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Why are young people most likely to become cybercrime offenders? Forensic Science Club

By 5 Mins Read

Friends of the Forensic Science Club, this week we present the paper “The seductions of cybercrime: Adolescence and the thrills of digital transgression”, by Goldsmith, A. and Wall, D. S. (2022), in which authors think about what seduces young people from cybercrime, and also give ideas on what can be done in terms of criminal policy and education to mitigate the negative effects of new technologies.

The Internet is a public tool that has been with us in our daily lives for more than 30 years. However, in this time, it has captivated and seduced more than half of the planet’s population. It is estimated that approximately 4.5 billion people were internet users as of June 30, 2019. 

Young people under the age of 30, who have grown up with the internet and have grown up with it, are more likely than older people to have access to it and spend more time surfing the web, searching, playing games and using social networks, among other activities. 

Internet possibilities are virtually limitless, as is its appeal for entertainment, leisure and distraction. Given its relative novelty and global reach, much attention has been paid in recent years to the disadvantages that have emerged. 

Above all, there is great concern about Internet safety, such as its use by adults to exploit children, or its use by children to bully other minors. 

In this article, authors explore the importance of the Internet in terms of attractiveness to teenagers between 12-19 years. 

To do so, they use as a basis a 1988 study by Jack Katz on juvenile burglars and graffiti artists because authors believe it provides them with some useful analogies for thinking about the connection between the emotional impulses of young people and the commission of crime.

But why are young people a special population group? We have already discussed it in older posts, but let’s dig a little deeper. 

This group has three main socioemotional tasks: developing an identity, learning about intimacy, and discovering their sexuality. They seek information and validation, through communication with their peers in particular. In addition, they are often drawn to extreme and risky content and stimuli, but as they grow older, they are also interested in personal autonomy and adult life. During adolescence there is also considerable impulsivity that often limits young people’s capacity for self-control. 

The Internet responds to these needs for autonomy, competence and relationships. 

Within environmental criminology, Clarke proposes the idea that individuals without pre-existing dispositions to crime may be drawn into criminal behavior by the proliferation of opportunities. That is, situations could shape motivations through suggestion and intensification of feelings, along with opportunities to commit crime. And we already know that the Internet is, first and foremost, the opportunity for opportunity. 

Authors focus on several crimes: they talk about piracy, harassment (sexual and not sexual) and other crime typologies, but they focus on the consumption of pornography as a criminogenic factor. 

In an experiment conducted in the UK, an apparently legal website was observed for 88 days, which, once inside, offered the opportunity to connect to hardcore pornography websites. It had 803 visitors during this time, and of these, 457 people clicked on the advert for the pornography page, leading the researchers to the conclusion that most internet users would not resist the temptation. 

There seems to be little doubt that, at least in some cases of serious sexual offenses, online pornography consumption is involved in one way or another. Of great concern is that the first exposure to online pornography is occurring earlier and earlier, during early adolescence or even childhood. The exposure of minors to the Internet for long periods of time and without supervision makes them more vulnerable to this type of content, to which they sometimes access involuntarily. 

If we add this to the idea that young people look for strong emotions, are more impulsive and are attracted to the most extreme and transgressive content, often out of simple curiosity, we have a problem that can be serious. 

For many young people, the Internet is a rich, seductive place, full of attractive offers and “forbidden” emotions. For those who are prone to curiosity and sensation seeking, it can be very difficult not to give in to its charms.

Without ignoring class, peer influence, family background, poverty or addictions, there must be a deeper understanding of the persuasiveness of technologies in operating in young people’s lives. 

Policy should consist of interventions that consider, in general, the lack of life experience of young people who commit their first offenses under the influence of or through the Internet, and authors argue that punitive responses should be applied sparingly. 

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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Witnesses and victims’ statements correctly collected when written? Forensic Science Club

By 5 Mins Read

Friends of the Forensic Science Club, this week we present the paper “From verbal account to written evidence: do written statements generated by officers accurately represent what witnesses say?”, by Milne, R.; Nunan, J.; Hope, L.; Hodgkins, J. and Clarke, C. (2022), in which authors carry out a study to know how exact police agents are when it comes to transcript the statements of victims and/or witnesses. 

