NCJ Number
197183
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 46 Issue: 5 Dated: October 2002 Pages: 532-554
Date Published
October 2002
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This article presents the results of a study of sexual murders in Australia with the goal of developing an empirical model for the psychological profiling of such offenders.
Abstract
The authors explain that although the practice of psychological profiling has increasingly been incorporated in police procedures, very few empirical studies exist to support its validity. This article seeks to fill this gap by presenting research into the psychological profiling of sexual murders. The data used in this article were the result of a 4-year study of 85 sexual murder cases in Australia spanning from 1960 to 1998. Results of statistical multidimensional scaling revealed that three key themes characterized the sexual murder cases: intercourse with the victim, violence, and premeditation in the perpetration of the offense. The authors note that the incidence of sex and violence were unsurprisingly the central theme of sexual murders. However, it was unclear whether the primary theme was sex or violence, although the authors assume that violence and force were primary factors in the commission of such crimes since the victim died during the encounter. In addition to these three key themes, four distinct outlying patterns became evident that demonstrated different offense styles: predator, fury, perversion, and rape. Analysis of each of these offense styles revealed distinct offender characteristics that may be used for profiles in future sexual murder cases. In conclusion, the authors caution that although this research identifies a model for sexual murder behaviors and offender characteristics, the results should be viewed as preliminary and a point from which future research can be based. Figures, tables, notes, and references