Victim-offender Relationship Research Articles

Testing the Cinderella effect: Measuring victim injury in child abuse cases

Past research finds that stepparents harm and kill their partner's children at higher rates than biological parents do to their own children, a phenomenon called the “Cinderella effect.” Yet one major limitation of these studies is that reporting biases may account for a large share of the effect observed if reporting rates differ based on the victim-offender relationship. As abuse cases with serious injuries are more likely to be disclosed to police than ones with no injuries or minor injuries, using cases where the victim is seriously injured allows us to minimize the impact of differential reporting. Using data from the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) which covers over 500,000 cases of child abuse from 1991 through 2019, we find that, relative to biological parents, unmarried partners, but not stepparents, are significantly more likely to seriously injure the child, partially supporting the Cinderella effect.

Criminal mutilation homicides in Japan: Corpse dismemberment and disposal pattern types, and offender characteristics.

This study examined the offender characteristics of criminal mutilation homicides in Japan for offender profiling. The current sample (N= 108) showed that the most typical offender was a male, in his 30s (age that observed most often), one-person, and acquainted with the victim. This study highlighted that the cases of mutilation homicide differed in comparison with the regular homicide group in terms of the victim-offender (VO) relationship and the number of offenders. Furthermore, the multiple correspondence analysis classified mutilation homicides into four behavioral pattern types based on two dimensions (level of "efforts of corpse dismemberment" and "efforts of corpse disposal"). In the first type "high evidence destruction effort (n = 29)", having the greatest efforts to destroy evidence, all offenders were men. The rates of no VO relationship and serial murders were higher. In the second type "convenient disposal (n = 32)", likely to abandon victim body in home and trash, the rate of female offenders who assaulted family members was statistically significantly higher among the four types. In the third type "high geographic distance (n = 23)", traveling long distances for corpse disposal, the percentage of cases by co-offenders was likely to be higher than in the other types. Lastly, the offenders in "low evidence destruction effort (n = 24)" were likely to kill other acquaintances and have the least efforts for corpse dismemberment and disposal. From these results, the criminal profilers can estimate mutilation homicide offenders on the basis of efforts of corpse dismemberment and disposal.

First findings from the Balkan Homicide Study

The aim of the paper is to introduce a genuine violence classification system. The system has been created using an innovative empirical rather than a mainstream normative approach. It aims to test the possibilities and benefits of conceptualising and understanding violence regardless of its normative constructs which have been created on the basis of legal, abstract, and non-empirical grounds. With a specific focus on physical violence, the here proposed classification system has been designed by using original empirical data from case file analysis, obtained through the Balkan Homicide Study (BHS). Using a qualitative method, 2073 finally adjudicated attempted and completed homicide cases were analysed. As a result, the genuine violence classification system includes 20 types of violence primarily determined by the various contextual backgrounds of the offences and their main triggers, occasionally also considering the location of the offence, the offender’s motive and the victim-offender relationship. The ultimate purpose of the introduced genuine violence classification system is to provide a new and innovative approach to violence research, one that might prove to be a useful tool for minimising the impact of differences due to changing legal frameworks through time (e.g., reforms) and amongst different countries. In this sense, it should facilitate and upgrade future (comparative) criminological violence research. The basic terms and types of violence are defined primarily for the purpose of the BHS and should not be understood as axioms generally applicable outside the framework of the study, at least not without further testing and adjustment of the classification system.

When cyberaggression is personal: gender differences in threats and betrayals of partners and friends

PurposeNew ways of perpetrating relational aggression have been facilitated by the increased availability and adoption of technology for communication, resulting in growing cyberaggression rates over the past few decades. Few studies have examined whether perpetrators of cyberaggression are more likely to target friends or romantic partners (or both) and whether this differs across the gender of the perpetrator. This is the key focus of the current study.Design/methodology/approachParticipants completed an online survey which assessed three types of cyberaggression (threatened to share secrets, shared secrets and posted embarrassing pictures) against friends and then also against romantic partners. The sample included 678 undergraduate university students who were in a romantic relationship at the time of the survey (72.6% female and 27.4% male, age range 18–50 years, average 21.7 and SD = 4.5).FindingsThe results of this study showed that a significantly higher proportion of males than females perpetrated cyberaggression against friends and romantic partners. In addition, a significantly higher proportion of males engaged in “general” cyberaggression (targeting both friends and romantic partners), whilst a higher proportion of females engaged in “selective” cyberaggression (targeting either friends or romantic partners).Originality/valueCollectively, this study tells us that whilst there has been wide examination of cyberaggression more broadly, very few studies explore who perpetrators target (i.e. the victim–offender relationship), especially across gender of the perpetrator. The current study is original in that it asks perpetrators to report who they target and then examines gender differences in perpetration rates across victim–offender relationships.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind: An Analysis of Family Mass Murder Offenders in the US, 2006-2017

