Instrumental and expressive violence in Belgian homicide perpetrators

The present study aimed to examine offender types in a sample of Belgian single‐perpetrator/single‐victim homicide cases. First, it was investigated if the distinction between instrumental and expressive aggression could be documented in crime scene and offender background characteristics. Second, the instrumental and expressive themes from the first analysis were examined in relation to the motives the perpetrators themselves provided for their offence. A sample of 97 solved homicide cases was analysed using the non‐metric multidimensional scaling procedure Proxscal. The results revealed that 62% of the homicide crime scenes and 67% of the offender backgrounds could be classified as either expressive or instrumental. The self‐reported motives did not correspond with the themes according to the Proxscal analysis. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Differentiating stranger murders: profiling offender characteristics from behavioral styles.

The literature on "offender profiling" suggests that different "styles" of homicide will reflect differences in the background characteristics of the offender. To test this suggestion, hypotheses were drawn from studies of aggression to propose that murder crime scenes would reveal stylistic distinctions in the role of the aggression in the offense. It was further hypothesized that these distinctions would be clearest for those crime scene indicators that reflect the instrument (cognitive) actions that shape the offense rather than the more expressive (impulsive and emotional) components. Hypotheses about associated offender characteristics were also deduced on the assumption that the murder scene theme revealed the killers' typical styles of interpersonal transaction. To test these hypotheses MDS analyses were carried out on the crime scene and offender characteristics derived from 82 single offender, single victim stranger homicides. A multivariate structure resulted, including all three hypothesized styles, allowing 65% of the cases to be assigned to unique styles and a further 36% to be assigned to appropriate hybrids. Offender characteristics related in the anticipated way to the different crime scene styles, providing a basis for law enforcement inferences about offenders in stranger murders.     

Profiling Korean sex crimes: Offender characteristics and crime scene actions

The present study aimed to examine the demographic information of sex offenders in South Korea and explore whether a U.K. thematic model of criminal behaviour could be replicated in the Korean context. The 27 variables of crime scene actions derived from 50 Korean sexual offences through a content analysis were analysed with smallest space analysis. Chi‐square was also administered to explore the differences in offender characteristics among behavioural themes. Consequently, three separate action themes, hostility–involvement, theft, and control, were revealed. Next, each case was assigned to one of the dominant or hybrid themes, with 84% of the total cases being classified to the dominant themes. Moreover, there were significant differences in four offender characteristics between the themes: “previous conviction of robbery,” “previous conviction of sexual crime,” “knowing the victim,” and “vehicle use.” These outcomes have implications for the development of the Korean profiling system.     

UK and Spanish stranger sexual offenders crime scene behaviours and previous convictions: A cross-cultural comparison

International comparisons of previous convictions (PC) and crime scene behaviours (CSB) of stranger sexual offences can inform offender profiling strategies; especially the degree to which pragmatic models cross validate across countries. The present study compared PC and CSB of 474 UK and 418 Spanish cases. CSB and PC were analysed using Chi-square. UK stranger sexual offenders displayed a higher proportion of all CSB analysed. UK offenders also had a significantly higher proportion of PC with the exception of violence offences. There were no significant differences in sexual pre-convictions. In both the UK and Spain the CSB ‘reference to the police’ was significantly association with the PC ‘Criminal damage’ no other similar significant associations were found. Explanations for these findings include differences between the countries in regards to: legislation, crime recording processes, data coding processes, with additional consideration of any cultural, environmental and contextual factors.     

Classifying homicide offenders and predicting their characteristics from crime scene behavior

A theoretical distinction between instrumental and expressive aggression was used in analyzing offender characteristics and their associations with crime scene actions in Finnish homicides. Twenty-one variables reflecting the offenders' criminal activity, previous relationships with intimates and victims, and general social and psychological adjustment were derived from files of single-offender/single-victim homicides occurring between 1980 and 1994 (n = 502). Additionally, three variables describing post-offense actions and police interview behavior were included. A multidimensional scaling procedure was used to investigate the interrelationships between the variables. A distinction between expressive and instrumental characteristics was observable in the empirical structure, which was divided into three subthemes of Instrumental, Expressive: Blood, and Expressive: Intimate. Associations between the characteristics with five previously identified subthemes of crime scene actions were computed. In addition, the subthemes of crime scene actions were related to post-offense actions and police interview behavior, with Expressive themes being associated with less denial as well as a greater likelihood of surrendering and confession. The practical usefulness for police investigations and theoretical implications of the results are discussed.     

