Homicides with Mutilation of the Victim's Body

Abstract:  Information on homicide offenders guilty of mutilation is sparse. The current study estimates the rate of mutilation of the victim's body in Finnish homicides and compares sociodemographic characteristics, crime history, life course development, psychopathy, and psychopathology of these and other homicide offenders. Crime reports and forensic examination reports of all offenders subjected to forensic examination and convicted for a homicide in 1995–2004 ( n  = 676) were retrospectively analyzed for offense and offender variables and scored with the Psychopathy Check List Revised. Thirteen homicides (2.2%) involved mutilation. Educational and mental health problems in childhood, inpatient mental health contacts, self-destructiveness, and schizophrenia were significantly more frequent in offenders guilty of mutilation. Mutilation bore no significant association with psychopathy or substance abuse. The higher than usual prevalence of developmental difficulties and mental disorder of this subsample of offenders needs to be recognized.     

The ‘Butner Study’ Redux: A Report of the Incidence of Hands-on Child Victimization by Child Pornography Offenders

This study compared two groups of child pornography offenders participating in a voluntary treatment program: men whose known sexual offense history at the time of judicial sentencing involved the possession, receipt, or distribution of child abuse images, but did not include any “hands-on” sexual abuse; and men convicted of similar offenses who had documented histories of hands-on sexual offending against at least one child victim. The goal was to determine whether the former group of offenders were “merely” collectors of child pornography at little risk for engaging in hands-on sexual offenses, or if they were contact sex offenders whose criminal sexual behavior involving children, with the exception of Internet crimes, went undetected. Our findings show that the Internet offenders in our sample were significantly more likely than not to have sexually abused a child via a hands-on act. They also indicate that the offenders who abused children were likely to have offended against multiple victims, and that the incidence of “crossover” by gender and age is high.

主犯若干问题的探讨

主犯是共同犯罪中人身危险性最大的共同犯罪人 ,历来是我国刑法打击的重点。我国目前并没有专门针对刑法总则共同犯罪条文在适用上予以解释的法律文件 ,但是 ,尚有针对刑法分则具体犯罪关于共同犯罪的相关解释中涉及主犯认定的内容 ,但这是否能够视为直接针对共同犯罪具体条文适用的一般性规定 ,还有疑问。本文就主犯的若干问题进行了探讨 ,以期对主犯的认识能够进一步深入。     

The methods and measures of centrography and the spatial dynamics of rape

Technique known as centrography are presented in order to demonstrate their utility for describing and measuring the salient features of a spatial distribution and for facilitating temporal and comparative analyses in discerning trends and contrasting spatial distributions of crime. Centrographic techniques are applied to a 5-year data set of lone-assailant rapes classified by type of offender. The results indicate that different classes of offenders have relatively distinctive spatial distributions. Moreover, changes in the spatial distributions of offender classes, through time, are not uniform.     

The Motivation Behind Serial Sexual Homicide: Is It Sex,Power, and Control,or Anger?*

Controversy exists in the literature and society regarding what motivates serial sexual killers to commit their crimes. Hypotheses range from the seeking of sexual gratification to the achievement of power and control to the expression of anger. The authors provide theoretical, empirical, evolutionary, and physiological support for the argument that serial sexual murderers above all commit their crimes in pursuit of sadistic pleasure. The seeking of power and control over victims is believed to serve the two secondary purposes of heightening sexual arousal and ensuring victim presence for the crime. Anger is not considered a key component of these offenders' motivation due to its inhibitory physiological effect on sexual functioning. On the contrary, criminal investigations into serial sexual killings consistently reveal erotically charged crimes, with sexual motivation expressed either overtly or symbolically. Although anger may be correlated with serial sexual homicide offenders, as it is with criminal offenders in general, it is not causative. The authors further believe serial sexual murderers should be considered sex offenders. A significant proportion of them appear to have paraphilic disorders within the spectrum of sexual sadism. "sexual sadism, homicidal type" is proposed as a diagnostic subtype of sexual sadism applicable to many of these offenders, and a suggested modification of DSM criteria is presented.     

Decision-Making About Volitional Impairment in Sexually Violent Predators

The Kansas v. Hendricks (1997) decision, in which the Supreme Court authorized post-sentence civil commitment for certain sex offenders, appeared to be constitutionally legitimized by limiting the class of offenders eligible for this special form of civil commitment to those who are "unable to control" their dangerousness. Nowhere in the available record, however, did the Court elucidate what they meant by this notion of volitional impairment. This study sought to examine factors that legal professionals (n=43), psychologists (n=40), and mock jurors (n=76) deem most relevant to a determination of sex offender volitional impairment. Participants, who were randomly assigned to a sexual predator commitment or an insanity hearing context, read a series of 16 vignettes that described a pedophilic offender and included combinations of variables hypothesized to be related to judgments of volitional impairment. Results suggested that participants, who as a group made remarkably high estimates of likelihood of future sexual violence, considered verbalization of control, history of sexual violence, and the context of the hearing as highly relevant to determinations of volitional impairment. Implications for policy and practice are explored.     

血液物理性能及其对血滴形态的影响

血液的生物性能、物理性能及其他的许多因素都会影响血滴的形态。本文从血液的物理性能出发,简单地阐述了血液的物理性能及其对血滴形态的影响。     

犯罪人格视野下累犯从重处罚根据及预防

以表征人身危险性的犯罪人格阐释累犯从重处罚的根据，不仅更切合实际，而且能使刑事政策合理化，有效预防累犯再犯罪。矫正犯罪人格预防累犯再犯罪的途径有：实行行刑个别化，改善累犯犯罪人格；设立更生保护制度，巩固改善犯罪人格的成果；营造良好的社会环境，控制累犯犯罪心理的生成；提高累犯自身素质，增强其免疫犯罪的能力。     

论刑事案件中涉案财产的产权归属

刑事案件涉案财产的产权归属不仅直接关系到财产所有人的合法权益,而且关系社会的稳定,关系到社会公众对司法机关的认可与评价。由于我国现行相关法律法规存在的缺陷与不足,导致司法实践中各地对涉案财产的认定和处理存在很大的随意性,经常发生侵害财产所有人合法权益的现象。这违背了宪法关于保护公民私有财产权的规定,损害了公民合法的财产权,也直接影响到司法机关在公众心中的地位和形象。本文以法理与实践为依据,试从涉案财产的定义与产权归属、现行相关法律法规、涉案财产司法实践和立法建议等方面展开论述,对这一问题进行初步探讨,以期去伪存真,引起立法部门的重视,修改和完善相关法律法规,使公民的合法财产权得到切实的保障。