Thesis advisor: Bonnie Jefferson / Images of crime and authorities' attempts to protect society from evil, which saturate dramatic programming on television, have the potential to influence public perception of crime and of crime-solving tools used in the real world. Although "Criminal Minds," a popular broadcast series, shares this potential, it distinguishes itself from others of its genre through its use of criminal profiling as its crime solving mechanism. Using standards provided in Douglas et al.'s "Crime Classification Manual: A Standard System for Investigating and Classifying Violent Crimes, Second Edition," the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition," and the "Hare Psychopathy Checklist Revised" as theoretical frameworks, this Communication thesis examines how the criminal profiling depictions of two "Criminal Minds" episodes conform to established criminal profiling conventions utilized by law enforcement. Overall, the results of these analyses suggest that the criminal profiling portrayals in the episodes "L.D.S.K." and "Fear and Loathing" adhere to legitimate real life criminal profiling considerations. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Communication Honors Program. / Discipline: Communication Department.