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Risk factors for the criminal career of sexual offenders compared to other type of offenders. Forensic Science Club

By 4 Mins Read

Friends of the Forensic Science Club, this week we present the paper “Non-intimate Relationships and Psychopathic Interpersonal and Affective Deficits as Risk Factors for Criminal Career: a Comparison Between Sex Offenders and Other Offenders”, by Ferretti, F.; Pozza, A.; Carabellese, F.; Schimmenti, A.; Santoro, G.; Mandarelli, G.; Gualtieri, G.; Carabellese, F.; Catanesi, R. and Coluccia, A. (2021), in which authors carry out a study to know how the non-intimate relationships and psychopathic interpersonal an affective deficits can work as risk factors that affect the criminal career of sexual offenders, comparing them to other offenders.

Since the beginning of Criminology, the criminals’ personal history, the development pattern of their careers and the risk factors that lead them to these destinations have always been considered a topic of great interest.

For example, the relationship between the traumatic experiences of victims of sexual abuse and the emergence of dysfunctional sexual behaviors was investigated by numerous experts, leading to the conclusion that other underlying causes of sexual crimes should be sought, because the victim/aggressor paradigm is too reductionist.

Attention has also been paid to psychiatric disorders, which play an important role; in the case of sex offenders especially schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and mood and personality disorders.

On the other hand, psychopathy appears, whose relevance in criminal behavior and violent behavior is widely recognized in the literature. It is generally assessed using the Revised Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R), which covers the factors of interpersonal and affective deficits and antisocial behavior.

The association of psychopathy with sexual crimes is not new. In a study mentioned in the article, it was found that the presence of psychopathy in sexual offenders constitutes a predictive factor of criminal recidivism in this but also other types of crimes.

Other studies have shown that the relational failures of caregivers and attachment figures, can lead the child to experience difficulties in their interpersonal self-regulation. These difficulties can constitute a risk for adults by promoting aggressive behaviors, difficulties in emotional regulation and sexual problems, as can be found in many cases of psychopathy, sadism and paraphilias.

As we can see, there is such a variety of ideas that it is difficult to accurately identify the risk factors that can affect the dysfunctional sexual behavior of sex offenders.

The objective of this study was to explore the relevance of life events in the criminal outcome, comparing sexual offenders with other types of offenders. Experiences related to violence problems, antisocial behaviors, personal relationship problems, substance use, traumatic experiences and parenting styles were studied.

A total of 88 sex offenders and 102 people serving sentences for other types of crimes participated.

Among sex offenders, most of the inmates (76%) served time for child abuse.

In the category of other offenders, were convicts serving time for murder, assault, crimes against property and against the state, but not sexual crimes.

A set of items from the HCR-20 V3 scale was used to evaluate risk factors.

Non-sexual offenders were found to be more likely to have a history of violence and antisocial behavior problems in adolescence and adulthood, along with substance abuse problems. Only one risk factor, the absence of problems in non-intimate relationships, differentiates the criminal career of non-sexual offenders and sexual offenders.

These non-intimate relationships are defined as bonds with family members, friends, or acquaintances, which do not involve any type of sexual dimension. Social isolation, emotional distance, instability, conflict, manipulation of others, inappropriate sexualization, and violence in non-intimate relationships are indicators to consider.

Compared with the group of non-sexual offenders, sexual offenders showed higher levels of interpersonal and affective psychopathic deficits, and lower levels of antisocial behaviors.

With this study the importance of poor non-intimate relationships in predicting the criminal career of sex offenders is confirmed. Above all, inappropriate sexualization, violence and the escalation of problems are important in this context.

Authors consider that treatment programs for sex offenders should be aimed at preventing recidivism, and therefore should address these deficits in non-intimate relationships, and target psychopathic traits, specifically interpersonal and affective traits. For example, through cognitive behavioral therapy, which has been shown to be an effective treatment for psychopathic traits.

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General characteristics of serial murders in nursing homes and hospitals. Forensic Science Club

By 4 Mins Read

Friends of the Forensic Science Club, this week we present the paper “Serial murder in medical clinics and care homes”, by Beine, K. H. (2022), in which the author compiles information about serial murders in nursing homes and hospitals carried out by nurses in the Germany, Austria and Switzerland context. 

We have seen in recent years a number of murders in clinics and nursing homes coming to light in courts around the world. 

Due to the darkness and lack of knowledge surrounding these types of crimes, we should take a look at the trials for the cases already uncovered and see if they yield clues to help in the prevention of the phenomenon, avoiding future cases. 

In addition, early identification, by co-workers, of those at risk of committing these crimes is crucial for patient safety. However, it appears that this detection is often blocked by the fact that colleagues and managers consider it “impossible” for such behavior to take place in their institutions.

In German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), a total of 12 such serial murders have been prosecuted. Worldwide, 57 have been documented. 

This study was limited to murders committed in Germany, Austria and Switzerland until February 2022. The author examined victim characteristics, crime scenes, types of murder, perpetrators and their motivations, among other points of interest. 

There were a total of 205 confirmed victims ranging in age from 31 to 96 years. 

In some cases of homicides in residences and hospitals it is not possible to confirm that some victims were murdered. This happens because there are long periods of time between the crime and the investigation. Therefore, it is possible that the actual number of victims is much higher. 