An Exploration of Rapists' Motivations as Illustrated by Their Crime Scene Actions: Is the Gender of the Victim an Influential Factor?

An aim of this paper was to examine if the rapist's motivations of anger and power as inferred from rape crime scene behaviours differentiates between rape victim genders. In addition, it was sought to analyse the resistance strategies employed by rape victims to investigate whether gender influences victim–offender behavioural interactions. A sample of 24 female and 12 male rape victims aged from 13 to 39 years were analysed. The data were extracted from the US National Crime Survey, which contained 12 reported cases of male rape. It was hypothesised that the theme of power would be evident from the rapists' behaviour as illustrated by the crime scene actions and victim–offender interaction. Smallest Space Analysis, a multi‐dimensional scaling technique, was employed to identify the themes present in the perpetration of rape. The crime scene actions illustrated several distinctions relating to the theme of power present in the offender's motives irrespective of the victim's gender. An additional finding was that victim resistance strategies differentiated between male and female rape victims. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

From Crime Scene Actions in Stranger Rape to Prediction of Rapist Type: Single‐Victim or Serial Rapist?

The differences in crime scene actions in cases of stranger rape committed by convicted offenders were examined between 31 single‐victim rapists and 35 serial rapists. Data were collected from police files, court verdicts, psychiatric evaluations, and criminal records. Findings indicate that the serial rapists were more criminally sophisticated than the single‐victim rapists, during their first and second rapes. The single‐victim rapists were significantly more likely to engage in the interpersonal involvement behavior of kissing the victim, and to engage in pre‐assault alcohol use, than the serial rapists. There was, however, no significant difference in physically violent or sexual behaviors. To investigate the possibility of predicting rapist type, logistic regression analyses were performed. Results indicate that three behaviors in conjunction, kissed victim, controlled victim, and offender drank alcohol before the offense, predicted whether an unknown offender is a single‐victim or serial rapist with a classification accuracy of 80.4%. The findings have implications for the classification of stranger rapists in offender profiling. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Investigating the nature of expressiveness in stranger,acquaintance and intrafamilial homicides

This study explores the role of the victim–offender relationship in the dynamics of homicide, by examining the crime scene behaviour of 25 intrafamilial, 30 acquaintance and 27 stranger homicide offenders (n = 82). Six crime scene variables were examined: ‘Weapon from the scene’, ‘Excessive wounding’, ‘Facial trauma’, ‘Multiple wounds to a single area’, ‘Post‐mortem activity’ and ‘Manual violence’. The first objective was to identify whether these variables could be combined to form a partially ordered scale of expressiveness. The second was to examine whether the nature of this expressive crime scene varied according to the victim and offender relationship. It was hypothesised that the intrafamilial homicides would be characterised by a more expressive crime scene. This was examined by Partial Order Scalogram Analysis which supported the hypothesised link between the level of expressed emotion evident in the crime scene and the nature of the victim–offender relationship. Further analysis on the individual variables revealed that the best single predictor of the relationship between victim and offender was the presence of multiple wounding. These findings are discussed both as contributing to a theoretical understanding of the emotional salience of crime scene actions when killing a family member, and in practical terms in relation to the significance of these variables for both police investigations and clinical interventions with homicide perpetrators. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Behavioural linking of stranger rapes

