This thesis evaluates and advances theories of systematic violence as a social control of vulnerable sections of the population, using original research carried out in Edinburgh in 1992 into women's fear of sexual and physical attack as an illustration. Analysis centres around the notion that the spatial patterns of fear reflect and reinforce broad power relations. A wide-ranging literature review examines current understanding and identifies gaps in research and theoretical analysis. After a critique of previous research, the choice and implementation of the research methodology is justified. The findings are then presented, drawn from 389 postal questionnaires and 45 follow-up in depth interviews. The body of the thesis has two broad objectives. First, to seek greater understanding of women's fear of crime. Secondly, to integrate and extend the scope and nature of geographical, criminological and feminist theories of power relations and violence beyond simple considerations of gender. Sexual violence and harassment, and 'fear', are defined and assessed on the basis of the perceptions and experiences of the respondents. Attention is given to the extent and impact of fear in private space, the workplace and social settings as well as in public places. Various causal factors suggested by previous research are examined, including the extent of violence, social and economic factors, the built environment, formal social controls, socialisation, information sources and harassment. In contrast to criminologists' suggestions it is shown that the extent of violence against women can not explain the level and distribution of women's fear, the exception being fear of private space violence which is often shaped by experience. In contrast to geographers' claims about fear in public places, it is also demonstrated that misinformation about the location of violence is not responsible for misplaced fear. The research finds strong support for suggestions that routine harassment is instrumental in determining patterns of fear and vulnerability. Its role maintaining patterns of vulnerability and in policing identities is examined in difference places, and it is argued that space is central to interpretations of, reactions to and the effects of harassing behaviour. Existing theories are integrated and expanded throughout these discussions. The main thesis concerning women I s fear is developed to consider how other causes of social vulnerability intensify fear of crime. Patterns of fear among women of different class and age backgrounds are related to experiences of danger in different spaces. The ways in which crime socially controls other disadvantaged groups, particularly children, people with disabilities, people of colour and gay men and lesbians, are also drawn into theory. It is argued that abuse in private space is often as or more pertinent to these discussions than the usual focus, public space, and it is suggested how considerations of power relations might be broadened to reflect people I s experiences more accurately. Finally, a range of recent policies are evaluated in the light of the findings, and recommendations are made for future research, theory and practice.

This thesis critically examines the responses to trafficked adults in the four regions of the UK in terms of both policy and practice. It critiques the inadequacy of the 2005 Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings (CAT) to protect trafficked persons and their human rights. It is argued furthermore despite the inadequacies of the CAT, the UK’s responses to trafficked adults still do not uphold all of its minimum requirements. The research argues that the CAT does not provide a genuine human rights approach. The thesis proposes such an approach is necessary to protect trafficked persons and their human rights and to provide the possibility of physical and psychological recovery. It details how each of the principles essential to a genuine human rights approach are contradicted. The research establishes how the responses prioritise the conviction of traffickers and the protection of immigration controls over the protection of trafficked persons. The thesis goes on to contend that adopting a genuine human rights approach would prove beneficial to realise those interests in the long-term. More specifically, the chapters offer a critique of the ‘victim discourse’ employed in the representation of trafficked persons, chart the provision of physical and psychological support and healthcare and accommodation for trafficked persons; and document cases in which trafficked persons are denied access to justice for the human rights violations they have suffered and are instead punished for criminal offences which they only committed because they were trafficked. The thesis exposes the contrasts between the UK government’s powerful and emotive rhetoric around trafficking in persons and its actual policy and practice.

