Showing posts with label Criminology. Show all posts

Pornography and rape: theory and practice?

We have looked at the empirical evidence of the adroitly-known feminist dictum: "pornography is the theory--rape is the practice" (Morgan, 1980). While earlier research, notably that generated by the U.S. Commission approaching Obscenity and Pornography (1970) had found no evidence of a causal associate along as well as pornography and rape, a auxiliary generation of behavioral scientists have, for on top of a decade, made considerable effort to prove such a connection, especially as in the make remote as "sudden pornography" is concerned. The first share of the article examines and discusses the findings of this subsidiary research. A number of laboratory experiments have been conducted, much akin to the types of experiments developed by researchers of the effects of nonsexual media sick-treatment. As in the latter, a appreciative degree of increased "aggressiveness" has been found knocked out certain circumstances, but to extrapolate from such laboratory effects to the commission of rape in alter simulation is dubious. Studies of rapists' and nonrapists' immediate sexual reactions to presentations of pornography showed generally greater arousal to non-violent scenes, and no difference can be found in this regard together in the midst of convicted rapists, nonsexual criminals and noncriminal males. In the second share of the paper an attempt was made to psychiatry the severe precondition for a substantial causal connection in addition to the availability of pornography, including rasping pornography, and rape--namely, that obviously increased availability of such material was followed by an deposit in cases of reported rape. The proceed of rape and attempted rape during the become primeval 1964-1984 was studied in four countries: the U.S.A., Denmark, Sweden and West Germany. In all four countries there is certain and undisputed evidence that during this era the availability of various forms of pictorial pornography including violent/dominant varieties (in the form of portray magazines, and films/videos used at home or shown in arcades or cinemas) has developed from extreme scarcity to relative abundance. If (violent) pornography causes rape, this exceptional take to the lead in the availability of (violent) pornography should enormously anyhow be weak the rape statistics. Since, however, the rape figures could not handily be acclaimed to remain steady during the era in ask (later it is nimbly known that most new crimes increased considerably), the expansion of rape rates was compared by now that of non-sexual violent offences and nonviolent sexual offences (in correspondingly far afield-off as handy statistics acceptable). The results showed that in none of the countries did rape amassing highly developed than nonsexual violent crimes. This finding in itself would seem ample to discard the hypothesis that pornography causes rape.

Crime against Children

According to National Crime Records Bureau and NHRC

Crime against children increased by 3.8% nationally (14,975 cases in 2005 from 14,423 in 2004).
Child rape increased by 13.7% (4,026 cases from 3,542 in 2004); Madhya Pradesh reported the highest number (870) followed by Maharashtra (634).Together they accounted for 37.3% of rape cases.
Delhi tops a list of 35 Indian cities on crime against children (852 cases of violence against children in 2005, 27% of all cases) followed by Indore (448), Pune (314) and Mumbai (303).
1,327 children were reported murdered in 2005 up from 1,304 in 2004 (an increase of 1.8%).Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number (390) accounting for 29.4% of cases.
Nearly 45,000 children go missing every year; more than 11,000 are never traced.
3,518 children were kidnapped in 2005 (301 from Delhi, 3,196 in 2004, 2,571 in 2003).

Children who form 42% of the India’s population are at risk on the streets, at their workplace and even inside their own homes. The recent Nithari case has highlighted the plight of children of migrant workers. There has been a 40% increase in intra-state migration in the last 10 years. While migrant do get employment there is no safety net for their children; they get neither education nor healthcare. Single migrant children or children of migrant workers are often not counted anywhere- census or any government scheme.

According to the study conducted by NGO Shakti Vahini in 2006, 378 of the 593 districts in India are affected by human trafficking the children being the most affected. They are easy prey for traffickers who lure them from villages with the promise of employment. The street children are perceived as vagrants by the police and with no legal safeguards to protect them violence and exploitation are daily routine for them. India has the largest number of street children in the world. In 2001 it was estimated that there are 100,000 to 125,000 street children each in Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi with 45,000 in Bangalore.

In terms of budget allocation 4.91% of Union Budget 2006-07 has been allocated for health, education, development and protection of children.The share of resources for child protection is minuscule-0.034%.Child protection has never figured in any planning document so far.

Urbanization has been often used to denote the process of population concentration in an urban area. Hope Tisdale Eldridge treats urbanization as a process of population concentration & identifies two elements in the process (i) The multiplication of points of concentration, & (ii) the increase in the size of individual concentration. Urbanization can occurs only when the rate of growth of the urban population is greater than the rate of growth of non-urban population in a country.

We find more mal adjustments in cities than in villages. The main reason for this is that life in the city becomes impersonal & the sense of community & fellowship is superseded by the sense of gain, profit and status. Therefore people in cities do not care or bother about others. The sex-oriented entertainment provided by the cinema, the club & television keeps people in a state of perpetual excitement. This gives rise to personal disorganization. The old restraints of religion & morality are giving way to a sense of independence & emancipation. Everyone thinks himself quite competent & is afraid to lean on others for help. In cities in many families' husband & wife both work out of home. This leads to faced neglect to children. Moreover, women come to feel & think themselves equal to men & want the husbands to share household work. The rate of crime is very high in the cities because it is easy to buy anonymity in the cities & escape police detection. Finally the gap bet the rich & poor is very wide in cities. The palatial mansions & the hutments exist side by side. The spectacle of many people eating the leftover of rich people & sleeping on the pavements cannot but deepen the bitterness & conflict set rich & poor.

