Showing posts with label Criminology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Criminology. Show all posts

Thursday, 19 October 2017

Sunday, 1 October 2017

The Reasons, 'Hunters' Do Not Do, What They Should Be Doing



Basically, This ... foolish and afraid.


Good point, on the last issue, Paul ...


... and Mavis.


*****

Societal 'Reward' versus Investment in Time, Energy and Money, from the 'Hunters' ...

(A) Online 'Grooming'

(1) Risk of any harm, to any minor or adult, from the grooming sessions

Minimal to zero.

(2) Risk of any serious harm, to any minor or adult, from the grooming sessions

Zero.

(3) Risk of an actual meet, thus, any harm

Essentially, zero. 

*****

Now, compare the impact, of the collectives and individuals, these 'Hunters', do not target ...

(B) Other Criminal Activity

Illegal Drugs, Antisocial Drinking, Burglary, Mugging, Theft, Receiving Stolen Goods, Prostitution, Trafficking, Dangerous Driving etc, and the subsequent Impact on Localities (where, many of these 'Hunters' live, ironically), via Antisocial Behaviour and Decline of the Areas/Property Prices etc.

Let us also not forget, the massively-larger grooming danger and risk; i.e. that from other minors.

(1) Risk of any harm, to any minor or adult, from these non-targeted criminals

Medium to extreme.

(2) Risk of any serious harm, to any minor or adult, from the non-targeted criminals

Medium, through serious, to fatal.

*****

So, why do the 'Hunters' do what they do, and not do, what they should be doing, being all so public-spirited, wishing to raise awareness and wanting to do it to protect the kids?  

THESE ARE THE REAL AREAS OF SUCH RISK AND DANGER.

What they are doing, presently, is virtually nothing, in protecting minors, however, it is endangering many more, now, and in the future.

So, Why?

Well, mainly, because they are often Antisocial Simpletons, with little education and/or no understanding of criminology, risk assessment and related fields. Many do it for sport (Othering/hatred for, those they do not like, or agree with) and/or payback (the proxy-targets, having no connection, to their alleged abuse, in the past, of course), and after the thrills wear off, and the money/kudos declines, they get bored and disappear; this is the good part of it all; time heals.

They are often cowards, alone, with skeletons/criminal records in their own cupboards, and/or are involved, in the criminal fraternities, themselves.

The 'muscle', seems to be a graveyard, of hyper-steroidal, knuckle-dragging, ex-military, ex-and-present 'door supervisors' (now being superseded, in employment, by calmer, more professional, replacements, not being able to 'take punters around the back, for a duffing up') and failed 'MMA' 'fighters'/boxers. We have yet to see one, employed in a worthy and/or non-manual profession or skill; personality disorders and low IQs, in these communities, are, clearly, rife.

The decoys, well, really, who cares? Gobby, failed, frumpy and/or simpleton, women, older and younger, sitting at home, on benefits, in the main, looking for payback; they will fade and are doing so, far too much effort needed; decoys wanted; personality disorders and low IQs, in these communities, are, clearly, rife.

There is a small group, of disaffected (thus, often, unemployable, within their social mindsets, although not stupid), younger men and women, amongst their number; White Knights also, are within. Many haters and trolls dwell here, but, are not, only, restricted to this younger group; personality disorders, in these communities, are, clearly, rife.

As for the Idiot Affirmation, from their social media followers (actually tiny, in consistent numbers, in real terms, creating noisy, vicious, small, echo chambers, rarely allowing informed, balanced, intelligent, discussions to occur.). It pains a reasonable and intelligent person, to have to read through it all, day-by-day; personality disorders and low IQs, in these communities, are, clearly, rife.


 'Entire'

14/10/17; Oh, and the confused and befuddled, who are unable to read or interpret,
correctly, who would once, for example, have been busy miners (albeit, turncoat)
or brewery workers; keeping themselves gainfully-occupied and tired; however,
those jobs are not there, anymore, sadly; they are vacuous, societal, dinosaurs.

Odds-on, they were a certain type of Brexit voter, as well,
and, please, do note the spelling.

Despair, in the affirmation, of idiots.

There is little problem, in being stupid, slow, 'thick', or being on, unchosen, benefits etc ... just learn and evolve, as you go along, and improve yourself and society; but base it, mainly, on evidence, not on emotive gut feeling, fear, hate and ignorance.

