No Result
View All Result
Crime Traveller
 
  • Home
  • Research

    R. Kelly: Aided By A Network of Complicity Enabling His Crimes

    How Social Media Turns Online Arguments Between Teens Into Real-World Violence

    Kathleen Folbigg’s Children Likely Died Of Natural Causes, Not Murder. Here’s The Evidence My Team Found

    Do criminals freely decide to commit offences? How the courts decide

    We might not be able to understand free will with science. Here’s why

    Indian Trafficked Brides: The Stories of Three Women

    Trending Tags

    • Neuroscience
    • Mental Health
    • Criminal Brain
    • Juvenile Crime
  • Psychology
    Image: Shutterstock

    Psychopaths – Born Or Made?

    The Question of Why: Did Ted Bundy have Dissociative Identity Disorder?

    Teenage psychopathy

    What Should We Do With Teenage Psychopaths?

    A Criminal Disorder? Advances in Neurocriminology Are Leading The Way

    Mark Safarik

    An Interview With Former FBI Profiler Mark Safarik on Violent Offending and Criminal Behavioral Analysis

    The Criminal Mind: An Interview With Forensic Psychologist and Author Katherine Ramsland

    Trending Tags

    • Narcissism
    • Psychopathy
    • Profiling
    • Mental Health
    • Psychology
  • Family Violence

    Reckless Speculation about Jeffrey MacDonald

    O. J. Simpson Trial: 26 Years Later

    O. J. Simpson: Murder in the First Degree

    Reasonable Doubt: The Hendricks Family Murders

    Melanie McGuire

    A Convicted Killer, Two Criminologists, and One Podcast: Direct Appeal Investigates ‘Suitcase Killer’ Melanie McGuire Case

    Family Annihilation: The Crimes and Psychology of Familicide

    Trending Tags

    • True Crime
      Who killed Marilyn Sheppard cover image

      Who Killed Marilyn Sheppard? Ohio’s Most Enduring Murder Mystery [Part Two]

      Who killed Marilyn Sheppard?

      Who Killed Marilyn Sheppard? Ohio’s Most Enduring Murder Mystery [Part One]

      The JFK Assassination … Case Still Closed

      6 Pros And Cons Of Hiring A Private Criminal Lawyer

      Murder To Movies: ‘I Want To Live’

      Real crime stories of murders that went into movies

      From Murder to Movies

      Trending Tags

      • Unsolved
      • Serial Murder
      • Documentaries
      • Guest Posts
    • Book Reviews
      The Girl I Never Knew - Who Killed Melissa Witt?

      The Girl I Never Knew: Melissa Ann Witt Deserves Justice

      Befriending A Serial Killer: An Interview With Mark Austin

      The Husband Poisoner: Lethal Ladies and Dangerously Tasty Recipes

      Details are Unprintable: Wayne Lonergan and the Sensational Café Society Murder

      Operation Jacknap: A True Story of Kidnapping, Extortion, Ransom and Rescue

      Stephanie Scott

      United in Grief: The Murder of Stephanie Scott

      Trending Tags

      • Interviews
      • Historical Crime Books
    • Crime Spotlight
      Korean Zodiac Killer case

      A Tale of Two Zodiacs

      5 Tell-Tale Signs Of An Abusive Person

      There Were Two Killers in 10 Rillington Place: An Interview With Peter Thorley

      Has The Zodiac Finally Been Discovered? [Part 1]

      David Wilson and Emilia Fox

      If It Bleeds It Leads: A Q&A With Professor David Wilson

      A Psych For Sore Minds - An Interview with Dr Sohom Das

      A Psych For Sore Minds: An Interview with Forensic Psychiatrist Dr Sohom Das

    No Result
    View All Result
    Crime Traveller
    • Home
    • Research

      R. Kelly: Aided By A Network of Complicity Enabling His Crimes

      How Social Media Turns Online Arguments Between Teens Into Real-World Violence

      Kathleen Folbigg’s Children Likely Died Of Natural Causes, Not Murder. Here’s The Evidence My Team Found

      Do criminals freely decide to commit offences? How the courts decide

      We might not be able to understand free will with science. Here’s why

      Indian Trafficked Brides: The Stories of Three Women

      Trending Tags

      • Neuroscience
      • Mental Health
      • Criminal Brain
      • Juvenile Crime
    • Psychology
      Image: Shutterstock

      Psychopaths – Born Or Made?

