To prosecute perpetrators of war crimes the International Criminal Court (ICC) must connect the physical actions of the offence and ‘most responsible’ offenders charged with planning, instigating and intent on carrying out crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of aggression. To date there has been no empirical study of the types of physical actions that make up this offence. There is no baseline knowledge to contextualize the offence and enable the ICC to make links between the actions on the ground and a perpetrator’s culpability. The purpose of this study was to produce the first multivariate model of war crime ground action using cases of war crime offences in Cambodia and Rwanda. The aim was to first identify a representative range offence behaviours, and secondly determine if ground actions could be differentiated into distinct forms of offending that indicate culpability, that is, knowledge and intent in carrying out the crime. Lastly, offence behaviours assessed to determine if external factors could account for variances in offender behaviour, and help the ICC account for variances in behaviour when making inferences from the models. This was achieved through content analysis, cluster analysis, smallest space analysis and multivariate analysis of variance. It was found that as many as 44 different killing and disposal methods are used over the course of war crimes in Cambodia and Rwanda and that these offence actions can be classified into four distinct themes of behaviour. The indentified conservative, expressive, integrative and adaptive theme demonstrates that offenders were committing war crime offences in different ways. Using the underlying theories attached to each mode the ICC can infer the culpability of an offender based on which theme their actions fall into. In this case offenders subscribing to the conservative theme are likely to reflect the planning and instigation components of a war crime and offenders whose actions fall within the expressive theme are likely to be using war crimes as a cover for personal gratification and gain. Finally it was found that variances of behaviour can be attributed to the geographical location and timing of the event, and helps the ICC target their investigations to locations and periods linked to conservative behaviour, the offender who performs it and thus their culpability. This study shows that multivariate analysis can contextualize ground actions in manner that allows the ICC to make informed decisions of perpetrator culpability during war crimes.

abstract: In a trial, jurors are asked to set aside their emotions and make judgments based solely on evidence. Research suggests jurors are not always capable of this, particularly when exposed to gruesome photographic evidence. However, previous research has not looked at the potentially moderating effect of when and for how long jurors are exposed to emotionally disturbing photographs, nor how many photographs they see. In two experiments I tested the impact of the timing of and extent of exposure to gruesome photographs on jurors’ emotions, verdicts, and punishment recommendations. In Study 1, I investigated the effect of timing and exposure duration to a single gruesome photograph of a victim in a murder case (no exposure, brief early exposure, brief late exposure, and prolonged exposure) on mock jurors’ emotions and case judgments. Prolonged exposure (relative to no or brief exposure, regardless of timing) increased disgust, which in turn was associated with harsher punishment. Contrary to previous research, the photograph manipulation did not influence verdicts. The results were mixed and inconclusive regarding brief early versus late exposure. In Study 2, I compared repeatedly viewing a single gruesome photograph to viewing a set of four similar, but unique gruesome photographs—holding the exposure time constant—to assess the impact of quantity of photos on jurors’ emotions and case judgments. Viewing multiple gruesome photos (relative to no photos) led to increase in guilty verdicts through increased disgust, replicating previous research. Viewing a single gruesome photo (relative to no photo) led to increase in guilty verdicts through disgust, differing from Study 1 findings. Viewing multiple gruesome photos and a single gruesome photo led to more disgust, compared to viewing no photo. However, differing from Study 1, gruesome photographs did not lead to an increase in punishment recommendations. There were no significant differences between exposure to a single or multiple gruesome photos on disgust, verdicts, or punishments. Overall, greater exposure to gruesome evidence led to increased disgust and punitiveness, relative to those with less exposure. However, jurors with greater exposure to the same or different photographs did not differ in reported emotions, verdicts, or punitiveness. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2020