Prove us incorrect. 

Please carry out some real and effective Social Goods, tackling those crimes, described above, and not the pointless, but increasingly expensive, dangerous and empty waste of lives, you, presently, live within and help create; for the kids, the adults and the true goods of society; focus on the real dangers. 

You will reap real rewards.

The OSC

*****

Why Paedophile Hunters [Sic] And Their Friends, Antis, Vigilantes And Their Aggressive Thralls, Do What They Do

http://therealosc.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/why-paedophile-sic-hunters-antis-and.html

There Is Now No Need (Still) For The Paedophile Hunters [Sic] To Meet Their Prey - Ever

http://therealosc.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/there-is-now-no-need-still-for-hunters.html

Paedophile Hunters [Sic] And Their Friends - Why They Are Pointless, Time-Wasting, Resource-Wasting, Ignorant, Hater, Fools

http://therealosc.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/paedohunters-sic-and-their-friends-why_16.html

Vigilante Paedophile [Sic] Hunting Groups In The UK Are Out Of Control

https://therealosc.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/vigilante-paedophile-sic-hunting-groups.html

***** 

If you are affected, by any of the issues, raised, here ...

MAPs - you are not alone - very much, not alone ...

http://www.lucyfaithfull.org.uk - stopitnow.org.uk - circles-uk.org.uk - http://www.virped.org - http://b4uact.org - https://www.stopso.org.uk 

http://preventell.se/?lang=en - http://www.nemup.de/index_eng.html - https://1in6.org - www.boychat.org - www.annabelleigh.net

Tor versions available, for most downlinks.

Thank you.

The OSC

Saturday, 25 January 2014

Not Crimes/Offences At All

(Embedded Tweet - click date)

*****

23 January 2014 Last updated at 14:12

Crime in England and Wales down 10%, survey shows

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25858421

Last updated Thu 23 Jan 2014

Sexual offences recorded by the police rise by 17%

http://www.itv.com/news/update/2014-01-23/sexual-offences-recorded-by-the-police-rise-by-17/

*****

Released: 23 January 2014 

Release: Crime Statistics, period ending September 2013 

"The number of sexual offences recorded by the police increased by 17%. This increase is likely to be partly due to a continuation of a ‘Yewtree effect’, whereby a greater number of victims [sic] have come forward to report historical sexual offences to the police."

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/crime-stats/crime-statistics/period-ending-september-2013/index.html

Thursday, 17 October 2013

Recording/Reporting A Complaint (Real Or Not) Is Not A Record Of A Crime

17 October 2013 Last updated at 12:34

Crime falls 7% to record low in England and Wales

"Overall crime figures have fallen to half the peak level recorded in 1995

Crime has fallen 7% to a record low in the last year, the Crime Survey for England and Wales has shown.

There were 8.5m incidents in the year to the end of June, compared with 9.1m the previous year.

The drop comes despite a 9% rise in sexual offences, which was partly driven by the Jimmy Savile revelations [?] of abuse.

Crime prevention minister Norman Baker said England and Wales are safer than they have been "for decades".

The headline crime figure is the lowest since the survey began in 1981, and has now fallen to half its peak level, recorded in 1995.

Savile effect

However, the Office for National Statistics, which collates the survey, said the number of historical sexual offences - those which took place more than 20 years ago - recorded by the police has doubled."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24566994

Sex Offences Rise 9% As Overall Crime Falls

http://news.sky.com/story/1155760/sex-offences-rise-9-percent-as-overall-crime-falls

Crime at record low

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/10387237/Crime-at-record-low.html

PCCs welcome drop in crime but call for more support for victims of sexual offences

http://www.apccs.police.uk/press-releases/press-release-171013
   
New figures prove Liberal Democrats are tough on crime

http://www.libdems.org.uk/latest_news_detail.aspx?title=New_figures_prove_Liberal_Democrats_are_tough_on_crime&pPK=3fd48b14-0534-4cb5-b661-4431b8cf857d

Crime is genuinely falling across the country thanks to the joint efforts of our criminal justice partners and the refusal by the public to accept criminal behaviour

http://www.acpo.presscentre.com/Press-Releases/-Crime-falling-thanks-to-the-efforts-of-criminal-justice-partners-and-refusal-by-the-public-to-accep-274.aspx

*****

15 October 2013 Last updated at 06:08

Racist hate crimes 'missed by justice agencies'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-24528234?utm_content=buffer0de61&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Buffer

*****

October 2013

Crime centre plans to probe data for con jobs

"“Criminal energy” is just as lively as ever, but it has been diverted into the unrecorded worlds of online, corporate and environmental crime, Professor Hall contended." 