Witnesses are central to most criminal cases; in fact, there are many experts who believe that they provide the most compelling evidence at trial. 

Consequently, much attention has been paid throughout the history of the psychology of testimony to the development of techniques to help elicit reliable, relevant and detailed information from witnesses during their interviews. 

Traditionally, witnesses provide their narrations at two distinct points in the criminal justice process: first, when they are interviewed during the investigation, and then when they testify at trial.

The written statement that is produced when the interviewer assimilates the information provided by the witness at that first point is a key element for the investigation that must be an accurate representation of what the witness reports. 

The criminal justice system relies precisely on the accuracy of this document to avoid misinformed judicial decisions.

The production of written statements often takes place at the same time the witness is interviewed, however, this depends on the circumstances. For example, the type of crime and its seriousness, the training or preferences of the officer, among others. 

To date, research in psychology has focused on improving the understanding of how the interview process can affect the witness’s memory, and what techniques can be used to improve the quality and quantity of obtained information. 

Currently, there are some guidelines that are generally followed for the proper conduct of the interview. For example, we try to encourage free recall, open-ended questions, and limit closed questions at the end of the interview. All this, while taking notes by hand or computer, or recording, for example, by audio or video recording.

In practice, a frequent method of recording the interaction between the witness and the officer relies on the interviewer’s own memory of what the witness said, and there is usually no actual record of the questions used by the interviewer to elicit the statement, nor does there appear to be a completely accurate record of what the interviewee says. 

Some experts, in fact, have argued that written statements are mistakenly treated by the criminal justice system as a verbatim record of the interview, when they are not. 

In a 1994 experiment, the statement-taking process was examined and it was found that statements written by the interviewer immediately after the interview contained only ⅔ of the information reported by the witness.

In 2011, another similar study revealed that 68% of the information provided by the witness was omitted, and of this percentage, 40% was information relevant to the crime. 

These types of errors of omission may be due to the cognitive load inherent in the multitude of tasks that constitute the statement-taking process, such as active listening, asking pre-chosen questions, assimilating the reported information, and finally taking notes. 

Using cases drawn from different UK law enforcement agencies, the article’s research focused on examining the consistency between interview information and the resulting written statement. Officers were asked to videotape their interviews and a total of 15 were collected for the study. 

A number of categories were formed to which attention had to be paid: consistent details mentioned by the witness and included in the statement, omissions, distortions, contradictions, and intrusions of unmentioned information. 

For each case, two subjects would have to write a document from the interview, which were later compared with the video.

The 15 final statements contained errors. Their content diverged from the original verbal account provided by the witness in several ways.

The most common type of error was omission errors, which ranged from 4.76% to 51.81%. This was followed by distortions, ranging from 1.85% to 19.28%. Three statements contained contradictory information and only two statements did not include any errors. 

In this sample, therefore, the evidentiary product (the written statement) was never an exact replica of what the witness actually said, except in the two cases mentioned. In fact, in some cases there were considerable discrepancies between the verbal account and the written record, which is worse. 

This may be, as we have previously mentioned, because of the cognitive demand associated with the interview. In addition, research examining memory for conversation has found that we tend to function by retaining the gist of a speech, rather than every word. 

What the authors recommend to alleviate these mistakes is, whenever possible, to take advantage of technological means to record the statement, both audio, or audio and video, especially when we are dealing with a crime involving a particularly sensitive victim or important violence. 

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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Evolution of hate crimes against people of Asian origin during Covid-19 pandemic. Forensic Science Club

By 4 Mins Read

Friends of the Forensic Science Club, this week we present the paper “Anti-Asian American Hate Crimes Spike During the Early Stages of the Covid-19 Pandemic”, by Han, S.; Riddell, J. R. and Piquero, A. R. (2022), in which authors carry out a study with police reports from different American cities to know how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected hate crimes committed against people of Asian origin in North America. 

Hate crimes are a different and special form of violence and aggression directed at a certain group of people because of their religion, race, gender…. 

