South African Serial Homicide: Offender and Victim Demographics and Crime Scene Actions

There is an abundance of literature on serial homicide from a Western perspective that outlines operational definitions, types of offenders and how they prey upon their victims. However, currently, there is a lack of studies that compare serial homicide in different countries. The current study aims to give an overview of the demographics of serial homicide offenders and victims in South Africa and compare these to the demographics of offenders and victims from other currently available empirical studies of other countries. The sample consisted of 33 out of the total 54 solved series in South Africa between 1936–2007, which includes a total of 33 offenders, 302 victims, and 254 crime scenes. Results of the sample as a whole showed that South African serial homicide offenders are similar to offenders in other countries in terms of their actions at the crime scene and victim choice, with some notable exceptions. Additional analysis looked at the offender's consistency of targeting certain types of victims across their homicide series in comparison with the patterns of serial homicide offenders in other countries. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

VALIDATION OF SOCIAL SKILLS OF ADOLESCENT MALES IN AN INTERVIEW CONVERSATION WITH A PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN ADULT

Seventy convicted young male offenders were videotaped during a 5-min standardized interview with a previously unknown adult. In order to determine the social validity of the behavioral components of social interaction for this population, measures of 13 behaviors were obtained from the tapes. These measures were then correlated with ratings of friendliness, social anxiety, social skills performance, and employability made by four independent adult judges from the same tapes. It was found that measures of eye contact and verbal initiations were correlated significantly with all four criterion rating scales. The frequencies of smiling and speech dysfluencies were both significantly correlated with ratings of friendliness and employability. The amount spoken was found to be a significant predictor of social skills performance whereas the frequency of head movements influenced judgments of social anxiety. The latency of response was negatively correlated with social skills and employability ratings and the frequency of question-asking and interruptions correlated significantly with friendliness, social skills, and employability ratings. Finally, the levels of gestures, gross body movements, and attention feedback responses were not found to influence judgments on any of the criterion scales. The implications of the study for selection of targets for social skills training for adolescent male offenders are discussed.     

Hurricane Katrina's impact on the mental health of adolescent female offenders

Abstract

Exposure to multiple traumatic events and high rates of mental health problems are common among juvenile offenders. This study draws on Conservation of Resources (COR) stress theory to examine the impact of a specific trauma, Hurricane Katrina, relative to other adverse life events, on the mental health of female adolescent offenders in Mississippi. Teenage girls (N=258, 69% African American) were recruited from four juvenile detention centers and the state training school. Participants were interviewed about the occurrence and timing of adverse life events and hurricane-related experiences and completed a self-administered mental health assessment. Hierarchical linear regression models were used to identify predictors of anxiety and depression. Pre-hurricane family stressors, pre-hurricane traumatic events, hurricane-related property damage, and receipt of hurricane-related financial assistance significantly predicted symptoms of anxiety and depression. Findings support COR theory. Family stressors had the greatest influence on symptoms of anxiety and depression, highlighting the need for family based services that address the multiple, inter-related problems and challenges in the lives of female juvenile offenders.     

Cognitive Processing Therapy for Incarcerated Adolescents with PTSD

Summary

Despite increased recognition of trauma's association with conduct disorders, trauma treatment for the conduct-disordered population has been neglected. This study evaluated the effect of short-term, cognitive processing therapy (CPT) treatment on self-reported symptoms of trauma, such as anxiety, depression, intrusion, avoidance, and numbing. After treatment, the CPT group showed significant declines in these symptoms, while the wait-list control group did not.     

A Mind-Body Approach to Domestic Violence Perpetrator Treatment: Program Overview and Preliminary Outcomes

Conventional interventions with perpetrators of domestic violence are marginally effective. Given these results, researchers and practitioners are beginning to focus on identifying ways to improve domestic violence treatment outcomes. This article describes how a rural state-sponsored domestic violence offender program utilizes a treatment approach known as Mind-Body Bridging to help its clients overcome their abusive behaviors. Preliminary findings from an ongoing outcome study are also reported. According to these findings, the program has a high completion rate coupled with a low recidivism rate. Ninety-three percent (82 of 88) of the clients who have participated in this program completed the program, and just 7%?(6 of 82) of those who completed the program reoffended during the follow-up period, which ranged from 9 to 27 months.     