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/tablet/1A298053/2006844.shared

*****

February 11, 2014 from BBC

Watchdog says it could no longer approve crime figures based on information recorded by the police in England and Wales.

"Last week, the UK Statistics Authority, the watchdog that oversees the publication of official data, said it could no longer approve crime figures based on information recorded by the police in England and Wales."

http://www.factuk.org/watchdog-says-it-could-no-longer-approve-crime-figures-based-on-information-recorded-by-the-police-in-england-and-wales

Wednesday, 21 August 2013

Sex Offender Registries Do Little To Increase Public Safety, Either In Practice Or In Potential

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Does Sex Offender Registration Deter Crime?

"Studies Find They May Not Increase Public Safety

"Laws requiring sex offenders to register with law enforcement and notifying the public of their location may make us feel safer, but two scientific studies of these laws found they really do not do much to protect the public. In fact, one study found that making sex registry information available to the public may actually backfire, producing higher overall rates of sex crimes.""

http://sexoffender-statistics.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/does-sex-offender-registration-deter.html

*****

Sex Offenders Aren’t All Monsters [none are]

http://sexoffender-statistics.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/sex-offenders-arent-all-monsters.html

Sex Offenders Aren’t All Monsters

http://prisonlawblog.com/blog/2013/9/3/sex-offenders-arent-all-monsters

*****

How Likely Are Sex Offenders to Repeat Their Crimes?

http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/how-likely-are-sex-offenders-to-repeat-their-crimes-258/

http://sexoffender-statistics.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/how-likely-are-sex-offenders-to-repeat.html

Underreporting Clouds Attempt to Count Repeat Sex Offenders

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120122376053515485.html

http://sexoffender-statistics.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/underreporting-clouds-attempt-to-count.html

*****

Quinn signs new sex offender McLaw

http://thesouthern.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/quinn-signs-new-sex-offender-mclaw/article_dba5c29e-0367-11e3-8649-001a4bcf887a.html

Michigan introduces a bill to restrict certain registered sex offenders, 365 days of the year, as to their interaction with minors under 16, under a host of circumstances

http://sexoffender-holiday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/michigan-introduces-bill-to-restrict.html

Thursday, 15 August 2013

The Fallibility Of Memory

14 August 2013

Evidence-based justice: Corrupted memory

"Elizabeth Loftus has spent decades exposing flaws in eyewitness testimony. Her ideas are gaining fresh traction in the US legal system.

In the early hours of 9 September, 1984, a stranger entered Mrs M's California home through an open living-room window. Finding Mrs M asleep, he tried to rape her, but fled when other people in the house awoke. Mrs M described her assailant to the police: he was black, weighing about 170 pounds and 5'7” to 5'9” tall, with small braids and a blue baseball cap.

Officers cruising her neighbourhood spotted someone roughly matching that description standing beside his car a block away from the house. The man, Joseph Pacely, said that his car had broken down and he was looking for someone to jump-start it. But Mrs M identified him as her attacker and he was charged ..."

http://www.nature.com/news/evidence-based-justice-corrupted-memory-1.13543 

*****

Posted: 10/26/2013 11:00 AM: Updated: 10/26/2013

The Urgent Need to Reform Police Collection of Eyewitness Evidence

http://content.intweetiv.com/view?title=The+Urgent+Need+to+Reform+Police+Collection+of+Eyewitness+Evidence&iframe=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tara-lai-quinlan/the-urgent-need-to-reform_b_4164848.html?utm_hp_ref=tedweekends&ir=TED+Weekends

*****

Filmed May 2012 • Posted Sep 2012

Scott Fraser: Why eyewitnesses get it wrong

http://www.ted.com/talks/scott_fraser_the_problem_with_eyewitness_testimony.html?utm_source=twitter&source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ios-share

Friday, 2 August 2013

A New Breed Of Hope?