Experts have proposed many reasons to explain why they occur. For example, some argue that critical events of local, national, or global significance could affect the frequency, severity, and demographic target of hate crimes. Traditionally, terrorist attacks, economic crisis, among other events, are believed to contribute to increases in hate crimes. 

They usually occur because there are a number of prejudices towards a group, which is discriminated against, resulting in a differentiation of society into two groups: insiders and outsiders. 

Recent cases of hate crimes in the United States have raised concerns about the risk of victimization of certain groups, such as Asian Americans. 

In March 2020 several members of an Asian-American family were stabbed by a man because he believed they were infecting people with coronavirus. In another event, a 65-year-old woman was beaten while receiving racial insults, in March 2021. 

The beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic was marked by accusations towards Asian people, even some people called the disease “the Chinese virus”. 

Experts believe that these circumstances favored the increase of hate crimes and aggressions against people of Asian origin. In addition, Asians have been viewed in the United States as permanent outsiders in society for several decades, which could amplify discriminatory attitudes.

According to the 2021 Anti-Asian Hate Crime Report, hate crimes against the Asian population in the United States increased, in 2020, 145% in the country’s 16 largest cities compared to 2019. In addition, a Covid-19 survey revealed that more than 30% of respondents had seen someone blaming the Asian population for the spread of the disease. 

This study examines whether the recent increase in hate crimes against this particular population group was related to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and the measures that should have been taken to mitigate the effects of the disease (staying home, wearing masks, and so on). 

Data for this study were obtained from hate crime data from various police departments in San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C., from January 2019 through March 2021. 

Two notable findings emerged. First, three out of four cities in the sample experienced a dramatic increase in hate crimes against Asian Americans, while, hate crimes in general, trended downward. 

Additional empirical analysis also revealed that hate crimes against Asian Americans increased after March 2020 when labels such as “Chinese virus” were used in public by political officials. 

In addition to the prevailing discriminatory culture, labels blaming Asian Americans for the measures that were taken to curb the negative effects of Covid-19 are believed to have contributed to increased violence toward them. 

It is also important to note that the increase in hate crimes against this group of people was not sustained over time, but rather declined after the height of the pandemic. 

What is certain is that hate crimes often have a long history, and significant events are likely to trigger guilt labels toward a certain group of people. To address adverse effects, experts in the field and law enforcement should continue to study the effects of the pandemic on people’s well-being. 

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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Different neighborhoods, different crimes: an approach to the criminology of place. Forensic Science Club

By 4 Mins Read

Friends of the Forensic Science Club, this week we present the paper “Different places, different problems: profiles of crime and disorder at residential parcels”, by O’Brien, D. T.; Ristea, A.; Hangen, F. and Tucker, R. (2022), in which authors carry out a study to know how the crime varies according to the place in the city.

In the past few years there has been a growing interest in the study of problematic areas in cities, as they are considered to have very high concentrations of crime and social disorder. 

Literature to date has revealed that there are important differences in the different zones: what crime is like, what the disorganization is like in them… but there hasn’t been a deep study of the subject. 

With the most recent research, it has been seen that there are many variations of disorder and criminality depending on the neighborhood; for example, there are some of them with social disorder, but no physical disorder, and so on. Understanding this diversity would be very important in order to prepare better the interventions to mitigate the negative consequences of the issue. 

In the current study, plots of different areas of Boston are studied. The first objective is to know whether they all exhibit crime and disorder in similar ways or whether they differ in multiple profiles. On the other hand, the authors aim to get, with the typology obtained, how, and to what extent, different types of crime and disorder coexist. 

One idea mentioned by the authors is that, as a general rule, much more attention is usually paid to places with a high crime rate, which, ironically, represent a very small proportion of the communities. 

This is something that criminology specialized in the subject has already mentioned in the most recent studies. It explains that between 4 and 6% of problematic streets in a city represent more than the 50% of the crimes that occur in the whole city, regardless of its type or its size. 

It has also been shown that concentrations of crime on a certain street tend to persist over time, and when crime increases or decreases on that type of streets, it is often an indicator of citywide crime trends. 

