This study explores the phenomenon of serial murder from the perspective of narrative psychology. Using a case study approach and a grounded theory analytical process this qualitative study utilised the narrative concept of the imago to explore the motivation and development of those who commit serial murder in South Africa. The aim is increase our theoretical understanding of serial murder in directions that support offender profiling. Semi-structured interviews with two South African men who committed serial murder were undertaken and analysed alongside archival data. Their imagoes formed the focus of the analysis. This analysis included a consideration of how the individual’s motivations and developmental patterns were reflected in their crime scenes. This study demonstrated that imagoes play a significant role in the motives for offending, and development of offence behaviours, in men who commit serial murder. The imagoes help create motives; then embody these motives by encouraging and justifying certain types of behaviour in the individual. Interactions between imagoes were particularly significant in this regard. The dominant imago associated with the individual’s self was also associated with the development of a behavioural template for offending, and was thus especially significant in embodying motive. The development of offending was further encouraged by the separation between imagoes involved in offending and those that are not. However differences between the case studies were also observed, such as the extent to which imagoes develop in interaction with others and the roles played by their imagoes in the developmental narrative of their offending. These findings shed novel theoretical light on the study of serial murder in South Africa. It suggests directions for research into the role of narrative and culture in offending, and for the study of the imago as an embodied mode of interpersonal interaction. It also offers opportunities for research aiming to support offender profiling, and proposes a possible synthesis of competing conceptions of serial murder. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Psychology / unrestricted

This study uses latent class analysis and latent transition analysis to model and compare patterns of offending over time for males and females by: (1) identifying qualitative dimensions of offending; (2) modeling how patterns of offending change over time; and (3) exploring factors related to patterns of offending. This is a secondary analysis of data from the Edinburgh Study of Youth Transition and Crime, a longitudinal study consisting of a cohort of about 4,000 young people from secondary schools in the City of Edinburgh who responded to questionnaires administered between 1988 and 2001, when they were about 12, 13, 14, and 15 years old. Previous studies of offending have used trajectory modeling to explore the course of offending from onset to termination, but the models are generally based on a count of types of offences aggregated across individuals over time, making it difficult to determine whether individuals exhibit more versatility or specialization in offending or switch offences from one point in time to another. In addition, most of the studies on patterns of offending have focused primarily on males. An understanding of patterns of offending over time for both males and females is important for the design and selection of developmentally appropriate prevention/treatment strategies. The present study adds to the literature by (1) further exploring the small and understudied literature on offence transitions; (2) examining more closely the development of female offending separately from and in relation to male offending; and (3) exploring a range of factors (criminogenic and non-criminogenic) related to the development of offending for both males and females. While the same number of qualitative dimensions (latent classes) characterised male and female offending in this study, there were some structural differences. There was also evidence of shifts in the qualitative dimensions for males and females over time. Finally, those factors classified as criminogenic were more likely to differentiate among the latent classes than those classified as non-criminogenic.

Research supports interventions for high-risk juvenile offenders to reduce recidivism. Methods for assessing delinquent risk vary, however. Aggregate risk scores (i.e. number of risk factors) and specific risk profiles (i.e. types of risk factors) are both empirically supported techniques. This study compared aggregate scores versus profiles for predicting measures of criminal severity among detained adolescents (n=292). Twenty-four risk factors from the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY) were summed to calculate aggregate scores. Using latent class analysis (LCA), profiles were identified based on scores from the following theoretically important SAVRY risk factors: Risk Taking/Impulsivity, Anger Management Problems, Low Empathy/Remorse (CU traits), and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Difficulties. LCA identified one low-risk profile, plus two high-risk profiles differentiated by levels of CU traits. Aggregate scores significantly predicted four out of six criminal severity indicators, while profiles failed to predict any measures. Results support aggregate scores over profiles for assessing delinquent severity.

