Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Where To From Here?, Wayne Petherick

Wayne Petherick

Extract:

The history of profiling is easy to trace - after all, it has already been recorded and is available for review (see Chapter 1; Petherick, 2003; Turvey, 2008). The future of profiling is another story entirely. Given the nature of the craft and the advances made in recent years, it stands to reason that only further improvements will be made. At least, this should be our hope.

An increase in use in the real world is matched by an increase in the number of scholarly works dedicated to the field. Most provide a general overview of profiling (Ainsworth, 2001; …

Criminal Profiling Methods, Wayne Petherick

Wayne Petherick

Extract:As an investigative aid, criminal profiling has received a great deal of attention from academic audiences and popular culture (Petherick, 2003), and significant advances have been made in both practical and theoretical terms. Even though our collective knowledge about this area has grown, there is still much about the process that remains a mystery. For example, there is little acknowledgment or understanding of the logic or reasoning employed within the profiling process (see Chapter 2), or that there are indeed different methods employed within the profiling community. Of more concern is the fact that many practitioners continue to confuse these …

Criminal Profiling As Expert Evidence, Wayne Petherick, David Field, Andrew Lowe, Elizabeth Fry

Wayne Petherick

Extract:
Profiling evidence has been accepted in courts in the United States in both trial and sentencing phases, but other jurisdictions have been more cautious in their acceptance. For example, courts in the United Kingdom and Australia have been reluctant to introduce profilers as experts, even though profiling has been given some exposure in courts operating at the lower end of the justice system. The reasons for this reluctance are varied but include a lack of uniformity processes and outcomes, fragmentation of methods, and conflict between profiling organizations and practitioners. In short, there are many methods of profiling, and not …

The Fallacy Of Accuracy In Criminal Profiling, Wayne Petherick

Wayne Petherick

Extract:
The defining criterion by which the utility of a particular tool is often judged is its accuracy or sensitivity of detection. We place little faith in that which is inaccurate or in those things that do not detect what they are meant to detect. Things are no different in the profiling community, and the most common measure by which a profiler claims utility is how close his or her approximations are to an offender, if one is caught. As will be shown in this chapter, with the craft being the way it is, this is probably the worst possible …

Metacognition In Criminal Profiling, Barry Woodhouse, Wayne Petherick

Wayne Petherick

Extract:
As with many professions, one of the more serious problems that confronts the profiling community is that of the inept examiner. Deliberately unethical behavior is one thing, but ongoing incompetence because of profiler ignorance is something else entirely. In some instances, ignorance is the result of a metacognitive deficit caused by a lack of study, a lack of training, or a general lack of mental dexterity. In such instances, the profiler will continually do the wrong thing, such as using flawed methods and erroneous logic, because he lacks the ability to recognize his own ineptitude; the profiler cannot perceive …

Victim Lifestyle Exposure, Joe Diaz, Wayne Petherick, Brent Turvey

Wayne Petherick

Extract: It has been said that for every crime there is at least one victim. However, victimity may not be assumed or otherwise presupposed. First, the existence of crime must be established; if there is no crime, there can be no victim. Then it is necessary to establish which participant is the victim. This cannot be assumed either as explained by von Hentig (cited in Wolfgang 1959, 245): Here are two human beings. As soon as they draw near to one another, male or female, young or old, rich or poor, ugly or attractive - a wide range of interactions, …

School Shootings, Wayne Petherick, Brent Turvey

Wayne Petherick

Extract:
As with any attack that occurs at an educational facility - to include grade schools, colleges, and universities - school shootings are a particular form of workplace violence. The relationships are fairly straightforward in this regard. Instructors, administrators, and support staff are employed and work on site, and students are the "clients". Violent attacks may occur between or within any of these groups or their relationships.

Workplace Violence, Wayne Petherick, Brent Turvey

Wayne Petherick

Extract: Workplace violence is defined by one authority as "violence or the threat of violence against others" (OSHA 2002, 1). Because of sensational coverage by the popular media, the public perception of the frequency of different incarnations of workplace-related violence, such as homicide, is likely to be greatly distorted. Watching the evening news, it is not difficult to understand why. In our present culture, where sexuality, violence, and fear are valuable retail commodities, the workplace is routinely characterized with one or more of these when given airtime or column space. Stories without such marketable traits are seldom featured.

An Introduction To Crime And Deviance, Wayne Petherick, Claire Ferguson

Wayne Petherick

Extract: Criminological knowledge as it relates to concepts of deviance have been stagnating. Historically, new texts contain very little new knowledge. They have tended towards the recycled rather than the original. Old theories are posited over and over again, with little consideration or regard to whether they even apply in the current universe of criminal behavior. New editions rarely contain little more than new case studies as if this somehow keeps them contemporary. At best, many works offer a different spin on old approaches or theories. It is for these reasons that we have endeavoured to make this book a …

Behavioral Consistency, The Homology Assumption And The Problems Of Induction, Wayne Petherick, Claire Ferguson

Wayne Petherick

Extract: The ultimate goal of profiling is to identify the major behavioral and personality characteristics to narrow the suspect pool. Inferences about offender characteristics can be accomplished deductively, based on the analysis of discrete offender behaviors established within a particular case. They can also be accomplished inductively, involving prediction based on abstract offender averages from group data (these methods were detailed extensively in Chapter 2; see also Petherick & Turvey, 2008a). As discussed, these two approaches are by no means equal.