On the other hand, based on previous literature, it looks that property parcels that experience many burglaries maintain this trend over time. 

It is interesting to mention the “crime pattern theory”, which argues that the activities and people associated with a particular place determine the frequency and way in which offenders, victims, and context interact with each other. This, in turn, shapes the likelihood and nature of crime and disorder in the place. 

Thus, situational crime prevention emphasizes the need to use small modifications in these places so that they alter their opportunity structure. For example, providing better lines of sight to those in charge of security in the area, or designating the role of “place manager” to property owners in the area. 

The current study analyzes the distribution of various types of crime and disorder in a series of residential parcels in Boston, Massachusetts (USA). For this purpose, records from the emergency telephone number, 911, were used. A total of 81,673 plots were studied. 

The analysis identified several disorder and crime profiles in the areas analyzed: four of the most important were public denigration, private neglect, private conflicts, and gun-related events. It also identified the existence of so-called “violent centers” that concentrate many types of problems. The latter were almost completely isolated from other troubled neighborhoods. 

The authors comment, interestingly, that the crime and disorder profiles of each parcel tended to specialize in a single type of problem, with the exception of violent centers that combined several problems (but accounted for only 0.2% of the total). 

This tendency can be understood in terms of routine activities and related theories. Each place is characterized by the people who frequent it, their propensity to offend, the contextual factors of the place… This makes the specialization more striking, as it could be that something about the individuals involved, or something in their dynamics, makes them prone to experience a problem or live events and circumstances that make them more vulnerable to one type of delinquency. 

The findings are important because they show the need to take measures that are tailored to the neighborhoods where they will be applied, so that their effectiveness is as expected, and the tools used are specialized and nuanced to perfect the interventions. 

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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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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Exploring necrosadism through a real case. Forensic Science Club

By 5 Mins Read

Friends of the Forensic Science Club, this week we present the paper “Necrosadism: exploring the sexual component of post-mortem mutilation of homicide victims” by Pettigrew, M. (2022), in which the author examines a real case of four homicides perpetrated by the same man, investigating whether there was necrosadism or not and why.

Necrosadism is a topic that hasn’t been researched like necrophilia-related behaviors and, as a result, is not only misunderstood, but poorly defined, according to the author of this article.

Normally, it is understood as “sexual contact with a dead person”, and necrosadists are defined as “people who commit murder to have sex with the corpse of the victim”.

It is in 2009 when Aggrawal defines more correctly what necrosadism would be: “the sexual paraphilic disorder that involves deliberate attacks on corpses, subjecting them to considerable humiliation and senseless mutilation.”

It has been argued in some cases that the term “necrosadism” is somewhat contradictory, since the essence of sadism is domination, degradation. It is the gratification derived from inflicting pain through psychological or physical suffering. Therefore, if the recipient of such behavior is a corpse, it is not a living being, it is incapable of feeling and, therefore, what is done to it are simply acts of gratuitous, unnecessary and cruel destruction. This is reflected in some legal systems that do not recognize necrophiliac acts as sexual in nature.

However, there is an important debate around the term, and although in the eyes of the author it is somewhat contradictory, the term “necrosadism” persists in its use.

Post-homicide behaviors are important areas of analysis in two ways: the psychology of the offender and law enforcement.

Regarding the psychology of the criminal, we can say that while the modus operandi of a criminal may change, his signature remains relatively unchanged. This signature is what relates to the psychodynamics of the offender. This term refers to the mental and emotional processes that underlie human behavior. The victim is treated as an accessory that’s used to fulfill the offender’s violent sexual fantasies, and this will leave its mark at crime scenes.

For example, when an offender puts the victim in a specific position, inserts certain objects, mutilates his/her corpse…, he may be enacting sexual fantasies.

All this is something that has been gaining interest for experts on criminal behavior, however, it seems that not much attention has been paid to it when sadistic, paraphilic and necrophilic behavior occurs between men against men.

For this reason, the author decides to explore a real case study through police interviews, crime scene reports, autopsies, crime scene photographs, witness statements, etc.