Some of the major pathological problems of the urban population are discussed & some solutions suggested below:

Crime
Crime is anti -social behavior which a group rejects and to which it attaches penalties. In this way all those activities for which the state lays down punishments are crimes. Those activities to which no punishments are attached may be sinful but they would not be criminal.

There is a positive correlation between crime rate and size of cities. Bigger the city, higher the rate of crime. The types of crimes also significantly differ from rural areas to urban areas. Economic offences such as property thefts, automobile thefts, pick pocketing, cheating etc, are more in urban areas than in rural areas. Murder, physical violence, instance of unit cases etc, are relatively rare in rural areas.

White collar crime is a type of criminal activity which is not totally disapproved by the upper class & dominates political groups, though these activities are harmful to the well being of the society. The motivating factor for white collar crime among the lower strata is a desire to gratify their economic wants somehow. As for the well -off it is an easy way to acquire more wealth became in the present social set up, material success is an important part of prestige and nobody bothers as to how one has acquired his wealth.

The illegal economic activities of the upper classes of society are not severely condemned by the society, there is even appreciation for such activities as business tactics. Therefore, in modern urban centers corruption and white collar crimes are rampant. In recent years corruption has penetrated every walk of life. The calm acceptance of regular practice of corrupt activities by individuals has made it is gain the status of an institutional practice in urban centers.

Sex crimes have increased in contemporary societies with its emphasis on sex education, late marriage, free mixing between sexes & the evidence of contraceptives. Sex crimes occupy the attention of sociologists as they affect the moral health of the people. Sex crimes refer to the illegal sexual relations of every kind with a without the consent of the other person. They include a wide variety of offences such as prostitution, rape, adultery, fornication, sex perversions like homosexuality, kidnapping of young children with a sexual motive & illegal pre-marital & extra marital relation etc.

Some of the important means applied for the prevention of crimes are:

Probation - It is the postponement, on certain conditions laid down lay the prosecuting authority of the punishment due to a criminal by law. These individuals are kept in the guardianship of someone instead of being imprisoned. The work of the probation officer is to assist and by to put the criminals on the right track by convincing & cantiming them. Mostly for the minor offender of the juvenile delinquent.
Parole - It is also a means of reforming criminals. Under probation the criminal is given over to the protection of the probation officer without being punished but a criminal is placed on parole after he has served a short prison sentence.
Reformatory- Three are two categories of reformations - Juvenile & Adult. Criminals are confined in these reformatories and efforts are made to reform them by training and educating them.
Borstal Schools - Only criminals bet the ages 16 and 21 are kept in the schools. They are educated & efforts are made to make term good citizens.
Prison - Prison is a University accepted means of preventing crime but now days efforts are made to reform rather than to punish criminals in jail.

All these means are however are a form of one so as to prevent them from subsequent criminal activity, which is in no guarantee against crimes. We need preventive measures. We have to take measures to prevent all those factories from the social, economic & political life of the community in which crimes originate.

As far as while collar crimes and corruptions concerned. In order to combat these tendencies it is essential that political corruption be firstly eradicated and that governments should refuse to yield to political & economically vested interests. In a democracy every government wants to retain power & for this it is very necessary that it may not alienate any political lobby. But if the problem is to be tackled the govt. should be prepared to take risks. The judiciary should be very well paid & selection should be strictly on merit (this stands for every other recruitment). The judges must be persons of high intellectual & moral caliber. They should be persons of proven integrity & must be incorruptible. The greatest differing factor in this regard is the concentration of the economy in limited hands on whomever the govt. depends for its survival. The aim therefore should be at enabling the money to be more evenly distributed. It is possible to control or at least contain such crimes if liberal labour laws have are enforced very strictly & if the govt. servants are so well paid that they have little temptation to accept bribes.

In Panter I wrote about backscatter imaging as a pre-flight security clearance tactic. Backscatter imaging operates much differently than x-ray technologies, the later is more frequently used and has been in operation in airports for a longer amount of time. Yet, security professionals often do not appreciate how x-ray technologies work or understand the science behind x-ray imaging. This is often due to the academic separation between practitioners and scientists (this will be discussed in another post). Therefore, this post aims to present a better scientific understanding of x-ray technologies as a security measure to those who do not have a degree in physics or a specialization in gamma radiation.

X-ray technology operates via 3 modes of photon/ electron interaction. These are the photoelectric effect, Compton scattering, and pair production. It should be noted that many x-ray devices used in security screening are based upon the photoelectric effect, hence why we will only are discussing this. If you are curious about the Compton scattering effect, which is how backscatter imaging works, please see my previous posts.

X-ray technologies work by using gamma radiation. Gamma radiation is a type of electromagnetic radiation that has an extremely high frequency and consists of high-energy photons. These photons vary in their reaction when they enter an atom based on the type of atom they enter. The photoelectric effect occurs when an incoming photon of gamma radiation is absorbed by an electron. This results in the ejection of the electron into its orbit.

In the photo of a suitcase below notice how different materials show up on an x-ray as being darker in colour. In theory, the more dense an object is (like the revolver) the less likely it is to absorb the same amount of gamma radiation produced by an x-ray screening machine. This is why certain materials appear on a screening monitor as areas of light and dark shading. This is noticeable when looking at the can of tennis balls located to the right versus the revolver. The material of a tennis ball (rubber/ air) is not as dense as the material of the revolver (metal), therefore the gamma radiation from x-rays pass more easily through the tennis balls which creates an observed visual difference between material density. In simplest terms, x-ray photoelectric technology is based upon the fact that x-ray absorption in atomic matter varies with the energy of the beam and the density of the absorbing material.

