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Revision about minors trafficked for exploitation in criminal activities. Forensic Science Club

By 5 Mins Read

Friends of the Forensic Science Club, this week we present the paper “‘Little Rascals’ or Not-So-
Ideal Victims: Dealing with minors trafficked for exploitation in criminal activities in the Netherlands”, by Breuil, B. O. (2021), in which the author revises the problem of minor trafficked in criminal activities in the Netherlands’ context.

We know that one of the great scourges in our society that still exists today is human trafficking. The best known is trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation, which drags millions and millions of people to cruel destinations, from which it is very difficult to get out.

However, there is also trafficking for criminal purposes, where the majority of victims are, once
again, the most vulnerable people: children and teenagers.

In the Netherlands, the context of this study, the defended idea is that the interests of minors should
be guaranteed in these types of cases, and that victims of trafficking should not be held responsible
or punished for the crimes they were forced to commit. However, society often regards these
punishments as deserved and fair.

So are front-line actors (police and authority figures) prepared to identify and deal with these cases?

This topic is discussed in the research carried out by the author in 2015 and 2016, about children
and young people exploited in criminal activities in the Netherlands.

At the time it was carried out, only five cases had been successfully tried in court. And although the
visibility of the phenomenon has increased in recent years, it is unfortunately a form of trafficking
that remains under-researched, in the Netherlands but also in the rest of the world.

The objective of the article is, therefore, to contribute to filling this gap, providing ideas that may be
relevant to public institutions for child protection.

The research revolves around two questions: first, what knowledge exists about the phenomenon, its
definition, characteristics, the profiles of the perpetrators and victims, and so on. On the other hand,
some cases were investigated in order to explore the different manifestations of the phenomenon.

One of the problems posed by this criminal typology is the reduced amount of literature on it. Based
on the limited data that exist, the most common crimes in this context would be: pickpocketing,
forced begging, robbery, shoplifting, illegal street vending or drug trafficking. Regarding the first four activities, there is a strong emphasis on research on Roma children, from Central and Eastern Europe, as the main victims of this exploitation.

However, the author mentions that we need to be skeptical about the “ethnitization” of the
phenomenon. The most important thing in the victimization of minors for these crimes are the
socioeconomic disadvantages of their families, living in segregated, impoverished and crime-prone
neighborhoods, with sick, unemployed parents, that sometimes can be alcohol or drug users. There
is no reason for children of other ethnic groups living in similar circumstances to not be victimized:
it is not about race, but about disadvantaged living conditions. This also has negative consequences on parents and the Roma culture, who are perceived as perpetrators.

A very interesting aspect that should be considered is that the assumptions about how the victims
should be, dissuade the authorities from granting the status of victim to minors who do not fit this
ideal, since there is a belief that these minors arrived with their families to the host country to enjoy
its social benefits, being this an assumption that can impair their ability to see them as victims.
In other words, although they may be identified as victims of trafficking for criminal purposes, this
does not guarantee that they are actually recognized as such, due to the stigmatization they suffer.

There is also a cognitive bias that makes it easier to consider women victims than men. Some of the
authority figures interviewed for the author’s study observed that the possibility of girls being
trafficked is more obvious.

On the other hand, it is difficult for cases of exploitation of minors for criminal activities to reach
the courts. According to the investigation, it is because at some point in the investigation of the
crime, the idea is lost, it is no longer considered trafficking.

Sometimes it happens because professionals prefer not to label the case as human trafficking in an
official way, in order to be as objective as possible and interpret the facts from a neutral role.

At other times, it is considered that labeling a case as human trafficking might not be in the best
interest and well-being of the child. This follows the argument that, in some cases, legally qualifying facts as a consequence of trafficking avoids addressing the structural causes (political, economic and social), to the benefit of punitive criminal justice reactions.

In other words, prosecuting and imprisoning parents for trafficking their children can have serious
consequences for children and worsen their living conditions. An intervention aimed at protecting
them, supporting parents in raising children, improving their living conditions, would produce
better results.

These combined efforts could pave the way for better identification of the trafficking of minors for
exploitation in criminal activities, and ensure that children’s rights are respected, including the right
to not be punished for crimes they were forced to commit. It would also be necessary to address
economic, social, cultural and gender inequalities, while keeping the best interests of children in the
spotlight.

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Women in prison and mental health: which are their experiences? Forensic Science Club

By 5 Mins Read

Friends of the Forensic Science Club, this week we present the paper “Women’s experiences of prison-based mental healthcare: a systematic review of qualitative literature”, by Bright, A. M.; Higgins, A. and Grealish, A. (2022), in which authors carry out an investigation on recent and existing literature about women in prison and their experiences regarding mental health to know if the treatments and therapies they follow are effective. 

Since 2000, the number of women in prison has increased by around 53% worldwide, with an approximate population of 714,000 inmates. 

