People do things for a reason - very little is "chance". So you can tell a lot, sometimes, from a little. Within limits.

And example of the process, not profiling. I used to like it when people lied to me. I learned several things from that in one fell swoop.

First, that they were capable of dishonesty. Everything they said was suspect. And I wasn't the first person to whom they'd lied, and any and all forms they have filled out should be checked, depending upon budget and criticality.

Second, that they were afraid of me or my job. They were afraid of my opinion of them, or a consequence.

Third, that the story they were feeding me was not as bad for them as would be the truth. They would rather face the consequences of the lie than the truth.

Fourth, that they thought they could con me. That whatever the story was there'd be a good chance of my believing it.

As far as profiling from an inanimate scene, that can be done too, within limits. Some crimes are so obviously committed by extremely angry and hostile people that you know they have had problems with the law before. You can guess that they work alone in a menial job, surmising that they can't get along with people well enough to deal with them on complex issues. Depending upon the nature of the crime, the level of violence and the sex of the victim one can sometimes have a good chance at determining if they are married or not and their living arrangement.

Now, having said all that, a profiler can be all wrong, too. After all they are taking bits of evidence and extrapolating the hell out of it. However, in my experience they are right on far more details than not.

One person's opinion. For what it's worth.

Arf