Capital punishment, serial killings, war, terrorism, abortion, honour killings, euthanasia, suicide bombings, war, and genocide: all involve the taking of life. Put most simply, all involve killing other people. However, cultural context heavily influences heavily how people perceive these acts, and most people reading this paragraph will likely disagree on the extent to which these "count" as killing. For such an evolved species, humans can be violent far beyond the point of humanity. Why We Kill examines this violence in its many forms, exploring how culture plays a role in people's understanding and definition of violent action. From the first chapter, which examines "conventional" homicide, to the final chapter's bone-chilling account of the Rwandan genocide, this fascinating book makes compelling reading.

This book offers a collection of original contributions to current research available on Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA) by engaging with current literature and unpublished research in the field. The book explores the role of narrative identity in desistance from sexual crime and how CoSA maps onto this, as well as a history of CoSA across the world. The text then moves into an empirical section, reporting on some unpublished findings, including an evaluation of a new prison-based CoSA in the UK. Lastly, the experiences of service users and the influence of media perceptions are explored, offering a space for the 'unheard voices' as well as consideration of future directions for practitioners. The book is relevant not just to psychologists, criminologists, social workers and students, but to practitioners and the general public with an interest in learning about CoSA. The editors of this volume have all been involved in the setting up of the Safer Living Foundation, a charity formed in 2014 to reduce and prevent sexual offending.

Die Arbeit befasst sich mit dem Jugendarrest, der am haufigsten verhangten Haft bei Jugendlichen und Heranwachsenden in Deutschland. Mit Blick auf den Arrest werden ausgewahlte psychologische Ursachen der Jugendkriminalitat, effiziente Behandlungsansatze und praventive Moeglichkeiten des Jugendarrests dargestellt. Grundlage bilden zwei empirische Studien uber die psychosozialen Merkmale der Arrestanten und die psychologischen Vollzugswirkungen. In zwei Gutachten fur das Bundesjustizministerium wurden Vorschlage fur eine Reform des Arrests erarbeitet. Die Kritik richtet sich gegen die bisherige Vollzugspraxis und die Vernachlassigung des Arrestsystems innerhalb der Justiz. Ein Hauptkritikpunkt betrifft die Tatsache, dass die am haufigsten verhangte Haft bei jungen Menschen weder innerhalb der Justiz noch in der OEffentlichkeit die ihr gebuhrende Aufmerksamkeit erfahrt.

Sexual violence is a problem well beyond universities, however universities are uniquely well placed to contribute to reducing sexual violence, encouraging those affected to come forward and speak about their experiences and actively encourage increased reporting. This book is unique, in that it offers an international perspective on the incidence, reporting and impact of sexual violence at universities. Drawing on evidence from the UK, North America, Australia and Europe, Towl and Walker explore the psychological and structural challenges to reporting sexual violence. They provide a set of policy and practice guidance recommendations that move beyond awareness campaigns to call for systems to be put in place whereby reports of sexual assault are handled promptly, fairly and consistently. They also discuss how universities can strengthen their approach to prevention, promoting safeguarding and the welfare of victims and survivors, and involving victims and survivors in the development and improvement of services. However, fundamental to their approach is keeping decision making with the victim and survivor, and emphasising that their health and recovery is paramount. Tackling Sexual Violence at Universities is an invaluable and ground-breaking resource for students and researchers in forensic psychology and criminology, as well as professionals working in higher education. The authors are donating their royalties in full to Kirklees and Calderdale Rape & Sexual Abuse Centre (KCRASACC), UK, a small registered charity that provides specialist therapy, counselling advocacy and support for survivors of sexual or domestic violence and abuse. Running for nearly 30 years, the centre works with young people and adults over the age of 13.

Working in forensic settings with clients who have histories of damage and abuse can be a demanding, disturbing, thrilling and unique experience. It means building connections and instilling the capacity to think before acting - far more than just providing therapy. At a service level, it requires a compassionate culture that promotes the ability to reflect on complex interpersonal dynamics at all levels of the organization. Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) is an accessible model for understanding human relationships that offers a common language for teams and organizations. Reflective Practice in Forensic Settings brings together a range of clinicians to share their experience and approaches, exploring ways in which the CAT model can be applied to develop reflective practice in secure contexts. Together, they also offer valuable guidance for any practitioner seeking ways in which to develop a more relationally informed and reflective therapeutic service.