Panter, H. 2013. Backscatter Imaging and Counterterrorism: An Analysis of Legal and Privacy Issues. NSU International Journal of Criminal Justice

Duct tape is a common item that you can find in any toolbox or residence since its invention as a waterproof tape in the 1930’s. During World War II, duct tape was used by allied forces for various purposes and after the war it was used in homes for duct work, hence it’s commonly known name…”duct tape”. It is known for its very distinctive silver polyethylene backing but it can be now found in decorative colors. I recently have seen it in patterns ranging from camouflage to American university school logos.

It is found in vehicles, homes, and the DIY toolboxes and used for emergency repairs. Thus the easy accessibility of duct tape can be used by criminals as an evidential component to commit crimes. In homicides, a killer may use duct tape to tie the victim up or seal their body in some type of container. In rapes, the offender may also bound the victim and in hit-and-run homicides it can be used to reattach a damaged bumper. In terrorist attacks it can be used in energetic material construction (A.K.A. “bombs”). In other crimes it may be used to wrap around the handle of a sawed off shotgun to prevent wood splintering or used to wrap around a tool left at a crime scene. Arguably, the possibilities are endless to the usage and only limited by the criminal’s imagination.

Before we begin it is critical that readers understand a basic forensic theory of evidence, the Locard’s Principle. Dr. Locard (13 December 1877 – 4 May 1966) was known as the French version of the fictional character “Sherlock Holmes” laying the groundwork for the concept that every criminal leaves some type of trace evidence at a crime scene. Dr. Locard’s Priniciple is the basis for the scientific concepts of forensics and trace evidence. So, in descriptive terms---two offenders in a physical struggle will exchange trace evidence from the clothing they are wearing, transfer blood, transfer skin cells, transfer sweat, etc. This can also include the soil found on the bottom of an offenders boot to the exchange of DNA through skin to skin contact (notably forensics is making advances in “touch DNA” extracting DNA from skin cells left from touch---but there is much scientific improvement to be made).

In respect to duct tape, according to Locard’s Principle, the offender may leave his/her blood, hair, clothing fibers, his/her pet’s hair, etc. on the adhesive size of the duct tape. On the polyethylene backing, the offender may leave a latent fingerprint (see my previous blog post) or his/her DNA. Excluding obvious potentials for trace evidence recovery, the debate over duct tape has spawned from the idea that all commercially made duct tape can be traced back to an original manufacturing site which may be traced to a particular store in an area which might be further traced back to a purchaser of said duct tape linking it to a potential suspect. This is called fracture matching in comparative analysis of duct tape.

This concept of fracture matching of tape in forensic science began with Agron and Schecter’s (1986) study of electrical tape were they used photographic examination of two methods of tearing: tension and shearing, and determined that each tear was “unique and nonreproducible”. Their theory rests on the notion that each fracture of tape results in individual and unique characteristics resulting in a matching counterpart, with a matching end piece that holds high evidentiary value.

In the case of duct tape, shearing between two pieces occurs when the elastometric and fibrous materials of the polyethylene backing and the scrim fails. Duct-tape construction consists of a polyisoprene-based adhesive, fabric reinforcement (scrim), and a polyethylene backing (Johnston and Serra 2005). So in other words, the scrim, the component of duct tape that is woven or gauze-like of cotton or polyester blends is used to strengthen the tape. The scrim comprises of yarn running the length of the tape in the manufacturing machine direction which is known as the warp, while the yarn running across the tape is known as the fill (McCabe, Tulleners, Braun, Currie, and Gorecho 2013). The warp and the fill can vary based on the size, type of yarn, etc. based on manufacturing production---similar to the process of the manufacturing of sheets and bedding materials. The second piece of duct tape that holds evidentiary value is the outer adhesive which is manufacture specific and comprises of a combination of various elastomers, tackifying resins, and fillers (McCabe, Tulleners, Braun, Currie, and Gorecho 2013).

In 2007, the FBI discovered through research that relaying on backing analysis (the outer adhesive of duct tape) that…”identifying the tape manufacture in order to direct investigators toward a likely origin for duct tape evidence may not be possible solely by backing analysis” (Hobbs, Gauntt, Keagy, Lowe, and Ward 2007). So…in order for there to be any probability of any evidence of high evidentiary value the area of duct tape that should be examined is the fabric reinforcement area, the scrim.

Tulleners and Braun (2011) examined 1800 pieces of torn tape specimens and 400 cut tape specimens. They discovered that it is possible to match ends of duct tape to their origin 98.25 to 100 percent for torn tape and 98.15 to 99.83 percent for cut tape. So, Tulleners and Braun (2011) were able to determine that you can match a piece of tape to its connecting tape roll. In theory, a piece of duct tape could be connected to a manufacturing point--to a distributor---to a buyer---then potentionally to a suspect.

While what I like to call “manufacturing forensics” is a fairly new area of forensic science, its forensic evidentiary probability and usage should not be discounted. Based on the limited scientific research on fracturing matching of duct tape, more research should be done on the topic. In time, I believe that "manufacturing forensics" could be the future of fruitful evidence recovery by using the same concepts in other manufactured materials that are left at crime scenes. (Examples: clothing, footwear, medical tape, etc.)

