COMPARISON OF CRIMINAL PERCEPTIONS OF THE NONVERBAL BEHAVIOR OF POTENTIAL VICTIMS OF ASSAULT AND A MOVEMENT ANALYSIS BASED ON LABANANALYSIS

• NCJ Number: 65276
• Author(s): B GRAYSON
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 173 pages
• Sale Source: UMI Dissertation Services
• Publication Type: Thesis/Dissertation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: SPECIAL PRICES FOR ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS. NEW YORK UNIVERSITY - DOCTORAL DISSERTATION

Annotation

CRIMINALS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION OF POTENTIAL VICTIMS WAS STUDIED TO DISCOVER WHETHER CRIMINALS PERCEIVE SPECIFIC NONVERBAL BEHAVIORS IN CHOOSING POTENTIAL VICTIMS.

Abstract

EXPERIMENTAL SUBJECTS WERE VIDEOTAPED BY MEANS OF A HIDDEN CAMERA AS THEY WALKED DOWN THE STREET IN A HIGH CRIME AREA OF NEW YORK CITY. THE VIDEOTAPES WERE EDITED IN TERMS OF THE AGE AND SEX OF TAPED SUBJECTS SO THAT THERE WERE FOUR TAPES OF 15 SUBJECTS EACH. THESE TAPES WERE THEN SHOWN TO CRIMINALS AT RAHWAY STATE PRISON WHO HAD BEEN CONVICTED OF ASSAULTIVE CRIMES UPON PERSONS UNKNOWN TO THEM. CRIMINALS THEN EVALUATED EACH SUBJECT ON A TEN POINT SEMANTIC SCALE BASED ON WHETHER THEY ESTIMATED THE SUBJECTS TO BE EASY VICTIMS OR PERSONS THEY WOULD NOT ASSAULT. THE MOVEMENTS OF THOSE SUBJECTS WHO WERE SELECTED AS POTENTIAL VICTIMS WERE THEN ANALYZED, USING A MOVEMENT NOTATION CODE KNOWN AS LABANANALYSIS. RESULTS INDICATED THAT THERE WERE SPECIFIC MOVEMENTS INIMICAL TO POTENTIAL VICTIMS. A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF A COMBINATION OF THESE MOVEMENTS REVEALED THAT GESTURAL BEHAVIOR WAS TYPICAL OF THIS GROUP. THE FOUR MOVEMENTS FOUND TO BE TYPICAL OF VICTIMS WERE: AN EXAGGERATED STRIDE, A LATERAL WEIGHT SHIFT, UNILATERAL BODY MOVEMENT AND LIFTED RATHER THAN SWUNG FOOT MOVEMENTS. THE NONVICTIM, ON THE OTHER HAND, PRESENTS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT MOVEMENT PICTURE. THE NONVICTIM USES A MEDIUM STRIDE, SHIFTS WEIGHT IN A THREE DIMENSIONAL PATTERN, WALKS POSTURALLY, MOVES CONTRALATERALLY AND SWINGS HIS OR HER FEET. THE RESULTS OF THIS STUDY COULD BE IMMEDIATELY APPLIED TO UNDERCOVER POLICE WORK IN WHICH MEMBERS OF ANTI-CRIME UNITS DISGUISE THEMSELVES AS POTENTIAL VICTIMS IN ORDER TO CAPTURE PERSONS WHO PERPETRATE ASSAULTIVE CRIMES. ALSO, POTENTIAL VICTIMS OF ASSAULT COULD UNDERGO BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION TRAINING TO CHANGE GESTURAL BEHAVIOR TO POSTURAL BEHAVIOR. THE METHODOLOGY, TOO, MAY BE USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY TO DO LARGE-SCALE COMMUNICATION STUDIES IN OTHER AREAS OF NONVERBAL BEHAVIOR. TABLES, REFERENCES, AND APPENDICES ARE PROVIDED. (DEG)