Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling最新文献

Few earlier studies have investigated the effects of highly stressful, realistic, violent, and threatening scenarios on eyewitness identification accuracy in an ecologically valid setting. The majority of studies have relied on laboratory-based simulated (videos/images) experiments. The present study investigated line-up accuracy approximately 1 week after a hostage simulation event. We administered biased line-up instructions to 50% of participants to investigate how this impacted choosing behaviour and accuracy. Based on 1030 line-up decisions (N = 122), we found that average accuracy was 38% in target present (TP) and 54% in target absent (TA) line-ups and that biased line-up instructions decreased overall accuracy (vs. unbiased). The hit rate for TP line-ups with biased instructions was 0.43 (unbiased instructions: 0.33), while the false alarm rate for TA line-ups with biased instructions was 0.60 (unbiased instructions: 0.32). We found that high confidence was associated with correct identifications and that shorter response times were indicative of correct rejections. Our findings demonstrate, in a more realistic scenario than the majority of eyewitness identification studies, the effect that biased line-up instructions lead to increased choosing and decreased accuracy.

Femicide, the lethal form of gender-based violence against women, is a global health crisis that transcends class and ethnicity. To date, there is no working model for differentiating male femicide offenders within Northern Ireland (NI); therefore, the current study aimed to do this, focusing on the timeframe of the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. The research has drawn on newspaper articles reporting on the 11 NI femicides perpetrated over a period of 20 months. These crimes were content analysed for the presence or absence of 16 pre-identified offender variables. The data was analysed using a multi-dimensional scaling procedure called Smallest Space Analysis (SSA). Two distinct themes emerged: Chronic Criminal Abuser and Mentally Disturbed. The qualitative data obtained on offender characteristics aligned with the preliminary model for differentiation. Forensic implications pertinent to risk assessment and management are considered. It is argued that NI adopt an active violence against women and girls (VAWG) strategy to effectively tackle the issue of Femicide. Future research may consider a retrospective study of NI Femicide offenders to firmly establish the types of offenders committing femicide for targeted resource allocation.

Dysfunctional personality and psychopathological characteristics are increasingly studied in offenders separately, but only a few studies have analysed their relationship in this specific population. In this research, we focus on the so-called Dark Triad personality, consisting of the Machiavellian, the narcissistic and the psychopathic personalities. The main objective of this study was to examine the association between Dark Triad personality and psychopathology and also to know the role of these mental health variables in recidivism. Participants were 63 offenders (44 men and 19 women) from two different penitentiary institutions. Sociodemographic data as well as clinical and personality characteristics were recorded. Psychopathology was assessed with the third version of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory and dark personality with the Short Dark Triad. Results of descriptive statistical analyses revealed a high prevalence of psychopathology in convicted participants and reincarcerated offenders. Correlational analyses showed a strong relation between the Dark Triad personality and psychopathology, being the psychopathic personality the one with the highest association. Finally, we found that the psychopathological variables contributing most to the discrimination of reincarcerated participants were substance and alcohol abuse disorders and in relation to dysfunctional personality were psychopathy and narcissism, the latter in negative direction. These data highlight the relevance of a necessity for research exploring long-term patterns of re-incarceration for both men and women, including mental health disorders and personality models. The importance of taking into account the relationship between variables in preventive and treatment interventions inside and outside penitentiary institutions is discussed.

This study investigated predictive factors of prisoners' denial of guilt for their alleged crimes during interrogation. We administered a self-reported questionnaire to new male prisoners who were convicted of theft and/or fraud and had denied the crime during interrogation. First, we analysed the reasons for their denial and identified factors of Anxiety and Refusal. Next, we investigated which interrogator's behaviour the prisoners believed had influenced their denial and identified three factors: Persuasion, Non-Presentation of Evidence, and Confrontation. Finally, we examined whether the prisoners' denial at the conclusion of interrogation would be predicted by these factors, specifically in terms of the prisoners' reasons for denial, the interrogator's behaviour and the characteristics of the prisoners and their crimes. The results revealed that marital status, and Anxiety and Non-Presentation of Evidence were predictive of denial at the conclusion of interrogation. Interrogators need to consider these factors when interviewing denying suspects.