Now onto my main part of this post, how the media conflicts with forensic investigations. Since this incident this diagram has been widely circulated along with a brief incorrect history over the construction of the device. Several media outlets have eluded readers that the device construction has a long history in the Middle East indirectly implying that the suspect(s) may be from the same region. I have even seen media photos before the detonation of "possible suspects" at the scene who are of potential Islamic descent without giving any explanation of why they are "suspects". This adds fuel to the anti-Islamic biases that some Americans and Brits possess, and indirectly diverts attention away from any other possible non-Islamic suspect(s) which may or may not impact the actual investigation. As previously mentioned the construction of the device has a deeper history and connection to other parts of the world than the media is exploring. Further, the media appears to be releasing crime scene photos of victims and additional diagrams and photos of the epic center of both detonations without any regard to the on-gong investigation. Based on my detective experience, I can tell you that the releasing of too much information by the media can destroy an investigation, arrest, trial, and even people's lives. A perfect example of this was the handling of the Atlanta Olympic bombing investigation.

Richard Jewell was a security guard working the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. During his security detail he discovered a pipe bomb and alerted Atlanta Police and helped evacuate the area--saving lives before it detonated. Because he discovered the device and had an eccentric history of wanting to be a hero and police officer the media began trying him without any actual forensic evidence, and with unreliable and inaccurate information. The media trial began with the local paper releasing his name as a possible suspect in the FBI investigation, from there the media snowball spun out of control. As a result of the media two victims even civilly sued Jewell himself before the investigation was completed. In 2005, Jewell was exonerated and the investigation was closed, disclosing that serial bomber Eric Rudolph was responsible for the incident. Jewell then successfully sued NBC, A.J.C. (local newspaper), CNN, New York Post, etc. after he and his family were cruelly and publicly tried by the media. Jewell eventually was able to full-fill his law enforcement dream after his exoneration, but he died at the age of 44 from heart disease and diabetes. One has to wonder how much his international media attention damaged his overall health.

Media speculation will naturally be at an all time high in an incident like this in America and other parts of the Western world, but for some odd reason similar incidents like this occur everyday in other parts of the Eastern world without any media attention at all. On a personal note, I have a hard time understanding how the media holds American lives more highly than others who are victims of other terrorists type events that occur in much larger scale and with worst destruction in other parts of the world (this topic is for another blog post, and due to space constrains will be properly addressed later). As such, I would like to encourage the media to respect the integrity of the crime scene without falsely reporting or referencing possible bomber M.O. (modus operandi) and allow the professionals to do a fair and accurate forensic investigation. Do we really need to know every detail leading to an arrest? With the release of abundant information, once an arrest is made how will this effect jurors in a criminal trial? Bombing investigations can take up to several weeks and it is a slow methodological process to collect and analysis forensic evidence at a crime scene. As such, we need to be patient and not prematurely point bias fingers at any suspect(s) until the guilty party is found.

False confessions are not a new concept in America, and there have been hundreds of examples of false confessions. In Massachusetts in 1692 many colonists confessed to being witches in Salem. The trials resulted in at least nineteen executions before they were eventually stopped (Agar, 1999). Further along in American history, the Lindbergh kidnapping and murder became a public media skeptical in 1932. During that time, over 200 innocent people came forward and confessed to the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh’s child (Agar, 1999). More currently with the advancement of DNA techniques, confessed sentenced criminals are being released from prison for crimes they never committed. Why would anyone ever confess to a crime, especially a serious one, when they never committed the crime? Current criminal justice professionals, psychologists, and sociologists argue that the suspect’s mental and psychological condition may affect many false confessions. Suspect psychological characteristics, type of crime, and contextual characteristics of the interrogations can affect a suspect’s tendency to confess (Gudjonsson, 2003).

Gudjonsson (2003) discussed different psychological variables that effect confessions. These include current mental status, intellectual functioning, reading ability, interrogative suggestibility, state and trait anxiety, and the understanding of rights by questioned suspects (Gudjonsson, 2003). For these variables to be properly examined, investigators conducting a criminal interview must determine if the suspect is fit to be interviewed. Investigators must assess the cognition and intellect of the suspect to be best of their abilities. The investigators tasked with interviewing a suspect should be aware of any psychiatric disorder that will usually lead to unfitness for an interview and psychiatric disorders that might indicate a significant risk of unreliability (Rix, 1997).

Psychiatric disorders that will usually lead to unfitness for interviews would be suspects that are experiencing acute organic reactions (including alcohol or drug withdrawals), mania, severe dementia, and severe mental handicap (Rix, 1997). Psychiatric disorders that may indicate a significant risk of unreliability would be milder forms of dementia, hypomania, schizophrenia, depressive disorders, mild or moderate mental handicap, and mild substance withdrawal states (Rix, 1997). While certain psychological disorders automatically should rule a suspect unfit for an interview; the theories of false confessions are endless and are currently being studied by criminal justice professionals.

The mental status of a suspect should always be considered when determining if and how a suspect should be interviewed. Individuals with diagnosed mental handicaps comprise of one to two percent of the general population, but in prison they comprise of approximately 4.2 percent (O’Connell, Garmoe, & Goldstein, 2005). Current studies have determined that individuals with diagnosed mental handicaps are often more easily caught by police and are more likely to be tricked by police during interview into confessing or taking the blame for criminal offenses (O’Connell, Garmoe, & Goldstein, 2005). Suspects who suffer from mental handicaps, even in mild cases, should at all costs understand their rights and understand what is happening to them. For example, if a suspect suffers from Down syndrome investigators should make sure that the suspect has proper representation and is aware of what is transpiring. A person with Down syndrome, if being interviewed, may not understand what certain questions are or what they are being accused of. Personally, I would never ask a suspect who has Down syndrome any questions until they have proper legal representation to represent them. I would also contact my district attorney to see if there is any way to conduct an intellectual assessment of the suspect prior to taking any voluntary statements. A person who lacks intellectual reasoning or articulation skills should never be held to statements that they do not understand or comprehend.