The offender was a 49-year-old single white male who committed four murders. He enjoyed sexual relations with men, within which he carried out sadomasochistic practices (BDSM), slavery, discipline, sadism in general…, and he was always the dominant part of the couple. His sexual arousal and the humiliation of his sexual partners seemed indissoluble.

His first victim was approached at night, there was a verbal exchange and the offender pounced on him, stabbing him frantically, receiving a total of 27 stab wounds.

In such a frenzied attack, it is conceivable that the criminal could have stabbed the victim post-mortem without knowing that he had already died, so this point needed to be clarified. The offender confirmed that he did know the victim was dead at the time he pulled down his pants and stabbed his buttocks. He also admitted a necrosadic desire to inflict puncture wounds on the victim’s limp body, as he went to pick him up the next day to continue stabbing him.

Another victim was also stabbed, post-mortem, intentionally. A different victim was found in a cruising area, with his penis exposed and stabbed.

Although the criminal’s modus operandi varied, the way of killing remained constant. There were wounds that were inflicted after death, and the offender admitted knowing that the victims had died before he made those wounds. In addition, the offender commented that he returned to the scene of the crime the next day and searched for the body to continue attacking him.

The offender was sexually aroused by inflicting the injuries, as noted by forensic psychiatrists.

It is the time factor that confirms the necrosadic impulse. An offender may stab or mutilate the victim during the homicide, and some of these injuries may be inflicted post-mortem, but this is not necessarily indicative of necrosadism. The necrosadic behavior, in this case, is confirmed by the time lapse between death and the making of the post-mortem wounds, in addition to the fact that the offender wanted to return to his victims within hours of having committed the murder to inflict more wounds on them.

It is the certainty that the victim was dead that provides evidence to say that there was a necrosadic component. As such, and considering that the author stabbed his victims in the penis and buttocks, it is logical for the author to point out that there is a relationship between necrosadism and paraphilias, leaving a door open for future research.

The author recommends that researchers focus on the gratification produced by these behaviors, study the offender’s sexual history, his perception of himself, among other more detailed aspects in the original article.

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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Are children who have suffered abuse properly interrogated? Forensic Science Club

By 4 Mins Read

Friends of the Forensic Science Club, this week we present the paper “Testing an Evaluation Tool to Facilitate Police Officers’ Peer Review of Child Interview”, by Danby, M. C.; Sharman, S. J. and Guadagno, B. (2022), in which authors propose a new approach to facilitate good practices when it comes about interrogate children who may have suffered sexual abuse. 

When a case of child abuse comes up, one of the first steps the police take is conducting an interview with the child.

Since physical evidence often does not exist in child abuse cases (because, for example, it’s something that happened a some time ago), the ability of police interviewers to obtain detailed and accurate information from the child may be vital to the outcomes of the investigation.

Over the last few decades, many studies have focused on examining interview techniques for obtaining children’s reports, and as a result, there are now a good number of evidence-based guidelines to improve interviews with children, and make it easier for children to provide complete, accurate and unbiased information.

There is a certain consensus on the key elements that constitute good interviewing practices, which are generally structured in separate phases.

We have, first of all, the opening phase, where the interviewers introduce themselves to the child and build a relationship with him/her, explain the need to tell the truth and tell him/her how the interview will work.

Then, we move on to the transition phase, where the conversation changes to substantive topics. This should occur in an undirected way and interviewers should avoid introducing details about the alleged abuse.

Once the topic of concern is established, the interviewers begin with the substantive phase, in which the alleged abuse is thoroughly explored, using open-ended questions to allow the child to freely narrate what happened.

Despite expert agreement on the core elements of good interviewing practices, interviewers have difficulty adhering to them when push comes to shove. They sometimes ask controversial or leading questions to bring up the topic of abuse in the conversation, they ask leading questions instead of open-ended ones, they fail to sufficiently isolate and label incidents of alleged abuse…

For this reason, specific courses and training are recommended for those who must deal with this type of situation in their working life, so that they are adapted as best as possible to the recommended good practices.

One strategy that helps to improve and maintain interviewers’ use of open-ended questions after training is to provide ongoing feedback from experts. However, it is an intense task that requires a lot of time.