This book examines Mental Health Courts (MHC) within a socio-legal framework. Placing these courts within broader trends in criminal justice, especially problem-solving courts, the author draws from two case studies with a mixed-methods design. While court observational and interview data highlight the role of rituals and procedural justice in the practices of the court, quantitative data demonstrates the impact of incentives, mental health treatment compliance and graduating patterns from MHC in altering patterns of criminal recidivism. In utilising these methods, this book provides a new understanding of the social processes by which MHCs operate, while narrative stories from MHC participants illustrate both the potential and limitations of these courts. Concluding by charting potential improvements for the functioning and effectiveness of MHCs, the author suggests potential reforms and 'best practices' for the future in tandem with rigorous analysis. This book will be of value and interest to students and scholars of criminology, law, and social work, as well as practitioners.

This book will challenge the orthodox view that children cannot have the same rights as adults because they are particularly vulnerable. It will argue that we should treat adults and children in the same way as the child liberationists claim. However, the basis of that claim is not that children are more competent than we traditionally given them credit for, but rather that adults are far less competent than we give them credit for. It is commonly assumed that children are more vulnerable. That is why we need to have a special legal regime for children. Children cannot have all the same rights as adults and need especial protect from harms. While in the 1970s "child liberationists" mounted a sustained challenge to this image, arguing that childhood was a form of slavery and that the assumption that children lacked capacity was unsustainable. This movement has significantly fallen out of favour, particularly given increasing awareness of child abuse and the multiple ways that children can be harmed at the hands of adults. This book will explore the concept of vulnerability, the way it used to undermine the interests of children and our assumptions that adults are not vulnerable in the same way that children are. It will argue that a law based around mutual vulnerability can provide an approach which avoids the need to distinguish adults and children.

This book presents results from a BAU study including 259 active, animal cruelty cases. In addition, there were a total of 495 animal victims including numerous species, but dogs (64%) were the predominant animal victim. The offenders were all male, ranging in age from 17-years old to 82 years old (mean age of 34 years) and 73.44% had arrests for various other crimes prior to and/or following the instant animal cruelty arrest. Sixty percent of the offenders had been arrested for interpersonal violence prior, concurrent and/or post the instant active animal cruelty incident.

Although there is a strong and growing literature in the two areas of desistance and addiction recovery, they have developed along parallel pathways with little systematic assessment of the empirical evidence about the co-occurrence of the relationship or how one area can learn from the other. This book aims to fill that gap by bringing together emerging literature on the relationship between offending and substance use. Instead of focusing on the active period of its onset and persistence, this book examines the mechanisms that support desistance, addiction recovery, and the common themes of reintegration and rehabilitation. With contributions from a wide range of international experts in the fields of desistance and addiction recovery, the book focuses on a strengths-based, relational and community-focused approach to long-term change in offending and drug-using populations, as well as the shared barriers to effective reintegration for both. This book will be highly informative for a wide audience, from academics and students interested in studying desistance and recovery to those working in addiction services and the criminal justice system as well as policy makers and the people undertaking their own journeys to desistance and recovery.

Our understanding of criminal behaviour and its causes has been too long damaged by the failure to integrate the emotional, psychological, social and cultural influences on the way people behave. This book offers a concise and accessible introduction to criminal behaviour, examining and integrating perspectives from criminology and psychology. It proposes a range of 'psychosocial' approaches that seek to understand the emotions that surround criminal behaviour, allowing for an exploration of individual differences and social and cultural issues that help to bridge the gap between disciplinary approaches. It offers substantive chapters on a range of topics, including: mental disorder and the relationship between mental health and offending; criminal career research; youth crime and the question of criminal responsibility; gender and crime; and violent crime, including homicide and sexual crime. This new edition has been fully updated, including a revised opening chapter that offers an introduction to psychosocial criminology, up-to-date discussion of changes in the criminal justice system in the context of mental health, and two new chapters on race and crime, and public violence, extremism and terrorism. This book is essential reading for students taking a range of courses on criminal behaviour, criminological theory, criminal psychology and psychological criminology.