Internationally, there are increasing trends, although there are some exceptions. For example, in the United States a 700% increase in women in prison since 1980 has been seen, but Australia saw a 10% reduction between 2019 and 202. 

On the other hand, in the United Kingdom, an estimated 73% of women serving sentences of 12 months or less are reconvicted for another offense within a year of release. 

This is consistent with the position of many experts on short prison sentences: they are less effective in achieving rehabilitation than other sentences, such as community work.

Also in the UK, women experience particular difficulties once they enter prison as there are only 12 women’s facilities, so they are often forced to be a long way from their family and loved ones. 

Considering all this, it is not surprising for authors that the percentage of women with mental health problems is so high in the prison context: approximately 80% suffer from them. 

Women in prison are 5 times more likely to experience mental health problems than women in the general population. The most prevalent conditions are substance abuse (30-60%), alcohol addiction (10-24%), post-traumatic stress disorder (21.1%) and major depression (3.9-14.1%).

In addition, women in prison are up to 20 times more likely to commit suicide and, within one year of release, 36 times more likely to commit suicide compared to the rest of the population. 

In recent years, fortunately, there has been an increased demand for mental health care for women in prisons, calling for the revision of existing policies and services to meet the needs of women in this context. 

Authors aimed, in this study, to review existing literature on women serving custodial sentences in prison in order to identify their mental health conditions and to understand their experiences more deeply. They used a total of 7 studies, as recent as possible.

Authors obtained interesting conclusions, such as that women in prison are more likely to participate in mental health treatment programs compared to men in prison; however, they are less likely to be offered this possibility, or, in other words, to have access to treatment programs.

On the other hand, and taking into account that a more or less stable mental health is fundamental for their reintegration, rehabilitation once released from prison is seen as an elusive goal. 

Recovery in this context is a concept in which many factors are involved, but, in essence, it refers to people achieving a new meaning, a new purpose for their lives. 

In a 2011 study by Leamy and colleagues, 5 essential factors for recovery were identified: connection, hope, identity, meaningful role, and empowerment. It is therefore vital that women are empowered, for example, to be able to manage their own mental health while in prison and, thus, contribute to their recovery and rehabilitation. This can -and should- be supported by strength and skills development activities, and also by increasing self-esteem and self-efficacy. 

As a result of being in prison, a person loses the fundamental right to freedom; however, sometimes they also lose the right to privacy. In 5 of the 7 studies in the article, it appears that some prison workers were aware of requests from inmates for psychological treatment, where inmates talked about why they were requesting this care. This, of course, negatively affected the women’s mental well-being.

On the other hand, considering that female inmates are a particularly vulnerable population, it is of concern that in most studies they mentioned having difficulties with prison staff. They reported that these people seemed insensitive to their needs, contributing to the deterioration of the psychological well-being of the women in the center. 

Authors believe that providing mental health education to prison staff can help improve their understanding of how mental health problems manifest themselves and their specific vulnerabilities. It would also help them develop their empathy for women prisoners. 

In addition, there is a clear need to devote more effort and resources to research in this context, both to improve policy and service delivery, and to enable the voices of women in prison to be heard.

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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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What is being commented on social networks about sexual assaults? Forensic Sciences Club

By 5 Mins Read

Friends of the Forensic Science Club, this week we present the paper “Masochist or Murderer? A Discourse Analytic Study Exploring Social Constructions of Sexually Violent Male Perpetrators, Female Victims-Survivors and the Rough Sex Defense on Twitter”, by Sowersby, C. J.; Erskine-Shaw, M. and Willmott, D. (2022), in which authors carry out an analysis of Twitter publications in which people talk about sexuality, violence, victims and gender, bearing in mind that, nowadays, social networks help to shape social collective thinking. 

We have already mentioned on several occasions that sexual violence is one of the major problems facing modern society. Crime statistics show the increasing prevalence of this type of violence around the world. Since 2014, countries such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand or Ireland have experienced increases in sex crimes recorded by police, while statistics in the United States reveal the same trend since 2013. 

These data are disconcerting, although one of the explanations proposed for them is that rates have increased due to a greater awareness of abuse cases, among other reasons, due to the emergence of awareness and sensitization campaigns, as well as support for victims gender and sexual violence, such as the #MeToo movement. 

It may also be due to an improvement in police training to deal with these types of cases, along with a greater willingness to investigate these allegations.

On the other hand, while it is recognized that both men and women experience sexual violence, the figures for reported crimes stand out for a gender gap, as, in general, men are the perpetrators of these crimes and women, the victims. 

In England and Wales, data reveal that 98% of those prosecuted for serious sexual offenses are men and women represent the 84% of the victims. 

Authors mention that there may be an unknown number of male victims who do not come to light because of the stigma that still surrounds male sexual victimization, and because of societal expectations around the male gender role. 

