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Article
Publication date: 23 July 2020

Serena Davidson and Wayne Petherick

Case linkage theory and practice have received growing empirical support; however, they have yet to be examined fully within Australia. For sexual assault case linkage to be…

Abstract

Purpose

Case linkage theory and practice have received growing empirical support; however, they have yet to be examined fully within Australia. For sexual assault case linkage to be successful, it is assumed that a serial rapist will behave relatively consistently across offences yet distinctively compared to other offenders. The purpose of this paper is to test the underlying principles of case linkage, behavioural consistency and distinctiveness, as well as distinguishing accuracy.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 250 solved stranger rapes by 171 offenders (46 serial rapists, 125 one-off rapists) were taken from Queensland Police Service (QPS) crime records. All possible crime pairings were created and cross-crime similarity was assessed using Jaccard’s coefficient. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis was used to examine the ability to distinguish between linked and unlinked offence pairs.

Findings

Serial linked pairs had the highest Jaccard’s coefficient (0.456), followed by non-serial unlinked (0.253) and finally, serial unlinked pairs (0.247). Within the ROC analysis, an area under the curve value was found of 0.913, indicating excellent distinguishing accuracy. Both the underlying principles of behavioural consistency and distinctiveness were supported through theoretical and practical methods. This paper provides the first analysis of serial rape case linkage in Australia, adding validity to this practice.

Research limitations/implications

The authors wish to acknowledge the support and assistance from the QPS in undertaking this research. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the QPS and any errors of omission or commission are the responsibility of the authors.

Practical implications

This paper provides validity to the practice of case linkage using a database within Australia. The results of this paper can be used to inform investigators of serial offender behaviours. The theories of offender consistency and distinctiveness are supported, highlighting the importance of behavioural evidence for practitioners. This paper provided a practical increase of the quantity and quality of offences uploaded on the Australian violent and sexual crimes database, which will assist further linkage efforts.

Originality/value

This paper is the first in Australia to examine consistency, distinctiveness and case linkage of serial stranger rape. Thus is contributes significantly not only to an increased understanding of serial rape and case linkage in Australia but also brings Australia closer to modern research practices in this field.

Details

Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice, vol. 7 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-3841

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 March 2011

Natalie Scerra

This paper aims to examine the influence of police cultural knowledge on the investigation of violent serial crimes. Specifically, it aims to identify whether such knowledge…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the influence of police cultural knowledge on the investigation of violent serial crimes. Specifically, it aims to identify whether such knowledge impacts the way in which investigative techniques are implemented. Of particular interest is the police knowledge specific to victims of violent serial crimes.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study analysis of five incidents of serial murder and four incidents of serial rape in Australia was conducted. This included a qualitative analysis of cold case files from New South Wales Police, Australia. These data were triangulated with data obtained from interviews with detectives who had investigated incidents of serial murder and serial rape from that agency.

Findings

The police cultural knowledge relating to the victims of these crimes at the time of reporting negatively impacted the subsequent investigation of these cases. This resulted in a marked delay in the recognition of cases as part of a series of crimes and a delay in the allocation of investigative resources. This knowledge was informed by police experience in street policing, not from experience in the investigation of violent serial crimes.

Research limitations/implications

This paper is limited to selected cases of serial crimes that occurred in Australia.

Practical implications

This research suggests that police cultural understandings of victims need to be reviewed and changed to include knowledge of serial crime victims, offenders and their crimes. Such changes could contribute to improved recognition of related crimes as being serial in nature, essentially opening the way to preventing further victimisation.

Originality/value

There is no research that considers the impact of police cultural knowledge on the investigation of violent serial crime, and its subsequent contribution to the length of time of the series of crimes remains unconnected.

