Differentiating Crime Scene Actions

Abstract:

Recent studies have focused on how previous thematic approaches can help explore the style of the offender, specifying the way each offender interacts with the victim. In the present study, it is hypothesized that there are thematic distinctions in sexual homicide, expressive and instrumental, which can be interpreted from the analysis of co-occurrence of crime scene actions. The case files of 40 convicted sexual homicide offenders were content analyzed using the Homicide Profiling Index (Salfati, 2005). Using a multidimensional methodology, Smallest Space Analysis, the present study showed that these crime scene actions could be successfully differentiated in terms of expressive and instrumental aggression. The expressive theme consisted of violent behaviors that centered on hurting the victim, whereas the instrumental theme consisted of behaviors that were more focused on the benefits the victim provided for the offender. In order to provide a basis for the types of behaviors that investigators can use for effectively differentiating...