In recent years, media attention has increasingly focused on sensationalized forms of mass murder across the United States, thereby diverting attention on the most frequent typology of mass murder events: family mass murders. The current study addresses limitations within this body of work and provides an analysis of demographic and case characteristics associated with distinct family mass murder offender types. The current study utilizes the USA Today database, Behind the Bloodshed, and public news articles to assess 163 family mass murder incidents that occurred from 2006 to 2017. Using this database, which defines mass murder as the killing of four or more victims excluding the offender, there were an average of 14 family mass murders annually, most often committed by a current or former intimate male partner using a firearm as the weapon of choice. Additional case characteristics were examined and revealed significant differences based on the gender of the offender as well as by victim-offender relationship type. Recommendations for future research include examining the impact of gun violence prevention responses in domestic violence cases and providing a comparative study of two and three victim counts to better inform law, policy, and the public about what is often hidden away as a private family matter.

Victim–Offender Relationship and the Emotional, Social, and Physical Consequences of Violent Victimization

Research is equivocal about how the social relationship between victims and offenders is linked to the emotional, social, and physical consequences of violence. This study examines the association of victim-offender relationship with the adverse outcomes reported by injured and uninjured victims of violence. The study analyzed 16,723 violent victimizations recorded by the National Crime Victimization Survey from 2008 to 2018. Multivariable quasi-Poisson models estimated the associations between the victim-offender relationship and victims' emotional distress, social distress, and physical and emotional symptoms. These models also estimated a statistical interaction between victim-offender relationship and violent injury to examine how this association differed for injured and uninjured victims. The analyses occurred during 2020 and 2021. Uninjured victims were more likely to report emotional distress (risk ratio=1.41, 95% CI=1.33, 1.50), social distress (risk ratio=3.12, 95% CI=2.78, 3.51), more physical symptoms (symptom frequency ratio=1.68, 95% CI=1.51, 1.87), and more emotional symptoms (symptom frequency ratio=1.13, 95% CI=1.08, 1.18) in family member/intimate partner violence than in stranger violence. Victims also reported worse outcomes after acquaintance violence than after stranger violence. For injured victims, these differences narrowed-but were still significant-in emotional and social distress models. However, the number of emotional and physical symptoms reported by injured victims did not significantly vary across victim-offender relationships. Relational closeness between victims and offenders is a risk factor for adverse outcomes after violent victimization, and it is more strongly associated with these outcomes for uninjured victims than for injured victims.

The role of the victim-offender relationship on psychological distress among Latinx women: A betrayal trauma perspective.

The current study expands the knowledge within the betrayal trauma literature by applying this conceptualization to the victimization of Latinx women, a generally understudied minority group in the United States. Under the betrayal trauma framework, this study focuses on the victim and perpetrator relationship of Latinx women to examine trauma-related psychological distress outcomes, including depression, anger, dissociation, and anxiety. Using data from the Sexual Assault Among Latinas Study on 2,000 adult Latinx women in the United States, findings examine the victim-perpetrator relationship of the Latinx women who experienced victimization (n = 870). Ordinary least squares regressions were conducted with the Trauma Symptom Inventory scales of depression, anger, dissociation, and anxiety as the dependent variables, resulting in four regression models. A sequential regression including the interaction terms was then completed for each of the TSI scale outcomes to account for possible moderation between cultural variables and victim-perpetrator relationships. Linear models show that childhood betrayal trauma and total victimization significantly associate with greater psychological distress, including depression, anger, dissociation, and anxiety. Interactions effects were significant for anxiety, showing a stronger relationship between childhood family-perpetrated victimization for highly enculturated women while the opposite was found for family-perpetrated victimization in adulthood where low-enculturated women had a stronger relationship to anxiety. The study findings support the betrayal trauma theory among Latinx women by showing that the closeness in relationship between the victim and the perpetrator for childhood victimization was associated with greater psychological distress above and beyond the impact of other perpetrator-victim relationships. This effect remained significant even when accounting for the total lifetime victimization. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Cooperative guardian offenders and sentencing outcomes: Evidence from criminal sentencing documents of child trafficking crime in China

