Foreign object insertion in sexual homicide cases : an exploratory study

Foreign object insertion into the vagina of a murder victim is a rare occurrence. When it is encountered it is often seen as an indicator of a sexual murder, or regarded for signature analysis purposes. Due to its rare occurrence it is often only documented in literature in case-study form. In this research seventeen cases of vaginal foreign object insertion were analysed, by far the largest study of this occurrence to date. Cases were only included in the research if the object was still in the vagina when the body was discovered. The research set out to determine the typical victim profile, crime-scene actions, and offender profile, with the intention of assisting in the profiling of these crimes in the future. There were distinct differences amongst the victims in terms of race, occupation, time of death, cause of death, circumstances and area of the crimes. Only six of the seventeen crimes had been solved, yet amongst the eight known offenders certain common characteristics were observed.Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2007.Social Work and Criminologyunrestricte

South African serial rapists: The offenders, their victims and their offences

Serial rapists have the propensity to cause harm to a significant number of victims, meaning that they are of concern to the police as well as to treatment providers. Despite the serious nature of their offending, there are surprisingly few studies that provide information regarding their characteristics, the types of victim they target, or the nature of the sexual offenses they commit, and those studies that do exist are varied in their findings. This study provides a descriptive analysis of serial rape in South Africa. One hundred and nineteen sexual offenses committed by 22 serial rapists were sampled. Information regarding the victims, the offenders, and the crimes they had committed were extracted from police files. The characteristics of victims and offenders are reported as well as the frequencies for 114 different crime scene behaviors. When compared with samples of serial sex offenders from other countries, differences emerged in victim characteristics and crime scene behaviors, including how the victims were targeted, the sexual behaviors engaged in, and the incidence of physical violence. The implications of these observed differences for practice are discussed. </jats:p

Linking serial sexual offences:Moving towards an ecologically valid test of the principles of crime linkage

Purpose: To conduct a test of the principles underpinning crime linkage (behavioural consistency and distinctiveness) with a sample more closely reflecting the volume and nature of sexual crimes with which practitioners work, and to assess whether solved series are characterized by greater behavioural similarity than unsolved series. Method: A sample of 3,364 sexual crimes (including 668 series) was collated from five countries. For the first time, the sample included solved and unsolved but linked-by-DNA sexual offence series, as well as solved one-off offences. All possible crime pairings in the data set were created, and the degree of similarity in crime scene behaviour shared by the crimes in each pair was quantified using Jaccard's coefficient. The ability to distinguish same-offender and different-offender pairs using similarity in crime scene behaviour was assessed using Receiver Operating Characteristic analysis. The relative amount of behavioural similarity and distinctiveness seen in solved and unsolved crime pairs was assessed. Results: An Area Under the Curve of.86 was found, which represents an excellent level of discrimination accuracy. This decreased to.85 when using a data set that contained one-off offences, and both one-off offences and unsolved crime series. Discrimination accuracy also decreased when using a sample composed solely of unsolved but linked-by-DNA series (AUC =.79). Conclusions: Crime linkage is practised by police forces globally, and its use in legal proceedings requires demonstration that its underlying principles are reliable. Support was found for its two underpinning principles with a more ecologically valid sample

Using offender crime scene behavior to link stranger sexual assaults:A comparison of three statistical approaches

Purpose This study compared the utility of different statistical methods in differentiating sexual crimes committed by the same person from sexual crimes committed by different persons. Methods Logistic regression, iterative classification tree (ICT), and Bayesian analysis were applied to a dataset of 3,364 solved, unsolved, serial, and apparent one-off sexual assaults committed in five countries. Receiver Operating Characteristic analysis was used to compare the statistical approaches. Results All approaches achieved statistically significant levels of discrimination accuracy. Two out of three Bayesian methods achieved a statistically higher level of accuracy (Areas Under the Curve [AUC]=0.89 [Bayesian coding method 1]; AUC=0.91 [Bayesian coding method 3]) than ICT analysis (AUC=0.88), logistic regression (AUC=0.87), and Bayesian coding method 2 (AUC=0.86). Conclusions The ability to capture/utilize between-offender differences in behavioral consistency appear to be of benefit when linking sexual offenses. Statistical approaches that utilize individual offender behaviors when generating crime linkage predictions may be preferable to approaches that rely on a single summary score of behavioral similarity. Crime linkage decision-support tools should incorporate a range of statistical methods and future research must compare these methods in terms of accuracy, usability, and suitability for practice