Another mental status that is currently being studied are individuals with ADHD. A study by Gudjonsson, Sigurdsson, Bragason, Newton, and Elinarsson (2008) studied 90 Icelandic prisoners who were currently serving prison sentences and diagnosed with ADHD. The study determined reasons why ADHD prisoners made false confessions for previous crimes that they did not commit. The reasons were: nine (43%) wanted to leave the police station or to avoid custody and six (29%) were protecting someone else (Gudjonsson, Sigurdsson, Bragason, Newton, and Elinarsson 2008). This study concluded that ADHD suspects are particularly vulnerable during police questioning and detention because of their restlessness, poor concentration, and impulsiveness (Gudjonsson, Sigurdsson, Bragason, Newton, and Elinarsson 2008). The findings of this study are not unexpected, as anyone with any experience with ADHD can understand. Besides certain mental status conditions another issue in confession is the understanding of legal rights during questioning and detention.

Understanding legal rights is another major psychological variable in confessions. It is estimated that 695,000 mentally disordered offenders are arrested and Mirandized annually in the Unites States (Rogers, Harrison, Hazelwood, & Sewell, 2007). Miranda v. Arizona (1966) established procedural safeguards to protect suspects in interviews to avoid making self-incriminating statements and to have an attorney present during questioning. The suspect must make a confession “knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily” (Miranda v. Arizona, 1966). A study conducted by O’Connell, Garmoe, and Goldstein (2005) determined that individuals with lower IQ scores had a higher tendency to be tricked by leading questions. The same study determined that individuals with mild mental retardation demonstrated difficultly understanding Miranda rights. If a suspect cannot understand their legal rights, then their rights can be violated—making any voluntary confession not admissible.

Representation should always be present and if applicable a psychologist who specialized in the disorder should also be present to explain the suspect’s rights. In situations where the suspect suffers from ADHD, investigators should be trained in how to interview individuals with the condition and every effort should be made to make the interview short and brief. Personal statements from individuals affected by these conditions should not be discredited, since they may be telling the truth in a voluntary confession.

References

Agar, J. (1999). “The Admissibility of False Confession Expert Testimony”. The Army Lawyer; Aug. pp. 26-43.

Gudjonsson, G. (2003). The Psychology of Interrogations and Confessions. Wiley, England, 2003.

Gudjonsson, G., Sigurdsson, J., Bragason, O., Newton, A., & Elinarsson, E. (2008).

“Interrogative suggestibility, compliance and false confessions among prisoners and their relationship with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms”. Psychological Medicine (2008), 38, pp. 1037-1044.

Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966).

O’Connell, M., Garmoe, W., & Goldstein, N. (2005). “Miranda Comprehension in Adults with Mental Retardation and the Effects of Feedback Style on Suggestibility”. Law and Human Behavior, Vol. 29, No. 3, June 2005.

Rix, K. (1997). “Fit to be interviewed by the police?”. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, vol. 3, pp. 33-40.

As a counter-terrorism instructor, students often inquire about the early history of terrorism and the influence religion/politics have on certain terrorist acts. Political science historians and terrorism experts (Pape, 2005; Boltz, Dudonis, & Schulz, 2012) have stated that terrorism has been occurring since the first century with the Jewish Zealots and Sicarii. While the organizational structure of the Jewish Zealots and Sicarii are relatively unknown, their strategic logic is notorious (Pape, 2005). The Zealots and the Sicarii used violent attacks designed to incite an uprising among the Jewish targeting the Roman occupation at the time. After several decades of attacks, the Zealots and Sicarii triggered the Jewish War of 66 A.D.(Aberback & Aberback, 2000). The Jewish War, which resulted in defeat, led to the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem; extermination of Jewish areas in Egypt and Cyprus; and the exodus of Jews from Judea (Aberback & Aberback, 2000). After four years the war ended in Masada, where 960 members committed one of the largest group suicides in history rather than submit to Roman rule after years of war, murder, rape, and slavery.

One of the most well-known historical terrorist groups to date was the Ismaili Assassins. The Ismaili Assassins attempted to overthrow the existing Sunni Muslim order during the Fatimid dynasty, 909 to 1171 A.D. in the Middle East. The Assassins were a small fundamentalist religious sect that believed that they were more true to Islam than the Shiites and the more dominant Sunni Muslims. They engaged in acts of murder for their political goals and frequently used the threat of suicide attacks to compel Sunni rulers to abandon military campaigns against them (Pape, 2005). Besides their reputation for violent attacks, the Assassins were also accredited with the invention of chain –mail armor to protect themselves from dagger attacks (Boltz et al., 2012).

Although the Ismaili Assassins have been labeled one of the most notorious groups of historical terrorists, there has been many more. In previous posts, the definition for terrorism and the acts of suicide terrorism have been explored. Often, suicide terrorist acts have been primarily motivated due to religious or political beliefs. In the 1980’s the Shia Muslims battled the Israeli (Jewish) and Western (Christian) opponents in Lebanon (Pape, 2005). In Sri Lanka, the Tamils (Hindu) battled the Sinhalese (Buddhist) in the 80’s and 90’s. The Tamil Tigers, as they are frequently called, have been attributed to mass usage of suicide bombers to commit murder for political ends. Often women have been used as a suicide bombers, since they arouse little suspicion from their intended targets prior to detonation.