BackgroundStudies have revealed that guardians who sold their children for profit comprise the majority of child traffickers in China. Although sentencing disparity has been a focal topic in judicial studies, few scholars have investigated the influence of the guardian relationship on criminal sentencing for child trafficking. ObjectiveThe current study sought a better understanding of sentencing practices on child traffickers in China, focusing on the effects of the victim–offender relationship (VOR) and post-crime attitudes (PCAs) on sentencing outcomes. Participants and settingWe retrieved all available sentencing documents related to “the trafficking of children” during the 2014–2016 period from China Judgments Online. The analytic dataset contained 844 child traffickers who were sentenced to a fixed term imprisonment. MethodsA joint logistic and zero-truncated Poisson regression model was used to explore the main and interaction effects of VOR and PCAs on sentencing outcomes. ResultsGuardian offenders received sentences that were 12% shorter than those of non-guardians and were more likely to be given 60-month sentences, which is the minimum of the first statutory sentencing range. Guardian offenders who voluntarily surrendered also had a much higher chance of probation. The odds ratio of receiving probation for guardian offenders who surrendered was approximately three times higher than that of non-guardian offenders who did not surrender. Surrendering also reduced the sentence length of guardian offenders by 22%. ConclusionsShorter sentences and a higher chance of probation suggest that the Chinese judicial system considers child trafficking crimes involving guardians to be low harm offenses that pose little danger to society. However, this practice of leniency for cooperative guardian offenders offers offenders pragmatic ways to avoid incarceration, and does not help to solve the problems of guardian offenders who really want to give up custody of their children.

A Comparison of Executions and Death to Life Commutations in Kentucky, 1901–2019

This study examines the administration of capital punishment in Kentucky. Comparing execution and death to life commutation cases from 1901–2019, we consider the purpose of the commutation process and its utilization considering offender-victim relationships and the severity of the homicide as determined by the Barnett Scale. While a higher score on the Barnett Scale predicted execution, there remained a pattern of racial discrimination between the two decisions.

626Epidemiology of facial injuries in the context of fatal family violence in the Victorian population

Abstract Background The oral cavity is reported to be a key focus of physical injury in family violence (FV). Our purpose is to explore the potential opportunity for dentists to assist in the prevention of serious injuries in FV. This paper aims to describe the patterns of orofacial injuries in FV homicides. Methods All FV homicides in Victoria, Australia January 2006-December 2018, were identified amongst closed cases of assaults screened for eligible victim-offender relationships. Epidemiologic trends in FV in the Victorian population over the 12-year period were determined. Sociodemographic, interpersonal, incident and injury characteristics including ICD-10 coding were studied and compared across facial and non-facial injury FV subgroups. Results There was a non-significant downward trend in FV homicide over the period. Of 170 adult cases, 150 were included for facial injury analysis. Of these, 117 (78%) showed orofacial injuries in the 12-year period. Two-step cluster analysis revealed blunt force and threat to breathing injury mechanisms to be significantly associated with facial FV and sharp force with nonfacial FV. Among the additional 26 child homicides, descriptive analysis elucidated patterns in 20 cases eligible for facial injury analysis. Coding limitations were found for the FV homicide cases. Conclusions This population study reports significant involvement of the orofacial region in the FV homicide population during the 12-year study period, potentially informing dental practice and the related policy framework in Victoria and internationally. Key messages The significant involvement of the orofacial region in FV homicides may inform optimal intervention outcomes in FV in Victoria.