Only in a few cases the victims were in a process of irreversible death. On the other hand, there were others who were recovering and were even about to be discharged. 

In 8 crime scenes, important negligent handling of drugs was discovered. In most cases drugs considered lethal agents were used, such as insulin, sedatives and muscle relaxants, anesthetics, antiarrhythmics or potassium chloride, among others.

It is important to know that post-mortem examinations were not performed thoroughly or competently at these crime scenes, so it is possible that the reckless use of drugs occurred more frequently than could be proven. 

In addition, in several cases extensive bruising and visible puncture marks went overlooked. 

In all serial murders it was clear that co-workers had noticed strange behavior on the part of the accused. This behavior was even reported to bosses and managers.

The 17 perpetrators convicted in the 12 cases were 53% women. The remaining 47% were men. Their average age was between 33 and 34 years. All of them were nursing professionals. Most of them lived alone and 5 of them were prohibited from practicing their profession.

In terms of psychological characteristics, they were introverted persons, with a development of distant and cold interpersonal relationships, a reserved and tense personality, existence of denigrating comments and harsh language, as well as aggressive outbursts. 

Murderers were found to have higher than average insecurity and narcissistic personality traits. They perceived insecurity as a weakness incompatible with their image and, therefore, concealed and repressed it. 

In all cases there was no single determining motive for committing the crime, but rather unique combinations. For example: the quest for power, wanting attention from others or a supposed compassion for the victims. 

Due to the complexity of these types of cases, a thorough investigation is required to increase the effectiveness of prevention. 

In addition, there is a need for more reciprocal attention among coworkers, detailed information about each patient, teamwork and good communication.

Efforts to improve prevention efforts are imperative precisely because we know so little about the dark undercurrents of homicides in hospitals and nursing homes. 

In short, the author urgently calls for experts in the mind of the killer to get to work to curb the spread of this criminal phenomenon.

If you want to know more about the criminal mind, criminal profiling, and forensic science, don’t miss our Master of Science in Criminal Profiling or our Master of Science in Anti-Fraud Behavioral Analysis, 100% online programs that can be taken in Spanish or English. Ask us about our grants!

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The development of paraphilias: what elements influence it? Forensic Science Club

By 4 Mins Read

Friends of the Forensic Science Club, this week we present the paper “The impact of childhood trauma, personality and sexuality on the development of paraphilias”, by Longpré, N.; Galiano, C. B. and Guay, J. P. (2022), in which authors carry out a study to investigate which elements related to sexuality, personality and trauma are the most influential regarding the development of paraphilias.

The World Health Organization defines paraphilic disorders as a series of patterns of atypical sexuality that relate to sexual thoughts, fantasies or behaviors involving others whose age or condition makes them unable of giving real consent, or sexual behaviors that, in general, cause distress and anxiety.

Although there are several definitions of paraphilic disorders, it is true that there is a basic categorization of sexual interests: the normal or common ones would be the normaphilic behavior and, at the opposite extreme, we would have the paraphilic conducts.

One of the most important conflicts is the conceptual definition of paraphilic disorder. There are people who feel sexual arousal in an atypical way, but this does not necessarily imply that they suffer from a mental disorder. For this reason, the DSM-5 has clarified that there is a distinction between paraphilia (atypical sexual behavior) and paraphilic disorder. The latter can be defined as a mental disorder resulting from atypical sexual behaviors that lasts longer than 6 months and is causing distress to the sufferer, causing injury or even death, or involving people who are unwilling or unable to give legal consent.

While research has been conducted on human sexuality and paraphilias, there is still limited scientific understanding of paraphilic and normophilic behaviors. Furthermore, most research focuses on paraphilic disorders and leaves paraphilia, which is not considered a disorder, behind.

The present article aimed to study the normological network of paraphilia and explored possible developmental factors that increase the likelihood of developing atypical sexual interest or behavior, focusing on childhood victimization, hypersexuality, problematic pornography use, and personality traits.

The first thing to note again is, having atypical sexual preferences does not mean that someone has a disorder. A 2004 study found that more than 60% of male college students had fantasies related to sadism; females, to submission.

In recent decades, new studies have investigated the prevalence of paraphilic desires and behaviors among the general population. For example, voyeurism has been found to be the most common paraphilic fantasy and behavior, followed by fetishism, exhibitionism and masochism. So what exactly is considered normal and abnormal sexual behavior?

On the other hand, it is very important to understand the dynamics of a person’s psychosocial history because it may be closely related to the development of his or her sexual desires.

For example, the impact of neglect and physical, sexual and/or emotional abuse has sometimes been considered a relevant factor. However, research on this is scarce.

Emotional abuse was found to be a risk factor for exhibitionistic, pedophilic and sadistic behaviors. In addition, paraphilic disorder was associated with child physical abuse, sexual abuse and psychological abuse, especially by the male caregiver.

The study aimed to fill in some gaps in the understanding of paraphilias by using a sample of 372 adult participants. The subjects answered a series of questions in the form of a survey, which was distributed through social networks.

The results showed that most of the paraphilic interests investigated were neither rare nor unusual in a non-clinical sample of adults. This is aligned with previous studies that revealed that paraphilic interests are more common than they first appear.

