Spatial and environmental consistency in serial sexual assault

This study examines the crime patterns of 76 New Zealand serial sexual offenders in order to determine the extent to which offenders display locational consistency in their choice of crime locations. More specifically, the hypothesis was that there would be intraseries consistency in the distances travelled (spatial consistency) and the characteristics of the crime sites selected (environmental consistency) by serial sexual offenders. For spatial consistency to be tested, the distances travelled from home to offend and the criminal range for each offence series were analysed. Support was found for spatial consistency, and, in line with much overseas research, it was also found that the offenders typically did not travel very far from home to offend (median distance of 3 km). The environmental consistency measure was made up of various physical, temporal, and contextual variables that described the environmental characteristics of an offence. As hypothesised, it was found that offenders displayed intraseries environmental consistency in offence site selection beyond the level of that expected by chance. The implications of this both for understanding offender spatial decision making and for geographical profiling are discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mainstreaming,resonance, and impersonal impact.

People may use information from a variety of sources in constructing their judgments of crime risk, including direct experience, word‐of‐mouth, and the mass media. One hundred fifty‐eight general population respondents provided 3 estimates of risk of violent crime: societal crime risk, personal crime risk to themselves in their own neighborhood, and personal crime risk to themselves in New York City. Respondents' level of television viewing was related to their estimates of societal crime risk and to their estimates of personal crime risk in New York City (p < .05) but not to their estimates of personal crime risk in their own neighbourhood (p < .05): all 3 risk estimates were related to respondents' level of television viewing only for those with high direct experience with crime, results that are consistent with Gerbner's concept of resonance (Gerbner et al., 1980). The implications for the concept of impersonal impact (Tyler, 1980) and Gerbner et al.'s concepts of cultivation and mainstreaming are also discussed.     

The importance of an evidence-based approach in the current Spanish policy for crime prevention

This introductory paper has two objectives. On the one hand, to present the guidelines of the evidence-based perspective on crime prevention as an alternative to the usual criminal policy, which often disregards conclusions based on scientific evidence. On the other hand, to discuss the contemporary situation in Spain regarding crime prevention and particularly the role psychology develops in terms of the utility/effectiveness dichotomy. The evidence-based perspective on crime prevention is guided by the main criteria of collecting the best scientific evidence in relation to 'what works best' in the different areas of crime prevention. In that purpose systematic reviews and meta-analyses are strongly recommended. The Campbell Collaboration in Crime and Justice is a scientific endeavour oriented to prepare rigorous and systematic reviews of high-quality evidence about 'what works'. Regarding crime prevention in Spain it is argued that psychology and other disciplines must make society and its rulers see that intervention based on evidence-based policy is essential for crime prevention.     

The Social Ecology of White-Collar Crime: Applying Situational Action Theory to White-Collar Offending

This article applies the integrated framework of situational action theory (SAT) to white-collar crime causation – previously unexamined in this perspective, drawing also on data from a small-scale study based on semi-structured interviews with white-collar offenders. The key arguments and findings are discussed around SAT’s categories, modified in accordance with white-collar crime particularities: criminogenic propensity, workplace environmental factors, and the individual-environment situational mechanisms. This initial SAT application shows that its constructs can be fruitfully deployed in explaining white-collar crime only to a moderate extent. The findings are not fully supportive of SAT’s “weak law-relevant morality” and deterrence arguments, while SAT’s moral correspondence situational mechanism provides a novel way to explain crimes within criminogenic workplace cultures.     

Neighborhood crime as a predictor of individual differences in emotional processing and regulation

Emerging research suggests that early exposure to environmental adversity has important implications for the development of brain regions associated with emotion regulation, yet little is known about how such adversity translates into observable differences in children's emotion‐related behavior. The present study examines the relationship between geocoded neighborhood crime and urban pre‐adolescents' emotional attention, appraisal, and response. Results indicate that living in a high‐crime neighborhood is associated with greater selective attention toward negatively valenced emotional stimuli on a dot probe task, less biased appraisal of fear on a facial identification task, and lower rates of teacher‐reported internalizing behaviors in the classroom. These findings suggest that children facing particularly high levels of environmental threat may develop different regulatory processes (e.g. greater use of emotional suppression) than their peers from low‐crime neighborhoods in order to manage the unique stressors and social demands of their communities.     