Intra- and interspecific variation of Amblyomma ticks from southern Africa

Abstract Background Amblyomma spp. ticks, known for their long mouthparts, bright ornate appearance and aggressive hunting behaviour, are vectors of a number of important pathogens. In southern Africa, 17 Amblyomma spp. are currently documented. Of these species, Amblyomma hebraeum and Amblyomma variegatum have been well studied due to their wide geographical range and their status as competent vectors of pathogens that are of veterinary and medical importance. Studies on other Amblyomma spp. in southern Africa have been neglected, fostering ongoing debates on the validity of certain species such as Amblyomma pomposum. This study investigated the inter- and intra-species variation of Amblyomma ticks collected in southern Africa, focusing on resolving the dispute about A. pomposum and A. variegatum being distinct species. Methods Four Amblyomma tick species were collected from Angola, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, and were identified morphologically as Amblyomma eburneum (208), A. hebraeum (4758), A. pomposum (191) and A. variegatum (2577) using identification keys. Gene amplification targeting the 12S and 16S rRNA, cytochrome oxidase I, cytochrome B and internal transcribed spacer-2 genes was conducted for 204 ticks, for which varying success was achieved during amplification for each of the markers. Maximum likelihood analyses were performed in IQ-TREE. Results The phylogenetic topologies and ABGD analyses of each individual gene clustered A. pomposum within the A. variegatum clade, while clearly separating A. eburneum and A. hebraeum from all other species. None of the genetic markers indicated intraspecific structuring on the basis of geographical origin, despite great distances between sampling sites. Conclusion Our study concludes that there is insufficient molecular evidence to differentiate A. pomposum and A. variegatum from each other. We highlight the need for whole mitochondrial genome sequencing of these two species to resolve the ongoing controversies. Furthermore, we propose mating and hybrid viability studies between the two species to confirm their reproductive isolation. Graphical Abstract </jats:sec

Serial murder revisited : a psychological exploration of two South African cases

The phenomenon of serial murder has fascinated people for many years. Despite this fascination, the body of scientific knowledge surrounding this topic seems quire limited. Research is often based on second-hand and anecdotal sources of information and not on direct contact with the individuals who commit these crimes. Based on this information, assumptions are made about these individual’s mental state and personality. This research which was undertaken is unique in that it is an in-depth look at two individuals who committed serial murder. The research design, grounded in interactional theory, makes use of unstructured interviews, an interactional analysis, and psychological tests such as the South African Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Thematic Apperception Test, Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory IIIed, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory 2nd Edition, and 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire in an attempt to try and come to a psychological understanding and interactional description of these two individuals’ behaviour. In doing so it revisits what has already been said about this phenomenon, makes comparisons, and provides a brief theoretical view of the phenomenon as part of man’s social order.Thesis (PhD (Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2007.Psychologyunrestricte

Circumstances, policing, and attrition of multiple compared to single perpetrator rape cases within the South African criminal justice system

Abstract Background Research into the circumstances of rape, and criminal justice system responses, is pivotal to informing prevention and improving the likelihood of justice for victims. In this paper, we explore the differences in the circumstances of multiple-perpetrator rapes (MPRs) and single-perpetrator rapes (SPRs), their case management, and attrition, and describe areas for improvemensuplt around rape response within the South African criminal justice system. Methods The sample comprised 3952 rape cases reported to the South African Police Services (SAPS) in 2012, selected through a multi-stage random sampling of 172 police stations from a total of 1164 police stations in the nine provinces, followed by the random selection of cases from each station’s case list. Data were abstracted from police dockets, medico-legal examination forms, charge sheets, and trial transcripts. MPRs were defined as cases in which more than one perpetrator had sexual contact with the victim during a single incident, i.e., sexually assaulted or raped. Descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests for associations were used to compare MPRs and SPRs in circumstances of the rape, case management, and attrition. Results Seventeen percent of cases were MPRs. MPRs were comparably more violent crimes with a higher frequency of aggressive tactics employed by perpetrators, for example, abductions, firearms use, and threats to kill. Overall, cases were often poorly handled by police, and there were deviations from standard policing and investigation procedures; we found more evidence of this with MPRs compared to SPRs. MPR cases were most likely to have been closed by police due to undetected perpetrators in combination with other victim reasons. The weaker investigations of MPRs were associated with higher attrition rates compared to SPRs, firstly at the police investigation and subsequent stages. Conclusions The findings confirm differences in case management, patterns of attrition and trajectories of MPRs compared to SPRs. In an overall context of high rape case attrition and impunity for perpetrators, MPR victims are even less likely to see justice served than SPR victims. There needs to be much more effective supervision of rape case investigations by SAPS, particularly in MPR cases. Continual investigator training strengthened supervision and better resourcing are necessary to improve MPRs detection and convictions in adherence to the Directives for rape policing

Proceedings of the 4th World Conference on Research Integrity

CITATION: O’Brien, S. P., et al. 2016. Proceedings of the 4th World Conference on Research Integrity. Research Integrity and Peer Review, 1:9, doi:10.1186/s41073-016-0012-9.The original publication is available at https://researchintegrityjournal.biomedcentral.comThese Proceedings contain the abstracts of the presentations given at the 4th World Conference in concurrent sessions, partner symposia, and poster sessions. Also included are summaries of the discussions in three focus tracks, which allowed delegates to consider and work on questions about the roles of funders, institutions, and countries in improving research systems and strengthening research integrity. Videos of the plenary presentations are available at the conference website (www.wcri2015.org).https://researchintegrityjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s41073-016-0012-