On the other hand, the relationship between childhood trauma, personality traits, and the development of paraphilias is supported by some investigations, although they are not many. Authors’ results revealed a relationship between childhood trauma and the development of certain personality traits, such as, for example, antisocial disorder. However, the relationship between personality traits and paraphilia was weaker, and paraphilia is often mediated by hypersexuality and problematic pornography use.

Authors suggest that more research is needed to understand the causes of unusual sexual fantasies, arousal, and practices. To develop effective prevention and treatment strategies, it is important to understand what individual factors are involved, especially if we are talking about risky behaviors.

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The closer, the better: do criminals choose the location of their crimes based on their routine? Forensic Science Club

By 4 Mins Read

Friends of the Forensic Science Club, this week we present the paper “Relationships Between Offenders’ Crime Locations and Different Prior Activity Locations as Recorded in Police Data”, by Curtis-Ham, S.; Bernasco, W.; Medvedev, O. N. and Polaschek, D. L. L. (2022), in which authors carry out an exhaustive study to know more about the patterns of geographical choice of criminals, to discover whether a relationship between them and the offenders’ routines exist. 

We know from routine activity theory and crime pattern theory that crimes occur when opportunity (that is, the presence of a suitable and available target) overlaps with offenders’ known locations through their routinary noncriminal activities, such as where they live, work, or socialize with family or friends.

Recent theoretical development suggests that some types of activity locations are more important than others for offenders’ crime location choices. Understanding which they are more likely to choose to commit their crimes has very important implications for crime prevention and investigation. It can help identify high-risk locations and inform the most appropriate risk management strategies. It can also help in geographic profiling for crime investigation. 

But, despite the practical importance of being able to predict, at an individual level, where a person will commit a crime, there is little research that empirically explores the extent to which various types of activity locations differ from one another in their influence on crime. 

Studies to date have only compared a limited subset of locations (e.g., the offender’s home, homes of family members, or locations of prior offenses). This study leverages a large national dataset of widely disparate locations pertaining to offenders’ pre-crime activities recorded in a police database in a previously unresearched context (New Zealand). 

Drawing on environmental psychology, crime pattern theory emphasizes the role of people’s routine activities in generating awareness of criminal opportunities. 

First, offenders might identify criminal opportunities more easily and more frequently near their places of activity, called nodes. Qualitative studies have confirmed that home, work, and other places of non-criminal activity have the potential to generate crime opportunity awareness. Recent quantitative studies have estimated the greater likelihood of offenders committing crimes near their homes, the homes of close relatives, and the locations of previous offenses, compared to other locations.

On the other hand, the role of routine activities in generating awareness of criminal opportunities means that the probability of offending tends to be highest near activity nodes and decreases with distance. This pattern of decreasing distance reflects that people are more familiar with areas closer than farther away from their activity locations, and familiarity is an important factor in the choice of crime location. 

All this also reflects the principle of least effort: in theory, people travel the shortest distance necessary to find the opportunity to commit a crime. 

The main objective of the article is to expand the understanding of how all these associations happen in reality. To do this, data on crimes and nodes of offender activity were collected from the National Intelligence Application (NIA), a New Zealand Police database. The offenses included were all residential and non-residential burglaries, commercial and personal burglaries, and extra-familial sexual offenses committed between 2009 and 2018. In addition, in all of these, an offender was identified with sufficient evidence to proceed against him/her. 

The results obtained revealed that almost all nodes were significantly and positively associated with the choice of crime location. 

Consistent with expectations based on crime pattern theory, crime was almost always more likely in the surroundings of activity nodes and decreased with distance. Crime near home showed the strongest associations, followed by immediate family homes. This information is especially relevant and novel for nonresidential burglary and extrafamilial sexual offenses.

In addition, it appears that individuals are more likely to offend near immediate family homes versus more distant relatives’ and intimate partners’. 

These findings, the authors note, are interesting because they may help to identify more accurately who is more likely to have committed a crime in a particular location, given the nature of the crime.

If you want to know more about the criminal mind, criminal profiling, and forensic science, don’t miss our Master of Science in Criminal Profiling or our Master of Science in Anti-Fraud Behavioral Analysis, 100% online programs that can be taken in Spanish or English. Ask us about our grants!

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Characteristics of sexual homicidals of children and teenagers: brief revision. Forensic Science Club

By 6 Mins Read

Friends of Forensic Science Club, this week we present the paper “Characteristics of Sexual Homicide Offenders Focusing on Child Victims: a Review of the Literature”, by Page, J.; Tzani-Pepelasi, K. and Gavin, H. (2022), in which authors carry out a revision of existing literature about criminal profiles of sexual murderers, focusing specifically, in those cases where children or young teenagers are the victims.

Sexual homicide has become increasingly popular in recent years from the point of view of scientific research, especially those in which the victims are children.

Although sexual homicide is a rare phenomenon, representing only 1-4% of homicides recorded in North America and the United Kingdom in recent years, the public opinion considers these crimes as the most abhorrent, and tends to give them much more prominence. 

When the victim is a child, it also attracts intense levels of media attention, and the public scrutiny of investigating police forces and the pressure to make an arrest quickly are severe. 