The association between victim-offender relationship and the age of children and adolescents who suffer sexual violence: a cross-sectional study

ObjectivesSexual violence is a problem that affects children and adolescents regardless of social class, age, origin, religion, education level, marital status, race, or sexual orientation. This study aimed to analyze the associations between victim-offender relationships and the victim's age in cases of sexual violence involving female victims. MethodsThis cross-sectional, retrospective observational study used data from the Brazilian Ministry of Health's Department of Public Health Surveillance in Brasília regarding the reportable crime of rape as informed by female victims in the Federal District between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2018. The age of the victim was classified as <15 years or 15-19 years. The offenders were classified into eight different categories according to their relationship with the victim: father, stepfather, brother, husband, boyfriend, friend, stranger, and others. The association between the victim-offender relationship and the victim's age was assessed. ResultsOverall, there were 4,617 reported cases of sexual violence, with 78.3% of these (n = 3614) corresponding to children under 15 and 21.7% to adolescents 15-19 years old (n = 1003). Close relatives, including brothers, and friends were the main perpetrators in cases of girls < 15 years old. Strangers and friends were the principal perpetrators in the group of girls 15-19 years old. ConclusionsChildren under 15 are the group most affected by sexual violence. Strategies must be developed to prevent the sexual abuse of children and adolescents and to facilitate the rehabilitation of victimized children.

Revisiting the anger/sadistic typology of sexual homicide

PurposeThe anger/sadistic model is one of several typologies proposed for sexual homicide events. This paper aims to empirically test this model by examining sexual homicide cases. Empirically validating these typologies provides greater validity and reliability toward the sexual homicide classification systems that are useful in police investigations. Design/methodology/approachSecondary data analysis was conducted using police data on 249 solved sexual homicide cases in Canada from 1948 to 2010. Through a robust classifying method, latent class analysis was used to examine variables from the anger/sadistic typology. Additionally, variables from the pre-crime, crime and post-crime phases were examined in relation to the classes’ external validity. FindingsThree classes emerged, namely, expressive, methodical and instrumental. Expressive and methodical were similar to the anger/sadistic model in terms of the presence of premeditation, victim-offender relationship and body disposal location. Instrumental was characterized by the absence of mutilation on the victim’s body, targeted acquaintances and the use of physical restraints. The three-class typology resembled evidence found in a previous systematic review and also reinforced the notion of heterogeneity in sexual homicide offenses. Originality/valueThis is the first study to empirically test the anger/sadistic typology. Such validation is important given that sexual homicide classification systems can aid in police investigations (e.g. narrowing down the list of potential suspects). Replication of studies is needed to lend credibility to research processes, which, in turn, allows practitioners and policymakers to integrate the results into policies effectively.

Explaining the Why in #WhyIDidntReport: An Examination of Common Barriers to Formal Disclosure of Sexual Assault in College Students.

Within the current study, we examined themes of college students' reasons for choosing not to formally disclose (report) sexual assault. To complete this objective, we examined tweets (n = 1,297) that used the WhyIDidntReport hashtag in which a user also made reference (within the same thread) to being enrolled at a college or university during the time (and aftermath) of the assault. We deemed Twitter a particularly valuable platform, offering insight into the hidden figure of crime, as users described events, feelings, and perceptions after the event that led to them not formally disclosing. Further, it provides a large sample of cases of women and men who recognize their assault as an assault (at least in hindsight), while also providing open-ended, unstructured explanations of their rationales and motivations. Using an inductive approach, we established broad themes that were then refocused into common barriers of formal disclosure or the continuation of formal disclosure. Subthemes included anticipated social reactions (stemming from vicarious and direct experiences), internalized emotions, often stemming from social reactions (normalization, shame, and blame), victim and offender status, and victim-offender relationship. Three overarching premises were developed from the analysis including (a) victims' internalizations of experiences and observations, (b) the interaction of social factors of the victim, offender, and the victim-offender relationship, and (c) the continual and compounded decision-making process of formal disclosure. These conclusions were then examined within theoretical models, including Black's Behavior of Law Theory (specifically morphology and stratification), Overstreet and Quinn's intimate partner violence stigmatization model, and Chaudoir and Fisher's disclosure process model. Lastly, we provide programmatic recommendations, which includes retailoring current bystander intervention curricula to include more focus on social reactions and social support in anticipation of college students being recipients of sexual assault disclosures by friends and acquaintances.

