Script Analysis of the Hunting Process of Serial Sex Offenders

• NCJ Number: 219832
• Journal: Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 34 Issue: 8 Dated: August 2007 Pages: 1069-1084
• Author(s): Eric Beauregard; Jean Proulx; Kim Rossmo; Benoit Leclerc; Jean-Francois Allaire
• Date Published: August 2007
• Length: 16 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Utilizing multiple correspondence analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis, this study identified hunting process scripts in a sample of 361 serial sex crimes committed by 72 serial sex offenders.

Abstract

Three different hunting process scripts were identified and two of them present more than one track. The coercive script includes the home-intrusion rape track and the outdoor rape track (A and B). These two tracks exhibit the same victim-search and attack methods. The manipulative script includes the sophisticated rape track and the family-infiltrator rape track. Offenders using the sophisticated rape track invest a huge amount of time preparing their crimes and selecting their targets. The family-infiltrator rape track is where offenders use their occupation to gain access to a victim, and they are more likely to infiltrate a family. Finally, the nonpersuasive script includes the direct action rape track. The direct action rape track acts directly on a victim. This crime is usually spontaneous and is not associated with the use of crime strategies. It exhibits little or no investment by the offender and may be seen as a “hit-and-run” attack. Studies concerned with the relationship between the behavioral and geographic aspects of crimes committed by sex offenders are clearly of value, both for the development of criminological models of offending processes and the advancement of criminal investigations in conjunction with psychological and geographic profiling. Based on an analysis of serial murder cases, Rossmo (1997) proposed the concept of hunting patterns to describe the methods by which offenders searched for and attacked victims. To facilitate the analysis of the entire crime commission process and help identify the decisions and actions of offenders, Cornish proposed in 1997 the concept of crime script. The goal of this study was to identify hunting process scripts, and their related tracks, in a sample of sex crimes, using multivariate statistical methods. All participants were incarcerated in a Correctional Service of Canada prison located in the province of Quebec. Tables, references