Posted on August 2, 2013

Public Criminology: A Call to Arms


"Over the past year or so, I have tried to force myself into the cut-throat world of academic research. As a masters student of forensic psychology, based in rural Lincolnshire, trying to forge a name for myself in the pursuit of doctoral funding has at time felt like a long and lonely struggle, and I’ve been confronted with hostility and anger by many people as a result of my activity of choice.

Whilst I acknowledge the importance of more traditional academic dissemination (I’ve published some material in academic journals and made my face known at a few conferences this year), I decided that one of the most effective ways to truly engage with the academic research I was conducting would be to start blogging about issues like crime, punishment, and all things forensic psychology ..."

http://craigaharper.wordpress.com/2013/08/02/public-criminology-call-to-arms/

Internal Pressures on Contemporary Criminology

http://craigaharper.wordpress.com/2013/08/02/internal-pressures-on-contemporary-criminology/

External Pressures on Contemporary Criminology

http://craigaharper.wordpress.com/2013/08/02/external-pressures-on-contemporary-criminology/

Posted on August 2, 2013

The Issue of Anonymity

"In the UK at present, claimants of rape have the right to public anonymity, meaning that anybody who reveals the identity of a person who claims to be the victim of rape faces criminal prosecution. This right of anonymity is not extended to defendants, despite the Government suggesting that it should be back in 2010. Here, I examine the arguments for and against extending anonymity to those accused of rape."

http://craigaharper.wordpress.com/2013/08/02/the-issue-of-anonymity/ 

*****

Craig A. Harper

http://craigaharper.wordpress.com

Craig Harper

https://twitter.com/CraigHarper19

*****

Addendum (5/8/13)

For reasons, not yet confirmed, Craig asked us to remove this piece. Of course, we are not able to do so.

Craig wishes it to be known, that he "... support[s] effective offender reentry [excellent] but not legitimising the initial crime [understanding and explaining, is not 'legitimising']" and "... I don't want my name associated with a campaign I don't support."

Whatever campaign he believes that to be.

The OSC

Tuesday, 30 July 2013

How Odd

Posted on 30 Jul 2013 at 09:28

Government blasted for "scaremongering" cybercrime stats

"The government is still basing its online security strategy on false figures, despite the numbers being thoroughly discredited.

A parliamentary committee said it was "puzzled" that ministers were still relying on a claim that online crime costs the UK £27 billion a year, after numerous experts and the National Audit Office found that figure to be inaccurate.

The claim originated from Detica, owned by security and defence firm BAE Systems, and was described as "scaremongering" by security researchers last year.

"We are puzzled that the government continues to use highly controversial figures, in which independent experts or indeed other government departments such as the Ministry of Defence have little confidence, as its basis for policy-making," said the report."

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/security/383335/government-blasted-for-scaremongering-cybercrime-stats

How much does cybercrime cost the UK? Not £27bn

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2013/02/12/how-much-does-cybercrime-cost-the-uk-not-27bn/

Debunking cybercrime myths

http://www.lightbluetouchpaper.org/2012/06/18/debunking-cybercrime-myths/

UK 'Losing War Against Cyber Crime'

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/07/29/cyber-crime-uk_n_3673218.html?utm_hp_ref=tw

MPs 'alarmed' at cuts to online child protection body Ceop

http://www.publicservice.co.uk/news_story.asp?id=23589

PM's child-abuse police figures are wrong, says ex-CEOP chief

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/383215/pms-child-abuse-police-figures-are-wrong-says-ex-ceop-chief

Thursday, 25 July 2013

Thank Goodness For Porn, Eh?

25 July 2013

Proven Re-offending Statistics: Quarterly Bulletin, October 2010 to September 2011, England and Wales

"Executive summary

This report provides key statistics on proven re-offending in England and Wales.

It gives proven re-offending figures for offenders who were released from custody, received a non-custodial conviction at court, received a caution, reprimand, warning or tested positive for opiates or cocaine between October 2010 and September 2011.

Proven re-offending is defined as any offence committed in a one year follow-up period and receiving a court conviction, caution, reprimand or warning in the one year follow-up. Following this one year period, a further six month waiting period is allowed for cases to progress through the courts. Between October 2010 and September 2011, around 620,000 offenders(3) were cautioned(4), convicted (excluding immediate custodial sentences) or released from custody(5). Around 170,000 of these offenders committed a proven re-offence within a year.