Details

Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, vol. 34 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 November 2020

Jan-Martin Winter and Gina Rossi

Traditional crime linkage studies on serial sexual assaults have relied predominantly on a binary crime linkage approach that has yielded successful results in terms of linkage…

Abstract

Purpose

Traditional crime linkage studies on serial sexual assaults have relied predominantly on a binary crime linkage approach that has yielded successful results in terms of linkage accuracy. Such an approach is a coarse reflection of reality by focussing mainly on the outcome of an offence, neglecting the forceful differences due to the intricate offender-victim interaction. Only few researchers have examined sexual assaults through the lens of a sequence analysis framework. This paper aims to present the first empirical test of offence sequence-based crime linkage, moving beyond exploratory analyses.

Design/methodology/approach

Offence accounts from 90 serial sexual assault and rape victims from the UK were analysed and sequentially coded. Sequence analysis allowed to compare all offences combinations regarding their underlying sequence of events. The resulting comparison was transformed and plotted in two-dimensional space by multidimensional scaling analysis for a visual inspection of linkage potential. The transformed proximities of all offences were used as predictors in a receiver operating characteristic analysis to actually test their discriminatory accuracy for crime linkage purpose.

Findings

Sequence analysis shows significant discriminatory accuracy for crime linkage purpose. However, the method does perform less well than previous binary crime linkage studies.

Research limitations/implications

Several limitations due to the nature of the data will be discussed.

Practical implications

The practical limitations are as follows: the study is a potential practical value for crime analysts; it is a complimentary methodology for statistical crime linkage packages; it requires automated coding to be useful; and it is very dependent on crime recoding standards.

Originality/value

The exploratory part of this study has been published in a book chapter in 2015. However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the succinct test of crime linkage accuracy is the first of its kind.

Details

Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice, vol. 7 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-3841

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 October 2021

Kylie S. Reale, Eric Beauregard and Julien Chopin

Serial offenders have been described as more forensically aware, better able to control their victim, and ultimately, more adept at eluding detection. Despite these assertions…

Abstract

Purpose

Serial offenders have been described as more forensically aware, better able to control their victim, and ultimately, more adept at eluding detection. Despite these assertions, there is a lack of research examining differences in “criminal expertise” (i.e. offense-related skills and competencies) between serial and non-serial offenders. The purpose of the current study is to address this empirical research gap.

Design/methodology/approach

The current study uses binary logistic regression to examine a sample of 83 serial offenses and 322 offenses involving “novices” (i.e. offenders without a previous criminal history) to determine whether criminal expertise is a distinctive feature of the crime-commission process of serial offenders, compared to novices.

Findings

Binary logistic regression findings indicated that offenders who did not verbally reassure their victim, who brought a weapon to the offense and who selected a victim who was walking were more likely to be serial. Taken together, these behaviors do not suggest that serial offenders are “experts” at avoiding detection, but rather, indicate some general offense competencies and skills related to violent offending.

Originality/value

The current study offers the first direct application of the criminal expertise framework to serial sexual offending. The findings offer new insights for the treatment and management of offenders who possess offense-related competencies and skills, which can offer a complementary view to more deficit-based models.

Details

Journal of Criminal Psychology, vol. 11 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2009-3829

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 15 November 2018

Bev Orton

There are seven main characters of which five are women: Sindiswa, Mia, Susan, Thenjiwe and Nicky. The other two characters, Glen and Zaccaria, represent males from very different…

Abstract

There are seven main characters of which five are women: Sindiswa, Mia, Susan, Thenjiwe and Nicky. The other two characters, Glen and Zaccaria, represent males from very different socio-economic and political backgrounds. The character of Dumasani, a young boy, is referred to in the play. What makes the play especially significant is that of a cast of seven, five are women. Throughout the play the character of Glen, a spy for the apartheid government, reveals the manipulative and deceitful manner in which the members of the South African police force and political informers carried out their work. He forms relationships with people about whom he professes to care; however, his only concern is that they are able to provide information that will secure financial reward for his spying activities for the apartheid government. Born in the RSA offers the audience an interesting exchange of ideas and thoughts about the political, economic and social situation in apartheid South Africa. Through the exploration of narratives and improvisation a landscape of violence is thrown open. A landscape of violence, that is not only physical, but also psychological. The play presents a complex situation in which violence does not only come from one source but from various sources such as the government, the youth, the opposition parties, the comrades, the private domestic space, subversive activities and political organisations. Any opposition to government policies results in harsher and more extreme violence by the apartheid regime strengthening their oppressive forces.