The concern with public safety somehow defines the way of life and also the social relationships. From medieval walled cities to contemporary gated communities, it is possible to observe different strategies to prevent invasions, goods appropriations or even physical violence. There also is a complete normative setting, which responds to a historical and social time, in order to define what a crime is. In face of an event characterized as criminal there is, at least, two perspectives to be considered, one related to the involvement and reaction of the people directly involved and another one concerning the socio-institutional treatment of such event, both reflecting and revealing power relations. This study assumes that the reaction to the event is a remarkable fact and it brings revealing elements of other past events and for future projections experience both in the individual aspect or in relation to historical and collective elements. It considers, from the autobiographical testimony of people involved in criminal situations, what is collective and what is historical on such experiences. The crime in this study is considered from its institutional judgement and it brings revealing elements of a collective history. Four different people, frequent users of the several Crime Prevention Centers of Uberlândia, were asked to speak about their life histories, to talk about the crime for which they are being penalized and to talk on the institutional treatment related to the same one. The Oral Life History method was the basis for the interviews. Specialized authors on Psycho-criminology and on Critical Psychology were the main theoretical support chosen for the interviews analysis and reflections around the crime, subjectivity, interdisciplinarity and also the role of the psychologist in Law and Public Safety institutions. From such analysis, it is observed that there is a wide path redefinition of some concepts and professional positions regarding the various elements of a crime. Among the professionals, the psychologist, in such field, must assume the political role where he is inserted. It is concluded that interventions in public safety rely on facts, which are not always the most significant events for the involved individuals, and that concentrates almost all of their actions in individual interventions, insufficient to deal with the criminal matters, which are much more complex and involve historical and collective variables that go far beyond to the individuals directly involved on it. / A preocupação com a segurança pública é aspecto definidor de modo de vida e de relações sociais. É possível perceber estratégias de evitar invasões, apropriações materiais ou a violência física na própria estruturação das cidades e na forma com que as pessoas se relacionam desde as cidades muradas medievais até os condomínios fechados contemporâneos. Há, no mínimo, duas perspectivas a serem consideradas diante de um acontecimento criminal, uma relacionada ao envolvimento e reação das pessoas diretamente envolvidas e outra que diz respeito ao tratamento social deste acontecimento e que passa por instituições, ambas refletem e revelam relações de poder. Este estudo parte do pressuposto que a reação ao acontecimento é fato marcante e que traz elementos reveladores de outras vivências passadas e também para projeções de vivências futuras seja no aspecto individual, seja em relação aos elementos históricos e coletivos. Considera, a partir da narração autobiográfica de pessoas envolvidas em situações criminais, o que há de coletivo e histórico nestas vivências. O crime, neste estudo, é considerado a partir de sua inscrição institucional, no entanto, traz elementos reveladores de uma história coletiva. Quatro pessoas, usuárias dos Centros de Prevenção à Criminalidade de Uberlândia, foram convidadas a narrar suas histórias de vida, a falar sobre o crime pelo qual respondem pena e sobre o tratamento institucional ao mesmo. O método de História Oral de Vida foi a base das entrevistas. Autores em Psicocriminologia e em Psicologia Crítica foram os principais apoios teóricos escolhidos para análise das entrevistas e reflexões acerca do crime, subjetividade, interdisciplinariedade e do papel do psicólogo nas instituições de Direito e Segurança Pública. A partir da análise, percebe-se que há um caminho aberto de ressignificação de alguns conceitos e posições profissionais em criminologia, que o psicólogo, neste campo, deve assumir o papel político no qual está inserido e ainda, conclui-se que as intervenções em segurança pública se apoiam em fatos que nem sempre são os acontecimentos mais significativos para o sujeito, e que concentram a quase totalidade de suas ações em intervenções individuais, insuficientes para lidar com as questões criminais, que são muito mais complexas e envolvem variáveis históricas e coletivas que vão muito além dos sujeitos envolvidos. / Mestre em Psicologia Aplicada

This dissertation critically investigates the current framework for psycholegal assessment of accused persons who are suspected or alleged to have lacked criminal incapacity at the time of committing an offence. This system must function as effectively as possible to ensure the interests of justice and the community are best served. Issues that impact how effectively the criminal justice system collaborates with psychologists and psychiatrists, who act as expert forensic mental health assessors, are identified and recommendations are made accordingly. The study first examines the theoretical base regarding the terminology surrounding criminal capacity, mental illness and automatism, with regard to how the understanding of concepts differ in law and psychology and psychiatry and how this negatively affects the process of assessment. The study then investigates the constitutional rights of accused persons admitted for observation, the effect this has on the patient and legal process, the accuracy and reliability of the diagnosis and the admissibility of expert evidence. Next a comparative study is made utilising English Law as a tool for analysis. The main findings are that lack of understanding and clarity are the main issues that hinder the collaboration between the legal and mental health care professions and that this may be remedied by a system of registration and education for forensic psycholegal assessors. An alternate and concurrent method of direct referral is also suggested as it may relieve some of the strain on the current system. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Public Law / unrestricted

This thesis explores how burglars and burglary in London were understood in cultural, criminological, legal, political, and economic discourse during the period 1860-1939, demonstrating how the ideas about crime and the criminal circulating in these domains were mutually constitutive. Specifically, it identifies how characterisations of burglary in visual and written forms of media — encompassing legal and criminological documents, as well as those produced by the press and commercial advertising, and in fiction, theatre, and film — cultivated a range of attitudes towards the crime to a greater or lesser extent. Encompassing not only fear-mongering and sympathetic representations, but also those designed to be exciting, to challenge preconceptions, and to entertain, I argue that these conflicting attitudes towards burglary and burglars emerged in response to specific changes in the cultural landscape: the advent of mass literacy and corresponding interest in narratives of crime that reflected the social, cultural, and political concerns of an audience diverse of class, age, and gender; the commercial imperatives of the insurance and entertainment industries as the middle classes expanded, including the development of household insurance and the popularity of the ‘true crime’ genre; debates surrounding women’s increasing social and sexual agency and their alignment with particular crimes; and the evolution of new modes of policing and regulation. The thesis thereby uses the topic of burglary to illuminate a broader range of contemporary preoccupations and experiences with gender relations, class structures and stereotypes, and the moral authority of state and society. By approaching burglary as a focus of interactions not only between police, criminal, and victim, but also between the market, consumers, and the state, this thesis uncovers new terrain upon which crime intersected with everyday lives historically.