However, there have been problems in defining sexual homicide, which has made it difficult to classify these crimes. Most of the studies reviewed in this article have used the FBI definition, which considers a sexual homicide one in which, at the crime scene there is: “victim’s clothing or lack of clothing, exposure of the victim’s sexual parts, sexual position of the victim, insertion of foreign objects into the victim’s body cavities, and/or evidence of sexual intercourse.” 

However, this definition may be a bit simple. In 2015, Chan expanded the concept by including criteria that may not be available at the crime scene, such as the offender’s confession or the offender’s personal effects, broadening the scope of what may qualify as sexually motivated homicide. 

The main objective of this study was to review the existing literature on sexual homicides and compare the findings with child sexual homicides to see if there are similarities. For this purpose, databases and online libraries were used, where relevant studies were found for review, reaching a total of 72. 

In 2002, Beauregard and Proulx developed a model of sexual homicides that suggested two types of modus operandi: sadistic and irate, then expanded this model to include the third type: opportunistic. 

The sadist had a tendency to premeditate murder, mutilation, humiliation and hiding the body. He had an anxious personality, with traits of an avoidant, dependent and schizoid personality, as well as some sexual deviance and hypersexuality. In addition, they were more likely to have low self-esteem. Their modus operandi of the crime would be characterized by the subject’s deviant sexual fantasies. 

Sadistic behaviors at the crime scene would include strangulation, insertion of foreign objects, mutilation, and use of restraints on the victim, which could demonstrate the offender’s sadistic sexual fantasies. 

The irate offender does not plan the crime, but is more likely to leave the body at the scene and experience loneliness prior to the murder. They have dramatic personality traits, including narcissistic and dependent personality traits, an antisocial lifestyle, and their modus operandi is based on their desire for revenge against people they believe are responsible for their problems, including high levels of anger, impulsivity, and extreme violence. Because of the latter, murder may occur, even though the sexual circumstances may have been consensual at first. 

The opportunist has a dramatic personality profile as well, including traits of narcissistic and antisocial personality disorder. They would have no problems in their life, but would be sexually dissatisfied. Their modus operandi would be characterized by their need for sexual gratification and the belief that other people exist only to satisfy their needs. Sexual assault is often a crime of opportunity, for example, the primary crime may have been a robbery and then a sexual assault occurred as a result of the victim’s availability. 

What about this type of crime regarding children? These same authors set out their own model in 2019, following a review of the existing literature, on 72 cases of sexual homicides committed in France. 

The first of the categories is that of the “intentional/prepubescent” killer (20.9%), with mostly male victims and of young age (9 years old). The offenders would be familiar with the crime scene and would attack their victims inside a residence. Most of them penetrated and sexually touched the victims and moved the body after death. This type of offender was the most likely to consume drugs or alcohol prior to committing the homicide. 

On the other hand, there was the “unintentional/pre-teen” type (11.1%), with mostly male victims. They targeted unknown victims (75%) and most were killed by strangulation, but were not sexually penetrated.

The most common group was “intentional/pre-teen” (22.2%). Male victims were also predominant. These offenders were prone to drug use prior to the crime. Sexual penetration was always performed and humiliation occurred frequently. In addition, the victims were also beaten assiduously. They did not attempt to hide the body and usually buried it partially. 

The “unintentional/pre-teen” aggressor (11.1%) was one of the least common and was characterized by the exclusivity of female victims, as well as choosing them because of their young age (10 years or younger). Most of the victims were unknown girls (75%). Sexual penetration was always practiced, they rarely moved the victim’s body and did not try to hide it. 

The “intentional/adolescent” type (16.7%) targeted victims approximately 12 years of age. They practiced sexual penetration and strangulation, moved the victim’s body after the crime, appeared to avoid social contact with others, and were the most likely to exhibit sadistic sexual behaviors at the scene. 

Finally, there is the “indiscriminate/adolescent” group (18.1%) that was characterized by criminality and prior history. The majority of victims were females of approximately 14 years of age, usually unknown.

This proposed model is quite good, as it mentions the age of the victims, behaviors at the crime scene, and provides approximate characteristics of the offender that the police could use in the early stages of an investigation. However, it could be expanded to include more details about previous criminal history or geographic data regarding the victims and the offender, which would strengthen the model and make it a much more useful investigative tool. 

If you want to know more about the criminal mind, criminal profiling, and forensic science, don’t miss our Master of Science in Criminal Profiling or our Master of Science in Anti-Fraud Behavioral Analysis, 100% online programs that can be taken in Spanish or English. Ask us about our grants!

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Differences between serial rapists and single-victim rapists regarding their modus operandi. Forensic Science Club

By 5 Mins Read

Friends of the Forensic Science Club, this week we present the paper “Predicting rapist type based on crime-scene violence, interpersonal involvement, and criminal sophistication in U.S. stranger rape cases”, by Mellink, I. S. K.; Jeglic, E. L. and Bogaard, G. (2022), in which authors carry out a study in which they investigate the particularities of serial rapists and single-victim rapists cases, to know which are the proper elements of each case and make a comparative analysis that helps in the criminal profile of similar cases. 

Sexual violence is a serious public health problem worldwide. Only in the United States, one in six women has been the victim of attempted or completed rape in her lifetime. Therefore, there appears to be an urgent need to better understand those who commit sexual assault in order to increase conviction rates. 