Can implicit measures detect source information in crime-related amnesia?

Participants who are asked to simulate amnesia for a mock crime have a weaker memory for this event when they have to give up their role as a feigner, than those who are not asked to feign memory loss. According to the source monitoring framework (SMF), this memory-undermining effect of simulating amnesia for a crime would be due to misattribution of the right source of information. However, we know that the content of self-generated information (e.g., feigned version of the crime) might be preserved and recognised over time as a result of elaborative cognitive processing. In the present study, we aimed to contrast these two explanations. We showed participants a mock crime video and we instructed them to either feign amnesia (simulators) or confess the mock crime (confessors). Next, a free recall memory test was administered. After one week, participants were asked to perform a personalised source monitoring task using the autobiographical Implicit Association Test (aIAT). As predicted, we found that simulators were able to discriminate the content of their self-generated feigned story of the crime from the original version. Moreover, simulators were quicker than confessors at the aIAT task. Practical and theoretical implications of our results are discussed.     

Organized Crime and Preventive Justice

By comparison with the prevention of terrorism, the prevention of acts of organized crime might be thought easier to conceptualize precisely and less controversial to legislate against and police. This impression is correct up to a point, because it is possible to arrive at some general characteristics of organized crime, and because legislation against it is not obviously bedeviled by the risk of violating civil or political rights, as in the case of terrorism. But there is a significant residue of legal, moral and political difficulty: legislation against organized crime is hard to make effective; the harm of organized crime is not uniform, and so some preventive legislation seems too sweeping and potentially unjust. More fundamentally, the scale and rewards of organized crime are often dependent on mass public participation in markets for proscribed goods, which may point to a hidden public consensus in favour of some of what is criminalized. For all of these reasons, I argue that existing preventive policing and legislation against organized crime may be harder to justify than their counterparts in counter-terrorism, at least in the UK.     

Crime and the elderly: a review of British and American research

Research into the victims of crime is of fairly recent origin and has been centred in America. However, a review of research into the experience of the elderly as the victims of crime, and their anxiety about crime, reveals a paradox. Numerous studies show that while the elderly are less likely to be the victims of crime than are the other age groups, they are among those who exhibit most anxiety over crime. The research is discussed in the context of theories of why the elderly appear as a low-risk group and in terms of an attempt to explain the paradox.     

Crime and the elderly: a review of British and American research

Research into the victims of crime is of fairly recent origin and has been centred in America. However, a review of research into the experience of the elderly as the victims of crime, and their anxiety about crime, reveals a paradox. Numerous studies show that while the elderly are less likely to be the victims of crime than are the other age groups, they are among those who exhibit most anxiety over crime. The research is discussed in the context of theories of why the elderly appear as a low-risk group and in terms of an attempt to explain the paradox.     

hate crimes against the Amish: a qualitative analysis of bias motivation using routine activities theory

Research on hate crime has largely been limited to official statistics collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and some independent scholarly research of hate crime victims. Few, however, have studied hate crime offenders. Offender narratives of hate crime participation are the focus of this study. Further, few have studied hate crimes against the Amish and their offenders. This study examines hate crime against the Amish with a particular focus on the bias motivation that generates anti-Amish hate crime. To accomplish this task, non-Amish hate crime offenders were enlisted to share their experiences and stories about anti-Amish hate crime. A total of eight subjects were interviewed; the subjects supplied over 16 hours of audiotaped narrative describing acts of "Claping" they had committed against Old Order Amish. The data were transcribed and an analysis of the interview data revealed that themes emerged from offender narratives within each element of routine activities theory. The data support that the subjects were motivated offenders, the Amish were perceived as suitable targets, and there was a perception that guardians were lacking within the community to discourage anti-Amish hate crime. However, it is important to consider the themes that emerged within each dimension of routine activities when applying the theory to anti-Amish bias crime.     