      The Question of Why: Did Ted Bundy have Dissociative Identity Disorder?

      Teenage psychopathy

      What Should We Do With Teenage Psychopaths?

      A Criminal Disorder? Advances in Neurocriminology Are Leading The Way

      Mark Safarik

      An Interview With Former FBI Profiler Mark Safarik on Violent Offending and Criminal Behavioral Analysis

      The Criminal Mind: An Interview With Forensic Psychologist and Author Katherine Ramsland

      Trending Tags

      • Narcissism
      • Psychopathy
      • Profiling
      • Mental Health
      • Psychology
    • Family Violence

      Reckless Speculation about Jeffrey MacDonald

      O. J. Simpson Trial: 26 Years Later

      O. J. Simpson: Murder in the First Degree

      Reasonable Doubt: The Hendricks Family Murders

      Melanie McGuire

      A Convicted Killer, Two Criminologists, and One Podcast: Direct Appeal Investigates ‘Suitcase Killer’ Melanie McGuire Case

      Family Annihilation: The Crimes and Psychology of Familicide

      Trending Tags

      • True Crime
        Who killed Marilyn Sheppard cover image

        Who Killed Marilyn Sheppard? Ohio’s Most Enduring Murder Mystery [Part Two]

        Who killed Marilyn Sheppard?

        Who Killed Marilyn Sheppard? Ohio’s Most Enduring Murder Mystery [Part One]

        The JFK Assassination … Case Still Closed

        6 Pros And Cons Of Hiring A Private Criminal Lawyer

        Murder To Movies: ‘I Want To Live’

        Real crime stories of murders that went into movies

        From Murder to Movies

        Trending Tags

        • Unsolved
        • Serial Murder
        • Documentaries
        • Guest Posts
      • Book Reviews
        The Girl I Never Knew - Who Killed Melissa Witt?

        The Girl I Never Knew: Melissa Ann Witt Deserves Justice

        Befriending A Serial Killer: An Interview With Mark Austin

        The Husband Poisoner: Lethal Ladies and Dangerously Tasty Recipes

        Details are Unprintable: Wayne Lonergan and the Sensational Café Society Murder

        Operation Jacknap: A True Story of Kidnapping, Extortion, Ransom and Rescue

        Stephanie Scott

        United in Grief: The Murder of Stephanie Scott

        Trending Tags

        • Interviews
        • Historical Crime Books
      • Crime Spotlight
        Korean Zodiac Killer case

        A Tale of Two Zodiacs

        5 Tell-Tale Signs Of An Abusive Person

        There Were Two Killers in 10 Rillington Place: An Interview With Peter Thorley

        Has The Zodiac Finally Been Discovered? [Part 1]

        David Wilson and Emilia Fox

        If It Bleeds It Leads: A Q&A With Professor David Wilson

        A Psych For Sore Minds - An Interview with Dr Sohom Das

        A Psych For Sore Minds: An Interview with Forensic Psychiatrist Dr Sohom Das

      Crime Traveller
      No Result
      View All Result
      • Home
      • Research
      • Psychology
      • Family Violence
      • True Crime
      • Book Reviews
      • Crime Spotlight

      Home » Crime Spotlight » The Psychology of Psychics Who Claim to be Crime Solvers

      The Psychology of Psychics Who Claim to be Crime Solvers

      In a study of 50 law enforcement agencies in the US, 35% said they had consulted with a psychic on an unsolved case.

      26 October, 2020
      in Crime Spotlight
      Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare

      Were you one of the 13 million people who tuned in to watch the TV show Medium while it aired? The show followed a psychic detective that helped solve dozens of crimes across the nation.

      The show was clearly fictional, but do psychics really help solve crimes in real life? What makes a psychic individual reach out to law enforcement agencies? What’s more, what makes the police follow tips provided by self-proclaimed psychics? Learn all the facts surrounding this controversial subject below.

      The Facts: Psychic Investigators

      Back in 2013, the nation was gripped by the story of a psychic investigator who reportedly led police to the body of a California boy who had been missing for weeks. The psychic, Pam Ragland, said she had reoccurring visions of the boy’s home, so she alerted the authorities about her suspicions. She later joined them in the search and is ultimately credited with cracking the case. A detective with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, Detective John Powers, expressed his disbelief by saying, “Not in 23 years have I ever seen anything like this.” He also called the whole situation the “best case” for proving the validity of psychic detectives.