This gives a one year proven re-offending rate of 26.9 per cent, which represents a small rise of 0.4 percentage points compared to the previous 12 months and a fall of 1.0 percentage points since 2000 (Table 1).
 
These re-offenders committed an average of 2.90 re-offences each.

In total, this represents around 490,000 re-offences of which 83 per cent were committed by adults and 17 per cent were committed by juveniles (Table 1).

>57.3 per cent (around 280,000) were committed by re-offenders with 11 or more previous offences (Table 6c).

>0.6 per cent (around 2,800) were serious violent/sexual proven re-offences (Table 8).

>5.0 per cent (around 24,000) were committed by re-offenders on the Prolific and other Priority Offender Programme (PPO) (Table 16)."

"Proven re-offending by index offence

The offence that leads to an offender being included in the relevant year is called the index offence.

Between October 2010 and September 2011, as in most previous years, domestic burglary had the highest proven re-offending rate at 50.3 per cent, and sexual (child) offences the lowest at 8.9 per cent. 

The largest decrease between 2000 and the 12 months ending September 2011 in the proven re-offending rate was for soliciting or prostitution with a decrease of 15.5 percentage points, followed by other motoring offences with a decrease of 12.3 percentage points (Table 5c)."

https://t.co/eOShPnTbPH 

*****

May 8, 2013

Accessible porn reduces rape and prostitution

"I find that internet access appears to be a substitute for rape; in particular, the results suggest that a 10 percentage point increase in internet access is associated with a decline in reported rape victimization of around 7.3%…internet has no apparent substitution effect on any of 25 other measured crimes, with the exception of the only other well-defined sex crime, prostitution. Moreover, I show that the effect on rape is concentrated among states with the highest male-to-female ratios, and that by age, the effect on rape is concentrated among teenage men, who are the prime consumers of pornography, and for whom the internet induced the largest change in availability."

obu-investigators.com/xuk/porn/clemson/kendall.pdf‎ (http://www.toddkendall.net/internetcrime.pdf)

Why The European Plan To Ban Porn Is A Bad Idea

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/03/08/1692561/european-porn-ban-bad-idea/

Porn Up, Rape Down
 
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=913013

Title: The Effects of Pornography: an international perspective

http://www.hawaii.edu/PCSS/biblio/articles/1961to1999/1999-effects-of-pornography.html

Thursday, 11 July 2013

Why Democracies Often Fail

TUESDAY 09 JULY 2013

British public wrong about nearly everything, survey shows

"Research shows public opinion often deviates from facts on key social issues including crime, benefit fraud and immigration

A new survey for the Royal Statistical Society and King's College London shows public opinion is repeatedly off the mark on issues including crime, benefit fraud and immigration.

The research, carried out by Ipsos Mori from a phone survey of 1,015 people aged 16 to 75, lists ten misconceptions held by the British public. Among the biggest misconceptions are ..."

"We need to see three things happen. First, politicians need to be better at talking about the real state of affairs of the country, rather than spinning the numbers.

Secondly, the media has to try and genuinely illuminate issues, rather than use statistics to sensationalise. "

And finally we need better teaching of statistical literacy in schools, so that people get more comfortable in understanding evidence.""

Amen.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/british-public-wrong-about-nearly-everything-survey-shows-8697821.html

Muslims, benefits and teenage pregnancies: the perils of perception

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/07/muslims-benefits-and-teenage-pregnancies-perils-perception

Tuesday, 2 July 2013

Alrighty Then, Now To Get It Applied To Every Complainant, In Court - If it Is So Reliable And Useful, And All

Monday 1 July 2013 19.05 BST

Lie detector [sic] tests set to be introduced to monitor sex offenders

"Politicians expected to approve law allowing compulsory polygraph tests of sex offenders released into community [well, of course they are].

MPs are expected to clear the way for the introduction of compulsory lie detector tests to monitor convicted sex offenders across England and Wales from next January.

The national rollout of US-style mandatory polygraph tests for serious sex offenders who have been released into the community after serving their prison sentence follows a successful pilot scheme. The trial was carried out from 2009-11 in two Midlands probation areas and found that offenders taking such tests were twice as likely to tell probation staff they had contacted a victim, entered an exclusion zone or otherwise breached terms of their release licence.

Continuing concerns about the reliability of the tests and misinterpretation of the results mean they still cannot be used in any court in England and Wales.