While acts of terrorism did not end in the 1990’s, this brief history should show that terrorism in general has been around since the writing of the Bible. In counter-terrorism circles, often there are theories and strategies to combat terrorism but in reality terrorism will be something that will never be stopped. As history has shown, terrorism is constantly evolving in ideology but some methods and acts of terrorism will never change.

Aberback, M. & Aberback, D. (2000). The Roman-Jewish Wars and Hebrew Cultural Nationalism. New York: St. Martin Press.

Bolz, F. Dudonis, K. & Schulz, D. (2012). The Counterterrorism Handbook: Tactics, Procedures, and Techniques-4^th Ed. Boca Raton: CRC Press.

Pape, R. (2005) Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism. New York: Random House.

The Juvenile Factor:False Confessions

Many professionals in the criminal justice field argue that the rate of false confessions is on

an increase compared to previous years. While there has been a notable increase in the frequency of false confessions discussed in the media and the criminal justice field, the actual rate of false confessions in practice is difficult to determine (Leo & Ofshe, 1998). The reason why this is so difficult to determine is due to the amount of evidence needed for exoneration. In the past, evidence such as DNA was not existent. Therefore, it would be difficult to compare cases of suspected false confession in the 1860’s to cases in today’s times. Without the ability to compare exoneration rates, it would be next to impossible to determine the rate of false confessions. The current reasoning behind the assumption that false confessions are on the increase can be connected to the numerous studies of reported exonerations of wrongfully convicted individuals. The increase in exonerations can be connected to interrelated trends (Gross, Jacoby, Matheson, Montgomery, & Patil, 2005). One major trend would be the growing technology of DNA sophistication and identification technology. DNA is becoming cheaper and more available for criminal justice professionals. Another trend is that DNA evidence has been more newsworthy and the exoneration by DNA has become more popular in society and the media (Gross, Jacoby, Matheson, Montgomery, & Patil, 2005). This extra media attention has led law enforcement professionals to become more aware of the dangers of false convictions. Currently, there are forty-one Innocence Projects in thirty-one states (Gross, Jacoby, Matheson, Montgomery, & Patil, 2005). The Innocence Project, a non-profit organization that works to overturn wrongful convictions, claims to have aided in the overturning of 215 wrongful convictions; with nearly 25% of these cases have included some type of false confession evidence. Thankfully, DNA testing has been used during post conviction to exonerate the innocent and help investigators catch the guilty party. Other criminal justice studies have produced similar numbers that are comparative to those of the Innocence Project (Scheck, Neufeld, & Dwyer, 2000); it appears that juveniles may be a large number of those wrongfully convicted by false confession evidence. In a study of 328 wrongful convictions in the U.S., 44% of juveniles provided a false confession when compared with only 13% of adults in the sample (Gross, Jacoby, Matheson, Montgomery, & Patil, 2005). So, what is leading to an assumption of the increase in false confessions? I personally believe that the increase in violent crime among juvenile offenders is leading to an assumed increase in false confessions. This increase in violent crimes by juvenile offenders leads to a higher chance of police questioning, which may lead to a false confession by the confronted juvenile.

In a study conducted by Drizin and Leo (2004), a study was conducted of 125 cases of proven false confessions that occurred between 1971 and 2002. One-third of the cases examined consisted of juvenile offenders under the age of 17 (Drizin & Leo, 2004). Interesting, over 90% of the cases involved major charges such as murder or rape (Drizin & Leo, 2004). Other empirical studies have also concluded that juveniles are more likely to falsely incriminate themselves and confess during an interrogation than older persons and adults. In a study of exonerations conducted by Gross, Jacoby, Matheson, Montgomery, & Patil (2005) found that 33 of 340 individuals who were exonerated between 1989 and 2003 were under the age of 18 at the time of the crimes that they were convicted. Fourteen of those thirty-three that were exonerated admitted that they had falsely confessed- 42% compared to 13% of older exonerees (Gross, Jacoby, Matheson, Montgomery, & Patil, 2005). Out of the youngest of these juveniles that were exonerated, those aged twelve to fifteen-69% confessed to homicides (and one rape) that they did not commit (Gross, Jacoby, Matheson, Montgomery, & Patil, 2005).

Many argue that juveniles are more vulnerable to coercion and suggestion than their adult counterparts. Current studies have determined that younger children are more suggestible than older children in terms of giving in to both leading questions and interrogative pressure (Gudjonsson, 2003). Studies have determined that adolescents are more responsive to negative feedback during an interrogation than adults. In a study conducted by Warren, Hulse-Trotter, & Tubbs (1991), younger children (7 years of age) yielded more to misleading questions and shifted their answers more after negative feedback than children who were older and adults (Gujonsson, 2003). The same study determined that 7 year olds and 12 years olds both shifted their answers significantly more after negative feedback than did adults in the same study (Gujonsson, 2003). Many theorize why juveniles are more vulnerable than their adult counterparts is because of the social expectations of obedience to authority and the juvenile’s actual perceived social status. With a perceived lower social status, a juvenile may be more likely to speak indirectly with authority figures to avoid provoking conflict (Feld, 2006).