A sample of serial stranger rape cases ( n = 43) that had occurred in Finland during the years 1983–2001 were studied with the objectives being to: (a) describe the characteristics of the offenders; (b) explore the structure of serial rape; and (c) demonstrate behavioural linkage through an analysis of the offenders' crime scene behaviour using both multidimensional scaling (MDS) and discriminant function analysis (DFA). The material was content analysed with regard to the occurrence of a number of dichotomous variables. The inter‐relationships of the variables was studied using MDS. The analysis revealed two previously identified major modes of interaction with the victim: involvement and hostility. Employing MDS and DFA, it was shown that the offences of different offenders were distinguishable in terms of variation between the offences of different offenders and consistency within the offences of a single offender. Using DFA, the classification accuracy clearly exceeds that expected by chance, and 25.6% of the cases were classified without any error. The results are discussed in relation to their practical utility and previous studies. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

When is profiling possible? Offense planning and aggression as moderators in predicting offender age from victim age in stranger rape

Debate continues with regard to the possibility of inferring an offender's characteristic features from crime scene details (the process of so-called "offender profiling"). We argue that psychology generally has benefited from appreciating context in predicting behavior. In the same way, profiling would benefit from an appreciation of context in predicting characteristics. This "reverse" process is contingent on various "if...then" relationships. As one example, this paper demonstrates how profiling offender age from victim age is contingent on (i) the level of planning and (ii) the level of aggression displayed during the offense. Eighty-five stranger rape case records formed the data set. Moderated regression analysis revealed that victim age is a significant predictor of offender age only in cases where the offender has (i) shown evidence of planning the attack and/or (ii) acts in a gratuitously aggressive manner. The theoretical bases for these findings may lie in the extent to which offenders disparately plan and target victims and how extreme aggressiveness in stranger rapes may relate to a near-peer proxy for an offender's anger. The implications of the results for the processes and methods involved in offender profiling suggest that certain crime scene factors can have differential moderating effects on predictive outcomes.     

Victim Gender,Number of Perpetrators,and Interpersonal Interaction in Stranger Rape: An Analysis of Direct and Moderator Effects

This study examined the direct and moderator effects of number of perpetrators and gender of victim on interpersonal behaviour in stranger rape. Crime scene behaviours representative of hostility, involvement, control, and offender penetration in rape were examined for 496 UK, police‐recorded cases of stranger rape. Cases were grouped according to victim gender (male or female) and number of perpetrators (lone or multiple). This resulted in four groups (lone female, lone male, multiple female, and multiple male) with 124 cases in each. Binary logistic regression and one‐way analysis of variance were used to investigate the relationships between the two predictor variables and 11 criterion variables. Significant direct effects of number of perpetrators were found whereby multiple perpetrator offences were more likely to involve violence and less likely to involve involvement interactions than lone perpetrator offences. Significant direct effects of victim gender were also found whereby male victims were more likely than female victims to experience hostile interactions and be threatened with a weapon and were less likely to experience offender penetration and involvement interactions. Significant crossover interactions were also found for four hostility variables. The utility of the findings are discussed in relation to crime prevention, victim support, and offender intervention. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

South African Serial Homicide: A Victim‐Focused Behavioural Typology

This current study assessed the value of the Interpersonal Model in differentiating serial homicide offences in South Africa, notably in terms of how the offender may display behavioural patterns that are indicative of them dealing with the victim as a Person, an Object, or a Vehicle. The sample consisted of 302 offences committed by 33 offenders that occurred from 1953 to 2007 in South Africa. Multidimensional scaling analysis was used to test the Interpersonal Model and results indicated that crime themes did not directly correspond to the threefold model. Instead, two crime scene types were present: Victim as Object (where the focus was on tangible gains, interaction with the victim throughout the phases of the crime was limited, and victims included men and live women) and Victim as Vehicle (where the victim might be construed as a conduit through whom the offender could realise their specific psychological needs, the interaction was extensive, and victims tended to be vulnerable). South African serial homicides did not appear to have a specific sub‐theme of Victim as Person, suggesting that the themes engaged in centred more on instrumentally focused actions but in qualitatively different ways. However, victim types were integral to the overall behavioural model. Using the Victim as Object/Vehicle dichotomy, 85.7% of the offences could be seen to engage dominantly in one of the two patterns at the crime scene. This not only supported the results of a twofold model, but having these many offenders showing a dominant crime scene type also shows that the model is an excellent representation of serial homicide offending in South Africa. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Distance patterns and disposal sites in rural area homicides committed in Finland