      Skeptics may argue that the above situation was a one-off, but that isn’t exactly the case. Troy Griffin, another self-proclaimed psychic, reportedly helped the FBI solve multiple missing persons cases. Deborah Schurman-Kauflin, a criminal profiler with the FBI and CIA, attributes her skills to psychic abilities.

      The list goes on. Yet, the topic of psychic powers rarely comes up in any serious manner when discussing criminal cases.

      Do the Police Listen to Psychics?

      To find out the truth, 50 of the biggest law enforcement agencies in the U.S. were asked if they’d ever consulted with a psychic on an unsolved case. About 35% of the agencies confirmed that they had. Here’s what they had to say about it:

      • Some psychics were consulted at the request of the victim’s family members
      • Some claimed that the psychics interfered with their work
      • Others valued the psychic’s inputs

      Overall, authorities are more inclined to use psychics when family members request it or when they find hard evidence that appears to collaborate a psychic’s claims. Houston Police, for example, took a psychic’s tip about mass graves seriously back in 2011 because the person seemed to know specific details about the case that were not public knowledge. They also initially found evidence that lined up with the psychic’s theories.

      In the end, the Houston Police Department concluded that the psychic’s reports had no validity to them. The department lamented over the wasted resources and time, but they also explained how they must take all tips seriously. Tips given by self-proclaimed psychics are often credible, so they can’t be dismissed despite the source.

      Image: Shutterstock

      The Psychology Behind Believing Psychics

      When police follow tips or leads from psychics, it has less to do with the source and more to do with protocol. It isn’t that they necessarily believe in psychic abilities. Or, do they? A recent Gallup survey suggests that about one in four Americans believe some humans can manifest supernatural psychic powers. Why are people so drawn to believing in psychic abilities? Here are a few of the leading theories:

      • The Barnum Effect
      • A psychic’s claims are impossible to validate
      • Evidence, proof, and studies have mixed results
      • Personal experience

      The Barnum effect happens when a person accepts vague descriptions of themselves but believe the descriptions uniquely describe them. In other words, the generalization could fit and apply to several groups of people, but the person believes the generalization only applies to them. Some argue that psychics take advantage of the Barnum effect when making predictions, while others say premonitions are believed because of this psychological phenomenon.

      On top of that, rarely can a psychic’s visions be validated. What they predict may come to pass, but it’s impossible to deduce whether the prediction was a coincidence or not. That’s why so many studies on the subject return inconclusive results.

      Of course, there are those who tend to believe in the supernatural due to their own personal experiences. It’s possible they’ve witnessed successful predictions by psychics in the past, or they could be predisposed to such beliefs because of their religion.

      Whatever the reason behind the belief, there’s an overwhelming amount of people who believe in psychics in the U.S. When a psychic gives the police a credible tip, they’re likely to listen.

      Psychic Abilities, Intuition, and Profiling

      Psychic abilities are often called an extension of our intuition. As criminal profiler Deborah Schurman-Kauflin explains, “the best police officers are the most intuitive.” It’s true that the most idealized detectives, whether in real life or film, often do solve cases by going off of a hunch or gut feeling.

      This fascinating connection also comes into play when we consider how detectives create criminal profiles.  The criminal profiling field was developed by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies, but it’s still a fairly new type of science.  The American Psychological Association confirms that early profilers mostly relied on their own intuition when coming to conclusions.  So, is intuition more connected to law enforcement than we thought before?

      Crime Solving Psychics: Fact or Myth?

      There’s a lot to be said about psychics who insert themselves into criminal investigations. Good intentions and heightened intuitive abilities can contribute to crime-solving, but it also has the potential to cause law enforcement agencies to follow bogus leads. That’s why authorities put so much time into vetting the tips they receive irrespective of the source. Whether the credible tip is coming from a psychic or not, police will respond.

      If your loved one was missing, would you seek out the help of a psychic investigator?