Interestingly, along with concerns about the prevalence of abuse against women, there is recent media coverage of numerous high-profile sexual crimes, which has brought the issue of women’s safety into the public consciousness. 

This has led to media coverage that reaches social networks, creating debates and generating opinions that are made public. 

And, despite the importance of the phenomenon surrounding sexual violence, there is very little research dedicated to exploring public attitudes toward it and relating them, in turn, to “rough sex”. 

And why rough sex? Research places particular emphasis on distinguishing between rough sex and sexual violence because the line between the two concepts is very thin. 

This type of sexuality, while involving a certain degree of force or aggression, has consent at its core. Violent fetishism, bodily harm, humiliation, domination or submission, are some of the experiences that can be lived by those who practice this type of sex safely, due to its dangerousness, which can be more or less extreme. 

To distinguish between sexual violence and violent sex, the important thing is, as we have said, consent. However, there are times when consent is precarious, especially in situations of trauma or with an abuse background. 

The research also mentions pornography, with an increasing success of the most violent categories, which contributes to blurring the differences between rough sex and actual rape or sexual assault. 

On the other hand, and returning to the media influence of social networks on collective thinking, authors mention the concept of “slut-shaming”, which is often used to blame the victims of sexual violence, especially if they are women. Slut-shaming, for example, uses the fact that a woman has been drinking alcohol or has a very active sex life as an “excuse” for the sexual assault experienced. This highlights the need for research on all of the above data, with special emphasis on gender roles and the influence of the hard sex on the perception of sexual violence. 

To do this, authors search inside of Twitter, which is one of the most popular social networks today. 

They found that the dichotomy “virgin-whore” often appears to talk about women, which categorizes them in an extreme way based on their sexual preferences and constructs negative and defamatory language. For example, those women who do not like rough sex, are often labeled as “saints” or “boring,” the opposite for those who do, who are insulted and humiliated. This is very interesting, above all, because it contributes to the blaming of the victims of sexual violence. 

On the other hand, rough sex is increasingly legitimized as a normative sexuality, downplaying its potential dangerousness. 

The conceptions associated with gender roles are also extreme, not only in the case of women, but also in the case of men, making it seem that it is in their biological nature to be aggressive and hypersexual beings. 

In short, efforts, resources and research are needed to better understand the phenomenon of social networks and how they shape public opinion. Moreover, given the magnitude of the problem of sexual violence, understanding it, preventing it and acting appropriately with the victims is an absolute priority.

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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Which are the risk factors related to the suicide of police officers? Forensic Science Club

By 4 Mins Read

Friends of the Forensic Science Club, this week we present the paper “A Systematic Review of Risk Factors Implicated in the Suicide of Police Officers”, by Krishnan, N.; Steene, L. M. B.; Lewis, M.; Marshall, D. and Ireland, J. L. (2022), in which authors carry out an investigation on previous literature about the suicide of police officers, trying to identify which are the most important risk factors.

Mental health problems are a major complication for approximately 300 million people worldwide. Within these, there are suicidal behaviors and/or suicidal ideation, which are of considerable concern to the general population, with more than 700,000 suicide deaths per year worldwide. 

In small communities and closed groups, such as law enforcement, physicians, or emergency service workers, the immediate and long-term impacts of suicide can be exacerbated by the “ripple” effect that can occur from witnessing trauma firsthand. 

Data from the UK Office for National Statistics, shows that there have been a total of 169 suicides by police officers between 2011 and 2019, averaging approximately 21 deaths per year. 

Taking global statistics into account and comparing them with UK law enforcement statistics, some researchers have described the phenomenon in the latter context as an “epidemic” of great severity.

Despite these strong claims, other authors have questioned the classification of suicide as the leading cause of death among law enforcement officers. Problems in the assessment and collection of suicide statistics make accurate estimation of the problem increasingly difficult. 

Regardless of whether police officers experience higher rates of suicide compared with the general population, it is also of concern because officers are assumed to receive, at least in the United Kingdom (the context of this study), adequate support through training, health-related benefits, and counseling. 

Therefore, authors decided, in this study, to investigate the risk factors and predictors underpinning suicide in this population group. 

While general expert consensus holds that suicide causation is multidimensional, the literature reports three keys, or three particular levels of stressors believed to be involved in completed suicide in law enforcement personnel: first, personal or individual stressors appear; then, occupational factors; finally, organizational problems. 

Personal stressors refer to factors internal to the officer, such as mental disorders or substance use. Occupational factors refer to the demands that are considered part of the job, such as interacting with victims and offenders of crime and interacting with the justice system. And organizational issues include concerns about how little support they may receive at times, bureaucratic duties, and lack of career advancement opportunities in certain contexts. All of these can increase the likelihood of suicidal behavior. 