A more feasible alternative is peer feedback, which will be more available to interviewers, and more frequently, than feedback from experts and superiors, and does not pose much of a workload challenge, as a second interviewer is often present during these types of interviews. The problem is that peers don’t have the same knowledge as experts sometimes.

In the current study, the goal was to test the accuracy of forensic interviewers when evaluating simulated transcripts of a child interview. To do this, authors conducted two studies. The first, with 56 police officers from one jurisdiction; the second, with 37 police officers from a different jurisdiction.

All recently completed a 10-day training program in child forensic interviewing.

Participants were provided with a transcript of a child forensic interview, and were asked to rank each question posed in the substantive phase (open-ended, facilitating, main, in-depth…). They also were provided with a set of best practice guidelines which they will compare with the transcription. 

In the case of the first experiment, participants were less accurate in evaluating transcripts that showed mixed adherence to best practices. Some previous studies mention how mixed transcripts are especially difficult to assess. In the review of the transition phase there was also less precision than expected.

Participants in the second study were also less accurate when reviewing the initial and substantive phases, showing mixed adherence to best practice.

One reason participants may have obtained these results, authors propose, is the rigid nature of the checklist that is often used as an assessment tool. This list forced participants to select dichotomous responses, and reality may not be as simple as choosing black or white.

Authors therefore propose that research should work on developing and testing tools that are more flexible than a dichotomous checklist.

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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Men and male adolescents with a history of psychiatric hospitalization are more likely to commit sexual crimes? Forensic Science Club

By 4 Mins Read

Friends of the Forensic Science Club, this week we present the paper “Sex offending among adolescents and young men with history of psychiatric inpatient care in adolescence” by Kaltiala, R., Holttinen, T. and Ellonen, N. (2022), in which authors carry out a follow study that lasted 30 years about cases of men and male adolescents what were in psychiatric centers, to know whether they commit any kind of crime when they left the treatment, focusing on sexual crimes. 

There are discrepancies during adolescence between physical maturation, cognitive maturation and emotional maturation, and this is something that can increase the risk of young people to take part, for example, in sexual encounters that are not safe or healthy. In extreme cases, even non-consensual sexual encounters can appear.

All this can be related to internalizing and also externalizing mental disorders. In fact, being part of a non-consensual sexual activity, as authors mention, would be an important risk factor for mental disorders. Being the perpetrator of this type of crimes can also be related to developmental problems.

In addition to the risk factors that exist for delinquency in general, young sex offenders often have a history of being subjected to sexual abuse, atypical sexual interests, social isolation, and some form of psychopathology.

Some psychiatric and developmental conditions have been associated in young people and adults with a higher probability of committing sexual crimes. For example, severe behavioral disorders, development of an antisocial personality, and even in some cases (although not the majority) autism spectrum disorders and mental retardation.

Up to two thirds of young sex offenders meet diagnostic criteria for some mental disorders.

Many serious mental disorders are related to sexuality and must be considered, since they can distort normative development towards a consensual and satisfactory sexuality, such as anhedonia, impulse control deficits, social anxiety or perception and communication problems. This can be particularly damaging in adolescence, when young people are dealing with critical development in many and varied areas of their lives.

Authors have different objectives in this work. For example, knowing how often young men entering psychiatric care acquire a criminal record for sexual offenses in the first 10 years after discharge, if they actually commit any. Knowing which of the diagnoses carries the highest risk of subsequent sexual offenses is also one of their goals.

On the other hand, as the study involves a following of the cases for 30 years, they wonder what are the differences between the young people admitted in the 1980s, 1990s and the 2000s.

To do this, they acquired a sample of 6,749 adolescents between 13 and 17 years old who were admitted, between 1980 and 2010, to undergo their first psychiatric treatment.

Subsequent criminal records were retrieved from public records in Finland, the context of the study. They contained data about the sentences imposed, sentences pardoned, and charges dismissed by the trial courts.

Only 103 of all patients had committed sexual offenses during the follow-up, which is a very low number (1.5%). Thus, criminal conviction for sexual offenses committed by adolescents within 10 years of discharge from a psychiatric facility is extremely rare.

