Wayne Petherick

Premises liability

Wayne A. Petherick et al. — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 16:55:35 PDT

Forensic Criminology: the scientific study of crime and criminals for the purposes of addressing investigative and legal issues. It is a science, a behavioral science, and a forensic science. This text is intended to educate students in an applied fashion regarding the nature and extent of forensic casework that is supported by, dependent upon, and interactive with research, theory, and knowledge derived from criminology. It is also intended to act as a preliminary guide for practitioners working with and within related criminal justice professions. Particularly those involved with assisting investigations, administrative inquiries, legal proceedings or providing expert findings or testimony under oath. It is offered as an applied scientific sub-discipline within the domain of general criminology, as well as a roadmap to the forensic realm for the uninitiated.

Written by the authors of the best-selling Criminal Profiling, now in its third edition, and the groundbreaking Forensic Victimology, Forensic Criminology provides a bridge between the broad constructs of theoretical criminology and the forensic examination of individual cases. It serves as a textbook for college and university coursework, as a manual for practitioners, and as career guide for students.

Criminal profiling in the courtrooms: Behavioural investigative advice or bad character evidence?

Gareth Norris et al. — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 16:55:34 PDT

Criminal profiling has received considerable attention from media sources; sufficiently so to allow it to enter into public folklore as a viable investigative technique. It has also attracted considerable attention from the academic community in the form of journal articles and books, and from the professional community in the form of profiling organizations and the establishment of formal profiling units within police agencies. Despite what would appear to be almost universal acclaim, the practice has met with less favorable reviews by the legal communities whom it is also intended to serve. Notably, it has come under fire for its lack of empirical foundation, limited uniformity in process and practice, and insufficient training and education among practitioners. This article explores what profiling involves, its relevance as legal evidence is questioned and in particular the danger of falling foul to the prosecutor’s fallacy’ is examined. Its use in court and as a form of expert testimony is reviewed and some tentative recommendations for its future in a legal context conclude the article.

Ethics for the forensic criminologist

Wayne A. Petherick et al. — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 16:55:34 PDT

Forensic victimology

Claire Ferguson et al. — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 16:55:33 PDT

Writing forensic reports

Wayne A. Petherick et al. — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 16:55:31 PDT

Forensic criminological assessments

Wayne A. Petherick et al. — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 16:50:56 PDT

Criminal profiling

Wayne A. Petherick et al. — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 23:55:21 PDT

Cognitive ethos of the forensic examiner

Brent E. Turvey et al. — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 22:15:07 PDT

An introduction to forensic criminology

Brent E. Turvey et al. — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 21:34:01 PDT

The origins of forensic criminology

Brent E. Turvey et al. — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 17:59:27 PDT

Where to from here?

Wayne Petherick — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:08:54 PDT

Extract:

The history of profiling is easy to trace - after all, it has already been recorded and is available for review (see Chapter 1; Petherick, 2003; Turvey, 2008). The future of profiling is another story entirely. Given the nature of the craft and the advances made in recent years, it stands to reason that only further improvements will be made. At least, this should be our hope.

An increase in use in the real world is matched by an increase in the number of scholarly works dedicated to the field. Most provide a general overview of profiling (Ainsworth, 2001; Jackson & Bekerian, 1997), with others providing a more in-depth examination of particular methods (Rossmo, 2000; Turvey, 2008). Apart from a few peripheral discussions on practical issues, few dedicate much time to the more pragmatic issues of professionalization, the scientific method, research, ethics, accountability, and education and training.

Serial stalking: Looking for love in all the wrong places

Wayne Petherick — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:37:30 PDT

Extract:
With the recent drafting of stalking legislation in most Western jurisdictions, our exposure to this crime is still relatively new. Although our contact with stalkers and their behavior is new in many ways, according to Sheridan, Blauuw, and Davies (2003, p. 148), "It may no longer be the case that stalking research is in its infancy and that we are feeling our way in the dark." With our general knowledge increasing exponentially, so too does our understanding of different types of stalking and stalkers.

Criminal profiling methods

Wayne Petherick — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 21:58:26 PDT

Extract: As an investigative aid, criminal profiling has received a great deal of attention from academic audiences and popular culture (Petherick, 2003), and significant advances have been made in both practical and theoretical terms. Even though our collective knowledge about this area has grown, there is still much about the process that remains a mystery. For example, there is little acknowledgment or understanding of the logic or reasoning employed within the profiling process (see Chapter 2), or that there are indeed different methods employed within the profiling community. Of more concern is the fact that many practitioners continue to confuse these issues even in the face of overwhelming contradictory evidence. Just as serious is when they practice one method but pass it off as another, or when they cannot distinguish between methods. This may not necessarily be a conscious act, but either way, it suggests a problem.