The perceived increase in false confessions can be attributed to a number of different reasons in the criminal justice field. But the alarming studies of false confessions among juveniles can not be ignored. Juveniles, who are making up more and more of the criminal offenders in the criminal justice field, have been shown to be more suggestible and more likely to be coerced than their adult counterparts. This increase in questioning can lead to a false confession by a juvenile confronted by an authoritative figure with leading questions. Current investigators should be aware of the suggestibility of juvenile offenders and their desire to please those in an authoritive role asking misleading questions. Investigators should constantly remember that the main goal of justice is to arrest the guilty party and protect the innocent.

REFERENCES

Drizin, S. & Leo, R. (2004). The problem of false confessions in the post-DNA world. North Carolina Law Review, 82, 891-1007.

Feld, B. (2006). Police Interrogation of Juveniles: An Empirical Study of Policy and Practice. Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, 97, 219-316.

Gross, S., Jacoby, K., Matheson, D., Montgomery, N., & Patil, S. (2005). Exonerations in the Unite States, 1989 through 2003. Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, 95, 523-560.

Gudjonsson, G. (2003). The Psychology of Interrogations and Confessions. West Sussex, England: Wiley.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation first aired on CBS television on Friday, October 6^th 2000 (Cohan, 2008) and has been one of the top television shows on the air since then. Currently it is estimated that over 60 million people watch the CSI television show every week (Heinrick, 2006). Since the airing of the first show, America has seen a 250% increase in the amount of programs featuring forensic science as a course of study (Dutelle, 2006). While the show has made “superglue fuming” and “latent prints” household terms, the effect that the show has on the public perception on forensic science can not be ignored. The show depicts scientific evidence being gathered, processed, and used to solve major crimes. The characters of the show use costly and high techniques to produce compelling evidence connecting a suspect to a specific crime and reconstruct the crime itself all within one hour. The show depicts that forensic evidence is gathered at every crime scene and the evidence, not the actual investigation, solves the criminal case. The show often depicts unrealistic ideas of what surfaces can be printed.

Latent fingerprints are the most common form of fingerprint evidence and also the one that poses the most problems (Voss-De Haan, 2006). Latent fingerprints consist of a few micrograms of material transferred from the ridge skin to the surface when the fingers touch a surface. This material is a mixture of natural secretions of the body as well as contaminants from the environment (Voss-De Haan, 2006). Most latent prints are made of perspiration, which exudes from the pores of the skin in the ridges of the print (Allen, 2007). Perspiration contains about 98% water, but the mixture of different organic and inorganic compounds vary depending on an individual’s eccrine and apocrine glands (Voss-De Haan, 2006). With this high concentration of water, prints have a tendency to dry out and sometimes disappear completely (Allen, 2007). Life expectancy of a print is unknown on certain surfaces, but the life expancy can be decreased due to real world conditions such as temperature, moisture, and humidity of the surface (Sampson & Sampson, 2005).

Latent fingerprints have three main categories for eight different pattern types. The first category is the arch which comprises of about 5% of all pattern types, this category consists of the plain arch and tented arch pattern type (Coppock, 2001). The loop pattern comprises of about 65% of all pattern types, and this category type consists of the right slope loop and the left slope loop (Coppock, 2001). The third category consists of the whorl, which comprises of about 30% of all pattern types. The whorl category consists of the plain whorl, central pocket loop, double loop, and accidental whorl (Coppock, 2001). The average fingerprint can contain as many as 175 individual ridge characteristics that can distinguish the fingerprint from others (Jones, 2006). However, a print usually found at a crime scene will be a partial print, only representing 20% of a full fingerprint (Jones, 2006).

Prints can be lifted off porous and non-porous surfaces. Porous surfaces would consist of paper, cardboard, and raw wood. The best latent development techniques for porous surfaces are iodine fuming and Ninhydrin techniques (Sirchie, 2002). Iodine fuming works by a mechanism of interaction of physical absorption (Lee & Gaensslen, 2001). When iodine crystals are warmed, they produce a violent iodine vapor that is absorbed by the fingerprint secretion residues. The latent print then takes on an appearance of a yellowish brown color (Lee & Gaensslen, 2001). Ninhydrin, on the other hand is not used in a process of fuming like iodine or Cyanoacrylate (superglue). Ninhydrin is a biological stain that reacts with the amino acid of latent prints. The amino acids form a permanent chemical bond with the Ninhydrin and the latent prints will become visible (Sirchie, 2002). Ninhydrin solutions can be applied by spraying, swabbing, or dipping a surface containing a possible latent print (Lee & Gaensslen, 2001).

Non-porous surfaces include painted wood or metal, glass, plastics, and polished surfaces. The best latent print development techniques for non-porous surfaces are oxide, florescent, magnetic, metallic, or a combination of print powders (Sirchie, 2002). Fingerprint powders rely on the mechanical adherence of powder particles to the moisture and oily components of skin ridge deposits of the latent prints (Lee & Gaensslen, 2001). It should be noted that just because these methods are the reported best technique for recovery of latent prints from porous and non-porous surfaces it does not mean a latent print can be recovered every time, like on CSI.