This study sought to explore whether PTSD symptoms in detained adolescents were differentially related to high and low patterns of emotional reactivity, as determined based on callous-unemotional (CU) traits and emotion dysregulation. Analyses revealed four distinct groups based on these criteria: a low/no trauma control group with few PTSD symptoms, and three groups whose PTSD symptoms were distinguished by symptoms of emotional numbing. The study sought to determine whether these profiles were related to distinct patterns of aggression and delinquency. Results revealed that the low/no PTSD symptom group exhibited the least aggression and delinquency. Further, results indicated that higher CU traits and violent offending are associated with a combined PTSD symptom profile. Results suggest a relationship between PTSD symptoms, delinquency, aggression, and CU traits. Findings provide support for the existence of a secondary variant of CU youth who are more emotionally dysregulated and prone to both arousal and emotional detachment.

Submitted by Maicon Juliano Schmidt (maicons) on 2015-03-17T18:38:15Z No. of bitstreams: 1 SuzanaCataniodosSantosNardi.pdf: 581507 bytes, checksum: 99417ef7046cb36437df4a0b23b8d2b4 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-17T18:38:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 SuzanaCataniodosSantosNardi.pdf: 581507 bytes, checksum: 99417ef7046cb36437df4a0b23b8d2b4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-01-01 / Nenhuma / Esta Dissertação de Mestrado aborda o tema da violência no âmbito das relações afetivas íntimas, mais especificamente, a compreensão dos processos psíquicos de homens agressores. Toma como referência a teoria psicanalítica das Relações Objetais, em especial as características das relações objetais e dos vínculos afetivos estabelecidos com os outros, em homens envolvidos com violência conjugal. Esta pesquisa foi realizada em uma cidade da região metropolitana de Porto Alegre, no estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Os participantes foram quinze homens envolvidos em processos judiciais de violência contra a companheira (Lei Maria da Penha). A coleta de dados foi realizada em um período de seis meses e foram utilizados os instrumentos: entrevista, ficha de dados sociodemográficos e o Inventário BORRTI-O. Este último instrumento oferece quatro tipos de resultados ou de fatores interpretativos, os quais demarcam quatro modos de relação objetal internalizada, além de um resultado numérico. A ficha de dados sociodemográficos teve como finalidade a descrição da amostra, e as entrevistas coletaram dados da historia de vida dos participantes. Assim, com base no referencial teórico de autores clássicos como Freud (1914/1996, 1930/1996) e Klein (1932/1969), e de autores contemporâneos como Zosky (1999), Fonagy (2000) e Caligor, Diamond, Yeomans e Kernberg (2009), buscou-se compreender, a partir dos vínculos estabelecidos precocemente pelo indivíduo, as possíveis repercussões destas relações na vida adulta. / This masters thesis addresses the issue of violence within intimate personal relationships and, especially, the comprehension of the mental processes of men who batter. It take as theoretical references the psychoanalytic theory of object relations, the characteristics of object relations and emotional ties established with other men involved in marital violence. This research was conducted in the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The participants were fifteen men involved in Maria da Penhas law. Data collection was performed over a period of six months and the following instruments were used: sociodemographic data sheet, interviews and BORRTI-O. The latter instrument offers four types of results or interpretation of factors, which demarcate the four modes of internalized object relations, and a numeric result. The sociodemographic data sheet was intended to describe the sample and collect life history data from the participants.Thus, based on the theory of classical authors such as Freud (1914/1996, 1930/1996) and Klein (1932/1969), and contemporary authors as Zosky (1999), Fonagy (2000) and Caligor, Diamond, Yeomans and Kernberg (2009), we sought to understand the links established earlier in life and the possible impact of these individual relationships in adulthood.