This thesis is on the topic of stranger child abduction. In particular, the thesis carries out an examination of whether a distinction should be made between attempted and completed cases of stranger child abduction, in order to address the primary research question of whether each of these should be treated as separate types of stranger child abduction. By comparing whether an offence was completed or not, it has been argued that researchers will be best able to identify those factors that can have an impact in determining whether harm will come to victims, and highlight those that play a role in crime prevention or the mitigation of the offence. Utilising an archival approach, drawing on media and legal sources to create a database of stranger child abduction cases, the thesis is able to examine four key areas relating to stranger child abduction, with the specific intent of examining whether key offence features can be meaningfully compared depending on whether the case was attempted or completed. The thesis concludes that attempted and completed cases are sufficiently distinct to be considered as separate types of offending, and that comparing stranger child abduction cases based on whether they were completed is a useful way of analysing this type of offence. The thesis has the secondary aim of testing widely held assumptions regarding stranger child abduction, i.e., that certain resistance strategies prevent abduction or that offenders prefer to target lone victims. By examining the features of the established database, the releveance and role of these assumptions was tested empirically. It was concluded that, for the most part, many of the common sense assumptions relating to stranger child abduction, i.e., that running away from an offender and calling for help would be associated with offences being attempted, were true. However, several assumptions and stereotypes were refuted, particularly with regards to children being effective guardians over one another. To provide context for the study, the thesis begins by explaining that issues relating to missing people have been, and must be, analysed via a process of refinement that involves the discovery of increasingly specific types. The abduction of children by strangers has emerged as one of these types, and has become of great interest to the media, the public, and to policy makers. However, following a critical literature review, it is argued that this type of child abduction remains poorly understood, and is subject to a number of problematic stereotypes that have been taken as fact. What academic research has been done on the topic has been overly concerned with establishing how often stranger child abduction occurs, with relatively little effort being made to further refine knowledge on the topic. A strain of arguments within the literature is identified that has been calling, with increasing conviction, to begin analysing stranger child abduction in terms of whether the offence was attempted or completed, i.e., to use an outcome based approach. After reviewing evidence in the literature, the conclusion can be drawn that this line of inquiry ought to be explored further. This thesis takes up this challenge by, first, gathering data on a sample of 78 stranger child abductions that occurred in the UK utilizing information drawn from legal and media sources, and, secondly, analysing the features of these cases while controlling for whether the offence was completed or attempted. The thesis takes the form of four studies, each of which analyses a different aspect of stranger child abduction that has been identified as key to the offence. The four studies are used: to show that the broad case profile of stranger child abduction varies when attempted cases are compared to completed cases; to provide evidence that direct, active, unequivocal resistance is associated with attempted cases and can therefore be considered effective; to assess the role of various forms of guardianship over children in preventing harm, which simultaneously pointed towards evidence of best practice while also demonstrating that criminological theory can usefully be applied to stranger child abduction when utilizing an outcome based approach; and to successfully build on and develop understanding of how offenders approach child abduction, and demonstrate that aggressive offenders who use multiple strategies tend to complete abductions more frequently than those using a single method.

This PhD explores adult rape and sexual assault trials; investigating trial practices, examining how court contexts impact on those practices, and identifying potential ways to improve responses to victim/survivors. The research is important because criminal justice responses to rape and sexual assault have been critiqued for decades, both in England and internationally. Despite attempts to tackle these problems, Stern (2010) observes that victim/survivors still face many difficulties when engaging with the Criminal Justice System. This is especially true of courts, which have been slower to respond to policy and have been the focus of less research than the earlier criminal justice stages. The court research that does exist tends to rely on interviews and is largely outdated by recent policy initiatives. This PhD therefore uses trial observation methods, providing an insight into what is actually happening at court and addressing a gap in the literature. The main findings are: difficult practicalities, barristers focusing on rape myths and ‘rational’ ideals, and using manipulative questioning caused by various competing ‘justice’ priorities. These findings support my thesis that victim/survivors face many difficulties at trial; and that these difficulties often relate to the underlying context of the Criminal Justice System rather than being solely about sexist attitudes or misunderstandings about sexual violence. This research can therefore help create more effective policy recommendations by tackling the contextual barriers to implementation. Key examples of this include that while the research supports ongoing training about the realities behind rape myths for legal professionals, it argues that such training will be ineffective without also providing barristers with practical ways to tackle the rhetoric about ‘rational’ ideals. Similarly, the findings suggest that policy might be undermined by certain interpretations of the right to fair trial, so there is a need to clarify the discourses around victim/survivors’ and defendants’ rights.