Strukturen der Alterskriminalität

The group of the over 60-years-old does only contribute a relatively small part to the registered crime – compared to their continuously growing percentage in the population. Crimes committed by elderly persons are predominantly property offences with shoplifting playing an outstanding role. Elderly persons are also overrepresented concerning offences of insult, (negligent) arson and environmental offences whereas violent crimes are rare. Elderly men are also slightly overrepresented concerning sexual abuse of children, but this is very rare, too. As a whole, the fear that Germany will be overrun by a wave of old-age crime does not seem to be confirmed. Elderly offenders are still very rare and the offences committed are significantly less heavy than those committed by younger offenders.     

A multi-factorial framework for understanding reckless driving—appraisal indicators and perceived environmental determinants

The current study adopted an approach, in which reckless driving is perceived as related to both personal and environmental factors. Young drivers (N = 295) reported on reckless driving related threat and challenge appraisals, their perceived control over reckless driving, their disregard for negative consequences of this specific behavior, positive feedback received on their driving, environmental driving-climate and negative driving modeling. The dependent measure was self-reported frequency of reckless driving. Findings indicated that challenge and self-efficacy appraisals, along with negative environmental influences were related to higher frequency of risky driving, whereas threat appraisals, as well as positive feedback, were related to a lower frequency of reckless driving. In addition, whereas for men, self-efficacy in driving strongly predicted reckless driving, disregard for negative consequences was an important predictor for women. The results are discussed in view of an evaluating process of personal cognitive-emotional resources and environmental support proposed by Lazarus. Recommendations are made regarding the potential effectiveness of using positive appeals in prevention interventions.     

Serial murderers' spatial decisions: factors that influence crime location choice

The outcome of German serial murderer spatial decision making was measured as the straight‐line distance (km) between murderer home locations and each crime location (i.e. body recovery location). Geographic and series development data, as well as information on age, intelligence, motive, marital status, employment status, and mode of transportation of 53 German serial murderers was collected from police and prosecution service files and judicial verdict records. Potential effects of the aforementioned factors on spatial decisions were assessed. Results showed that 63% of the murderers lived within 10 km of their crime locations. Home‐to‐crime distance was negatively correlated with murderer age and positively correlated with murderer IQ score. Results also showed that the mode of transportation used by murderers had an effect on their spatial decisions. Results are discussed in terms of understanding serial murderer spatial decision‐making and implications for police investigations. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Public attitudes about the culpability and punishment of young offenders

Opinions of 789 community adults were individually assessed, using a video-clip of an actual armed robbery and other measures, to determine whether attitudes toward the culpability and appropriate punishment of young offenders were linked to offenders' age, race, and physical appearance. Three major findings emerged: (1) community adults endorse the view that criminal choices of young offenders are influenced by their developmental immaturity and attribute more responsibility for the criminal act as the actor gets older; (2) the public has a relatively strong preference for differential treatment of juvenile and adult offenders; and (3) attitudes about culpability and punishment are not influenced by the culprit's race, physical maturity, or appearance of "toughness." Indications that punitive public opinion toward youth crime may be changing and implications for juvenile justice policy of the study's findings are discussed.     

Military and Crime: A Systematic Review of the Literature

ABSTRACT

This study systematically analyzed the literature on the effects of military participation on later criminal behavior. When all studies were analyzed as a whole, the findings did not indicate a clear effect. However, a focus upon specific offense types revealed that the military experience decreased non-violent crime but increased violent crime. Active military personnel tended to be less likely to commit crime. Some evidence demonstrated that male and non-white veterans committed more crime than their civilian counterparts, but future research is needed to replicate these subgroup differences. Theoretical implications and future research directions are also discussed.     

Crime,social status,and alienation

Explored the ecological consequences of crime and violence. Selected to reflect alienation between individuals and their settings, the criterion measures were fear of crime, avoidance behavior, anomia, and external locus of control. Exposure to crime was assessed at both individual and community levels. Using data from a large statewide sample of adult Kentuckians, hierarchical regression analyses were performed in which the criterion variables were regressed on measures of social status (e.g., education, sex), crime, and interactions between the two. The pattern of results highlighted the pervasive consequences of experiencing personal violence; effects of property crime and community-level exposure were more limited in scope. Social status also exerted strong effects on the criterion measures and modified many of the observed effects of crime. Implications of the study for interventions are discussed.