But it is expected that the compulsory polygraph tests will be used to monitor the behaviour of 750 of the most serious sex offenders, all of whom have been released into the community after serving a sentence of at least 12 months in jail ..."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/jul/01/lie-detector-tests-sex-offenders

Sex Offenders To Face Lie Detector Tests

http://news.sky.com/story/1110557/sex-offenders-to-face-lie-detector-tests

*****

"The whole process smacks of 20th century witchcraft."

U.S. Senator Sam Ervin (1896-1985)

https://antipolygraph.org

*****

09.07.2013

Polygraph Screening for Sex Offenders: Bad Science, Even Worse Policy

"Of the many variations on Martin Niemoller’s famous ‘First they came for…’ speech I’ve seen kicking around the Internet none, so far as I can recall, has ever started with the line ‘First they came for the sex offenders ...”

http://www.ministryoftruth.me.uk/2013/07/09/polygraph-screening-for-sex-offenders-bad-science-even-worse-policy/

*****

Seeing threats, feds target instructors of polygraph-beating methods

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/08/16/199590/seeing-threats-feds-target-instructors.html#.Ug-353-RA1K

'Beat the lie detectors' trainer sentenced to 8 months in jail

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/09/09/polygraph_countermeasures_man_jailed

Eight months in prison for man who taught sex offenders, aspiring agents to trick lie detectors

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/eight-months-in-prison-for-man-who-taught-sex-offenders-aspiring-agents-to-trick-lie-detectors/2013/09/06/6da0afa8-16f3-11e3-a2ec-b47e45e6f8ef_story.html

*****

Published: 31 July 2012 

Sense About Lie Detectors

"Lie detectors have been around for nearly 100 years. Despite debates over their accuracy and the ethics and legality of their use, the public and professionals remain intrigued by them.

Lie detectors mainly consist of polygraphs, voice analysis or brain imaging. These technologies are different but three points are relevant to all:

>They are not accurate.
>They do not measure lies but rather something that could be a proxy for lies.
>They all rely on the deterrent effect (that is, fear of being caught lying)."

http://www.senseaboutscience.org/data/files/resources/101/SA-lie-detectors-2012.pdf

http://www.senseaboutscience.org/resources.php/101/sense-about-lie-detectors

Tuesday, 25 June 2013

When A Few Anecdotes Sell More BS

24 Jun 2013 12:27

Inside the mind of a murderer: Forensic psychology expert reveals key tools to solving crime

"DR Kathy Charles explains how analysing what's going on in suspect's head gives psychologists vital clues in the approach to securing a conviction.

Dr Kathy Charles has studied hundreds of brutal cases

UNDERSTANDING what makes a person commit murder or a sex crime is never an easy task but forensic psychologist Dr Kathy Charles knows exactly how their minds work [hahahahaha].

She has worked alongside police to profile criminals and dedicates her time to helping young offenders understand the reasoning behind their actions.

Now Dr Charles, 34, from ­Edinburgh, is passing on her expert knowledge to Scotland’s next generation of forensic psychologists. She is set to host a series of fascinating lectures detailing her experiences on a number of cases.

She said: “I’ve always wanted to know why some people commit crimes and others don’t.

“It’s important to know how the mind works, especially if the focus of a police investigation is a serial killer, rapist or stalker.

“I worked on profiling Ipswich prostitute murderer Steve Wright and have profiled rapists and stalkers, too.

“Committing the offence is one thing but understanding why is completely different.

“That’s where logic [hahahahahahaha] comes in and I often say it’s like piecing a jigsaw together.

“In some cases there is no obvious suspect and that’s where profiling becomes useful.

“By looking at the type of crime, the way it happened and the timeline, you can profile the type of person likely [figures?] to be responsible.

“In many cases [and there lies the proof of your errors - mere chance], when the suspect is caught the profile is almost spot-on.”"

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/real-life/inside-mind-murderer-forensic-psychology-1987828

*****

Dr Kathy Charles

http://www.napier.ac.uk/fhlss/slsss/staff/pages/kathy_charles.aspx

http://napier.academia.edu/KathyCharles

http://www.beltanenetwork.org/discover-beltane/fellowship-programme/beltane-fellows/dr-kathy-charles/

Facebook stress linked to number of ‘friends’

http://www.napier.ac.uk/media/Pages/NewsDetails.aspx?NewsID=187

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-12479660

Monday, 6 May 2013

Same As Yours

May 03, 2013

The Evil Brain: What Lurks Inside a Killer’s Mind

"Homicidal madmen don’t have much of a capacity for gratitude, but if they did, they’d offer a word of thanks to Charles Whitman. Whitman was the 25-year-old engineering student and former Marine who, in 1966, killed 17 people and wounded 32 in a mass shooting at the University of Texas, before being shot and killed himself by police.

