RT Article
T1 Linking serial sexual offences: moving towards an ecologically valid test of the principles of crime linkage
JF Legal and criminological psychology
VO 24
IS 1
SP 123
OP 140
A1 Woodhams, Jessica
A2 Tonkin, Matthew
A2 Burrell, Amy
A2 Imre, Hanne
A2 Winter, Jan M.
A2 Lam, Eva K. M.
A2 Brinke, Gert Jan ten
A2 Webb, Mark
A2 Labuschagne, Gerard
A2 Bennell, Craig
A2 Ashmore-Hills, Leah
A2 Kamp, Jasper van der
A2 Lipponen, Sami
A2 Pakkanen, Tom
A2 Rainbow, Lee
A2 Salfati, Gabrielle C.
A2 Santtila, Pekka
LA English
YR 2019
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1846194024
AB 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.
NO Literaturverzeichnis: Seite 138-140
NO Gesehen am 25.05.2023
NO First published: 15 December 2018
K1 assumptions
K1 comparative case analysis
K1 linkage analysis
K1 case linkage
K1 behavioural linking
DO 10.1111/lcrp.12144