Background and Aims: The importance of the involvement of parents in treatment approaches for Children and Young People (CYP) who have engaged in Harmful Sexual Behaviour (HSB) has been consistently highlighted within the literature. Given that HSB arises in a family context, parents are considered key agents for change where CYP remain in their care. Professionals may work with them as a means of improving the CYP's therapeutic outcomes. Despite this, little is known about their personal lived experiences and representations of meaning, which remain largely unexplored. The current study aimed to address this gap and gain a rich understanding of the experiences of parents, from their own perspective. Methodology: Semi-structured interviews were used with six biological parents who were recruited via purposive sampling from a specialist service working with CYP who have engaged in HSB and their families. During interviews, four broad areas of interest were explored: the personal psychological impact of their child engaging in HSB; the impact on the parent-child relationship; wider familial and community responses; and parental coping. Interviews were audio-recorded and their verbatim transcripts analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Findings and Conclusions: The analysis produced four main themes; 'A devastated and overwhelmed life'; 'Threatened and trying to feel safer'; 'A challenged relationship with son'; and 'Space for hope in the face of hopelessness?'. It was highlighted that parents' experiences and meaning-making appeared intimately woven with a complex web of powerful relational and socially constructed factors. The research outcomes provide valuable insights for professionals working with young people who have engaged in HSB and their families. In learning more about what it is like to be the parent of a CYP who has engaged in HSB, it is hoped that professionals will have a richer framework from which to provide support to both the parent and to their child. Implications for clinical practice, the strengths and limitations of the methodology and directions for future research are discussed.

Criminology has a long history of trying to understand why people reoffend. People that are released from prison offer us the opportunity study the conditions under which some individuals continue to commit crimes and others do not in great detail. Although research in the last years have incorporated the context as a source of influence on recidivism, much of the literature has focused on attributing the explanations solely on the level of the individuals themselves. Taking this individualistic perspective as my point of departure, I take some steps towards incorporating effects of the environment and aspects associated with social influence and learning in explaining why people re-offend (after being released from prisons). Studying the Chilean prison system, I first establish individual factors associated with recidivism, then account for prison environment and characteristics, to finally attempt at accounting for larger community effects. This was done by analysing data from a cohort of offenders who served sentences in Chilean prisons. Individual factors associated with time until recidivism were analysed using Event history models. Then, multilevel models were used to account for prison-specific effects: the exclusive contribution of prison to recidivism. Finally, hierarchical spatial models were used to analyse how space can be associated with varying levels of recidivism. In addition to the effects of individual characteristics, strong evidence of prison-specific effects was found, which implies that individual propensity towards recidivism is not independent of the prison where the sentence is served. In other words, differences in prison settings have the potential to impact on the individual likelihood of re-offending either by reducing or incrementing the individual risk. Likewise, evidence of spatial clustering of recidivism was also found, which indicates that recidivism has also a spatial component operating beyond the individuals' control. The main contribution of this thesis lies in demonstrating that recidivism implies a complex system of interdependence between different actors and institutions, which needs to be considered to understand recidivism in a larger context. These findings have profound theoretical and policy implications, as they imply that the responsibility for recidivism falls not only on the offenders themselves but also on the wider context of the justice system's institutions and society itself.

This thesis presents a body of work for the award of the Professional Doctorate in Social Work. Presented as three discrete but connecting projects, it is united by a broad interest in criminal justice sanctions and services and by a particular interest in the progression of participatory, person-centred and progressive approaches within that space. Project one consists of a recognised prior learning claim for 50% of the award and draws on four peer-refereed published papers. The first three papers contribute to developing criminological and professional debate on ‘what works?’ in supporting desistance from crime. The final paper locates recent justice ‘developments’ within Bauman’s analysis of consumerism and related debates about the commodification of public services. Project two reports on a funded study that set out to evaluate the impact of a staff training programme on the practice of community service supervision within a Scottish local authority. The commission and focus of this project reflects sustained attention to questions of what works in reducing re-offending and supporting desistance within community sanctions, and the reconsideration of these questions in spaces traditionally constructed in punitive rather than rehabilitative terms. The findings suggest that community service can provide people who offend with important opportunities for progression, desistance and change and that staff training has an important contribution to make to the progression of these outcomes. However, the findings also indicate that staff training is one of many important variables in this complex and multi-dimensional endeavour. Connecting with the above themes, the final and most substantial project presented explores the place and potential of those sentenced within criminal justice sanctions and services. Specifically, it explores the potential of co-production within this complex, contested and constrained space. As will be demonstrated, this is an important and topical area of inquiry, as are the methods used to progress it. The conclusion of this project is that co-production matters in justice. The detail and implications of this conclusion for justice policy, practice and research are discussed and explored.