The present study examined offender characteristics, distance patterns, and the nature of disposal sites in rural area homicides. Pre‐trial investigation files of cases where victims' bodies were found in rural areas in 1994–2005 (n = 46) and forensic psychiatric examination reports of the offenders were content‐analysed. Psychopathy Check List‐Revised was used to assess psychopathy. Investigators of these homicides filled out a questionnaire on the offender's familiarity with the body disposal area, and MapInfo was used to measure offender/victim‐residence‐to‐crime‐to‐body‐disposal‐site distances. Rural area homicides more frequently involved multiple offenders who were significantly younger than offenders in other homicides. Of the victims, 73% were found in woods and 27% in water. Offenders were familiar with disposal sites in over half of the cases. The victim's gender, close relationship with the offender, and the offender's violent crime history were associated with longer homicide‐scene‐to‐body‐disposal‐site distances. The number of inhabitants and offender's violent crime history were related to longer offender‐residence‐to‐body‐disposal‐site distances. Offender's age, intelligence, or psychopathology bore no significant association with the distance patterns. The results can be applied when searching missing persons in homicide investigations and in prioritising suspects in rural area homicides. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Differentiating sex offences: a behaviorally based thematic classification of stranger rapes

It is hypothesized that stranger rape victim statements will reveal a scale of violation experienced by the victim, ranging from personal violation, through to physical violation, and finally, at the most extreme level, sexual violation. It is also hypothesized that offences can be differentiated in terms of one of four themes: hostile, controlling, stealing, or involving. To test these hypotheses, crime scene data from 112 rapes were analyzed by the multi-dimensional scaling procedure Smallest Space Analysis. The results provide empirical support for a composite model of rape consisting of four behavioral themes as different expressions of various intensities of violation. The results also suggest that stranger rapes may be less about power and control than about hostility and pseudo-intimacy. The proposed model has implications for the classification of rape, the investigation of sexual crimes, and the treatment of victims.     

Multidimensional Latent Classification of ‘Street Robbery’ Offences

In a recent study of personal robbery, commissioned by the Home Office in the UK, a qualitative typology of robbery offences was proposed based on the approach used by the offender to commit the crime, consisting of four approach types: Blitz, Confrontation, Con, and Snatch. Conceptual inspection of the typology reveals that these proposed types may be hypothetically demarcated as the product of two latent dimensions: interaction (between the offender and the victim) and violence (used to threaten/harm the victim). The current paper utilises crime scene information from 72 incarcerated male offenders convicted of ‘street’ robbery to test this hypothesis. Convergent statistical analysis was utilised to test the structure of Smith's typology first using multidimensional scaling (MDS) and then principal component analysis (PCA). MDS and PCA analyses provided convergent support for the existence of the four robbery styles and the latent dimensions of interaction and violence. Implications of Smith's typological structure and latent behavioural dimensions on the conceptualisation and classification of robbery offences are discussed within the existing literature on ‘street’ robbery. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Content analysis of infanticide and neonaticide cases in the UK

Twenty cases, 14 infanticides and 6 neonaticides committed between 1989 and 2020 by biological mothers were analysed using Smallest Space Analysis for the presence of themes. Three themes associated with offender motivation were identified: Desperation, Disturbance and Rejection. Desperation theme included variables suggesting the mother committed the crime as a result of distress or perceived necessity. Disturbance suggested the motivation behind the offence to be as a result of the mother's caregiving role being disturbed; and the Rejection theme explained complete maternal rejection of the infant or new-born as the motivation behind the crime. Alongside the themes, three core variables were identified to be common for the crime regardless of motivation: the crime being committed at Home, the victim Female, and the crime being Denied by the mother. The implications of the findings are discussed including the potential for an investigative support tool and developing understandings of neonaticide and infanticide as separate crimes.     