The acquisition of a criminal record for sexual offenses was equally common among those who entered psychiatry in early adolescence (13-14 years) and those who entered psychiatry in later adolescence (15-17 years).

Criminal records for sexual offenses were more common among those with primary diagnoses of substance abuse and personality disorders. It was less common among those young people with mood disorders.

In addition, having a criminal record for nonsexual violence prior to admission to the psychiatric facility was associated with a higher risk of committing those same crimes after admission.

Patients admitted for the first time with diagnoses related to schizophrenia, have a low risk of committing subsequent crimes, both sexual and non-sexual, also applying to non-violent crimes.

However, despite everything mentioned above, it is important to say that sexual crimes after the stay in the psychiatric center were more common among young people admitted to the centers in the last decade.

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Russian criminal system for children and young people: can it be improved? Forensic Science Club

By 5 Mins Read

Friends of the Forensic Science Club, this week we present the paper “Mechanisms for protecting children’s rights and the role of psychological services in the juvenile justice system of Russia against the background of international practices”, by Orsayeva, R.; Vasyaev, A. and Shestak, V. (2022), in which authors carry out a critical analysis about the current situation of the criminal system and criminal procedure system in Russia, applied to minors and young people.

Children’s rights’ protection remains one of the most serious challenges that modern societies are facing. 

Despite the efforts of the authorities and society to improve the protection of children, the strategies aimed at some issues, such as the interventions of young people in the penal system or prevention so that they do not suffer violence and the abandonment by their families, have not been resolved.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child has been ratified by all European countries and has helped to strengthen the culture of child protection. However, the obtained results are not the expected ones.

Furthermore, in juvenile justice, violations of children’s rights are everywhere, and it seems that in the last decade there has been a regression rather than a progress or even a stagnation. This can be explained because, perhaps, society does not know exactly how the rights of the child can contribute and improve the juvenile justice system.

Regarding the protection of children’s rights and the juvenile justice system in Russia, there is a problem of discrepancy between the rights declared by law and the rights that are effectively applied.

A separate topic is the characteristics and psychological problems of adolescents in the justice system. In the last 10 years, only in the US, the percentage of young people who had had contact with the penal system and who, in addition, had mental health problems, amounted to 70%.

The aim of this study is to analyze the status and effectiveness of child rights protection mechanisms in Russia, to compare it with the laws of other states, doing the same with the juvenile justice system. The problem of mental health in young people who come into contact with this system is also briefly reviewed.

In the legal field, there are many discussions about the negative aspects of juvenile justice and its implementation in Russia.

The main negative aspect is the state control over the family. Juvenile justice workers are authorized to take the child away from his/her family when the parents are accused of abuse, inability to provide adequate nutrition, inadequate financial situation, among others.

Therefore, society is scared that families may be deprived of their children, as there are a large number of them living in poverty.

However, these fears are exaggerated. The objective of juvenile justice is simply to be a guarantee of the basic rights of the child and action will only be taken when there is evidence of these accusations.

In addition, in Russia, the juvenile justice system is based on the subjective opinions of the representatives of its organs, therefore, in a significant number of cases, the courts do not satisfy requests for placement in a juvenile detention center. In addition, there is no professional psychological evaluation in court, and it is well known that, based on these, social and psychological measures are planned and organized in order to maximize the success of the child’s development.

Regarding the problem of mental health, numerous studies confirm that a significant proportion of young people in the juvenile justice system suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder. According to available data in Russia, among adolescent offenders, the number of people with mental disorders is at least 50% of cases.

Authors propose that the system’s priority should be to dedicate resources to social programs aimed at preventing juvenile delinquency, in addition to providing opportunities for those who are prone to offending. It is extremely important to support both the police and other authorities, as well as programs aimed at people at risk.

School personnel, social services, non-profit organizations and society must make a great effort. It is through the exercise of all powers that the integrity of the juvenile justice system can be maintained while providing appropriate alternatives to minors who are unable or unwilling to obtain assistance.