Earlier that day, he also murdered his wife and mother. Criminal investigators looking for a reason for the rampage got what seemed to be their answer quickly, in the form of a suicide note Whitman left at his home ..."

http://science.time.com/2013/05/03/evil-brain/

What Makes a Psychopath? Answers Remain Elusive 

http://www.livescience.com/7859-psychopath-answers-remain-elusive.html

What Makes Us Moral

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1685055_1685076_1686619,00.html

Free will is an illusion, biologist says 

http://phys.org/news186830615.html

Where evil lurks: Neurologist discovers 'dark patch' inside the brains of killers and rapists 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2273857/Neurologist-discovers-dark-patch-inside-brains-killers-rapists.html

Date: 06 February 2013 Time: 05:37 PM ET

Brain Area 'Where Evil Lurks' Doesn't Exist: Neurologist

"Is there really a part of the brain "where evil lurks"?

Evil is alive and is lurking in the brains of certain individuals, if you believe news reports linked to a respected German neurologist. The news of the scientist's discovery, however, has attracted some naysayers — including the neurologist himself.

According to The Independent, Dr. Gerhard Roth of the University of Bremen's Brain Research Institute reportedly discovered "the region of the brain where evil is formed and where it lurks" by performing brain scans on violent convicted felons ..."

http://www.livescience.com/26918-gerhard-roth-brain-area-evil.html

Sunday, 24 March 2013

Reinforces Social Group Divisions And Perpetuates Essentialist Stereotypes

13 March, 2013

SpotOn NYC: Communication and the brain – Don’t Worry, It’s Science: There’s A Brain Scan

"When writing about anything pertaining to psychology or human nature, people love nothing more than a brain image lit up like a Christmas tree. These omnipresent images have been mockingly termed “brain porn”, defined by journalist Alissa Quart as a “willingness to accept seemingly neuroscientific explanations for nearly everything.”

According to a team of British scientists led by Cliodhna O’Connor, many popular science articles will include “logically irrelevant neuroscience information” intended to “imbue an argument with authoritative, scientific credibility” (McCabe & Castel, 2008; O’Connor et al., 2012). You might see scientists or science writers displaying neuroimaging data as proof that their claims are objective or real."

http://www.nature.com/spoton/2013/03/spoton-nyc-communication-and-the-brain-dont-worry-its-science-theres-a-brain-scan/

The Brain Scan Image and the Dangers of Brain Porn

http://bigthink.com/ideafeed/the-brain-scan-image-and-the-dangers-of-brain-porn

25 March 2013

Brain scans predict which criminals are more likely to reoffend

"Neuroimaging 'biomarker' linked to rearrest after incarceration

Activity in a particular region of the cortex could tell whether a convict is likely to get in trouble again.

In a twist that evokes the dystopian science fiction of writer Philip K. Dick, neuroscientists have found a way to predict whether convicted felons are likely to commit crimes again from looking at their brain scans. Convicts showing low activity in a brain region associated with decision-making and action are more likely to be arrested again, and sooner."

http://www.nature.com/news/brain-scans-predict-which-criminals-are-more-likely-to-reoffend-1.12672

03.26.13 3:40 PM

Brain Scans Predict Which Criminals Are Most Likely to Reoffend

"Brain scans of convicted felons can predict which ones are most likely to get arrested after they get out of prison, scientists have found in a study of 96 male offenders.

“It’s the first time brain scans have been used to predict recidivism,” said neuroscientist Kent Kiehl of the Mind Research Network in Albuquerque, New Mexico, who led the new study. Even so, Kiehl and others caution that the method is nowhere near ready to be used in real-life decisions about sentencing or parole."