In a CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode called “Burked” (Mendelsohn, Zuiker, & Cannon, 2001), Detective Brass asks a CSI technician, “Can you get a print off those balloons?” The technician replies “I can get a print off of air”. Statements like this one may make viewers believe that fingerprint evidence is always recoverable (VanLaerhoven & Anderson, 2009). Actually, fingerprints may not be available for a number of reasons. Many materials are not conducive to retaining prints and weathering of surfaces may have also removed any prints (VanLaerhoven & Anderson, 2009). Rarely people leave crisp detailed complete latent prints behind that are seen weekly on CSI. It is entirely possible to touch an item and not leave behind a latent print. When most people touch something, they only contact the surface with part of the fingerpad, and often moving their fingers creating a smudged print (VanLaerhoven & Anderson, 2009). A smudged print can not be used for comparison and hold very little evidentiary value. For example, it is particularly difficult to retrieve a latent print from rough surfaces such as wood, cloth, skin, cardboard, or Styrofoam. Latent prints may also be partial prints, smeared, or on top of each other (Fischer, 2008). Realistically, smooth shinny surfaces are the best sources for clear, complete latent prints suitable for comparison and identification (Fischer, 2008).

The first personality disorder to be recognized in the field of psychiatry was psychopathy. Psychopathy is commonly associated with an increased risk for antisocial behavior, crime, and violence (Hare & Neumann, 2009). In the field of criminal justice, encountering a criminal exhibiting psychopathology is a frequent occurrence based on the symptoms of this personality disorder. Psychopathology is defined as a personality disorder based on a cluster of symptoms. These symptoms include a constellation of interpersonal, affective, lifestyle, and antisocial traits and behaviors (Hare & Neumann, 2009). Typically psychopathology is broken down into primary psychopath, secondary psychopath, controlled, and inhibited groups (Blackburn, Logan, Donnelly, & Renwick, 2008). The antisocial behavior of primary psychopaths is usually an absence of conscience or guilt, typically making them incurable. Secondary psychopaths are motivated by underlying psychopathology and are potentially treatable (Blackburn, Logan, Donnelly, & Renwick, 2008). Typically, individuals who suffer from secondary psychopathy have an inability to form interpersonal bonds and lack empathy and conscience.

Primary psychopaths are typically impulsive, aggressive, hostile, extroverted and self confident with low to average anxiety. Like primary psychopaths, secondary psychopaths are hostile, impulsive, and aggressive. Secondary psychopaths, unlike primary psychopaths, appear to be socially anxious, moody, and have low self-esteem (Blackburn, Logan, Donnelly, & Renwick, 2008). The two other classifications of psychopathology are controlled and inhibited. The controlled classes of psychopaths are defensive, controlled, sociable, have low anxiety and high self-esteem. The inhibited classifications of psychopaths are shy, withdrawn, controlled, moderately anxious, and have low self-esteem (Blackburn, Logan, Donnelly, & Renwick, 2008).

Besides the classification types of psychopathology; investigators should be aware of the different clusters of interpersonal and affective traits and behaviors. On the interpersonal level psychopaths are grandiose, deceptive, dominant, superficial, and manipulative (Hare & Neumann, 2009). They typically have glibness or superficial charm and a grandiose sense of self-worth. Imagine serial killer Ted Bundy; several individuals who met him have stated that he was a rather charming individual. He actually used his superficial charm to lure some of his victims to his vehicle, where they ultimately met their deaths at the hands of Bundy. On the interpersonal level they are also manipulative for personal gain and deceitful (Blackburn, Logan, Donnelly, & Renwick, 2008).

Lifestyle behaviors like the need for stimulation, a parasitic lifestyle, impulsivity, and irresponsibility are also common with psychopaths (Blackburn, Logan, Donnelly, & Renwick, 2008). While these behaviors alone might not be enough to indicate a clinical case of psychopathology, these behaviors combined with antisocial behavior could. Antisocial behavior like poor behavior controls, early behavior problems, criminal versatility, poor anger control, and juvenile delinquency could all lead to a diagnosis of psychopathology (Blackburn, Logan, Donnelly, & Renwick, 2008).

After examining behaviors and traits like those presented above, it is easy to see how understanding psychopathology aids predicting criminal behaviors. The characteristics important for inhibiting antisocial and violent behavior are seriously deficient in psychopathic people; empathy, close emotional bonds, fear of punishment, guilt (Blackburn, Logan, Donnelly, & Renwick, 2008). Psychopathic people expressing their egocentricity, grandiosity, sense of entitlement, impulsivity, lack of behavioral inhibitions, and the need for power and control constitute what maybe described by a prescription for the commission of antisocial and criminal acts (Blackburn, Logan, Donnelly, & Renwick, 2008). Unlike other offenders, psychopathic people appear to suffer little personal distress, see little wrong with their attitudes and behavior, and seek treatment when it only benefits themselves (Blackburn, Logan, Donnelly, & Renwick, 2008). For investigators who are interviewing psychopaths, unless specifically trained to deal with this personality disorder, obtaining a confession might be impossible. This is due to a psychopath’s grandiose sense of self-worth and lack of guilt. Since psychopathic persons are almost impossible to relate to, I would urge investigators to interview these individuals by properly trained personnel.

REFERENCES

Blackburn, R., Logan, C., Donnelly, J., & Renwick, J. (2008). Identifying Psychopathic Subtypes: Combining an Empirical Personality Classification of Offenders with the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised. Journal of Personality Disorders, 22, (6), 604-622.

Blundell, N., & Blackhall, S. (2004). Visual Encyclopedia of Serial Killers. England: Greenwich Publications.

Castleden, R. (2005). Serial Killers. England: Time Warner.

Hare, R., Neumann, C., (2009). Psychopathy: Assessment and Forensic Implications. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 54, (12), 791-802.

Lane, B., & Gregg, W. (1995). The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers. New York: Berkley Publication Group.

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