STRANGER AND ACQUAINTANCE RAPE

Most published research on the victim–offender relationship has been based on small samples that consisted mainly of women who were raped by nonintimate and nonromantic acquaintances, who viewed their experience as rape, and/or who were seeking treatment. In the present study, 489 rape victims were located among a national sample of 3,187 female college students by a self-report survey that avoided reliance on help-seekers. Two sets of comparisons were performed. First, the experiences reported by victims of stranger rape ( n = 52) were compared with those of victims of acquaintance rape ( n = 416). Then, the experiences of women assaulted by different types of acquaintances were compared including nonromantic acquaintances ( n = 122), casual dates ( n = 103), steady dates ( n = 147), and spouses or other family members ( n = 44). Rapes by acquaintances, compared with strangers, were more likely to involve a single offender and multiple episodes, were less likely to be seen as rape or to be revealed to anyone, and were similar in terms of the victim's resistance. In general, acquaintance rapes were rated as less violent than stranger rapes. The exception was rapes by husbands or other family members which were rated equally violent to stranger rapes but were much less likely to occur in a context of drinking or other drug use. In spite of these different crime characteristics, virtually no differences were found among any of the groups in their levels of psychological symptoms. A significant feature of these data is that they have tapped the experiences of unreported and unacknowledged rape victims, a group that is potentially much larger than the group of identified victims.     

Crime behaviours and distance travelled in homicides and rapes

We explored (1) distances between home and offence in homicides and rapes; (2) whether these distances differed from each other; and (3) whether offence features were associated with distances. The sample consisted of solved homicides (N = 40) and rapes (N = 37) from Finland with co‐ordinates for offence and offender home locations and information on crime features. Empirical models of incident density as a function of distance were estimated using CrimeStat III (Levine, 2004). Most of the distances were short displaying distance decay. Homicide median distance was 0.85km (Inter Quartile Range (IQR) = 0.13–7.69km) and rape median distance 2.44km (IQR = 0.83–6.96km) from perpetrators' home location. These distances differed significantly (Mann‐Whitney U = 543.0, p < 0.045). It was possible to identify crime features that were correlated with distances in both offence types. Spatial Behaviour Indices combining crime feature information correlated r_s = 0.77 with distance in homicides and r_s = 0.72 in rapes. Identifying theoretical constructs for understanding links between different crime features instead of looking at them in isolation is important. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Lethal combinations: A conjunctive analysis of crime scene behavior associated with sexual homicide

This research investigates violent stranger rapes and the factors leading these cases to sexual homicides. Variables relating to modus operandi characteristics on one part and offender behavior on the other part are examined using conjunctive analysis of cases configuration to identify the different combinations leading to a lethal outcome. Using a French sample of 1263 cases of violent rapes and 303 cases of sexual homicides involving female adult victims, we find that blows given by offenders and information about physical resistance of victims are strongly associated intentional and non‐intentional sexual homicides. Psychoactive substance consumption by offenders as well associal isolation are in a lesser extend also associated with the lethal outcome.     

Examining the Role of Similarity Coefficients and the Value of Behavioural Themes in Attempts to Link Serial Arson Offences

When relying on crime scene behaviours to link serial crimes, linking accuracy may be influenced by the measure used to assess across‐crime similarity and the types of behaviours included in the analysis. To examine these issues, the present study compared the level of linking accuracy achieved by using the simple matching index (S) to that of the commonly used Jaccard's coefficient (J) across themes of arson behaviour. The data consisted of 42 crime scene behaviours, separated into three behavioural themes, which were exhibited by 37 offenders across 114 solved arsons. The results of logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic analysis indicate that, with the exception of one theme where S was more effective than J at discriminating between linked and unlinked crimes, no significant differences emerged between the two similarity measures. In addition, our results suggest that thematically unrelated behaviours can be used to link crimes with the same degree of accuracy as thematically related behaviours, potentially calling into the question the importance of theme‐based approaches to behavioural linkage analysis. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.