By considering such a profession as a crime scene investigator, then for practical work, it is necessary to present oneself correctly. In addition to professional skills, this is facilitated by the image that an individual creates for himself (Anim-Danquah, 2018). The essence of the image phenomenon is the priority of personal qualities over everything else. This is the basis of the “personification effect.
The three most important characteristics for the personal image of an investigator:
- Communication qualities and skills. More than 75% of an investigator’s work involves communicating with people, suspects, and offenders (Anim-Danquah, 2018). Therefore, communication qualities, abilities and skills, the very nature of communication, the ability to establish good contact, and benevolent relations with partners in touch are vitally important. In addition, the profession is connected with communication with criminal elements or, on the contrary, with people in stressful and affective states (Anim-Danquah, 2018). The necessary communicative qualities will contribute to building trust and a formidable, respectful appearance of the investigator in front of criminals.
- Intellectual qualities. The investigator must show himself in the eyes of colleagues and management as a person with deep, solid knowledge in his specialty, versed in all the intricacies of his field, having a professional intuition (Anim-Danquah, 2018). In other words, he should be a professional with great intellect and erudition.
- Emotional and volitional qualities. When creating an image, an investigator must make deliberate efforts, so a mechanism of voluntary regulation plays an essential role in this process. Emotional-will qualities combine such mental states as emotional stability, anxiety, empathy, and non-conflict (Anim-Danquah, 2018). It is necessary to understand that an investigator must work in harsh conditions, observing difficult and pressuring situations, which should not confuse him. In other words, in no case, a professional should not lose competence and coolness.
Thus, summing up all of the above, it should be noted that image is naturally a part of a person’s image. It includes corporeality, psychology, and sociocultural factors (Anim-Danquah, 2018). In other words, the concept of image is connected both with external appearance and with the inner content, his psychological type, whose features meet the demands of time and society.
References
Anim-Danquah, E. (2018). Professional Investigation.