminal psychology, and 30 nonprofessionals lectured undergraduates on “F & CP.” Their expertize were examined using cluster analysis and nonmetric principal component analysis. Results showed that “F & CP” was related to “Social, Group, and Family Psychology;” “Legal and Administrative Systems;” “Professionalism of Licensed Psychologists;” “Psychological Assessment;” “Psychology of Emotion and Personality;” and “other subjects.” Furthermore, requirements in relation to criminal psychologists concerning “F & CP” learners were discussed.