abstract: Criminological theories have long incorporated personality traits as key explanatory factors and have generally relied on assumptions of trait stability. However, growing evidence from a variety of fields including criminology, psychology, and neurobiology is demonstrating that personality traits are malleable over the life-course, and substantial individual variation exists in the developmental patterns of personality traits over time. This research is forcing criminologists to consider how and why “enduring” individual characteristics may change over the life course in ways that are meaningfully related to offending. Two traits that have been consistently linked to offending and conflated in key criminological theories (i.e. Gottfredson and Hirschi’s self-control theory), impulsivity and sensation seeking, have recently been shown to be independent personality traits with different normative maturational timetables and biological underpinnings. This dissertation extends this work by examining developmental patterns of impulsivity and sensation seeking and social sources of variation in these traits with the Family and Community Health Survey, a longitudinal data set that consists of approximately 900 African American youth and their families followed from late childhood to their late-twenties. Multiple longitudinal modeling methods are employed (hierarchical linear modeling and group-based trajectory modeling) to address this research agenda. Results from this dissertation lead to four broad conclusions. First, and in support of existing research, there is substantial variability in developmental trajectories of impulsivity and sensation seeking. Average developmental trajectories of these traits greatly mask the degree of individual variability in developmental patterns that exists. Second, social factors are significantly associated with levels of impulsivity and sensation seeking. Socio-environmental experiences characterized by hostility and unsupportiveness are generally associated with elevated levels of impulsivity and sensation seeking while socio-environmental experiences characterized by warmth and supportiveness are associated with lower levels of impulsivity and sensation seeking. Third, sex differences in developmental patterns of impulsivity are nonexistent while sex differences in developmental patterns of sensation seeking are significant. Finally, with few exceptions, predictors of trait levels operate in a general fashion such the same factors typically explain both male and female trait levels and produce similar effects on impulsivity and sensation seeking. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Criminology and Criminal Justice 2019

Research on infidelity has suffered from inconsistency in how infidelity has been operationalized across studies. This study was designed to advance methodological considerations for defining infidelity and identifying offending spouses. A subjective definition of infidelity was obtained from each respondent via both closed- and open-ended items. The open-ended responses were applied to explore the definition of infidelity. Additionally, an indirect questioning method was adopted to identify offending spouses according to their own subjective definitions of cheating and test the effectiveness of this approach relative to direct questioning for identifying offending spouses. Furthermore, gender differences in acknowledging infidelity through both direct and indirect approaches in general as well as across the four self-defined categorical infidelity were examined. A community sample of 465 married or divorced individuals anonymously completed the survey via MTurk. Results showed two defining characteristics of infidelity that cut across modes of infidelity (sexual, emotional, computer-mediated, and solitary) were that infidelity occurs outside the relationship and without consent. The definition of infidelity of infidelity provided in response to an open-ended inquiry tended to be shorter among offending spouses—especially male offending spouses—than among non-offending spouses. More offending spouses were found via the indirect (42.9%) approach than the direct approach (12.7%), and more men than women acknowledged engaging in infidelity behaviors according to both the direct (16.6% vs. 9.1%) and indirect (48.2% vs. 38.0%) approaches. That said, gender-based statistical differences in propensity to commit self-defined infidelity were only found in sexual and computer-mediated forms of infidelity; propensity to commit self-defined emotional and solitary infidelity did not statistically differ between men and women; in all cases, however, gender differences were small. Results suggested that the indirect approach is better than direct questioning for identifying infidelity behaviors; the indirect approach elicited less social desirability bias. Implications for research and clinical practice are provided.