Criminal profiling as expert evidence

Wayne Petherick et al. — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 21:58:25 PDT

Extract:
Profiling evidence has been accepted in courts in the United States in both trial and sentencing phases, but other jurisdictions have been more cautious in their acceptance. For example, courts in the United Kingdom and Australia have been reluctant to introduce profilers as experts, even though profiling has been given some exposure in courts operating at the lower end of the justice system. The reasons for this reluctance are varied but include a lack of uniformity processes and outcomes, fragmentation of methods, and conflict between profiling organizations and practitioners. In short, there are many methods of profiling, and not all practitioners agree on or accept one way as the best or most suitable.

Induction and deduction in criminal profiling

Wayne Petherick — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 23:31:40 PDT

Extract:

Literature on criminal profiling has reached a considerable volume, including not only a quantity of true crime works but also numerous scholarly texts and articles. The casual reader will be familiar with some aspects of profiling, with the more discerning reader being familiar with the steps involved in the profiling process (Holmes & Holmes, 2002; Ressler, Burgess, & Douglas, 1988; Turvey, 2008), the so-called "inputs" and "outputs" of a criminal profile (Davis, 1999, Egger, 1999; Geberth, 1996; Ressler & Burgess, 1985; Ressler et al., 1988), and the personality and grandiosity of profilers (see a variety of memoirs, such as Canter, 1994; Douglas & Olshaker, 1996, 1997, 1998; and Ressler & Shachtman, 1992).

However, beyond a few works (Petherick, 2006; Turvey, 2008) there has been less written in any valid way about the logical processes employed by the profiler when drawing conclusions about the offender. This chapter provides an in-depth examination of the two main approaches used by profilers to arrive at their conclusions: induction and deduction. First, a general commentary of the logic of criminal profiling is provided, followed by a detailed discussion of induction and deduction, illustrating the fundamental differences between the two forms of reasoning. Finally, a hypothetical case scenario highlights the procedural aspects of how hypotheses are generated and a deductive conclusion is drawn.

The fallacy of accuracy in criminal profiling

Wayne Petherick — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 22:45:47 PDT

Extract:
The defining criterion by which the utility of a particular tool is often judged is its accuracy or sensitivity of detection. We place little faith in that which is inaccurate or in those things that do not detect what they are meant to detect. Things are no different in the profiling community, and the most common measure by which a profiler claims utility is how close his or her approximations are to an offender, if one is caught. As will be shown in this chapter, with the craft being the way it is, this is probably the worst possible way to declare one's success.

Metacognition in criminal profiling

Barry Woodhouse et al. — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 16:44:20 PDT

Extract:
As with many professions, one of the more serious problems that confronts the profiling community is that of the inept examiner. Deliberately unethical behavior is one thing, but ongoing incompetence because of profiler ignorance is something else entirely. In some instances, ignorance is the result of a metacognitive deficit caused by a lack of study, a lack of training, or a general lack of mental dexterity. In such instances, the profiler will continually do the wrong thing, such as using flawed methods and erroneous logic, because he lacks the ability to recognize his own ineptitude; the profiler cannot perceive when his methods and reasoning are wrong or why, let alone that they should be corrected and how.

School shootings

Wayne Petherick et al. — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 16:44:19 PDT

Extract:
As with any attack that occurs at an educational facility - to include grade schools, colleges, and universities - school shootings are a particular form of workplace violence. The relationships are fairly straightforward in this regard. Instructors, administrators, and support staff are employed and work on site, and students are the "clients". Violent attacks may occur between or within any of these groups or their relationships.

Victim lifestyle exposure

Joe M. Diaz et al. — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 16:44:19 PDT

Extract:
It has been said that for every crime there is at least one victim. However, victimity may not be assumed or otherwise presupposed. First, the existence of crime must be established; if there is no crime, there can be no victim. Then it is necessary to establish which participant is the victim. This cannot be assumed either as explained by von Hentig (cited in Wolfgang 1959, 245):

Here are two human beings. As soon as they draw near to one another, male or female, young or old, rich or poor, ugly or attractive - a wide range of interactions, repulsions as well as attractions, is set in motion. What the law does is to watch the one who acts and the one who is acted upon. By this external criterion a subject and object, a perpetrator and a victim are distinguished. In sociological and psychology quality the situation may be completely different. It may happen that the two distinct categories merge. There are cases in which they are reversed and in the long chain of causative forces the victim assumes the role of a determinant.

Workplace violence

Wayne Petherick et al. — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 16:44:18 PDT

Extract:
Workplace violence is defined by one authority as "violence or the threat of violence against others" (OSHA 2002, 1). Because of sensational coverage by the popular media, the public perception of the frequency of different incarnations of workplace-related violence, such as homicide, is likely to be greatly distorted. Watching the evening news, it is not difficult to understand why. In our present culture, where sexuality, violence, and fear are valuable retail commodities, the workplace is routinely characterized with one or more of these when given airtime or column space. Stories without such marketable traits are seldom featured.