Initial Implementation of the ARC Framework in Juvenile Justice Settings

Virtually all youth in detention have been exposed at least one traumatic event in their family system or in the community, and a vast majority have experienced cumulative traumatic events that led to major dysregulated states. Building on several seminal works on trauma-informed juvenile justice programs and on implementation research, this theoretical research-based paper aims to describe the preparation stage for implementation of the Attachment, Self-Regulation, and Competency framework (ARC) to a population of youth in detention. The ARC framework is well-suited to meet the complex needs of young offenders by focusing on building blocks that promote resiliency, including caregiver affect management and attunement, affect identification and modulation, and executive functions and self-identity. Based on this extensive preparation stage and a case illustration, recommendations and best practice protocols for making a shift towards a trauma-informed youth justice system are highlighted.     

Substance use patterns of young offenders and violent crime

The use of alcohol is a significant predictor of the involvement of young offenders in violent crime. This study found that in a sample of 300 incarcerated juveniles in New South Wales, more than 70% admitted to violent crime. Detainees from an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander culture were less likely than other detainees to be involved in violent crime. The substances most associated with violent crime were alcohol, followed by cocaine. However, when the likelihood that the young person has initiated violence as a response to alcohol or other substances is introduced into the equation, the direct effects for alcohol and cocaine predicting engagement in violent crime disappear. The Goldstein hypothesis that the effects of a substance directly facilitate violence, thereby accounting for the relationship between substances of use and violent crime, was supported. Aggr. Behav. 29:414–422, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

交往不良同伴对男性未成年犯攻击行为的影响:道德推脱的中介作用

以社会学习理论为基础,运用问卷调查法,通过对368名男性未成年犯的调查,分析了交往不良同伴对攻击行为的影响以及道德推脱在这一影响过程中的中介作用。结果发现:(1)交往不良同伴与男性未成年犯的道德推脱存在显著正相关(γ=0.29, p<0.001),与攻击行为也存在显著正相关 (γ=0.32, p<0.001),同时,道德推脱与攻击行为存在显著正相关 (γ=0.45, p<0.001);(2)交往不良同伴会对男性未成年犯的攻击行为产生显著的正向影响(γ=0.34, p<0.001),道德推脱也会对攻击行为产生显著的正向影响(γ=0.44, p<0.001),同时,道德推脱在交往不良同伴影响攻击行为的过程中发挥着部分中介作用。     

Decay functions and criminal spatial processes: geographical offender profiling of volume crime

Although it is now well established across diverse samples that the frequency of offending ‘decays’ as distance from the home/base increases, it remains unclear what form of decay function best characterises this relationship. Different forms of decay function reflect different patterns and rates of decrease in the likelihood of offending as distance from the home/base increases. These different patterns imply rather different underlying psychological processes. Therefore, considerations of the particular function characterising distance decay elucidate explanations of offender spatial behaviour. To bring to light the possible psychological and behavioural processes inherent in offending distance decay, the present study examined the fit of logarithmic, negative exponential, and quadratic decay functions to the distribution of the distances travelled to offend by a sample of 70 prolific burglars from the UK. It is argued that these functions are consistent with the operation of perceptual processes of magnitude estimation, friction or effort effects, and the influences of cost‐benefit assessments, respectively. The results indicate that offending distance decay patterns most closely fit the logarithmic function, consistent with Stevens' perceptual processes of distortion in magnitude estimation, whilst not ruling out additional processes relating to the increased effort required in travelling greater distances to offend. Because most geographical profiling systems are built upon the distance decay function, the impact of utilising the different forms of function on the accuracy of geographic profiles was also assessed utilising ‘search cost’ calculations. The results showed little impact of applying different decay functions. Thus, whilst the decay function does have important theoretical implications for understanding offender spatial behaviour, it is noted that the particular variant used does not significantly impact on the effectiveness of geographical profiling systems as they currently exist. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.