To delve further into the topic, authors decided to investigate previous literature related to suicides and police officers, in order to further expand information on risk factors. 

Five apparent determinants were revealed: problematic substance use at a time close to death, the presence of depression and previous suicide attempts, differences in the response to trauma they may experience, excessive and prolonged exposure to work-related stress, and the absence of a stable intimate relationship. When these factors coexist, they appear to be associated with an increased likelihood of suicidal behaviors. 

40% of the included studies identified problematic substance use as pervasive and directly related. More specifically, the findings indicated an increasing trajectory of substance use in the days and hours prior to the suicidal event. 

Mental health problems, most particularly depressive disorders and previous suicide attempts, were identified by the majority of police studies (50%). Interestingly, female officers reported higher depression scores compared to males.

Contradictory findings were also found that suggest the need for further research on the subject, since, in a 2004 study, the idea was proposed that officers with more years in police service were less susceptible to trauma-related stress and, therefore, to suicidal tendencies, but there is another view, which is the most predominant one, and holds that people exposed to multiple traumatic episodes are more likely to present symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. 

On the other hand, it seems that having a partner is not enough for it to be considered a protective factor, but that the quality of the relationship is the key, and what actually provides the protective function. 

As we can see, there are some findings that coincide, but others that can generate great debate, so the authors suggest continuing to investigate and study this topic, so that light can continue to be shed on it and, consequently, to prevent it.

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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Brief analysis of cybercrime in social networks. Forensic Science Club

By 4 Mins Read

Friends of the Forensic Science Club, this week we present the paper “Analysis of Cybercrime on Social Media Platforms and Its Challenges”, by Almansoori, A.; Abdallah, S.; Alshamsi, M. and Salloum, S. A. (2021), in which authors carry out an analysis of crimes that have been committed in the last few years and that are closely related to the development of technologies, internet and social networks.  

Cyberspace has reached every part of the planet, and is like a universe accessible from every corner of the globe. 

Advances in cybersecurity, technology and methods to protect software, networks and data associated with computers, have managed to prevent millions of attacks from malicious individuals and, in general, cybercriminals. 

Shockingly, the greatest cybersecurity efforts do not completely prevent cyberattacks, and so the need to remain vigilant and protect against these activities has become increasingly important in recent years.

This may seem simple, but a factor that makes this task extremely difficult comes into play, which, moreover, is an unprecedented phenomenon: social networks. 

We can define them as a group of Internet applications that allow the creation and exchange of content generated by different users. LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat… help to build social relationships and online communities that can become very strong, which is considered a valuable asset for many purposes. 

They provide many novel opportunities for socializing and interacting with users that have redefined the previously known approach to information sharing: from publicly expressing opinions, to news circulation, to online business or advertising. All of this, due to the global presence of the Internet, allows content to reach as many parts of the world as possible. 

And, as good as this is, it has a dark and dangerous side: people become easy and obvious targets for cybercriminals through social networks. 

To safeguard the integrity and security of individuals, organizations are constantly increasing technology and security budgets so that these social networks can be protected in a way that seals the information available from them. 

This research aimed to understand the characteristics of the crimes being committed through the Internet and social networks, and to identify what kind of efforts the police should make to control them. What types of attacks and crimes are occurring? What are the demographics of the majority of offenders? 

Authors conducted an analysis of different social networking platforms focusing on threats and offenses, arriving at 574 observations. Each of these observations was identified with a person suspected of having committed any form of cybercrime on these social networks. Cases were counted from 2014 to 2018. 

Most crimes occurred in 2018, with 28.1% of the total; then 2015 with 20.1%. According to the data, there were 300 cases of fraud, 100 cases approximately of child pornography, and other statistically less relevant crimes, such as stalking or grooming. 

Most of the offenders were found to have prior criminal records. About 70% had a prior record for some crime, while 30% did not. 

As for the educational background of the suspects, they had little formal education, about 70% had only basic education, and 30% had graduated from some form of higher education. 

About 61% of the offenders came from very poor backgrounds, while those from middle and upper class constituted the remaining 39%. 

On the other hand, most offenders were between 20 and 25 years old, with a significant peak at 22 years old. 

Online social networking sites must identify the core aspects of human and social connectivity through accurate and robust methodologies that ensure privacy, protection and build trust between the platform and the user at all times. 

Governments, along with intelligence services, must be trained to adopt and frame the technologies. The amount of data flowing in social networks must be analyzed in a very rigorous way. 

Another important point is the awareness of the individual, as people must be responsible with the content they share and the social networks they use. 

Knowing the demographics of the majority of cybercriminals can be of great use to law enforcement, as they can then follow a basic guide as to where they should focus resources and investigations, thus helping to identify the individuals most likely to be the perpetrators of this type of 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, 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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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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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.

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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