Volume 1, Issue 1, 2009

Sexual Assault and Sentencing: An Examination of Victim and Perpetrator Characteristics
Donna Holland and Angela Sheets

Abstract
Research on sexual assault perpetrators sentences typically analyzed characteristics of perpetrators or characteristics of victims independently. This study examined whether perpetrator characteristics and victim characteristics, when considered simultaneously, continued to predict perpetrator sentence. The research offered an alternative hypothesis from the Chivalrous/ Paternalistic perspective; victim vulnerability increases the length of sentence. The study used data from a sexual assault treatment center to test these hypotheses. The key finding indicated that victim vulnerability interacts with legal factors, as to reduce the influence of legal factors. Legal and extralegal factors of perpetrators influenced length of sentence. Policy implications were discussed. Full Article



The Buller-McGinnis Model of Serial Homicidal Behavior: An Integrated Approach
Georgie Ann Weatherby, Danielle M. Buller, Katelyn McGinnis

Abstract
The seemingly random and motiveless natures of serial homicides make identifying and capturing serial killers nearly impossible. Theories of violent behavior and models exploring the etiology of serial murderers fail to provide an accurate method of predicting serial homicidal tendencies. The present paper seeks to construct an integrated model of serial homicidal behavior designed to pinpoint commonalities shared by serial killers, in order to discover a link
between certain characteristics and future homicidal behavior. After examining the lives of four known serial killers, the results yielded two prominent general traits: poor childhood social environments and isolation common amongst all subjects. Full Article

 

Criminal Acts of Violence among Capital Murder Offenders in Texas
J. Keith Price, Roselyn K. Polk, Robert E. Beckley

Abstract
The prediction of secondary deviance is a difficult task. Texas capital juries label some murderers as a continuing threat to society. This label is accompanied by the sanction of death. Other capital murderers are only incapacitated for the rest of their life. An examination of this labeling process revealed that the tagged offenders were no more dangerous than other groups of offenders. Full Article