      References
      1. Dagnall, N., and Drinkwater. K. (2019, Feb 05) Why Do A Quarter of Americans Believe In Psychic Powers? Newsweek. Retrieved from https://www.newsweek.com/psychic-powers-america-poll-belief-clairvoyant-telepathy-fraud-1318332?
      2. Radford, B. (2013, Jul 14) The New ‘Best Case’ For Psychics: Did ‘Intuitive Visions’ Locate Missing Boy? Center for Inquiry. Retrieved from https://centerforinquiry.org/blog/the_new_best_case_for_psychics_did_intuitive_visions_locate_missing_boy/
      3. Nardi, P.M. (2017, Jun 14) Psychic Detectives Have A Perfect Record. Pacific Standard. Retrieved from https://psmag.com/.amp/social-justice/psychic-detectives-have-a-perfect-record-35601
      4. Winerman, L. (2004) Criminal Profiling: The Reality Behind The Myth. American Psychological Association. July/August, Vol 35, No.7. pp66. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/monitor/julaug04/criminal

      Cite This Article

      Martin. J (2019, Oct 12) The Psychology of Psychics Who Claim to be Crime Solvers. Retrieved from https://www.crimetraveller.org/2019/10/psychology-of-psychics-claim-to-be-crime-solvers/


      About the author: Jennifer Martin is the founder and owner of Polymatheia’s Scroll, (www.polymatheiasscroll.com), a legal content creation service for law firm marketing. Her focus is on generating captivating blog posts and articles for internet users with legal questions. Her attention-grabbing and SEO-driven content results in more leads for law firms.

      Tags: Guest PostsPsychology
      Share34Tweet21Pin19

      Related Posts

      A Tale of Two Zodiacs

      13 June, 2022
      Korean Zodiac Killer case

      This Zodiac case did not happen in California. It occurred 5,700 miles away and is known as the "Korean Zodiac Killer case.”

      Read more

      5 Tell-Tale Signs Of An Abusive Person

      30 March, 2022

      For a healthy relationship to thrive, there needs to be a balanced power dynamic and nobody should try to assert dominance and power over the...

      Read more

      There Were Two Killers in 10 Rillington Place: An Interview With Peter Thorley

      13 June, 2022

      Peter Thorley is Beryl Evan’s older brother. He has lived with the real truth for over 60 years. John Christie was not the only killer...

      Read more
      Load More

      CrimeCon UK

      CrimeCon UK Glasgow 2022

      What's New?

      Korean Zodiac Killer case
      Crime Spotlight

      A Tale of Two Zodiacs

      13 June, 2022
      Who killed Marilyn Sheppard cover image
      True Crime & Justice

      Who Killed Marilyn Sheppard? Ohio’s Most Enduring Murder Mystery [Part Two]

      22 May, 2022
      Who killed Marilyn Sheppard?
      True Crime & Justice

      Who Killed Marilyn Sheppard? Ohio’s Most Enduring Murder Mystery [Part One]

      22 May, 2022
      Load More

      Stay Connected

      Search

      No Result
      View All Result

      Categories

      You Might Also Like

      Crime Research

      The Psychological Impact of Gang Violence

      19 August, 2020
      True Crime & Justice

      A Haunting School-Yard Memory: The 1970s Schoolboy Murders in Sydney, Australia

      3 June, 2019
      Book Reviews

      The Blood On My Hands: A Childhood Shadowed By A Serial Killer Father

      5 July, 2018
      True Crime & Justice

      Little Dot Studios Releases Real Stories Tapes: True Crime

      19 June, 2022

      RECENT

      The Girl I Never Knew - Who Killed Melissa Witt?

      The Girl I Never Knew: Melissa Ann Witt Deserves Justice

      22 May, 2022

      A Tale of Two Zodiacs

      13 June, 2022

      Who Killed Marilyn Sheppard? Ohio’s Most Enduring Murder Mystery [Part Two]

      22 May, 2022

      POPULAR

      The Psychological Impact of Gang Violence

      A Haunting School-Yard Memory: The 1970s Schoolboy Murders in Sydney, Australia

      The Blood On My Hands: A Childhood Shadowed By A Serial Killer Father

      Little Dot Studios Releases Real Stories Tapes: True Crime

      Site Links

      • About Crime Traveller
      • Contact Page
      • Request A Book Review
      • True Crime & Justice
      • CrimeCon UK: June 2022, London
      No Result
      View All Result
      • Terms
      • Privacy
      • Disclaimers
      • Cookies
      • DMCA
      • Newsletter

      Copyright © 2016 - 2022 Crime Traveller, a website owned and operated by Alythium | All Rights Reserved.

      No Result
      View All Result
      • Home
      • About
      • Contact
      • Crime Research
      • Psychology of Murder
      • Family Violence & Homicide
      • True Crime & Justice
      • Crime Spotlight
      • Book Reviews
      • Request A Book Review
      • Newsletter

      Copyright © 2016 - 2022 Crime Traveller, a website owned and operated by Alythium | All Rights Reserved.

      error: Content is protected !!
      This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.