Dynamic risk factors are the children of risk prediction. They were identified to help practitioners assess risk of recidivism and to set treatment targets likely to reduce reoffending. This resulted in the development of intervention programs designed to modify the characteristics of individuals and their environments associated with crime. The predictive nature of their legacy lies in their ability to provide reliable information about the likelihood of future reoffending. In this respect, dynamic risk factors are useful complements to static risk factors such as age, gender, and history of offending, and add incremental validity to recidivism prediction. Their treatment utility resides in the fact that practitioners increasingly rely on the identification of dynamic risk factors to direct correctional assessment and interventions. Thus, dynamic risk factors have a dual status. They are both useful predictors of reoffending and measures of risk status, and potential causes of reoffending, capable of serving an explanatory role as well as a predictive one. It is a simple and powerful conceptualization that has streamlined forensic and correctional research, program development, and the delivery of treatment. Despite its conceptual elegance we believe that the dual conceptualization of dynamic risk factors is problematic and these difficulties spill over into their role in assessment, assessment, treatment, and desistance contexts. In this publication, the nature and function of dynamic risk factors are investigated and their strengths and limitations identified. This book was originally published as a special issue of Psychology, Crime and Law.

A small minority of children and adolescents can be dangerous, violent and murderous. Gwyneth Boswell researched this field throughout the 1990s. Having identified an urgent need for an assembly of evidence about aetiology and treatment of these young people, she has brought together a formidable body of academic and professional experts, specifically to address the question A"Why?A".

Murder is the most malevolent of acts by humans. Not only does the slaying of a man, woman or child destroy a life, but it ravages the lives of all thoses associated with the person who has been killed, and forments the collective angst of the community. But the mad who kill are placed in a different socio-legal category to that of "normal" murderers. Those regarded as insane, either at the time of their improbity or after the event, are propelled into a distinct and discreditable stratum of deviancy. They are "unreasonably" dangerous. These miscreants are construed as "double-trouble" - mad and bad. Is there justifiable (if exaggerated) anxiety about dangerous mentally disordered people being "loose" in the community? Is there genuine need to protect both society at large and the mad? Does public concern about homicidal tendencies of the mentally disordered warrent emphatic social interaction to protect both potential victims and perpetrators? What are the merits and consequences of post-liberal mental health policies and laws, introduced at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century in response to declared failure of previous approaches to the care of mentally disordered people and the protection of the public? How have the psychiatric disciplines of medicine and nursing contributed to a period of unprecedented public alarm in the 1990s about the mentally disordered? Dr Peter Morrall examines the perennial problem of the rights of the rest of society.

This book deconstructs the pathologizing category of 'sadomasochism' in order to account for the 'lived realities' of consensual 'SM' play, emphasizing the connection between the corporeal & the political in contemporary consumer cultures. It discusses the homogenization of desire & ownership & use of 'body' & 'sexual ethics'.

Although there is a strong and growing literature in the two areas of desistance and addiction recovery, they have developed along parallel pathways with little systematic assessment of the empirical evidence about the co-occurrence of the relationship or how one area can learn from the other. This book aims to fill that gap by bringing together emerging literature on the relationship between offending and substance use. Instead of focusing on the active period of its onset and persistence, this book examines the mechanisms that support desistance, addiction recovery, and the common themes of reintegration and rehabilitation. With contributions from a wide range of international experts in the fields of desistance and addiction recovery, the book focuses on a strengths-based, relational and community-focused approach to long-term change in offending and drug-using populations, as well as the shared barriers to effective reintegration for both. This book will be highly informative for a wide audience, from academics and students interested in studying desistance and recovery to those working in addiction services and the criminal justice system as well as policy makers and the people undertaking their own journeys to desistance and recovery.

Most professional forensic literature addresses the assessment of adults yet neglects the necessary differences that arise when working with minors. Forensic Mental Health Assessment of Children presents the reader with essential knowledge and practical suggestions regarding the forensic assessment of minors involved in a variety of legal applications. Methods of evaluation are described by leading experts regarding topics frequently encountered and of great importance to the courts including:
-Physical and sexual child abuse
-Domestic violence
-Child custody in divorce proceedings
-Risk assesment for violence
-Potential for rehabilitation in juvenile court cases
-Special education
-Childhood development and trauma as mitigating circumstances in death penalty cases
In addition to reviewing a broad spectrum of topics, methods of evaluation, and the application of specific tests, chapters also address forensic assessment matters such as ethical issues, professional liability, and cultural considerations. This comprehensive resource will be indispensable to mental health practitioners and legal professionals, and of great interest to researchers and students.