Matricide in psychotic patients: About 3 case reports

IntroductionMatricide is the murder of the mother and it is one the rarest reported homicides with rates varying between 1% and 4% of all murders. In our country, few studies have focused on this issue.ObjectivesTo precise circumstances of matricide in psychotic patients and the offender and victim’s profiles.MethodsWe report three clinical cases who were hospitalized in the department of Psychiatry “A” at the Hedi Chaker university hospital in Sfax, Tunisia, because of non-judicial proceedings for dementia during the year of 2019.ResultsAmong 3 cases, two patients were male and they were aged respectively 26 and 48 years old. The third was female. All of them had very low educational and income levels and they lived with the victim. In 2 cases, the victim-offender relationship was conflictive and there was already exhibited violent behavior towards victim.Two patients had a psychiatric follow-up and many hospitalizations. The diagnoses were schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. However, it was a poor compliance and an interruption of treatment. In the third case, the medicolegal procedure was inaugural. His diagnosis was schizophrenia.All the victims were illiterate and unemployed. Their middle age was 64 years.In all cases, the crime was not premeditated, motivated by persecution delusions including the mother. It was committed in the family house while using a blunt object. The post homicide reaction was marked by coldness.ConclusionsMatricide has always been considered one of the most abhorrent crimes. Regular evaluation of psychotic patients’ dangerousness signals is needed to reduce the acting out.Conflict of interestNo significant relationships.

Dependence in adult relationships: Latent classes of relational dependence and associated outcomes in women exposed to intimate partner abuse.

Studies applying a betrayal trauma theory (BTT) framework to adult abuse have measured dependence by asking about the closeness of the victim-offender relationship. However, women's experiences of dependence may vary even in close victim-offender relationships, such as in the case of abuse perpetrated by intimate partners. This investigation assessed whether subgroups of women who were abused by intimate partners could be identified based on dependence characteristics. Further, we evaluated whether high-dependence subgroups were more likely to experience outcomes associated with BTT. Using latent class analysis (LCA), we examined classes of dependence in a non-treatment-seeking community sample of 236 women who reported intimate partner abuse (IPA) to police. The validity of the dependence classes was evaluated from a BTT perspective using the classes to predict empirically supported betrayal-trauma outcomes. Low-, medium-, and high-dependence subgroups emerged when dependence characteristics were analyzed using LCA. As hypothesized, greater dependence was linked with increased likelihood of women maintaining the relationship with the offender, higher self-report dissociation scores, and greater service disengagement. Counter to study hypotheses, dependence subgroups were unrelated to women's revictimization and self-reported memory for the target IPA incident 12 months later. Findings suggest that dependence can vary even in close adult relationships. Further, we identified links between dependence subgroups and outcomes predicted by BTT. Implications for BTT research and IPA victim support and intervention are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

The Arizona Intimate Partner Homicide (AzIPH) Study: a Step toward Updating and Expanding Risk Factors for Intimate Partner Homicide.

Despite the importance of intimate partner violence (IPV) and homicide research to women’s health and safety, much remains unknown about risk factors for intimate partner homicide (IPH). This article presents the Arizona Intimate Partner Homicide Study, pilot research that is being conducted in one U.S. state to update and expand on risk factors for IPH. In the context of presenting this study, we summarize the literature on data collection techniques, various marginalized and under researched populations, and the importance of gathering data about the victim-offender relationship and situational IPH risk factors. Additional research is needed to update risk factors for IPH to account for changes in technology and to examine differential risk across diverse populations. Local, community based data collection strategies are likely to provide more comprehensive and nuanced insight into IPH; though, to understand risk factors among marginalized populations, it may be necessary to increase sample size through a national strategy. Although not a panacea, we present this ongoing research as a model for other states to emulate and improve upon, in the hopes of developing more comprehensive data examining risk for IPH among victims of IPV.