Filicide is defined as the killing of children from birth to age 18 by a natural or step-parent. The legal definition of filicide in Korea does not impose such age limits. Although families in contemporary Korea are nuclear in structure, they were multigenerational prior to the industrialisation that occurred during the second half of the twentieth century. While psychiatric and evolutionary theories have been predominantly used in the filicide literature, prior works have neglected to examine how culture shapes violence against one’s offspring. This paper explores the offence, offender, and victim characteristics in South Korean filicides (1948–1962) through a content analysis of a major newspaper (Chosun Ilbo). Results indicate that filicides occur in one-on-one contexts, primarily carried out by biological parents against their offspring while adoptive children appeared as victims due to the genealogical customs practiced in Korean society. Results indicate that more than 12% of filicide victims are adults. The implications of our findings are discussed.

In addition to being an unusual form of crime, sexual homicide (SH) sometimes includes unusual crime scene behaviours, such as carving on the victim, evisceration (i.e., removal of internal organs), skinning the victim, cannibalism and vampirism. The current study investigates these unusual crime scene behaviours to better understand their meaning as well as to explore whether such behaviours are associated with a specific crime-commission process. Using a sample of 762 SH cases, the study uses a combination of chi-square and stepwise forward logistic regression analyses to identify the differences between cases with and without unusual acts. Findings reveal that SH cases with unusual acts present a specific crime-commission process. This crime-commission process is characterised by a greater level of sadism—as demonstrated by the presence of mutilation and foreign object insertion—as well as a greater level of organisation from the selection of a contact location where the risk of being seen or heard was low. These findings provide a better understanding of these behaviours and could help investigators facing such cases.

Alibi believability can be affected by characteristics of the alibi corroborator, including the relationship between the defendant and corroborator, which has been studied extensively by researchers. The corroborator's certainty that they were together at the time of the crime may also influence alibi believability, but only a few studies have examined this. Another factor that may affect believability is the corroborator's cooperativeness with the police, which is yet to be studied in the alibi context. Online U.S. participants recruited from CloudResearch (N = 280) acted as mock jurors and evaluated a mock arson case where the defendant used an alibi defence. The alibi corroborator's relationship to the defendant (brother/neighbour), the certainty that they were together at the time (65%/100%) and cooperativeness with police (cooperative/uncooperative) were manipulated between participants. The participants were evenly split when it came to verdict (p > .05) but were more likely to vote guilty when the corroborator was a brother rather than a neighbour (p < .01) and when the brother was uncooperative versus cooperative (p < .05). As expected, alibis were more believable when they were corroborated by a neighbour rather than a brother and when the corroborator was 100% certain that they were together versus 65% certain (ps < .01). Alibis were also more believable when the corroborator cooperated than when he was uncooperative (p < .01). Cooperative (vs. uncooperative) corroborators led to more positive defendant and corroborator views on all six character trait measures (ps < .01). Implications and future directions are discussed.

Most deception research provides between-subject results (e.g., liars give on average less detailed accounts), which might be of limited value for professionals evaluating credibility on an individual basis. This study examines the optimal instructions of a within-subject multiple recalls strategy to detect deception. A total of 110 participants, divided into a Lie and Truth group, were randomly placed into four interview conditions: two Basic report-everything instructions (1), a Basic recall followed by an Open depth instruction (2), a Basic recall followed by the Verifiability Approach and Information Protocol (3), and two recalls with the Verifiability Approach and Information Protocol (4). All recalls were coded for total details and verifiable details. Group (lie and truth) × Recall (first and second) was only significant in condition 3, with truth tellers providing more verifiable details in the second recall than the first. A simple within-subject decision rule was derived, allowing a 76.9% discrimination rate. Professionals can optimally evaluate credibility using two recalls (Basic recall followed by Verifiability Approach and Information Protocol) and observing the evolution of verifiable details.

The night-time economy (NTE) provides many opportunities for crime as there is an abundance of potential victims who are often intoxicated and clustered in a small geographical area. Previous research on NTE violence has primarily focused on assault. However, other offences are also common, such as robbery. This study focused on NTE-related robbery using police recorded crime data relating to 1624 personal robberies (including attempts) from West Midlands Police, UK. The data was binary coded to identify and compare offence characteristics. Robbery offences in the NTE showed unique characteristics compared to robberies unrelated to this context. In particular, there were differences in alcohol, use of violence, injuries, approach style and crime locations. The findings of the current research align with theoretical frameworks from environmental criminology (e.g. crime generators and attractors), have implications for crime prevention and investigations and can feed into developing policing strategies that take into account the background context for offending.

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