A Biographical Method of Personality Research: Forensic and Criminal Procedural Aspects
The article reveals a complex of problems of using the method of biographical analysis in studies of the personality of the accused. The range of problems involves criminal, criminal procedure, tactical and criminalistic aspects. The research subject is the content component of a biographical analysis of the personality of the accused. The presented study is based on the following general scientific methods: analysis, synthesis, system-structural. It also uses the following specific scientific methods: biographical analysis, statistical analysis, expert assessment. The following conclusions are made in the article. The biographical method can be used in two aspects: for the direct use of information on biographical facts and for the analysis of personality traits that predetermined the very occurrence of these facts. One can argue that the biographical method is used to a limited extent. Traditionally, the biographical method is used only in the aspect of the direct use of information about biographical facts. Domestic forensic science has little focus on the study of the biographical method in the context of the analysis of personality characteristics that predetermined the emergence of biographical facts. The creation and effective use of information databases, as today's realities, allow hoping for the creation of databases of biographical facts, which the investigator will have access to as part of the investigation of crimes. For forensic researchers, the speedy development of a methodology for analysing personal characteristics interconnected with a particular biographical fact becomes relevant. The development of a mechanism for an investigator's access to databases of biographical facts becomes urgent for criminal procedure researchers. The biographical method has several advantages, providing a complete and comprehensive analysis of the personality of the accused, ensuring the integrity of their study not characteristic of other forensic methods of studying the same topic. The foregoing does not devalue other criminalistic methods of studying the personality of the accused, but emphasises the importance of their integrated use in conjunction with the method of biographical analysis.