Furthermore, to finish developing fair justice, authors think that Russia must go beyond the legal concept of justice, and change to one that can combat inequalities of any kind, be they of a criminal or social nature. This would be particularly important in the context of youth, as they are affected by unfair policies, as authors comment. This would be the social justice approach that they consider can point the way forward.

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Crimes committed by people with intellectual disabilities: which is the most common? Forensic Science Club

By 4 Mins Read

Friends of the Forensic Science Club, this week we present the paper “Crimes and sentences in individuals with intellectual disability in a forensic psychiatric context: a register-based study”, by Edberg, H.; Chen, Q.; Andiné, P.; Larsson, H. and Hirvikoski, T. (2022), in which authors carry out a study to know what are the crimes committed by people with intellectual disabilities and their comparison with the ones committed by people with a typical intellectual development. 

People with intellectual disabilities who commit crimes have a judicial status, characteristics and needs that concern most of the developed countries.

These people are an important group, but still small and not well recognized. The prevalence of diagnosed intellectual disability (hereinafter ID) in the general population is approximately 1%, and those who commit criminal offenses make up a small number of that percentage.

Whether or not people with ID are at increased risk of committing crimes is unclear based on the current literature. There are experts who support the idea and others who don’t, since it has not been confirmed.

In recent years, several patterns have been proposed regarding the typology of crimes committed by people with ID. Several studies have pointed to an increased risk of sexually inappropriate behavior and, therefore, of sexual offenses.

This generalization, however, needs to be studied, as the samples used for these studies have been small and the proposed definitions of intellectual disability inconsistent.

Most developed countries have criminal legislation in which offenders will not be responsible for their crimes if they suffer from some type of mental pathology, and under certain conditions. They are considered, for example, unable to stand trial, or not guilty by reason of insanity.

Meeting the special needs of these people, providing them with adequate rehabilitation and combining this with public safety, is a complicated task for which a plurality of options is needed. Authors argue that neither prison nor hospital orders are ideal. Community sanctions and other measures, defined as non-prison sentences, such as probation, have steadily increased in European countries. However, the prevalence of people with ID in prison systems is approximately 2-10%.

Sweden considers that offenders with serious mental disorders can be held responsible for their actions. However, the court may order a pre-trial forensic psychiatric evaluation to decide whether an offender suffers from a severe mental disorder, thus sentencing the offender to forensic psychiatric care rather than prison.

The main objective of this study was to study the typology of crimes in people with ID and without ID who were subject to a pre-trial forensic psychiatric evaluation, in the Swedish context. 

The study was observational and based on records of all persons undergoing forensic psychiatric evaluation in Sweden from January 1st, 1997, to May 30th, 2013. The final study population was 7,450 individuals.

Crimes were classified into four categories: sexual crimes, violent crimes, non-sexual violent crimes, and non-sexual non-violent crimes.

Sex crimes included rape, sexual coercion, child abuse, indecent exposure, sexual harassment, child pornography, among others.

Violent crimes included homicide, assault, robbery, arson, unlawful threats, or intimidation….

Non-sexual violent crimes excluded all sexual crimes from the category of violent crimes.

Finally, non-violent non-sexual crimes included all those that did not fit into the previous categories.

The results indicated that sexual offenses were more common among people with ID than without ID. 26% of ID offenders had committed a sexual offense, compared to 15% in the non-ID group. Violent crimes were equally frequent among both groups.

Several explanations for these data have been proposed. For example, the lack of knowledge and sexual education. It has been shown that people with ID have lower levels of sexual knowledge than their peers without ID, raising the issue of sex education as a preventive measure for this type of crime.

On the other hand, the modeling hypothesis appears as a result of previous sexual abuse. It arises from the idea that prior victimization is a common circumstance among sexual aggressors, moreover, people with ID are at greater risk of being victims of this type of crime.

There is also a lack of social integration, closely related to the idea that sex offenders in general may lack a prosocial identity.

Authors propose investing resources and time in structured and specialized treatment programs for these people, in addition to investigating the forms of rehabilitation and habilitation of forensic psychiatric care that they receive.

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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Forensic Science Club