This book retrospectively analyzes the notorious 1924 case of Leopold and Loeb, in which two college students murder a young boy just to prove they could do it. In the almost hundred years since that trial, the field of neuroscience along with neuropsychology have expanded tremendously, and there are now much more sophisticated tools that could be used to evaluate the perpetrators of this crime. Although deemed mentally ill at the time, there was not much scientific evidence that could be brought to bear on the defendants' and their behavior. Now a legal psychologist and a neuropsychologist team up to tackle the case from a modern viewpoint. Using contemporary knowledge of the brain and behavior they map out the way the case might be handled today. Not just of historical interest, this volume serves as a case study for students and professionals alike, and a review of procedures used in such difficult cases.

This book provides an overview of historical and contemporary cases of homicidal poisoning. While homicidal poisoning is sometimes thought of as a thing of the past, it continues to be a contemporary problem, and in fact the unknown offender rate for poisoning cases is 20-30 times that of other homicide types in contemporary research, and many poisoners commit serial homicides while going undetected.The author of this important and timely work explores the theoretical bases for understanding homicidal poisoning, the nature of poisons used in homicidal cases, the characteristics of poisoners and their victims, and techniques for detection and prevention. This unique book will be of particular interest to: students of criminology (classes dealing with criminal psychology, and murder investigation); students of the history of crime; criminal justice professionals: attorneys, homicide detectives, forensic pathologists, forensic and clinical toxicologists, and other forensic investigators; and all interested in poisons, poisoners and the detection of poisoning. It has relevance to criminology, law and policing, toxicology and forensic science, the history of crime and detection, and criminal psychology. Endorsements: "A most welcomed addition to the important subject of the criminal poisoner. The author has done a fantastic job of researching the world literature, and distilling it down for the reader. The work is very well referenced, and provides critical information for law enforcement, forensic pathologists, and others, that could be dealing with the criminal poisoner." John H. Trestrail IIIToxicologistLos Lunas, New Mexico USA "Dr Michael Farrell has produced a comprehensive and authoritative work on a most serious but often overlooked aspect of criminal assault - the act of poisoning. In the Criminology of Homicidal Poisoning, Farrell seamlessly weaves together the facts about poisons and their use as an instrument of homicide with the context of the larger issue of murder. By examining the poisoner and the victim, the reader is provided a depth of understanding about how a deadly outcome arose and why the choice was made to employ poison to get the grisly job done. With criminal homicide by poisoning making up a small percentage of known crimes, the danger of insufficient scholarly attention is present. Dr Michael Farrell makes a significant contribution to ensure against this potential. As a homicide researcher, I know Criminology of Homicidal Poisoning will join the works I turn to in understanding the nuances of the how and why of homicide." Dr Richard M. Hough, Sr., Criminology and Criminal Justice and Public Administration Program Coordinator, University of West Florida, US "This comprehensive text links forensic toxicology with criminology, making a solid contribution to both fields. Farrell not only describes how homicidal poisoning fits the most popular criminological theories for why people kill but also examines the nature and lethality of various poisons, identifies trends in poisoning, provides a history, and shows offender traits and victim characteristics. In addition, he discusses issues for investigators and prosecutors who will be taking a poisoning case to trial." Katherine Ramsland Professor of forensic psychology at DeSales University, PennsylvaniaPsychology Today

A psychiatric assessment is a structured clinical conversation, complemented by observation and mental state examination, and supplemented by a physical examination and the interview of family members when appropriate. After the initial interview, the clinician should be able to establish whether the individual has a mental health problem or not, the nature of the problem, and a plan for the most suitable treatment. Essentials of Psychiatric Assessment provides the resident or beginning psychiatrist with a complete road map to a thorough clinical evaluation.

This book offers a clear, up-to-date, comprehensive, and theoretically informed introduction to criminal psychology, exploring how psychological explanations and approaches can be integrated with other perspectives drawn from evolutionary biology, neurobiology, sociology, and criminology. Drawing on examples from around the world, it considers different types of offences from violence and aggression to white-collar and transnational crime, and links approaches to explaining crime with efforts to prevent crime and to treat and rehabilitate offenders. This revised and expanded second edition offers a thorough update of the research literature and introduces several new features, including: detailed international case studies setting the scene for each chapter, promoting real-world understanding of the topics under consideration; a fuller range of crime types covered, with new chapters on property offending and white-collar, corporate, and environmental crime; detailed individual chapters exploring prevention and rehabilitation, previously covered in a single chapter in the first edition; an array of helpful features including learning objectives, review and reflect checkpoints, annotated lists of further reading, and two new features: 'Research in Focus' and 'Criminal Psychology Through Film'. This textbook is essential reading for upper undergraduate students enrolled in courses on psychological criminology, criminal psychology, and the psychology of criminal behaviour. Designed with the reader in mind, student-friendly and innovative pedagogical features support the reader throughout.