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/03/brain-scans-predict-which-criminals-will-reoffend/

Friday, 11 January 2013

Take Every Opportunity To Unmask Its Pretensions And Euphemisms

January 2013

Obituary: Stan Cohen, 1942-2013
 – social worker turned sociologist
who coined the term ‘moral panic’

"You may not have heard of Stan Cohen, who has just died, but you will certainly know something of his ideas, and their continuing relevance. Look at the current hysteria around ‘chavs’, ‘asylum seekers’  and ‘shirkers’ or the way Jimmy Savile has come to represent paedophilia  (even though we know that most child abuse takes place within the family), and we are likely to come up with the term ‘moral panic’."

"One I especially warm to is his encouragement for us ‘to stay in your agency or organization, but don’t let it seduce you. Take every opportunity to unmask its pretensions and euphemisms’"

"And most challenging perhaps, ‘In practice and theory, stay “unfinished”. Don’t be ashamed of working for short-term humanitarian or libertarian goals, but always keep in mind the long-term political prospects. This might mean living with the uncomfortable ambiguity that your most radical work will be outside your day-to-day job’"

http://www.socialworkfuture.org/articles-and-analysis/news/291-obituary-stan-cohen 

*****

Moral Panics in the Contemporary World Conference: Opening Plenary: part 1 (2 of 9)



"Stan Cohen delivering his paper 'The Political Agenda of Moral Panic Theory: Constructing a Sociology of Importance' at the Moral Panics in the Contemporary World conference, Brunel University, 10-12 December 2010."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV5-HFqY0PY 

The Hat Does Not Fit

Tuesday, January 08, 2013 

Criminology in Public

"In the great criminological choir some get chosen for solo parts: thus by the accident of victimisation Helen Newlove becomes a Baroness and Victims Commissioner after her husband is kicked to death. Sara Payne’s daughter, Sarah, dies at the hands of Roy Whiting and through the boost of the News Of The World’s campaigning zeal Sara becomes an honorary doctor of the Open University. As this story shows Roy Whiting has been seriously victimised but don’t expect his name to feature in any politically astute honours list.

But back to honours and Dr Sara Payne. She lends her name, and more controversially her title, to The Sun’s Justice Campaign. A number of academics are concerned about this and as an OU graduate I am uneasy but probably because I’m opposed to honours systems in all areas of life. Yes, I know my father, Brian, has an honorary degree from the Open University.

So far Sara Payne is not advertised or billed as a criminologist. However, Mark Williams-Thomas is, and some in the criminological community are unhappy about this. I welcome his voice and enthusiasm but am more concerned that his very policey/punitive approach is seen as representative of UK criminology. A better example of this ‘who can be described as a criminologist debate’ though is Roger Graef. I recall a colleague being very exercised that he was described as a criminologist. But, enjoy the irony here, I’m happy to honour him with that title. And similarly Richard Garside a very sage commentator on crime and criminal justice. And famously Against Criminology and now sadly dead I honour Stan Cohen."

http://criminologyinpublic.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/trust-me-im-doctor-whos-criminologist.html?spref=tw

Monday, 7 January 2013

The Poor Sheeple

Sentencing trends in Britain: Public knowledge and public opinion

"Abstract

Research on public opinion over the past three decades has consistently established that the British public are critical of sentencers, and that this criticism exists independent of crime trends and even dramatic changes in criminal justice policies.

This finding points to the possibilities that the findings are an artefact of the approach used by these surveys or that public opinion is formed in ignorance of actual practice. The 1996 British Crime Survey (BCS) contained a section of questions designed to test these hypotheses.

Respondents were asked a series of questions about their knowledge of, as well as attitudes towards, sentencing practice and sentencers. Results indicate that judges received significantly more negative evaluations than any other group of criminal justice professionals.

The public systematically under-estimate the severity of sentencing patterns, and this is significantly related to attitudes to sentencers. When asked to provide a sentence in a specific case of burglary, members of the public favoured sentences that were on balance little different from, and if anything more lenient than, current sentencing practice. Discussion focuses on the policy implications of these findings, as well as their relation to research in other jurisdictions."

MIKE HOUGH AND JULIAN V. ROBERTS, South Bank University, UK and University of Ottawa, Canada, Punishment and Society, December 2012, 14 (5)

http://pun.sagepub.com/content/1/1/11.abstract?ijkey=5ba9a524ce2b32badca953f6d341af4da3747da6&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha 

http://www.uk.sagepub.com/cavadino/sentencing_trends_in_britain.pdf