The problem addressed is one of great practical significance in the investigation of stranger rape. The linkage of these crimes at an early stage is of the greatest importance in a successful prosecution and also in the prevention of further crimes that may be even more serious. The central question as it appears here relates to how these offences can be represented in a form that reflects their complexity and how, as a result, similarities can be shown and the degree of that similarity expressed within a computerised system. In this research an area that can be defined in the intersection of forensic psychology, crime analysis, decision support and artificial intelligence is considered and the possibility of a mutually enriching outcome that furthers the aim of assisting crime analysis is presented. The use of fuzzy set theory in both representing crimes and associating them in a valid manner by using fuzzy membership functions and clustering algorithms is demonstrated. This centres on the representation of each offence as a point in n-dimensional space where the dimensions are behavioural properties consisting of a number of actions or variables. Hence it is possible to express the strength of these behavioural dimensions in individual offences, to cluster them in non-exclusive sets that reflect the reality of the degrees of behaviour exhibited in the commission of crimes, and to measure the similarity between them. Consequently an extensive testing regime that varies the number of dimensions that represent crimes, the number of clusters that they are partitioned into and the ‘fuzziness’ of those clusters has been undertaken. Results indicate that, at best, the distance, or dissimilarity, between linked crimes is less than half that expected by chance. In conclusion the possibility of legitimately extending the employment of these techniques into other areas of crime analysis is discussed and the prospects of a synergy between criminal psychology and artificial intelligence examined.

The term 'professional perpetrators' was used to describe child abusers employed in professions working with children whom they subsequently sexually abused. A demographic review of professional perpetrators indicated that only 7.5% claimed they were unaware of their sexual arousal to children at the time they became employed in the profession where they molested children. Over 50% said they chose their profession to facilitate their access to children to abuse. In psychometric comparisons professional perpetrators were found to have fewer justifications and thinking errors than other child abusers, suggesting that they might be more keenly focused on society's disapproval of sexual contact with children. This, combined with institutional child protection procedures, might also suggest professional perpetrators would need to be more discriminating and discerning in their targeting, manipulation and sexual abuse of children. In an attempt to answer some of the issues raised in the earlier parts of the study a qualitative approach was adopted to explore the evolving offending patterns of this group in greater depth and to determine the degree to which their professional roles inhibited or augmented the abuse process. Early life experiences were found to be formative in the professional perpetrator's spiral into sexual abuse of children. These experiences influenced their perceptions, beliefs, sexual interests and behaviour. They used distortions and abuse supportive thinking to manage any guilt or fear they experienced and spoke of the significance of using masturbatory fantasy to enhance and reinforce their desires for sexual contact with children. Participants in the study all indicated that they believed fantasy played a significant part in driving and shaping their developing pattern of sexual abuse of children. Three key themes emerged from the accounts of the participants: • Functions of fantasy • Features of fantasy Themes in fantasy content. Given the link between the beliefs that arise from early life experiences and the distortions and abuse supportive cognitions it was anticipated that fantasy could also reflect the underlying belief system which participants had developed. The use of often complex grooming to facilitate their abuse was also a feature and focused primarily on manipulating perceptions, creating opportunities to abuse and preventing suspicion, disclosure or detection of the abuse. Identifying the manipulation styles employed by professional perpetrators was most helpful in understanding the nature of their behaviour. Accessibility and vulnerability of the victim were considered more important factors than perceived attractiveness in choice of victim.