Details

Women, Activism and Apartheid South Africa: Using Play Texts to Document the Herstory of South Africa
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78754-526-7

Article
Publication date: 2 November 2012

Ashley Hewitt, Eric Beauregard and Garth Davies

Factors influencing crime location choices are not only significant to rape investigations, but they are especially important for geographic profiling. The purpose of the current…

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Abstract

Purpose

Factors influencing crime location choices are not only significant to rape investigations, but they are especially important for geographic profiling. The purpose of the current study is to use temporal, hunting behavior, and modus operandi factors to determine those variables that influence the victim encounter and release locations in serial sexual crime.

Design/methodology/approach

Due to the possible correlated nature of serial rapes, the authors use generalized estimating equations (GEE) on a sample of 361 rapes committed by 72 serial sex offenders.

Findings

Results indicate that temporal factors, offender hunting behavior, and modus operandi strategies are significant predictors of both the victim encounter and release sites, but the importance of these factors varies depending on whether the location is in a residential land use area, a private site, inside location, or a site that is familiar to the offender.

Practical implications

Police can learn from the current findings and apply them to subsequent rapes within a series by recognizing the timing of the offense, the type of hunting pattern and attack method used in prior sexual crimes committed by the same offender, and modus operandi strategies, to determine the type of location where the rapist is likely to offend next.

Originality/value

This paper is the first attempt to predict factors related to both the encounter and the victim release site in serial rapes using GEE.

Details

Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, vol. 35 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 1997

Phyllis Gray‐Ray, Christopher Hensley and Edward Brennan

Rape is one of the most heinous and underreported crimes against women. However, if women knew about recent technological advances in the war on rape, maybe they would report the…

2076

Abstract

Rape is one of the most heinous and underreported crimes against women. However, if women knew about recent technological advances in the war on rape, maybe they would report the crime more often. For example, biting incidents in connection with violent rapes are not rare. Consequently, bite mark evidence should be carefully searched for and uncovered early on in the beginning stages of all violent rape/murder investigations. The present case study analysis of nine serial rapists and murderers reveals and captures these criminals through the modern use of odontology. Modern technology in the form of alternate lighting, the skills of the criminal investigator, odontologist, and pathologist are combined in a team effort to bring these offenders to justice. Thus it is necessary to train law enforcement officers and to educate women to make them more aware of such crucial evidence, since many of these rapists are often repeat offenders.

Details

Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, vol. 20 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 July 2020

Tom Pakkanen, Jukka Sirén, Angelo Zappalà, Patrick Jern, Dario Bosco, Andrea Berti and Pekka Santtila

Crime linkage analysis (CLA) can be applied in the police investigation-phase to sift through a database to find behaviorally similar cases to the one under investigation and in…

Abstract

Purpose

Crime linkage analysis (CLA) can be applied in the police investigation-phase to sift through a database to find behaviorally similar cases to the one under investigation and in the trial-phase to try to prove that the perpetrator of two or more offences is the same, by showing similarity and distinctiveness in the offences. Lately, research has moved toward more naturalistic settings, analyzing data sets that are as similar to actual crime databases as possible. One such step has been to include one-off offences in the data sets, but this has not yet been done with homicide. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how linking accuracy of serial homicide is affected as a function of added hard-to-solve one-off offences.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample (N = 117–1160) of Italian serial homicides (n = 116) and hard-to-solve one-off homicides (n = 1–1044, simulated from 45 cases) was analyzed using a Bayesian approach to identify series membership, and a case by case comparison of similarity using Jaccard’s coefficient. Linking accuracy was evaluated using receiver operating characteristics and by examining the sensitivity and specificity of the model.