The Arizona Intimate Partner Homicide (AzIPH) Study: a Step toward Updating and Expanding Risk Factors for Intimate Partner Homicide

Despite the importance of intimate partner violence (IPV) and homicide research to women's health and safety, much remains unknown about risk factors for intimate partner homicide (IPH). This article presents the Arizona Intimate Partner Homicide Study, pilot research that is being conducted in one U.S. state to update and expand on risk factors for IPH. In the context of presenting this study, we summarize the literature on data collection techniques, various marginalized and under researched populations, and the importance of gathering data about the victim-offender relationship and situational IPH risk factors. Additional research is needed to update risk factors for IPH to account for changes in technology and to examine differential risk across diverse populations. Local, community based data collection strategies are likely to provide more comprehensive and nuanced insight into IPH; though, to understand risk factors among marginalized populations, it may be necessary to increase sample size through a national strategy. Although not a panacea, we present this ongoing research as a model for other states to emulate and improve upon, in the hopes of developing more comprehensive data examining risk for IPH among victims of IPV.

Anti-LGBTQ Hate: An Analysis of Situational Variables

The current study aimed to augment the scant body of literature on anti-LGBTQ hate by providing an in-depth examination of anti-LGBTQ hate incident situational characteristics including offender substance use, number of offenders, crime location, and victim-offender relationship. Analysis of situational dynamic variables provided support for the notion that anti-LGBTQ hate is a distinct type of criminal incident. Significantly increased levels of offender substance use, crimes perpetrated by multiple offenders, crimes perpetrated by acquaintances, and crimes taking place in open spaces substantiates the theory that anti-LGBTQ hate is qualitatively unique, typified by different characteristics than other forms of crime. The data in this study also supports that anti-LGBTQ hate is not a homogenous phenomenon. Significant numbers of anti-LGBTQ hate incidents committed by known offenders including friends, family, and intimates, and crimes committed in private locations such as residences suggest that multiple dynamic processes may underlie this type of crime.

Sex Assault and Offenders–An Overview of Victim-offender Relationship on Cases of Sexual Offences

Sexual crimes against women and children are one of the most common crimes that occur in India today. Everyday newspaper articles, news shows on television, and social media keep reporting about sexual assaults and rape incidents. In all these crimes being reported, one thing constantly stands out: the relationship between the victim and the perpetrator. When any person thinks about a crime as vicious as rape, they generally associate the perpetrator being a stranger but in reality, what is seen is that the assailant is most often known to the victim. The aims and objectives were to study the relationship of the victim with the offender and analyze this relation further in terms of particulars of the relationship and social demographics. This study was conducted in the Department of Forensic Medicine, Guwahati Medical College, and Hospital for a period of one year in cases of female victims of alleged sexual crimes brought for medico-legal examination. From the 140 cases studied, it was found that 129 cases had known offenders, most victims were minors, illiterate, from rural areas, and belonging to lower economic strata, severity of injuries were higher with unknown offenders. It was concluded that most sexual crimes are thought to being perpetrated by strangers, but this study shows the opposite, and the people closest to the victim are often the ones who are the perpetrators.

Examining the Racial Dynamic of the Victim-offender Dyad in Homicide-suicide: Does Intraracial Homicide Encourage Perpetrator Suicide?

Objectives: Compared to homicide-only, homicide-suicide is understudied in the criminological literature. This study investigates the victim-offender relationship—one of the most well-established correlates of homicide-suicide—from a new angle. In addition to examining the familiarity/closeness of the victim-offender relationship, this study investigates whether the racial composition (interracial versus intraracial) of the victim-offender dyad impacts the likelihood of committing suicide following homicide. Method: This study uses data on 26,858 homicide and homicide-suicide cases distributed across 3,178 places and 45 U.S. states from the National Violent Death Reporting System appended to information from the American Community Survey. Hierarchical logistic regression models examine the independent and joint contribution of: (1) the familiarity/closeness of the victim-offender relationship; and (2) the racial composition of the victim-offender dyad on homicide-suicide. Results: Killing familiar and same-race victims independently increase the odds of suicide following homicide; additionally, the odds of suicide following homicide are highest for offenders with both familiar and same-race victims. Conclusions: The findings suggest that homicide-suicide research should account for different aspects of the victim-offender relationship. Additionally, the importance of race/ethnicity extends to even the rarest of crimes.