The focus in child sexual abuse work has been on the identification and treatment of the victim. Less emphasis has been placed, in Clinical Psychology generally and in relation to child sexual abuse particularly, on prevention. This is not true of the United States, where there is an extensive policy of school education / prevention programmes. The utility of these can be questioned and there has been a move to engage parents as the primary educator of children about sexual abuse. However, this can only go ahead if the knowledge and behaviours of parents are understood. In this present study, the aim was to explore the knowledge, feelings and attitudes of British sample of mothers to child sexual abuse and it's prevention. To the achievement of this broad aim, quantitative and qualitative methodologies were employed in parallel, by the use of a questionnairea nd focus groups. The results suggested that this sample of mothers were relatively knowledgeable about the sexual abuse, and that although they saw it having serious consequences did not worry about it too much. Mothers' preventive behaviours were focused in the areas of talking to their children, checking out situations where abuse may occur, supervising their children, and watching out for the signs of sexual abuse. However, there did not seem to be any direct or simple relationship between the mothers knowledge and their behaviour, in that facts such as perpetrators are generally known to children are not taken into account when the mothers are protecting their children. The reasons for this are considered in relation to psychologicaltheory. It is clear that there is an absence of constructive strategies which mothers can employ to protect their children, and choices may be being limited by the absence of a popular, nonfearful discourse about sexual abuse. Communication around sexual abuse should be an aim for prevention of sexual abuse, both to break the fear, secrecy and blame that currently exists, and to challenge the status quo in which interventions are focused on the victim rather than the perpetrator. This research is critically evaluated, and the directions for future research are outlined

The study of sex offenders has generated a substantial body of literature detailing their treatment, management, prevalence and effects. A limited amount of research has demonstrated the experiences of disclosure from the perspective of the offender. The study aimed to develop a model to understand how offenders manage disclosure. This study attempts to delineate the factors that influence their self-disclosure and explore the consequences for the offender, focusing on emotional well being, relationships and recidivism. Six male participants, all convicted of sex offences, were recruited from a Community Treatment Programme. Face-to-face interviews were conducted using a semistructured interview schedule based on a Grounded Theory approach. The Grounded Theory method gave rise to a number of inter-related categories. These were integrated to develop a tentative model that explains, in a context of heightened public scrutiny and hate towards sex offenders that disclosure is unsafe. The main attribute of disclosure was the offenders' fear. Fear was motivated by the threat of exposure, rejection, violence and vigilante attack. Key findings included: factors that influence their self-disclosure, strategies used to manage the process, and the consequences, both emotional and practical, for the disclosing individual. The study revealed pathways that link the fear of disclosure to consequent negative emotional states and the increased likelihood for recidivism. This process is affected by both society's perceptions of their stigma and the offenders' own perceptions. On the basis of the findings, it would appear important that clinicians develop an empathic response to an offender's perception of personal and interpersonal risks relating to disclosure, especially the methods by which they attempt to protect themselves, by adopting particular strategies to manage disclosure encounters

There has been little study of predisposing and precipitating factors of sexually harmful behaviour before adolescence. This thesis seeks to add to the body of knowledge of pre-adolescent onset in male children through quantitative and qualitative examination of the characteristics and circumstances of 27 boys with recorded onset of serious sexually harmful behaviour before the age of ten years referred to the Young Abusers Project, a specialist assessment and treatment service. The client group are children with very high levels of family, psychological and behavioural problems who may not be representative of the wider population of boys with pre-adolescent onset. The study builds upon existing research-informed trauma and attachment based models for adolescent onset. It identifies sexually harmful behaviour as one of many systems shaped by mutually influential external and psychic processes: an important link between attachment and sexual systems is identified. The significance of a sequential pattern of family history of harm to children, hostile/helpless caregiving, progressive neglect and maltreatment in very early childhood on research subjects' resilience to subsequent sexual abuse victimisation is explored. The emergence of sexually harmful behaviour as a self regulating protective adaptation is explained in a three stage model. Predisposing factors in stage one include; genetic potentiality, unresolved parental trauma, early maltreatment, and hostile/helpless caregiving leading to disorganised attachment in infancy and early childhood followed by coercive, punitive-aggressive strategies. Sexual victimisation is seen as a precipitating event in stage two and onset of sexually harmful behaviour identified as an adaptive externalised, defensive mechanism in stage three. The anomaly of apparent premature sexual arousal as a reinforcing agent of preadolescent sexually harmful behaviour considered. Pathways to serious sexual and mental health problems later in life are identified. The study speculates on the emotional impact of working with sexually harmful behaviour on individual professionals and professional systems and recommends changes in practice and training for social work, health, education and criminal justice employees.

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