Findings

After an initial dip in linking accuracy (as measured by the AUC), the accuracy increased as more one-offs were added to the data. While adding one-offs made it easier to identify correct series (increased sensitivity), there was an increase in false positives (decreased specificity) in the linkage decisions. When rank ordering cases according to similarity, linkage accuracy was affected negatively as a function of added non-serial cases.

Practical implications

While using a more natural data set, in terms of adding a significant portion of non-serial homicides into the mix, does introduce error into the linkage decision, the authors conclude that taken overall, the findings still support the validity of CLA in practice.

Originality/value

This is the first crime linkage study on homicide to investigate how linking accuracy is affected as a function of non-serial cases being introduced into the data.

Details

Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice, vol. 7 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-3841

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 15 October 2013

Jane Kilby

The purpose of this chapter is twofold: to explore the difficulties and potential of turning to the perpetrator of sexual violence; and to track the affective economy of engaging…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this chapter is twofold: to explore the difficulties and potential of turning to the perpetrator of sexual violence; and to track the affective economy of engaging with perpetrator accounts.

Design/methodology/approach

This chapter will consider one of the earliest feminist studies of incest, Sandra Butler’s (1978) Conspiracy of Silence: The Trauma of Incest, followed by an analysis of Philippe Bourgois’ (1995, 1996, 2004) ethnographic study of Puerto Rican crack dealers. These are important studies for the fact that both Butler and Bourgois let the men speak freely of their violence, which for the Puerto Rican cracker dealers include tales of gang rape.

Findings

The chapter endorses the need to study the perpetrator, arguing that it is imperative to ensure the demythologization of perpetrators. It finds also that feminists must explore how they will teach emotionally difficult material, and how they negotiate the legacy of radical feminism. The chapter concludes that there are times when politics requires little theoretical innovation, requiring instead a willingness to repeat known insights and to fight back with words.

Social implications

This chapter has implications for classroom practice.

Originality/value

The value of this chapter is its demand to reconsider the doing of feminism in the classroom when the split between feminist theory and activism appears greater than ever.

Details

Gendered Perspectives on Conflict and Violence: Part A
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78350-110-6

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 March 2012

David Joubert

The idea that criminal behavior is a function of the offender's personality, also called the Homology hypothesis, has a long history in forensic psychology and criminology. This…

Abstract

Purpose

The idea that criminal behavior is a function of the offender's personality, also called the Homology hypothesis, has a long history in forensic psychology and criminology. This assumption, however, has been decried as lacking empirical support. In spite of much social concern relative to sexual offenses, there is virtually no research looking at the stability of offending pattern in sex offenders of adult women. This paper aims to fill some of the gaps.

Design/methodology/approach

Latent structure analyses were conducted on a secondary dataset including 145 serial rapists. A cross‐sectional, discrete time‐series design was used including a sequence of three offenses.

Findings

Moderate support was found for the three main assumptions underlying the Homology hypothesis. Offenses tended to share a relatively similar underlying structure, with the victimology and aggression components being more prominent than the sexual dimension. The three primary profiles identified, labeled “Passive”, “Stranger‐aggressive”, and “Antisocial”, were found to be about 50 percent stable across the sequence. Finally, the presence of significant dysfunction in the family of origin predicted membership in the “Antisocial” class, as well as increased the specificity and stability of this profile. The presence of early maladjustment was not related to any of the states.

Research limitations/implications

Based on the results, it is proposed that future research incorporates contextual‐environmental elements in order to increase the validity of the findings.

Originality/value

This study represents a unique attempt at documenting patterns of stability and variations across incidents of rape, using an institutional sample. Furthermore, it illustrates the use and potential benefits of latent structure models in criminological research.

Details

Journal of Criminal Psychology, vol. 2 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2009-3829

Keywords

1 – 10 of 344