Parental love is unquestionable in our culture, and the possibility that a parent would act to intentionally harm their child is usually considered anathema. Few crimes stir such strong emotions as those involving the intentional killing of an infant or an older child. When the death of a defenseless child occurs at the hands of a parent, it is only natural to seek answers to the causes of such tragedies and to question why they could not have been avoided. Abhorrent events of this type play on peoples' fears and command both community and media attention. However, history tells us that filicide has been an ever-present social issue across all of recorded history and across all corners of the world. The powerful, biological drive to procreate, pass on our genetic inheritance, and protect our children as the inherent carriers of this genetic immortality is at stark odds with the idea that filicide has been ever-present and, at times, relatively proliferate. This chapter frames filicide in historical and conceptual terms, to make an extensive review of literature about protective and risk factors to the perpetration of the crime by one or both parents, to examine the gender differences in filicidal offense characteristics and associated variables in order to establish a common profile of filicidal offenders and victims and to suggest some strategies to prevent this crime.

This chapter explores the victimology of child sexual abuse. The chapter commences by highlighting the difficulty in defining child sexual abuse, followed by the prevalence of child sexual abuse. The characteristics often associated with victims of child sexual abuse are also discussed, followed by some of the common misconceptions concerning child sexual abuse, and the reasons why a lot of children delay or do not disclose the abuse. The short- and long-term outcomes for victims conclude the chapter. This work highlights child sexual abuse as a global issue encompassing a wide variety of sexual behaviors. It also focuses on how the perpetrator's grooming process inhibits children from disclosing the abuse.

This chapter is intended to encourage every reader, regardless of educational background, experience level, or vocation, to take a new look at the various interventions developed to deal with threats and violence. The hope is that this overview and discussion will provide insight into the strengths and weaknesses of the current interventions and possibly lead to new research and interventions that will enhance the safety of current and potential victims of violence. Throughout this chapter, the term “assessor” will be used for any individual who assesses or manages a violence intervention strategy regardless of background or specific role (for example, a case assessor versus a case manager).

Up to 30% of women and 12% of men will be stalked at some point in their lives. The risk is greater in certain groups, such as health professionals, but it is most pronounced for high- profile figures such as celebrities and public office holders. The vulnerability of the famous to intrusions by members of the public who are pursuing intimacy or some idiosyncratic cause is corroborated by a burgeoning literature and a litany of anecdotal accounts. Our concepts of stalking in the general population have been shaped by the clinical and behavioural sciences research, while our understanding of stalking in the public figure arena has evolved from the research and operational experience of police and protective services. Over the past decade, however, commonalities have emerged between these two fields. This chapter will describe the evolution of these formerly separate disciplines, and the contribution of the stalking research to current approaches to threat assessment in stalkers of public figures.

In 2013, global mortality data conservatively estimated that just under half a million people died in homicide-related incidences. These incidents occurred for numerous reasons, including greed, passion, alcohol/drug intoxication, gender, ethnic and racial differences, religion, sexual property, social status, mental illness, and a need for power and control. Globally, there appears to be a shift in the type of homicide occurring within different countries, from intimate family-related homicides to stranger-, gang-, and organized crime–related deaths. This chapter will review the most recent Australian homicide data available, from the National Homicide Monitoring Program (2010–12 financial year), and compares it to the past 24years. It will do this in order to illustrate trends, patterns, and specific behavioral aspects relevant to these events. Issues covered include a holistic view of Australian homicides, the victims, and the contextual factors surrounding these offenses as well as the behavioral aspects involved.

Violent conduct is a secular phenomenon, inherent in the human condition, and present in our daily lives through a variety of intentional and accidental events and behaviors. When it occurs in the context of a relationship, it is considered domestic violence and must be viewed and analyzed in the context of a bidirectional interaction between the victim and perpetrator. Family violence is under increasing scrutiny by a diverse set of social, political, and academic interests, and these stakeholders bring a broad range of perspectives, opinions, and agendas. Despite the changing attitudes toward domestic violence around the world and the increased awareness and support services available for victims, there are still many victims of domestic violence who do not report their circumstances, for a number of reasons, and are therefore unable to access much needed support and advocacy. The socially and (increasingly) legal rejection of familial violence also means that perpetrators generally work to conceal their violent behavior in order to maintain and prolong their domination of their victims. Therefore, it is important that those dealing with domestic violence are well trained to recognize the warning signs, behaviors, and circumstances that are associated with domestic violence and its various incarnations, as well as the psychological, social, and physical consequences of this form of victimization.

Those interested in understanding personal and family violence will quickly identify the topic as highly politicized and controversial, particularly in the context of gender. Domestic violence tends to be conceptualized as a gendered crime—one that is mainly perpetrated against women and, to a lesser extent, children. This notion ignores research that women perpetrate violence against partners and children at similar rates to men. This chapter explores the gender debate and the biases and stereotypes that work against male victims of partner violence. In particular, it presents analyses of a set of narratives from the perspective of male victims. An understanding of the dynamic and interactive nature of family violence and its sociopolitical influences can reveal why men so often fail to report partner violence. Only when such aggression is conceptualized as a family issue rather than a gendered one will we adequately address the needs of those affected by it.

Online aggression came to the attention of researchers following a study of American students that was the first to identify Internet chat rooms and email as modalities for bullying. Since that time, another term was added to our lexicon for violent and antisocial behavior—cyberbullying—and is now widely considered an emergent and significant problem. Thus far, literature has failed to agree on a universal definition for “cyberbullying” and many definitions proffered refer directly back to traditional bullying and consider online aggression an extension of traditional bullying. The intentions of the current chapter authors are to contribute to the burgeoning amount of literature on this important area to discuss the importance of a consensus about the definition and conceptualization of online aggression, and to offer a workable and theoretically sound term that is appropriate and relevant to the generally accepted paradigm of cyberbullying.

Cults are a universal phenomenon, with some estimates claiming hundreds of groups in various regions. Definitions of cult vary from those who adhere to religious beliefs other than your own through to groups who use psychological tactics to recruit, indoctrinate, and retain members. The “gold standard” for determining whether a group is a destructive cult was developed by Robert Lifton based on his studies of thought reform in the Third Reich, in Nazi Germany. These include milieu control, mystical manipulation, the demand for purity, confession, sacred science, loading the language, doctrine over person, and dispensing of existence. The more of these characteristics a group possesses, the more destructive they are. Given the often destructive nature of cults, the attraction to them will be discussed at the close of this chapter.

Much is made in the scientific literature and popular media about the act of grooming children by sexual predators. However, comparatively little discussion is made of the grooming of adults for sexual abuse other than within the space created by those directly affected by this behavior and its consequences. Misunderstanding of this phenomenon by those on its periphery, victim blaming, stigmatization, humiliation, reporting reluctance, and the weight (legally, socially, and emotionally) brought to bear against victims by the institutions within which adult sexual abuse often takes place are largely responsible for this relative silence. This chapter describes adult grooming and the constituent parts that exists within this overall topic. The chapter also presents a seven-stage model of the grooming process that explains the motivations and behavior of sexual predators when adult victims are targeted.