Physical evidence, such as DNA or fingerprints found at the crime scene, is often not found or, if found, may not be conclusive. Therefore, if we establish a link between the crime and the offender using other means, it will be valuable to the investigation by narrowing the list of potential suspects. 

Criminal profiling is one of many techniques that aid in the process of investigating, identifying, locating and arresting offenders in general and in rape cases in particular. 

In criminal profiling, crime scene characteristics are used to infer information to help narrow down the suspect list and apprehend the offender.

By attending to observable crime scene behaviors, police forces can identify clues about the type of offender they are dealing with, such as the likelihood that the offender is either a serial rapist or a single-victim rapist. 

Why is this last point important? Precisely because, if there are crime scene characteristics that associate the case with the offender being a serial rapist, this could indicate that he has committed other similar crimes, which, in turn, would give investigators the idea to search their databases for the criminal history of suspects and, thus, reduce the list of possible offenders. 

To better understand those who commit violations, offenders can be classified based on behavioral or modus operandi variables.

From the point of view of most experts, rape is viewed as an event in which the offender treats his victim similarly to how he would treat others in a non-criminal context. 

This, coupled with other findings, suggests that it is possible to link a crime and an offender by their behavior. This linkage is based on two ideas: consistency and variability. Consistency refers to the fact that a subject’s criminal behavior is consistent, meaning that the same person is likely to behave similarly in other crimes. And variability is based on the fact that two offenders will not behave in exactly the same way, which makes it possible to distinguish between them. 

Authors decide to focus on the differences that exist between serial rapists and single-victim rapists and that can be extracted based on their behavior at the crime scene. There is a dearth of empirical literature on this, but a 1987 study gives some interesting insights, such as that single-victim rapists are more likely to be known to their victims than serial rapists, and prefer to use a safe approach rather than a quick attack. With serial rapists the opposite would happen. 

In the present study, authors used data relating to the cases of 3,168 inmates in a New Jersey prison, who were serving time at the time of writing for sexual offenses. 

They found that single-victim rapists and serial rapists can, indeed, be differentiated from each other based on their behavior; and further, experts often classify the cases according to three categories: violence, criminal sophistication, and interpersonal behavior. 

Single-victim rapists are more likely to have a crime scene with violent characteristics, and are more likely to digitally penetrate and threaten their victims. 

Serial rapists, on the other hand, have a more criminally sophisticated crime scene, for instance, they incapacitate the victim or use a weapon. This is in line with previous research showing that serial rapists are more sophisticated in general. 

Serial rapists are more likely to use weapons, which tends to be a gun or knife, and, in addition to incapacitating their victim more often, as mentioned above, they also tend to groom the victim and guide or lure them somewhere. These types of rapists are also less likely to use drugs or alcohol during or immediately prior to the crime in order to remain criminally sophisticated and avoid detection, as it does not pay for them to risk their success by using these substances. 

Despite gaining some interesting insights, authors point out the need for further research on the entire criminological process of rape, from victim to perpetrator, and what is related to the crime scene, as only by knowing and understanding these data will we be able to improve prevention.

If you want to know more about the criminal mind, criminal profiling, and forensic science, don’t miss our Master of Science in Criminal Profiling or our Master of Science in Anti-Fraud Behavioral Analysis, 100% online programs that can be taken in Spanish or English, with special grants for the Forensic Science Club readers.

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Which are the factors that influence a minor to commit serial murders? Forensic Science Club

By 4 Mins Read
cropped view of killer washing knife in sink after murder

Friends of the Forensic Science Club, this week we present the paper “Youth Serial Killers: Psychological and Criminological Profiles”, by García-Baamonde, M. E.; Blázquez-Alonso, M.; Moreno-Manso, J. M.; Guerrero-Barona, E. and Guerrero-Molina, M. (2022), in which authors make a revision of previous literature on youth that has committed serial murders, to know some interesting data to elaborate their criminal profiles. 

The phenomenon of serial murders occupies a unique place in the field of criminology, but also in the criminal justice system, especially when the perpetrators of these and other types of violent crimes are minors.

In addition, there is a great lack of understanding of the phenomenon of serial murders. The issue is surrounded by great media sensationalism that always arises around the question of whether serial killers are born or made.

On the other hand, there are many media that classify those who commit these crimes as “monsters” or “demons”, this being one more part of the media circus that surrounds these cases both at the judicial and social levels. This contributes and feeds the collective mentality influenced by the media that does not skimp on giving details about the crimes and that, sometimes, can even turn the perpetrators into celebrities.

In order to gain a better understanding of the phenomenon of serial murders, their extent and seriousness, and focusing on those committed by young people, authors carried out a review of the literature on the topic. 

Authors consider that legal and social problems do not occur only in cases in which young people or minors commit serial murders, but since they commit violent crimes.

Despite the terminology often used by the media, young offenders are not monsters or beasts, and often have no criminal record.

Sometimes these first crimes take place because they cannot refuse peer pressure. Normally, there will usually be an explanation.

One thing that strikes the authors, and is of particular concern to them, is that since the mid-1980s and around the early 1990s, there has been an unprecedented growth in youth homicides. The data suggests that young people are currently involved in more crimes than previous generations.

