NCJ Number
236139
Journal
Legal and Criminological Psychology Volume: 16 Issue: 2 Dated: September 2011 Pages: 307-322
Date Published
September 2011
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This study identified which visual cues are used within closed-circuit television (CCTV) in order to predict accurately a criminal act and to investigate observer descriptions of the meaning of such cues; the study also tested whether professional CCTV surveillance experience influenced a person's ability to predict antisocial acts using real CCTV footage.
Abstract
As expected, accuracy in predicting the occurrence of antisocial acts and visual scanning patterns, i.e., point-of-gaze (POG) location, were not influenced by professional surveillance experience. No significant differences between groups were found with respect to visual clarity or the number of people perceived, thus establishing perceptual equivalence between the stimuli and the two samples of participants. Analysis of the POG data showed that only two visual cues predicted accuracy in detecting criminal intent: duration of gaze upon the face/head of individuals unengaged in social interaction and looking at the bodies of individuals engaged in reciprocal social interaction with others in the scene. Examples drawn from qualitative data suggest that accuracy was linked with a more extensive examination of the spatial proximity between individuals and a more highly nuanced interpretation of any social groupings present. This suggests that better prediction accuracy in CCTV images is apparently associated with the observer's more sophisticated awareness of the social context of the captured scene. In this study, CCTV operators (n=12) and inexperienced observers (n=12) were shown 24 short scenes in which half of them involved an antisocial act. An eye-tracker was used to identify the visual cues associated with participant's predictions as to whether or not each scene led to criminal behavior. Participants also explained their impressions of selected scenes and reported any features that aroused suspicion. 2 tables, 6 figures, and 28 references