MedWorm.com provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest items from the 'Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling' source. Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:32:07 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5600301&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.1351 AbstractIn 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 (... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5600301 Mon, 16 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100 5600301 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5631339&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.1353 AbstractWhy is it that some serial offenders are arrested quickly and others only after a long period, or never at all? What characterises offenders who continue to escape arrest despite their continued involvement in crime? To be able to answer these questions, arrested (identified) offenders must be compared with never arrested (unidentified) offenders. In this paper, data from the Dutch DNA database are used to assess which characteristics of the criminal behaviour of unidentified offenders influence the probability that they will subsequently be arrested. DNA data offer a unique opportunity to compare crime series of identified offenders with crime series of yet unidentified offenders. Using the Cox proportional hazards model, we tested whether the number of crimes committed, offence s... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5631339 Sun, 01 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100 5631339 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5631338&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.1355 No abstract is available for this article. (Source: Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling) Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5631338 Sun, 01 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100 5631338 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5612397&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.1354 AbstractIn many European countries, providing a suspect in custody with legal aid before the first police interrogation is a heavily debated issue. In this paper, we report on an exploratory study on the use of coercion by the police and the use of the right to silence by suspects in 70 Dutch homicide cases and their relation to prior consultation and presence of a lawyer. Analysis of the data indicates that there is a relation between the presence of a lawyer in the interrogation room and the way in which police interrogators use coercion. To gain insight into whether the police use coercion and how this is achieved, we looked at the extent to which the interrogators make use of certain interrogation techniques and how the interrogation techniques are used to exert coercion. We found that... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5612397 Sat, 01 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5612397 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5600300&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.1352 This study examined the collective behaviour of the police during a football match at the 2006 Football World Cup. What peacekeeping and aggravating processes could be identified and what were their consequences? Data were collected using observation and field interviews. Some critical situations could have escalated into riots; however, the police showed trust in the majority of the supporters' intentions to be peaceful. Distrust was reserved for selected individuals who were under surveillance. This, together with tactics involving using different forces for different tasks and an overall organisational strategy focusing on the festivity of the event, was the main reason for the peaceful outcome. A friendly but firm approach was successful in keeping the peace. Copyright © 2012 John Wil... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5600300 Sat, 01 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5600300 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5489315&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.1350 This study manipulated the timing of evidence presentation to determine its effect on cues to deception, lie detection accuracy, and confession rates. Liars were less consistent with the evidence, and SUE was associated with higher lie detection accuracy. Results showed no difference between early and late disclosure of evidence on suspects' confession rates, nor on the diagnosticity of the confessions. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. (Source: Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling) Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5489315 Sat, 01 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5489315 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5412350&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.151 (Source: Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling) Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5412350 Sat, 01 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5412350 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5288620&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.150 No abstract is available for this article. (Source: Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling) Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5288620 Sat, 01 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5288620 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5013201&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.139 ABSTRACTInvestigators often take notes during witness interviews, which may be used when reconstructing interviews and writing reports. Little research has evaluated the content of interviewers' notes and how (accurately) they are transferred to reports. Thirteen US police investigators' notes from a witness interview were evaluated and compared with their subsequent reports. Results indicate that although information contained in notes is accurate (98%), a high percentage of interview information (68%) is omitted. Notes focus mainly on witness responses while neglecting interviewer questions/utterances. Although 94% of information contained in notes is accurately transferred to reports, interviewers fail to account for 40% of crime‐relevant information in their reports. On average, repo... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5013201 Wed, 06 Jul 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5013201 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5253782&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.149 AbstractTwo studies explored the validity of dichotomous classification of organised/disorganised serial killers and the four typologies (visionary, mission, hedonistic, and power/control) adopted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Tables documenting crime scene criteria were devised consisting of 50 typifying different crime scenes (Study 1) and 48 crime scenes (taken from the 50 crime scene criteria) with a further 10 motive‐based crime scene criteria (Study 2). Adopting content analysis, crime scenes depicted for 40 (Study 1) and 40 (Study 2) serial killers using secondary sources of data were dichotomously coded for the presence or absence of the crime scene criteria. These data were inputted for agglomerative hierarchical cluster using Ward's method as the clustering algo... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5253782 Wed, 01 Jun 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5253782 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5229328&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.148 This study aimed at extending the deception literature by examining lie‐telling strategies given by persons with criminal experience. In interviews taking place in prisons, offenders (n = 35) provided lie‐telling strategies in a free narrative style. In an inductive content analysis, we coded both all strategies provided as well as one principal strategy for each participant. In total, 13 strategies were identified, which were grouped into three broader category groups: general verbal, general nonverbal, and specific interview strategies. The most often stated strategies were Close to truth, Eye contact, and No strategy. The most often stated principal strategies were Close to truth, Not giving away information, and No strategy. Some participants provided strategies, such as not gi... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5229328 Wed, 01 Jun 2011 04:00:00 +0100 5229328 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5090533&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.141 AbstractLikelihood surface methods for geographic offender profiling rely on several assumptions regarding the underlying location choice mechanism of an offender. We propose an ex ante test for checking whether a given set of crime locations is compatible with two necessary assumptions: circular symmetry and distance decay. The proposed (SDD) test compares the observed inter point distances of a given series of crimes with a theoretical distribution function governed by these assumptions, using a Monte Carlo simulation procedure for approximating that distribution function. We apply the SDD test to data on serial burglary from both the UK and the Netherlands. In most cases, the assumption of an underlying symmetric distance decay function has to be rejected. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley &... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5090533 Tue, 31 May 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5090533 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5065692&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.145 AbstractThe purpose of this research was to investigate the efficacy of a novel information gathering technique for detecting truthful and deceptive verbal accounts in interview settings. Five police officers were trained to use each of the three interview techniques, namely tactical, strategic and early. Post‐training, each interviewed 30 mock suspects (five truth tellers and five liars in each interview condition) who had taken part in an immersive interactive computer game, competing as either a terrorist (deceiver) or a builder (truth tellers). Post‐interview, officers completed a questionnaire designed to collect veracity judgments, confidence levels and the type of interviewee behaviour that had influenced their veracity decision. Results revealed a significant advantage for dete... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5065692 Tue, 31 May 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5065692 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5065691&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.143 AbstractMany researchers have argued that the use of empathy in police interviews is beneficial to the rapport building process, with some arguing that its use may actually increase the number of admissions from specific cohorts of suspected offenders. Many police training protocols and guidelines also suggest that officers should use empathy during investigative interviews, yet no distinct definition is provided. This paper will provide a review of the current literature in the area and will discuss the meaning of empathy and its effectiveness during police interviews with those suspected of committing sexual offences. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. (Source: Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling) Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5065691 Tue, 31 May 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5065691 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5065690&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.144 This study was to evaluate the impact of PEACE interview training, workplace supervision and the presence of a legal advisor on the performance of police officers' interviewing suspects. One hundred seventy‐four real‐life interviews with suspects were obtained from six police forces in England and Wales. Officers trained and untrained in PEACE, and from police forces that did or did not have an interview supervision policy conducted the interviews. Interviews in this sample were generally of average standard. Whilst PEACE‐trained officers conducted longer interviews, there were no other statistical differences dependent on training. Nor were there any statistical differences dependent on the presence of a legal advisor. A workplace supervision policy was found to be related to perfor... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5065690 Tue, 31 May 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5065690 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5065689&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.138 AbstractConsiderable emphasis is placed on the importance of building rapport when interviewing witnesses and suspects. Despite the abundant literature on the working alliance in therapeutic settings, however, few studies have addressed the topic of ‘rapport’ in investigative interviewing. Conceptual analysis revealed a number of similarities between the two constructs. This finding suggests the possible benefits of using the theoretical therapeutic construct and operationalisation of the working alliance in order to gain insight into the dynamics of investigative interviewing in a police context.The present study examines the perceptions of witnesses and suspects regarding the working alliance in actual interviews. It also considers their perceptions of interviewing style, which is an... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5065689 Tue, 31 May 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5065689 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5065688&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.146 AbstractThe papers contained within the special issue represent some exciting innovations across different investigative bodies. In addition, all research presented has been conducted in the field. It is believed that such applied research, although often having methodological drawbacks, is of utmost importance in understanding the area from a holistic viewpoint. This special issue examines the role forensic psychology has had and is currently having in investigative interviewing in the real world. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. (Source: Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling) Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5065688 Tue, 31 May 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5065688 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5065687&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.147 No abstract is available for this article. (Source: Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling) Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5065687 Tue, 31 May 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5065687 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5065686&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.140 AbstractEven though white‐collar criminals (WCCs) cause financial damage and, at times, emotional and physical harm to individuals, organisations, and consumers, their crimes are viewed as being less harmful than street‐level crimes. Misperceptions that WCCs commit financial crimes because of a temporary moral lapse that represents an ‘out of character’ act for the offender still permeate the criminal justice system and academic venues. Yet, research shows that WCCs may display a pattern of criminal thinking that parallels street‐level offenders coupled with the same behavioural traits that serve as risk factors for offences to occur. Furthermore, the belief that WCCs are non‐violent is misguided, as there is a subgroup of WCCs who are willing to resort to violence, namely homi... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5065686 Tue, 31 May 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5065686 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5032596&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.142 AbstractThe percentage of older adults in the general population is growing. As a result, older adults are coming more frequently into contact with the Criminal Justice System as witnesses to and victims of crime. Older adults are also over‐represented in crimes where conversation detail is of particular importance to an investigation (e.g. distraction burglary). The present study therefore examined the efficacy of cognitive interview (CI) compared with structured interview in improving the recall of an event by older witnesses, specifically conversational detail. Young adults (19–54 years old), young‐old adults (60–74 years old), and old‐old adults (75+ years old) were asked to watch a short film of a laptop theft and were then, after a 1.5 hour delay, randomly allocated... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5032596 Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0100 5032596 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5013200&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.137 AbstractPrevious studies into the quality of investigating interviewing of suspects conducted in criminal investigations in England and Wales have almost exclusively focused on the skills and tactics employed by interviewing officers during interviews. However, interviewing officers are trained in an interviewing framework that includes the importance of evaluating interviews as a means of improving skills. In light of the scarcity of research concerning the evaluation task, this study examined perceptions of benefit fraud investigation personnel. A questionnaire was answered by 114 respondents including investigators, investigation managers, investigation trainers, and investigation inspectors. From their responses, it was evident that there was an understanding of the necessary skills re... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5013200 Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0100 5013200 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4907212&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.136 (Source: Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling) Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4907212 Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4907212 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4777262&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.135 AbstractObtaining a narrative account from a suspect during an investigative interview is recommended in the literature as best practice. However, research shows that interviewers have difficulty adhering to this recommendation. This paper aims to provide police officers who interview sex offender suspects with suggestions that may assist them in the application of a narrative framework. Our approach involved individual in‐depth interviews with experts (N = 16: police trainers, detectives, expert witnesses, defence barristers, and prosecutors) who were leaders in their relative fields, particularly in relation to interviews with sex offender suspects. Specifically, the experts were asked to talk about the process of interviewing and what constitutes a good interview with a sex offend... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4777262 Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4777262 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4514641&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.131 (Source: Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling) Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4514641 Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4514641 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4514640&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.132 AbstractAlthough 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, an... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4514640 Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4514640 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4514639&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.133 AbstractIntroducing a special issue of this journal, Youngs discussed the desirability of, but problems in realising, greater collaboration between psychology and the criminal investigation and trial processes. This paper acknowledges the value of investigative psychology's potential contribution but argues that the alleged incompatibilities, between psychology and law, are based upon too narrow a conception of law and legal action. A direct approach, with considerable potential for productive, principled, and practical research, already exists. It involves focusing on the evidence, assessing it along each of its three credentials, and identifying the nature of the inferential reasoning involved. This paper identifies a number of ways in which practical, inter‐disciplinary and collaborat... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4514639 Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4514639 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4514638&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.134 (Source: Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling) Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4514638 Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4514638 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4283206&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.129 AbstractThe following paper presents a case study of a convicted serial murderer. Through data from personal correspondence, police reports, a true crime novel, witness statements, medical examiner reports, court appeals, and crime scene reports from the actual murder cases, and most important, a series of psychological self‐report measures, a case study was developed. Included in the psychological measures were tests of general psychopathology, specific tests of psychopathy, anger and aggression scales, and sociological measures related to family, individual, situational, and community risk factors, as well as previous criminal behaviour, including weapon and drug use. The results of these various measures are incorporated into the life history and criminal activity of the individual. T... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4283206 Fri, 01 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0100 4283206 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4240036&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.127 AbstractLimited research exists on the impact of contextual factors such as victim intoxication and victim attire on police processing of a case of sexual assault. The effects of these variables were examined in a simulated sexual assault case. Participants were 125 detectives from the New South Wales Police Department. Officers read controverted witness statements and viewed photographs pertaining to an investigation of a report of date rape. Contrary to findings in earlier studies, complainant intoxication, ‘provocative’ dress, and gender of the officer had no influence on the likelihood of charging the alleged offender. Factors predictive of pressing charges were the perceived credibility of the complainant and culpability of the alleged offender. Credibility and guilt judgements we... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4240036 Fri, 01 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0100 4240036 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4235411&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.130 AbstractThe 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 th... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4235411 Fri, 01 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0100 4235411 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4198744&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.128 AbstractThe flawed interview of convicted killer Christopher Porco illustrates what occurs when a suspect's psychopathic traits are not considered in formulating an interview strategy. Specific areas of the dialogue between Christopher Porco and law enforcement demonstrates that traditional methods of interviewing may not produce a confession or valuable information when it comes to psychopathic suspects. Although the traditional goal of an interview is to obtain a confession or valuable information, law enforcement will have to display flexibility in the interview process by implementing alternative interview strategies and redefining what a successful interview is composed of when these suspects are unwilling to confess to their crimes. Failure to remain flexible, as displayed in the Chr... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4198744 Fri, 01 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0100 4198744 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4020750&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.124 (Source: Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling) Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4020750 Thu, 30 Sep 2010 23:00:00 +0100 4020750 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3778954&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.126 People involved in criminal proceedings (e.g. police officers, district attorneys, judges, and jury members) may run the risk of developing confirmation bias, or tunnel vision. That is, these parties may readily become convinced that the suspect is guilty, and may then no longer be open to alternative scenarios in which the suspect is actually innocent. This may be reflected in a preference for guilt-confirming investigation endeavours, as opposed to investigations that are aimed at confirming, or even excluding, alternative scenarios. In three studies, participants read a case file, and were subsequently instructed to select additional police investigations. Some of these additional endeavours were guilt-confirming (i.e. incriminating), whereas others were disconfirming (i.e. exonerating)... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3778954 Thu, 22 Jul 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3778954 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3770531&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.121 This study investigated whether high fantasy-prone individuals have superior storytelling abilities. It also explored whether this trait is related to specific linguistic features (i.e. self-references, cognitive complexity, and emotional words). Participants high (n = 30) and low (n = 30) on a fantasy proneness scale were instructed to write down a true and a fabricated story about an aversive situation in which they had been the victim. Stories were then examined using two verbal lie detection approaches: criteria-based content analysis (CBCA) and linguistic inquiry and word count (LIWC). Irrespective of the truth status of the stories, independent observers rated stories of high fantasy-prone individuals as being richer in all nine CBCA elements than those of low fantasy-prone individua... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3770531 Tue, 20 Jul 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3770531 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3756332&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.122 Published studies of forensic child sexual abuse (CSA) evaluations by mental health and medical professionals and paraprofessionals (MHPs) were analysed in order to evaluate two widely held assumptions. These related assumptions are (1) evidence that corroborates children's reports of sexual abuse is rare in forensic CSA evaluations; and (2) in the vast majority of evaluations, MHPs base their judgements about whether or not sexual abuse allegations are true on their assessments of children's reports of sexual abuse and other psychosocial data. Data from five chart review studies of a combined total of 894 forensic CSA evaluations provided sufficient information to assess the validity of these assumptions. Corroborative evidence was present in 36% of the 894 evaluations and in 54% of evalu... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3756332 Thu, 15 Jul 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3756332 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3716780&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.123 Research on the hindsight bias has shown that knowledge of an event outcome makes the observed outcome appear more predictable than it does in the absence of outcome knowledge. It was hypothesised that perceptions of the suggestiveness of a line-up would be similarly influenced by knowledge of a witness' identification decision, with a positive identification of the suspect increasing, and a negative non-identification decreasing, perceived suggestiveness. The ratings of undergraduate students (N = 50) in Experiment 1 showed the predicted influence of positive outcome, whereas negative outcome had no demonstrable influence. In contrast, Experiment 2, conducted with police trainees (N = 126) and with the line-up presented in the context of a criminal investigation, partially supported the p... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3716780 Thu, 01 Jul 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3716780 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3891130&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.125 (Source: Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling) Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3891130 Mon, 31 May 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3891130 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3838991&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.115 (Source: Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling) Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3838991 Mon, 31 May 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3838991 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3562487&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.115 No Abstract (Source: Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling) Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3562487 Thu, 13 May 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3562487 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3528535&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.120 This study replicates and extends previous research on the behavioural linking of burglaries. One hundred and sixty solved residential burglaries were sampled from a British police force. From these, 80 linked crime pairs (committed by the same serial offender) and 80 unlinked crime pairs (committed by two different serial offenders) were created. Following the methodology used by previous researchers, the behavioural similarity, geographical proximity, and temporal proximity of linked crime pairs were compared with those of unlinked crime pairs. Geographical and temporal proximity possessed a high degree of predictive accuracy in distinguishing linked from unlinked pairs as assessed by logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic analyses. Comparatively, other traditional mod... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3528535 Mon, 03 May 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3528535 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3413781&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.119 This article reports on a qualitative analysis of mock jurors' deliberations about expert linkage analysis evidence. Three groups of mock jurors (N = 20) were presented with the prosecution's linkage analysis evidence from the USA State v. Fortin I murder trial and expert evidence for the defence constructed for the purposes of the study. Each group was asked to deliberate and reach a verdict. Deliberations were video-recorded and subject to thematic content analysis. The themes that emerged were varied. Analysis suggested that the mock jurors were cautious of the expert evidence of behavioural similarity. In some cases they were sceptical of the expert. They articulated a preference that expert opinion be supported using statistics. Additional themes included jurors having misconceptions ... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3413781 Sun, 28 Mar 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3413781 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3401637&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.116 In order to prevent miscarriages of justice, police, prosecution, and judges must remain open to alternative scenarios in which the suspect is in fact innocent. In recent years, however, several studies have delivered results suggesting that open-mindedness is not always standard in criminal procedures. For example, Ask and Granhag (2005) found that police officers' estimation of the incriminating power of investigation findings was not affected by knowledge of an alternative suspect. The current first study replicated these findings in a mixed sample of police officers, district attorneys, and judges. In Study 2, this blindness to alternative scenarios did not emerge in a sample of university students. However, the estimation of the incriminating power of the evidence and the willingness ... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3401637 Thu, 25 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3401637 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3401636&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.117 Both theoretical and empirical studies of decision making in target selection have shown that this process is highly dependent on the physical environment. However, research specifically investigating decision making in sex offenders' target selection is scarce. The aims of the current study were to (1) identify target selection patterns in a mixed sample of 78 Canadian and Portuguese adult rapists, (2) investigate how geographical decision making influences target selection patterns, and (3) test the influence of the type of environment on target selection patterns. The results indicate that Canadian and Portuguese rapists exhibit different target selection patterns but that their geographical decision making is congruent and consistent with the environment within which they operate. Copy... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3401636 Thu, 25 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3401636 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3401635&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.118 Linkage analysis is a crucial part of the investigative process when faced with a possible series of related offences. Establishing behavioural consistency (i.e., offender's behaviours consistently present across the series) is at the core of linkage. Recent empirical studies have found little evidence of consistency looking at either individual or groups of behaviours in serial homicide. It is argued that behavioural changes are rooted in the changing cognitive strategies that offenders use to reach their ultimate goal (i.e. the commission of multiple homicides). Factors that could account for these changes include learning, situational factors, loss of control, and changes in the offender's fantasy. Patterns of behavioural change have been identified in serial crimes, such as rape. Howev... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3401635 Thu, 25 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3401635 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3838990&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.123 (Source: Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling) Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3838990 Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3838990 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3113414&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.114 Research on sex offenders has mainly guided clinical practice for risk assessment and therapeutic intervention. However, the current scientific knowledge on these offenders and their crimes is, in many aspects, of great importance to criminal investigations. Consequently, there is a need to build bridges between investigative psychology and the research being conducted on sex offenders. Four areas of research on sex offenders that have clear implications to investigative psychology can be identified: (1) the consistency or 'crime-switching' patterns of sex offenders; (2) the recidivism patterns of different types of sex offenders; (3) the police response to specific victim characteristics; and (4) the A [rarr] C equation of sexual assaults. This paper argues for a need to establish a dialo... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3113414 Wed, 23 Dec 2009 15:03:09 +0100 3113414 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2929613&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.113 Juvenile sexual homicide is rare, occurring just 10-15 times a year in the United States. No study addressing how convicted juvenile sexual murderers adjust upon reentering the community exists. A safety concern, given this research gap, is the social movement afoot to abolish life sentences for juvenile offenders. If successful, then more of these offenders will be released back into society. This descriptive study examined: (1) the clinical findings and legal outcomes of 22 sexually homicidal juveniles following arrest; and (2) the relationship between post-incarceration community adjustment and the variables of sexual sadism and psychopathy. All 22 offenders were tried in adult court - 59% received one or more life sentences. Conduct disorder, personality disorders, sexual sadism, and p... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2929613 Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0100 2929613 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2892874&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.108 Can we tell where an offender lives from where he or she commits crimes? Journey-to-crime estimation is a tool that uses crime locations to tell us where to search for a serial offender's home. In this paper, we test a new method: empirical Bayes journey-to-crime estimation. It differs from previous methods because it utilises an 'origin-destination' rule in addition to the 'distance decay' rule that prior methods have used. In the new method, the profiler not only asks 'what distances did previous offenders travel between their home and the crime scenes?' but also 'where did previous offenders live who offended at the locations included in the crime series I investigate right now?'. The new method could not only improve predictive accuracy, it could also reduce the traditional distinction... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2892874 Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2892874 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2892875&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.106 This study examined telephone bomb threats and offender characteristics in Japan (N = 101). The results showed that the most frequent offenders were middle-aged men (mean 42.6 years), motivated by desire for money (46%), resentment (26%), or diversion (24%). In the case of female offenders, most were connected with the targets (83%). Categorical principle component analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis differentiated the offenders into three themes. 'Instrumental' offenders telephoned the target directly (e.g. a bank or department store), demanding money by public phone. 'Expressive/affective' offenders motivated by resentment telephoned from their home and almost never had a criminal record. 'Expressive/cognitive' offenders motivated by diversion targeted railways and mostly telephon... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2892875 Tue, 13 Oct 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2892875 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2888885&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.110 This study tested the Bayesian journey-to-crime (JTC) model by gender and age for serial offenders from Manchester, England. The data were 4056 crimes committed by 171 serial offenders between 2003 and 2006. The data were subdivided by gender and age group to examine whether accuracy and precision varied by these subgroups. In general, the centre of minimum distance was found to be the most accurate measure, but the Bayesian risk and product measures were found to be the most precise measurements. The traditional 'distance decay' type of JTC function did not produce estimates that are as accurate nor as precise as the Bayesian approach. Tests were conducted on whether specific gender and age group JTC functions and origin-destination matrices improved predictability. With the exception of ... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2888885 Tue, 13 Oct 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2888885 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2888884&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.111 We begin by describing some of the mathematical foundations of the geographic profiling problem. We then present a new mathematical framework for the geographic profiling problem based on Bayesian statistical methods that makes explicit connections between assumptions on offender behaviour and the components of the mathematical model. It also can take into account local geographic features that either influence the selection of a crime site or influence the selection of an offender's anchor point. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. (Source: Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling) Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2888884 Tue, 13 Oct 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2888884 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2806266&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.103 A sample of stranger rape offences (n = 271) registered in the Dutch Violence Crime Linkage Analysis System database in the Netherlands between 1997 and 2007 was studied with the objective of developing statistical models, which give an indication of the probability of basic offender characteristics. Observable crime characteristics concerning the modus operandi, interaction between the offender and the victim, violence, precautionary measures, and sexual behaviours were selected in the dataset. Offender characteristics were selected based on their usefulness for the police organisation in narrowing the scope of a criminal investigation. Spatial behaviour, criminal history, and living situation of the offender were selected. From the predictive models, four out of five achieved a correct r... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2806266 Thu, 17 Sep 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2806266 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2747003&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.104 This study examined the possibility that wearing a uniform constitutes an authority cue that adversely affects a child's ability to make accurate eyewitness identifications. Sixty participants aged 9-10 years old witnessed a staged crime and were later asked to identify a 'burglar' from a simultaneous line-up using a 2 (uniform: present vs. absent) × 2 (target: present vs. absent) design. Children in the uniform present conditions made significantly more choices than children in the uniform absent conditions. More importantly, in the presence of a uniform, children made significantly more false identifications in target-absent line-ups. Analysis of supplementary, identification-related variables (identification time and confidence, state anxiety) suggested that (1) the children experience... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2747003 Sun, 30 Aug 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2747003 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2747004&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.101 The present study investigated guilty mock-suspects' counter-interrogation tactics with respect to the disclosure of possibly self-incriminating information, specifically, to what extent the disclosure of this information was moderated by (1) the suspects' criminal experience (naïve versus experienced) and (2) the degree of suspicion directed towards the suspects (low versus high). We found that experienced (versus naïve) suspects volunteered less self-incriminating information in an initial free recall phase. In a similar vein, when asked crime-specific questions, naïve (versus experienced) suspects admitted having committed more actions fitting with the crime under investigation. Furthermore, experienced suspects' willingness to report information was not affected by the degree of sus... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2747004 Sat, 29 Aug 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2747004 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2704798&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.100 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 environmenta... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2704798 Sun, 16 Aug 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2704798 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2673295&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.102 Researchers have identified several threats to the validity of the use of the lineup as a test of true recognition. One concern is related to the structure of the simultaneous lineup. It is argued here that a simultaneous presentation of an array nonetheless requires the viewer to undertake sequential processing of the items in the array. This sequential pattern is unlikely to be random and therefore the position of a culprit in a lineup may have a significant effect on the accuracy of witness selection. A simulated crime (snatching of a handbag) was shown to a convenience sample of 84 undergraduates aged between 18-23 years. In 84 subsequent live lineups, the offender was placed with four foils. He was positioned on the far left (position 1) in 42 cases (50%), and in 14 cases respectively... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2673295 Wed, 05 Aug 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2673295 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2461642&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.95 The question of whether to disclose evidence to a suspect early on, or later, in an interview is often of critical importance for police officers' interviewing strategies. To shed light on this issue, an experiment was conducted in which 95 participants each committed a mock-theft as a hidden 'witness' observed them. A statement from the witness was presented to them during a subsequent interview in which they were 'suspects'. The time at which this evidence was disclosed to participants, and the evidence strength, was manipulated. Each participant was randomly assigned to one of four conditions; Early Weak, Early Strong, Late Weak, or Late Strong. Both late evidence disclosure, and strong evidence, produced higher confession rates than did early disclosure or weak evidence, and late discl... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2461642 Mon, 08 Jun 2009 02:09:53 +0100 2461642 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2430698&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.97 The purpose of this study is to compare field investigative interviews of children (FIIC) with three different legal outcomes in child sexual abuse cases: (i) insufficient evidence to proceed (IEP); (ii) convictions; or (iii) acquittals by the court. One hundred FIIC were divided into one of the three outcome possibilities. Amongst the female interviewees older than 10 years, there were no cases of acquittals and the convicted cases were over-represented. The children's response to open questions was found to be the main difference between the three FIIC outcomes. The responses to these open questions were 1.9 and 2.3 times longer in the convicted cases compared to acquittals and IEP. Possible explanations for the result are discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. (Source: Jou... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2430698 Sun, 24 May 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2430698 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2430699&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.96 The paper summarises the main findings obtained in a wide study on the construction of deviant actions' narratives. In this paper, we focused on two topics: both topics are crucial to suggest new directions in investigative psychology. Narratives provide investigative psychologists with new sets of tools to define criminal profiles, such as narrative profiling. This paper deals with a qualitative investigation undertaken by collecting narrative interviews. These interviews were conducted with 34 prisoners held in two penal institutes in Rome and their goal was to reveal the typical form of constructing accounts taken in a non-investigative context. The specific aim of the project was to show whether differences exist in the narrative accounts provided by perpetrators of crime considering t... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2430699 Fri, 22 May 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2430699 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2410176&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.90 The question of how courts assess expert evidence - especially when mental disability is an issue - raises the corollary question of whether courts adequately evaluate the content of the expert testimony or whether judicial decision making may be influenced by teleology ('cherry picking' evidence), pretextuality (accepting experts who distort evidence to achieve socially desirable aims), and/or sanism (allowing prejudicial and stereotyped evidence). Such threats occur despite professional standards in forensic psychology and other mental health disciplines that require ethical expert testimony. The result is expert testimony that, in many instances, is at best incompetent and at worst biased. The paper details threats to competent expert testimony in a comparative law context - in both the... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2410176 Fri, 15 May 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2410176 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2336696&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.92 Since its heyday in the 1970s and 1980s, hypnosis as an investigative procedure has declined in popularity such that many experts now consider it to be more a liability than a useful forensic tool. Indeed, in the US, a majority of the states follow a per se exclusion rule, prohibiting any memories retrieved during or after hypnosis from being introduced into evidence. In this paper, factors contributing to the demise of investigative hypnosis are re-examined. It is concluded that a per se exclusion rule is overly inclusive, but it is advisable for investigators to avoid using hypnosis when other, less contentious alternatives, such as the cognitive interview, are available. Nevertheless, it often goes unrecognised that a more positive legacy of investigative hypnosis is very present in mod... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2336696 Sat, 18 Apr 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2336696 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2336697&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.91 Expert witnesses offering testimony in sexually violent predator civil commitment trials may use diagnostic labels that are either familiar (e.g. 'psychopath') or unfamiliar (e.g. 'paraphilia') to jurors. Using predictions based on cognitive experiential self-theory, we explored the influence of testimony type (clinical versus actuarial) and diagnostic label (psychopath versus paraphilia) on jurors motivated to adopt either an experiential processing mode (PM; in which heuristic cues may be strongly relied upon) or an analytic rational PM. Consistent with previous research, our results indicated that when given a psychopathic diagnostic label, mock jurors motivated to process information experientially were more influenced by clinical testimony, whereas mock jurors induced into a rational ... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2336697 Thu, 16 Apr 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2336697 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2316384&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.93 No Abstract (Source: Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling) Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2316384 Wed, 08 Apr 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2316384 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2316383&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.94 No Abstract (Source: Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling) Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2316383 Wed, 08 Apr 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2316383 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2291274&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.88 Aimed at critically examining how offenders and offences are conceptualised, Investigative Psychology has seen a substantial increase in studies of crime scene behaviours and offender characteristics using multidimensional scaling (MDS) analyses that build thematic models of crime scene behaviours based on the co-occurrence variables and then testing the frameworks by determining if cases are dominant in a single thematic region. Although methods have been developed, issues that arise from using different methods and the effect on the results obtained have never been thoroughly discussed. Framed in the context of the evolution of how people have been classified in offender profiling research and elsewhere, this paper examines the established procedures used in MDS studies to determine domi... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2291274 Thu, 26 Mar 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2291274 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2291276&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.86 Entrepreneurship, or more importantly, entrepreneurial behaviour, is not a subject one normally associates with policing per se. By considering this slippery subject in relation to police leadership styles and how they influence the investigation of crime, this essay opens up considerations of organisational theory within the rubric of investigative psychology. The tying of the meaning of being an entrepreneur into the dominant narrative of police leadership opens up fruitful lines for empirical enquiry. This is achieved via an auto-ethnographic focus. This is important because such work is currently lacking in the fields of investigative psychology and offender profiling. At present, the prevailing organisational ethos in policing is that success is measured by promotion and the focus of ... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2291276 Tue, 24 Mar 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2291276 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2291275&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.87 This study underscores the importance of analyses of specific types of murderers. In comparison with homicide arrestees, those arrested for sexual murder were more likely to be male, less likely to be black, and about as likely to be under 18. Consistent with previous literature, sexual murderers in this study were more likely to use personal and close contact weapons than firearms and other more distant methods of killing. Several significant differences emerged in weapons selected to kill different victim types between juvenile and adult offenders. Findings with respect to weapon selection by offender age groups are consistent with Heide's physical strength hypothesis. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. (Source: Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling) Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2291275 Tue, 24 Mar 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2291275 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2279955&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.84 The objective of this study was to analyse Swedish child sexual abuse cases from 1989 to 2004 characterised by the following: (1) conviction in first trial in a court of appeal; (2) the Supreme Court later accepted a petition for a new trial; and (3) acquittal in second trial in the same court of appeal (with new judges). The study was conducted to determine what criteria were used for evaluating psychological child-related information and how they were applied. Eight argument themes were identified in the reasoning of the courts: (1) ability to perceive, remember, and communicate about experiences in a reliable way; (2) influence before first forensic interview; (3) influence during forensic interview/s; (4) motives for disclosing/retracting; (5) statement characteristics; (6) disclosure ... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2279955 Sat, 21 Mar 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2279955 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2265896&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.85 Using archival records from the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune, 1851-1899, the current project examines the post-offence characteristics of 19th-century American parricides. Post-offence behaviours of 100 parricide offenders were gathered. Results indicate that post-offence behaviours of parricide offenders can be thematically classified into those that reflect a continuity of violence, attempts to cover up the crime, and unusual behaviours. The implications of post-offence behaviours of parricide offenders in the context of law, mental illness, and criminological theory are discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. (Source: Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling) Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2265896 Sun, 15 Mar 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2265896 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2114452&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.81 This study reprised social psychologist Susan Fiske's role as expert witness in a sexual discrimination case in which a claim was successfully brought by an assertive female accountant against her employers, Price Waterhouse. It explored whether a female expert would be judged by mock jurors as more effective than a male expert in the case of an equivalent gender role-violating (i.e. feminine) male employee, and whether judgements would be influenced by the employee's occupation type - male dominated (accountancy) or female dominated (midwifery). Participants responded to a range of case-related questions after reading a 'judge's summary' of a hypothetical action alleging sexual discrimination in the workplace by means of sexual stereotyping. Expert witness' sex, plaintiff's (i.e. employee... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2114452 Tue, 09 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2114452 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2114451&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.80 This study focused on crimes with no physical crimes sites (i.e. no physical contact occurred between the victim and the offender). A single offender made obscene phone calls to 86 children during the years 1999-2000 in the south of Sweden. The locations in which obscene phone calls were received were analysed in a geographical profiling system (Dragnet) to see whether it could provide a map that showed the most likely area the offender would reside in. The purpose of this study was to explore whether geographical software such as Dragnet can be used by investigators of crimes with no physical crime locations. The result showed that the offender in this case had his home close to the region assigned the highest probability of containing home or base, which indicates that Dragnet can provid... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2114451 Tue, 09 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2114451 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2114450&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.83 Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterised by affective, interpersonal, antisocial, and lifestyle elements. Studies of the association between psychopathy (e.g. as operationalised in the Psychopathy Checklist - Revised) and criminal behaviour suggest that police interviewers and interview advisors would benefit from an understanding of how psychopathic suspects are likely to behave during investigative interviews. Approaches to the identification of psychopathic characteristics in suspects are considered with reference to the P-Scan screening tool and possible indicators of psychopathic characteristics in serious offences. Psychopathic characteristics that are likely to impact upon interview behaviour are outlined in order to suggest how the effects of these may be anticipated, an... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2114450 Tue, 09 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2114450 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2114449&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.74 The purpose of the present study is to test the case linkage principles of behavioural consistency and behavioural distinctiveness using serial vehicle theft data. Data from 386 solved vehicle thefts committed by 193 offenders were analysed using Jaccard's, regression and Receiver Operating Characteristic analyses to determine whether objectively observable aspects of crime scene behaviour could be used to distinguish crimes committed by the same offender from those committed by different offenders. The findings indicate that spatial behaviour, specifically the distance between theft locations and between dump locations, is a highly consistent and distinctive aspect of vehicle theft behaviour; thus, intercrime and interdump distance represent the most useful aspects of vehicle theft for th... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2114449 Tue, 09 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2114449 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2114448&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.79 This paper explores the extent to which the diagnosis of personality disorder is valid and reliable, whether such a diagnosis conveys useful information of predictive value to forensic psychology, and thus, the extent to which such a diagnosis may be of use in investigative psychology. It argues that the diagnostic criteria are of questionable reliability, validity, and utility. Using a recently developed model of the psychological underpinnings of the problematic thoughts, emotions, and behaviours encompassed by the term 'personality disorder', it argues that such problems emerge from psychological processes that are part of the 'normal' architecture of cognition rather than from an 'abnormal' psychology particular to personality disorder. Great caution is therefore urged before investiga... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2114448 Tue, 09 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2114448 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2114447&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.82 We present two lie detection approaches based on cognitive theory. The first approach, 'measuring cognitive load', assumes that the mere act of lying generates observable signs of cognitive load. This is the traditional cognitive lie detection approach formulated by Zuckerman, DePaulo, & Rosenthal (1981). The second approach, 'imposing cognitive load', was developed by us (Vrij, Fisher, Mann, & Leal, 2006) and goes one step further. Here, the lie detector attempts to actively increase the differences between lying and truth telling by introducing mentally taxing interventions. We assume that people require more cognitive resources when they lie than when they tell the truth to produce their statements, and therefore will have fewer cognitive resources left over to address these mentally ta... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2114447 Tue, 09 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2114447 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2114446&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.76 In the last 10 years, following the incidence of serious acts of school violence - particularly multiple homicides on school campuses - much attention has focused on the potential causal role of violent video game exposure. Some scholars have attempted to draw links between laboratory and correlational research on video game playing and school shooting incidents. This paper argues that such claims are faulty and fail to acknowledge the significant methodological and constructional divides between existing video game research and acts of serious aggression and violence. It is concluded that no significant relationship between violent video game exposure and school shooting incidents has been demonstrated in the existing scientific literature, and that data from real world violence call such... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2114446 Tue, 09 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2114446 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1144045&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.66 Despite the popular perception that criminal investigations are often solved through the collection of objective or scientific evidence, most cases submitted for prosecution rely on confessions by suspects. Surprisingly, very little is known about which techniques are effective at eliciting admissions from guilty suspects, and in turn, which might be considered to be coercive. In the current study, 200 mock jurors (in Australia) were asked to rate the acceptability of 13 common police interviewing techniques (such as pointing out contradictions, minimisation, silence, etc.). Subjects read one of four versions of a transcript of an interrogation with a suspected sex offender. The transcripts only differed in one detail, the final outcome of the interrogation, with each subject reading one o... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1144045 Sun, 13 Jan 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1144045 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=992661&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.60 No abstract. (Source: Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling) Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=992661 Wed, 31 Oct 2007 04:00:00 +0100 992661 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=992660&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.61 No abstract. (Source: Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling) Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=992660 Wed, 31 Oct 2007 04:00:00 +0100 992660 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=992659&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.62 No abstract. (Source: Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling) Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=992659 Wed, 31 Oct 2007 04:00:00 +0100 992659 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=992658&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.63 No abstract. (Source: Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling) Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=992658 Wed, 31 Oct 2007 04:00:00 +0100 992658 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=951296&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.59 This study examined the content of a contemporary sample of behavioural investigative advice reports produced by the National Policing Improvements Agency (NPIA), formally known as the National Centre for Policing Excellence, and compared this sample with previous offender-profiling samples reported by Alison, Smith, Eastman, and Rainbow in 2003. Forty-seven reports written in 2005 were content analysed. The reports contained 805 claims, although 96% of the claims contained grounds for their claim, only 34% had any formal support or backing. In terms of confirmability, 70% of the claims were verifiable. However, only 43% were falsifiable, in that they could be objectively measured post-conviction. Analysis also showed that there were differences when comparing the different types of claims... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=951296 Mon, 15 Oct 2007 04:00:00 +0100 951296 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=663368&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.54 The article discusses the field of Forensic Psychology in Czech Republic. It concentrates upon the successes and stagnations of the field, which can be attributed to the political and historical development of the country. After a brief historical background and demographic information, the article introduces the history and structure of the police force and prison service. The article then moves on to discuss the history and publication development of the field of Forensic Psychology and its use in practice. It characterizes the field from its beginnings between the two wars, to the activities of the Research Institute of Penology from 1967 to1980 and the years following the political change of 1989. The article concludes with the law framework within which the field operates. Based upon ... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=663368 Thu, 14 Jun 2007 04:00:00 +0100 663368 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=663369&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.55 Jaccard has been the choice similarity metric in ecology and forensic psychology for comparison of sites or offences, by species or behaviour. This paper applies a more powerful hierarchical measure - taxonomic similarity ([Dgr]s), recently developed in marine ecology - to the task of behaviourally linking serial crime. Forensic case linkage attempts to identify behaviourally similar offences committed by the same unknown perpetrator (called linked offences). [Dgr]s considers progressively higher-level taxa, such that two sites show some similarity even without shared species. We apply this index by analysing 55 specific offence behaviours classified hierarchically. The behaviours are taken from 16 sexual offences by seven juveniles where each offender committed two or more offences. We de... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=663369 Fri, 01 Jun 2007 04:00:00 +0100 663369 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=285633&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.48 No abstract. (Source: Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling) Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=285633 Thu, 23 Nov 2006 12:45:02 +0100 285633 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=285632&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.51 The linking of a series of crimes to one individual has always been problematic, especially in the absence of eyewitness or forensic evidence. During the investigation, another means whereby this can be done is through linkage analysis. Yet a linkage analysis can also play a role during the trial of a serial offender. This paper examines the use of a linkage analysis report as evidence during the trial of the Newcastle serial murderer in South Africa. The linkage analysis examined the circumstances of the crime, modus operandi, and signature behaviour of the offender, to come to the conclusion that all the offences were committed by one individual, despite the lack of eyewitness or forensic evidence linking the suspect to two of the four incidents. This evidence was admitted by the court a... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=285632 Thu, 23 Nov 2006 12:45:02 +0100 285632 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=285631&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.52 This study intends to assess the effect of long-term training on police officers' use of open and closed questions in investigative interviews of children. One hundred field investigative interviews of children were divided into two groups based on the interviewers' level of competence (training and experience). The police officers' questions were classified into groups of either open or closed. In all interviews, the mean numbers were 20 open and 217 closed questions, corresponding to an open-closed question ratio of 1:10. The most competent interviewers used 22 open questions and the less competent used 19 open questions, but the difference was not statistically significant. Analyses of variance (ANOVA) showed a significant effect of question but no main effect of competence. ANOVA revea... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=285631 Thu, 23 Nov 2006 12:45:02 +0100 285631 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=285630&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.50 Fifty children, aged between 4 and 7 years, underwent a sequential photo line-up procedure in order to identify a man they had met the previous day. Half of the participants engaged in a pre-procedure gameplay with the female interviewer. It was hypothesised that the game would stimulate rapport building and would ultimately result in an increased performance during the line-up procedure. The beneficial effect was indeed observed, but only for the male participants. This finding suggests that gameplay may be a fruitful strategy to decrease child witness discomfort and to increase participation. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. (Source: Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling) Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=285630 Thu, 23 Nov 2006 12:45:02 +0100 285630 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=283285&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.49 Using data on residential burglaries and residential burglars in The Hague, this study addresses the issue of whether solitary offenders choose their target areas differently from the way offender groups do. It is hypothesised that, in general, burglars are attracted to neighbourhoods that are nearby their homes, nearby the city centre, affluent, physically accessible, and characterised by social disorganisation. In addition, differences between solitary burglars and co-offending burglar groups regarding the strength of these criteria are assessed. The results support the postulated relevance of physical accessibility and proximity to the offenders' homes for both single offenders and co-offending groups. However, solitary burglars and burglar groups seem to agree on what constitutes an at... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=283285 Sun, 01 Oct 2006 06:00:00 +0100 283285 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=213268&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.37 No Abstract (Source: Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling) Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=213268 Fri, 29 Sep 2006 18:00:01 +0100 213268 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=213267&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.39 No Abstract (Source: Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling) Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=213267 Fri, 29 Sep 2006 18:00:01 +0100 213267 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=213266&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.47 This study examined the comparative efficacy of two brief techniques for facilitating eyewitness memory in police investigations. Adult and child participants (N = 126; 64 children and 62 adults) who had viewed a videotape of a crime were subsequently tested for their memory of the event following either a focused meditation procedure (FM, derived from hypnotic interviewing techniques), a context reinstatement procedure (CR, a component of the cognitive interview), or a control procedure (no memory facilitation instructions). For both adults and children, the FM and CR procedures enhanced performance on both open-ended and closed questions to levels above those achieved by controls, although those in the CR condition produced significantly more correct responses than those in the FM condit... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=213266 Fri, 29 Sep 2006 18:00:01 +0100 213266 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=213265&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.38 Earlier studies in Western countries have shown remarkably consistent spatial patterns in serial offenders, mainly for serious crimes notably serial killing and rape, but also (although with less clear patterns) for burglary. The universality of such spatial patterns are of theoretical interest in contributing to our understanding of criminal spatial behaviour and have practical significance for the possibility of using geographic profiling in developing countries. As such, burglars in India provide a particularly interesting test of the generality of the observed spatial consistencies. Information was therefore obtained on the offence location choices of 30 burglars, committing 150 offences in the Rourkela and Keonjhar districts of India. The home to crime distances were compared with tho... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=213265 Fri, 29 Sep 2006 18:00:01 +0100 213265 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=213264&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.45 Many studies have shown that distributions of the distances that offenders travel in the commission of their offences are typically characterised by a decay function. However, there are few empirical comparisons of the different mathematical functions which may characterise such distributions. Further, there has been little consideration of what different forms of function may reflect about the underlying factors and psychological processes governing this aspect of the journey to crime. With the increasing use of geographical profiling systems which incorporate decay functions into their calculations, it is particularly of value to explore the most appropriate mathematics for describing the frequencies of crime journeys and to determine the impact of different decay functions on the effect... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=213264 Fri, 29 Sep 2006 18:00:01 +0100 213264 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=213263&cid=s_33734_36_f&fid=33734&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%252Fjip.46 The current article addresses the continuing debate as to the accuracy of geographic profiling methods in predicting the location of serial crime offenders. In particular, the research addresses whether spatial distribution methods and humans using simple heuristics are as accurate at predicting home locations of offenders as more complex algorithm-based methods such as RIGEL, DRAGNET, and Crimestat. Using a random sample of solved serial crimes, the research found that predictions by human judges and spatial distribution methods performed equally as well as more complex algorithm-based methods. In addition to a discussion of findings, implications for police investigations and researchers are included. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. (Source: Journal of Investigative Psychology ... Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling journals http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=213263 Thu, 01 Jun 2006 06:00:00 +0100 213263