The most common case is these young people belonging to street gangs, a very particular criminal phenomenon, since it has specific variables that make it different from the rest of juvenile delinquency.

Based on these data, the psychosocial and criminological profile of young people who commit homicides is not comparable to the criminal profile of common murderers. 

It should also be mentioned that cases of serial killers where the perpetrators are children or young people are, of course, much less frequent than cases of adults.

Some of these young people come from broken families where they are not able to acquire a stable personality. Thus, they continually seek to satisfy their desires through fantasies of domination and control.

Similarly, some may have experienced physical, sexual and emotional abuse, often simultaneously.

Research on the impact of child maltreatment on violent behavior has shown that maltreatment and exposure to violence, in any form, is an important predictor of criminal behavior.

On the other hand, psychopathy appears, which we all know, and which generates serious problems in the affective, interpersonal and behavioral dimension of humans, so much that psychopaths can victimize others without their ethical awareness being affected.

Many features of psychopathy begin to emerge in childhood and can be more or less easily identified, as well as in adolescence and young adulthood. For this reason, attention should be paid to minors who experience risk factors such as mental health problems, problems in their upbringing, a history of substance abuse, very intense impulsiveness, emotional instability, total absence of guilt, etc.

This article has some limitations. For example, there is a low prevalence of juvenile serial killers, which makes it difficult to study these specific cases, so the analysis should be taken with caution.

However, despite the limitations, the original article underlines the importance of some psychosocial factors for a better understanding of the process by minors who end up committing crimes as serious as serial murders.

If you want to know more about the criminal mind, criminal profiling, and forensic science, don’t miss our Certificate in Criminal Profiling, a 100% online program certified by Heritage University (USA), with special grants for the Forensic Science Club readers.

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Criminal profiling in nordic crime series: how close are them to reality? Forensic Science Club

By 5 Mins Read
Police investigation of fingerprint on a knife, concept image

Friends of the Forensic Science Club, this week we present the paper “Modus of Killer Profiling in Nordic Crime Series” by Bjelajac, Z. and Filipovic, A. (2022), in which authors make a revision about what we know about criminal profiling and how it is represented in nordic crime series, making them particularly realistic. 

Criminal profiling may seem like a recent field of study, but the truth is that it has a very long life, although at its beginning it was not as we know it today.

People charged with conducting criminal investigations throughout history have always worked with indicators of mental and physical characteristics.

Criminals were studied individually, as medical patients; their physical characteristics, their sensitivity and intelligence, their habits, their language… all of them were recorded.

Within the framework of anthropology, Cesare Lombroso was a very important expert, who already at the end of the 19th century made a typology of criminals.

According to him, there were born criminals, who had physical, physiological and psychological abnormalities that made them more likely to commit crimes. They had the wildest, most primitive instincts and were callous, born to crime.

We also have the existence of mentally ill criminals, criminals out of habit (with a disposition for crime, morally unbalanced), criminals out of passion (hypersensitive people with a sanguine temperament, very nervous) and random criminals (commit crimes under the influence of external stimuli).

Lombroso’s theories were very popular in his days. His research fueled the development of criminology and forensic psychology, and achieved scientifics’ attention.

Today, it is known that, specifically, Lombroso was quite misguided with this classification of criminals; however, it cannot be denied that important advances were made thanks to him.

Nowadays, experts try to establish a series of patterns to detect serial killers, following early warning signs. For example: growing up in dysfunctional families or having a difficult childhood. Even a high IQ, as it has been observed in a significant number of serial killers. The latter is a point that is reflected in Nordic crime series.

Why do authors mention these series? Well, because these are series with a very original atmosphere, which has relegated American police series to a second position. Unlike these, which include stereotypical stories, the Scandinavian crime series follows dramatic, intriguing investigations, dealing with social and emotional issues of brutal crimes, as well as their impact in politics and the media. Above all, they emphasize the importance of forensic psychology and criminal profiling.

But returning to the idea that serial killers might share a number of traits, what would they be?

Some of them have a history of arson, preteen bedwetting, and torturing small animals. These traits are known as the McDonald’s Triad and are kind of controversial, as many experts consider them traits of abuse; but, at the same time, abuse itself is also known as an indicator of risk.

Other characteristics are emotional manipulation, fantasies and delusions of grandeur, asociality, poor impulse control, among others.

We must mention that, although the Scandinavian series are the ones that mostly represent criminal profiling and forensic psychology in greater detail, the truth is that criminal profiling arised, mainly, in the heart of the FBI. The series “Mindhunter” represents it very well: John E. Douglas and Robert Resler were the ones who, working as agents for the FBI, introduced a revolutionary approach to solving crimes, creating a database based on the psychological profile of criminals through direct interviews with them.

So how do the Nordic series depict forensic psychology and criminal profiling?

First, it should be noted that the personal problems of the protagonists and investigators are naturally shown, turning them into people, not heroes.

In these series, we look at how the crime scene is connected to the perpetrators and the information is developed in detail.

For example, in the series “The Killing”, set in Copenhagen, there are many plot twists, a predominating dark environment, and similar importance is given to the story of the victim’s family and the political implications of the investigation. This series emphasizes that many stalkers don’t look like it, and apparently, are good people.