Alcohol, Drugs And Crime, Wayne Petherick, Nila Myers

Wayne Petherick

Extract:
There are a great many factors that contribute to criminality. These include, but are not limited to poverty, mental disorder, personality disorder, sub-cultures (such as gangs), personality differences, and socialization. One of the more prevalent though would be the use of alcohol and other drugs. This applies to both the offender and the victim. That is, many offenders are under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol at the time of their offense, and so are victims. In fact, victim use of drugs parallels that of offenders in many offense types.

Cults, Wayne Petherick

Wayne Petherick

Extract: Cults are a universal phenomenon, and can likely be found in some form in every country around the world. Haworth (1997) suggests that there are 500 cult groups operating in the UK and other parts of Europe, meaning that on a per capita basis, the problem is the same as in the USA. Langone (undated) suggests that cult educational organizations have compiled lists of more than 2,000 groups with perhaps 1,000 of these groups actually meeting the criteria of cults, Furthermore, as an indication of their global nature, he suggests that grassroots cult educational organizations exist in more than …

Stranger Violence, Wayne Petherick, Brent Turvey

Wayne Petherick

Extract: A stranger is someone who is unknown or foreign. Stranger violence occurs when an offender attacks a victim whom he or she does not know; someone who is not part of the family, not a friend or coworker, and not an acquaintance of any kind. Though generally less common than violence suffered at the hands of friends, family, and acquaintances, stranger violence enjoys a great deal more of our attention.

Victims Of Stalking, Wayne Petherick

Wayne Petherick

Extract: Stalking involves a repeated pattern of intrusion and harassment by (most typically) one person against another. It has serious physical and psychological implications for victims and presents problems to investigators, because it involves dynamics and behavior that are poorly understood (Petherick 2008). This includes, but is by no means limited to, motivations, effects on the victim, appropriate responses, and outcomes from intervention. The actual methods employed by stalkers are similarly many and varied, ranging from covert surveillance, letter writing, telephony, and in extreme forms, assault, sexual assault, and homicide.

School Shootings And Guns, Wayne Petherick, Brent Turvey, Jared Kreeger

Wayne Petherick

Extract: School shootings are a global phenomenon, as they occur in almost every country around the world. However, the United States ranks number one in terms of the total number of school shooters and total number of victims in a single incident. Despite the media attention such incidents receive, they are uncommon and as such are deviant both statistically and ideologically as an extreme form of anti-social (and homicidal) behavior.

Exploring Parental Aggression Toward Teachers In A Public School Setting, David May, Yanfen Chen, Jerry Johnson, Lisa Hutchinson, Melissa Ricketts

David May

Almost all of the extant research examining aggressive activity uses data from student populations. In this study, we extend that literature by examining teacher perceptions of parental aggression in public schools in Kentucky. Using data from a sample of 5,971 public school teachers, we determine that parental aggression directed at public school teachers is a rare event, and when it occurs, it is far more likely to be verbal than physical in nature. The multivariate results presented here further indicate that younger teachers, teachers with advanced degrees, and teachers from more heavily populated areas as more likely to have experienced …

Johnny Cash: The Criminologist Within, Patrick Gerkin, Aaron Rider, John Hewitt

Patrick Gerkin

This paper examines the criminological underpinnings of song lyrics in the collection of Johnny Cash. We have examined the lyrics of 60 songs performed by Johnny Cash (although not necessarily written by Cash) that reflect on issues including crime, prison, chain gangs, the death penalty, and redemption. Using a content analysis of these lyrics, we examined Cash’s criminological view of crime and punishment. While not versed in criminological theory, Cash nonetheless sang eloquently of a rational choice model of crime in which offenders accepted responsibility for their acts, punishment was justified, and yet incarceration should be humane and rehabilitative.

A Gendered Assessment Of The "Threat Of Victimization", David May, Nicole Rader, Sarah Goodrum

David May

Rader has called for a change in how researchers study fear of crime, suggesting that fear of crime, perceptions of risk, and experiences with victimization are interrelated dimensions of the larger ‘‘threat of victimization’’ concept. In this study, the authors examine how each independent dimension affects additional theoretical dimensions of the ‘‘threat of victimization’’ and how these relationships vary by gender. Using data from residents of Kentucky, the authors estimate a series of multivariate linear and logistic regression models. The findings presented here suggest that gender differences do exist in the components of the threat of victimization and that many …

Accounting For Absence: The Colombian Paramilitaries In U.S. Policy Debates, Winifred Tate

Winifred L. Tate

Big, attention-grabbing numbers are frequently used in policy debates and media reporting: "At least 200,000-250,000 people died in the war in Bosnia." "There are three million child soldiers in Africa." "More than 650,000 civilians have been killed as a result of the U.S. occupation of Iraq." "Between 600,000 and 800,000 women are trafficked across borders every year." "Money laundering represents as much as 10 percent of global GDP." "Internet child porn is a $20 billion-a-year industry."

Peter Andreas and Kelly M. Greenhill see only one problem: these numbers are probably false. Their continued use and abuse reflect a much larger …

Increases In School Shootings: Reality Or Myth?, David May, Erin Kelley

David May

No abstract provided.

Pirating Youth: Examining The Correlates Of Digital Music Piracy Among Adolescents, Whitney Decamp, George E. Higgins, Roberta E. Gealt

Whitney DeCamp