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Article
Publication date: 1 August 2019

Enzo Yaksic

Rapid sequence homicide offenders (RSHOs), formerly spree killers, are an understudied population due to the confusion surrounding their classification in relation to serial…

Abstract

Purpose

Rapid sequence homicide offenders (RSHOs), formerly spree killers, are an understudied population due to the confusion surrounding their classification in relation to serial murderers. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

An exploratory, comparative analysis of 56 RSHOs and 60 serial murderers was conducted on US-based data from 2014 to 2018 derived from the Consolidated Serial Homicide Offender Database to determine similarities and differences between the cohorts.

Findings

RSHOs and serial murderers are similar in that they often kill their victims using a singular method, have limited mobility, kill a similar number of victims both known and unknown to them and are both supremely motivated by domestic anger. There is an inverse relationship between serial murderers and RSHOs: as one group increases in prevalence the other decreases.

Practical implications

In order to divert men into more pro-social activities, attention must be dedicated to increasing mental health services that provide them with the tools to diffuse their hatred and couple that with effective gun control strategies and ways to enhance the compromised anger management skills of a generation of volatile men.

Originality/value

Academicians have been hesitant to juxtapose these offenders but based this conclusion on surface-level differences. A reimagining of these categorical structures is needed. The once clear delineation between these cohorts may continue to shrink and synchronize until one subsumes the other.

Details

Journal of Criminal Psychology, vol. 9 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2009-3829

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 February 2020

Enzo Yaksic

The purpose of this article is to improve the use of evidence-based practice and research utilization in the offender profiling process. The use of offender profiling has been met…

1023

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to improve the use of evidence-based practice and research utilization in the offender profiling process. The use of offender profiling has been met with increasing resistance given its exaggerated accuracy. The “Investigative Journalist/Expert Field Micro Task Force” model, a collaborative method that incorporates offender profiling and is designed to address unresolved serial homicides, is introduced and evaluated alongside recommendations on attaining adherence.

Design/methodology/approach

The model was field tested in 17 instances. The measures used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to gauge the usefulness of their case consultations, whether their input helped catch the offender, offer new leads, move the case forward, provide new avenues or give new ideas, were used to evaluate the model.

Findings

The model established likely patterns of serial murder activity among strangulations of women in Chicago, Cleveland, and Panama and resulted in convictions of suspects in Louisiana and Kansas City. This model is valuable when used to parse modern-day offenders from those who committed unresolved homicides as the latter display different behaviors that can make investigations difficult endeavors. Results from the field tests mirror those from the literature in that profiling alone did not result in the capture of serial killers. Instead, profiling was used in conjunction with other efforts and mainly as a means to keep the investigation moving forward.

Originality/value

Unresolved homicides are at a point of crisis and represent a significant but largely unaddressed societal problem. The success of this model may compel law enforcement to restore faith in offender profiling.

Details

Journal of Criminal Psychology, vol. 10 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2009-3829

Keywords

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