On the other hand, there is “Modus”, which is a story about hatred and intolerance towards homosexual people and explores issues such as homosexual prostitution, the adoption of children from homosexual couples, or discrimination against these people in general.

“Darkness: Those who kill” tells the story of the investigation about the disappearance of a girl, where the culprit has an antisocial personality, with a history of assault, rape and imprisonment, with anger issues as a result of her childhood trauma.

In short, what these series tell us is that criminal profiling has a solid scientific basis, but intuition, imagination and experience are also very important. An experienced criminal investigator thinks of the perpetrator of the crime, and when he/she gathers all the facts about the perpetrator, he/she considers them in detail; then he/she builds up an image of that person and makes a series of reasonable predictions about how he/she will react in the future. This approach is what has given these series the popularity they have today.

If you want to know more about the criminal mind, criminal profiling, and forensic science, don’t miss our Certificate in Criminal Profiling, a 100% online program certified by Heritage University (USA), with special grants for the Forensic Science Club readers.

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Risk factors of criminal behavior in young offenders. Forensic Science Club

By 5 Mins Read

Friends of the Forensic Science Club, this week we present the paper “Criminal Behavior and Psychosocial Risk Factors in Brazilian Adolescent Offenders: An Exploratory Latent Class Analysis” by Galinari, L. S. and Rezende Bazon, M. (2021), in which authors carry out a study in which they try to stablish a typology of young offenders in the Brazilian context, considering their criminal and personal characteristics.

In last week’s paper we explored the topic of juvenile offenders in relation to recidivism.

This week we focus on a study that asks whether it is possible to establish a typology of young offenders to make easier their treatment and reintegration, in the context of Brazil.

Norms in most of the world advocate for a justice system that is different for adults and for adolescents. This means that it is usually considered that adolescence is a phase of human development in which an individual is subjected to quick and simultaneous transformations both physically and psychologically.

Therefore, adolescents are a vulnerable segment of population when we talk about deviant behaviors because they are highly susceptible to changes. This is due to the great neuropsychological plasticity of the moment of development in which they are.

This is why most judicial systems conceive juvenile justice not only as a way to make them responsible for their actions, but also as a way to help young people complete their psychosocial development through treatments that focus in their social reintegration and in reducing the chances of recidivism.

Previous research has pointed out the need to focus on personal aspects (impulsivity, substance abuse, antisocial attitudes…) and micro-social aspects (family ties, parenting practices, school absenteeism…) of adolescents to understand their criminality.

However, young people in the justice system represent a heterogeneous group, with different problems and different needs. Therefore, the effectiveness of interventions and studies in this field is conditioned by their adaptation and personalization to this heterogeneity.

In previous studies, juvenile offenders have been repeatedly identified with a pattern characterized by a high frequency of low-severity crimes, poverty, poor family relationships, and poor academic performances.

However, authors of the article want to go further and they try to establish a slightly more precise typology.

To do this, they take a sample of 400 young offenders. All of them are men, due to the fact that they are significantly more numerous in the juvenile justice system of Brazil, where the study was carried out. The average age was almost 17 years.

For the analysis of their cases, different psychosocial questionnaires with scientific validity were used.

With the obtained results authors are able to make a classification of four types of juvenile offenders, although they point out that precautions must be taken regarding the typology, since each person and case has its peculiarities.

There is a profile called C1 that refers to adolescents who, although they have been prosecuted for some crime, are not different from adolescents who have not, in essence. There are also no significant differences in terms of their exposure to social and personal variables that we can consider criminogenic.

In this profile there is a recurrence to deal with unpleasant thoughts linked to aspects perceived as negative about oneself and/or their relationships. As a result, these adolescents will tend to repress these emotions.

With this profile, these young people would have few intervention needs. Authors advise an intervention that does not have to do with justice, or a mild judicial intervention.

Subsequently, the C2 profile appears. This refers to adolescents who, despite having a more important criminal participation than the adolescents in C1 group, show a pattern of behavior characterized by a low crime frequency and the absence of violent crimes.

However, in this profile there are important scores for social maladjustment and alienation. That is, they are young people with antisocial beliefs and values, and with distrust of others.

These adolescents need interventions focused on these behaviors and assistance in prosocial socialization settings. In addition, considering their low danger, less restrictive measures should be approved for them.

The profile called C3 refers to adolescents who present a greater criminal commitment, with a crime frequency and diversity of crimes above the average, plus, these crimes tend to be violent.

These young people have a history of family violence and negative school relationships. However, no special difficulties stand out on a psychological level.

This type of adolescents should participate in interventions focused on improving their family and school relationships and, if at any time they have a significant criminal commitment, authors consider necessary a more intense judicial measure.

Finally, the C4 profile appears. These adolescents present a score above the average in frequency and diversity of violent crimes, as well as in social and personal risk variables. They would have very little attachment to their parents, behavioral problems at school, episodes of family violence, and criminal records in their families.

On the other hand, they would also move through environments of social maladjustment, they would manifest aggressiveness, antisocial orientation, low impulse control, skepticism, and distrust towards others.