This book examines matters of religious freedom in Europe, considers the work of the European Court of Human Rights in this area, explores issues of multiculturalism and secularism in France, of women in Islam, and of Muslims in the West. The work presents legal analysis and ethnographic fieldwork, focusing on concepts such as laicite, submission, equality and the role of the state in public education, amongst others. Through this book, the reader can visit inside a French public school located in a low-income neighborhood just south of Paris and learn about the complex dynamics that led up to the passing of the 2004 law banning Muslim headscarves. The chapters bring to light the actors and cultures within the school that set the stage for the passing of the law and the political philosophy that supports it. School culture and philosophy are compared and contrasted to the thoughts and opinions of the teachers, administrators and students to gage how religious freedom and identity are understood. The book goes on to explore the issue of religious freedom at the European Court of Human Rights. The author argues that the right to religious freedom has been too narrowly understood and is being fenced in by static visions of Islam. This jeopardizes the idea of religious freedom more broadly. By becoming entangled with regional and domestic politics, the Court is neglecting important nuances and is jeopardizing secularism, pluralism and democracy. This is a highly readable and accessible book that will appeal to students and scholars of law, anthropology, religious studies and philosophy of religion. 2004

The role of behavioral and social sciences in the courtroom setting has expanded exponentially in the past few decades. It is now widely recognized that scientists in these areas provide critical contextual information for legal decision making, and that there is a reliable knowledge base for doing so. While there are many handbooks of forensic psychology, this is the first such volume to incorporate sociological findings, broadening the conceptual basis for examining cases in both the civil and criminal realms, including immigration issues, personal injury, child custody, and sexual harassment. This volume will examine the responsibilities of expert witnesses and consultants, and how they may utilize principles, theories and methods from both sociology and psychology. It will show these disciplines together can improve the identification and apprehension of criminals, as well as enhance the administration of justice by clarifying profiles of criminal behavior, particularly in cases of serial killers, death threat makers, stalkers, and kidnappers. The volume is quite comprehensive, covering a range of medical, school, environmental and business settings. Throughout it links basic ideas to real applications and their impact on the justice system.

Fundamental rights for all people with disabilities, education and employment are key for the inclusion of people with autism. They play as facilitators for the social inclusion of persons with autism and as multipliers for their enjoyment of other fundamental rights. After outlining the international and European dimensions of the legal protection of the rights to education and employment of people with autism, the book provides an in-depth analysis of domestic legislative, judicial and administrative practice of the EU Member States in these fields. Each chapter identifies the good practices on inclusive education and employment of people with autism consistent with principles and obligations enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Articles 24 and 27). The book contains the scientific results of the European Project "Promoting equal rights of people with autism in the field of employment and education" aimed at supporting the implementation of the UN Convention in the fields of inclusive education and employment.

Almut Braun carried out forensic phonetic speaker identification experiments (voice lineups) with 306 lay listeners. Blind listeners significantly outperformed sighted listeners when the speech recordings were presented in studio quality. For recordings in mobile phone quality or of whispering voices, blind and sighted listeners achieved similar results. The data can be used as reference material for real cases with blind earwitnesses. Furthermore, it is discussed whether blind individuals are particularly suitable to work as forensic audio analysts for law enforcement agencies.

This volume is the most comprehensive reference book on community sentiment available. The classic book about community sentiment is Norm Finkel's "Commonsense Justice: Jurors' Notions of the Law" (1995). A similarly influential book called "Justice, Liability, and Blame" was published at the same time, examining lay sentiment about a variety of criminal issues and suggesting ways in which the substantive criminal law could be reformed in light of such lay responses (Robinson & Darley, 1995). Although these books were influential and important for their time (and since), this Handbook expands significantly on them, both by updating research since that time and broadens the scope of topic areas to ones that are not limited to trial and criminal justice issues. Each chapter is original/unpublished and focuses on an area related to children/families, many of which are "hot topic" areas in the news and courts today. For instance, the U.S. Supreme Court decided a case in June 2012 about the constitutionality of "life without parole" for juvenile offenders-a topic discussed in the Fass and Miora chapter. Thus, it is of interest to those interested in family law topics as well.