These people have much more complex needs. They should focus primarily on controlling antisocial attitudes and improving their self-control. They also need intervention in social aspects, especially in the development of family relationships. Once they commit a serious crime, if it happens, intense and restrictive measures may be necessary.

The authors highlight that more than 40% of the adolescents who participated in the study were classified in the C4 category.

For future research, authors consider that the different proposed profiles can be of great help, especially to organize the interventions in a more appropriate way. Furthermore, it is important to propose, implement and evaluate intervention protocols that always bear in mind the heterogeneity in adolescent offenders.

If you want to know more about the criminal mind, criminal profiling, and forensic science, don’t miss our Certificate in Criminal Profiling, a 100% online program certified by Heritage University (USA), with special grants for the Forensic Science Club readers.

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In Criminal profiling

Psychosocial characteristics of juvenile offenders in a detention centre regarding recidivism risk. Forensic Science Club

By 5 Mins Read

Friends of the Forensic Science Club, this week we present the paper “Psychosocial and Personality Characteristics of Juvenile Offenders in a Detention Centre regarding Recidivism Risk” by Cacho, R.; Fernández-Montalvo, J.; López-Goñi, J. J.; Arteaga, A. and Haro, B. (2020), in which authors carry out a study to know the different profiles of young offenders in detention centres, focusing in recidivism.

We consider juvenile delinquency as a serious problem that affects us all, since one of the worries of society should be how to protect young people from being both victims and perpetrators of crimes.

The juvenile offense rate is very high: 80% of adolescents have committed at least one criminal act in their life (from minor to serious ones).

In the search for explanatory reasons for the phenomenon, different actors have been associated with criminal behavior, both personal (such as impulsivity) and related to school, family or friends.

Previous literature suggests that young minors convicted because of criminal offenses have socialization problems, deficits in emotional intelligence, and inadequate coping strategies.

In addition, an important characteristic that has to do with recidivism is that crimes they commit are progressively more serious and frequent. This would be promoted by peer pressure, gang membership, lack of autonomy when solving problems or impulsiveness.

Youth at high risk of recidivism have also been suggested to have higher rates of school failure and conduct disorder, as well as poor social skills, compared to offenders at low risk of recidivism.

Other factors that, in principle, influence the criminal recidivism of young people would be the family (family violence, drug addiction, labor or economic difficulties), as well as the lack of adherence to intervention programs.

The Spanish juvenile justice system, which is the one used in the context of the study (Navarra, Spain), establishes that juvenile offenders are those who have committed a crime between the ages of 14 and 18. For them, internment in detention centers is foreseen when the crime committed is of a serious nature and is characterized by violence, intimidation, or by putting other people in danger. The objective of these centers is to punish offenders, but also to facilitate the educational intervention necessary for their social reintegration.

In Spain, the recidivism rate is 62-70% for those who have served custodial sentences. It is a much higher rate than the one of those who have served sentences in open settings, which is 22-27%.

Therefore, authors consider necessary an exhaustive evaluation of the factors that predict criminal recidivism and also to study the specific profile of juvenile offenders who are in detention centers.

Authors decide to carry out a study whose objective is to describe juvenile offenders serving judicial sentences in the only detention center in Navarra, Spain.

To do this, they take a sample of 102 juvenile offenders to carefully study each one of their cases.

Obtained results reveal relatively low levels of risk of recidivism in the subjects studied. None of the adolescents presented a significantly high level of risk, being for the majority from low to moderate. These results contrast with the rates of criminal recidivism found in other studies about minors, according to which two out of every three reoffend. Therefore, it is necessary that future studies evaluate to what extent the previous literature corresponds to the Spanish context.

Most of the minors had problems related to education, both in the academic and family spheres, and previous contact with social services. It is necessary to point out that the school and the family constitute the main axes of socialization of children and adolescents. On the contrary, positive school experiences and family support are protective factors that help minimize criminal behavior.

The young people presented mainly four personality traits: rebellious, dramatic, selfish, and forceful. They also exhibited a high degree of social insensitivity. There was a high predisposition to crime and substance use.

Adolescents with a higher risk of recidivism have more personal characteristics (health problems, low self-esteem, poor social skills, difficulty solving problems, violent history), social (family history of alcoholism or other drug abuse) and school problems than those who have a lower risk.

In addition, these young people with a higher risk of recidivism are less submissive, have a more negative own body image and less social sensitivity. There would be a greater inclination to substance abuse, greater predisposition to delinquency, feelings of anxiety and eating disorders.

Therefore, intervention programs must assess the presence of a history of prior violent behavior and develop specific measures to train problem-solving skills and promote adequate academic performance.

One of the limitations of the study, is the small size of the sample, and that it only addresses a population in a very specific context: juvenile offenders in detention centers in Navarra, Spain. For future research, authors point out that it would be interesting to expand the sample.

Found data support the idea that specific educational interventions are necessary in juvenile detention centers with the aim of providing these adolescents with skills that allow them to reintegrate into society and reduce the probability of recidivism. To do this, understanding the specific characteristics of these people at higher risk would be essential.

If you want to know more about criminology, the criminal mind, criminal profiling, and forensic science, don’t miss our Certificate in Criminal Profiling, a 100% online program certified by Heritage University (USA), with special grants for the Forensic Science Club readers.

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Forensic Science Club