hkr.sePublications
Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Geographical offender profiling obscene phone calls
Psychology Department, Lund University.
2008 (English)In: Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, ISSN 1544-4759, E-ISSN 1544-4767, Vol. 5, no 1-2, p. 93-105Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Studies on geographical profiling have typically focused on crimes with physical crime sites. This study focused on crimes with no physical crimes sites (i.e. no physical contact occurred between the victim and the offender). A single offender made obscene phone calls to 86 children during the years 1999-2000 in the south of Sweden. The locations in which obscene phone calls were received were analysed in a geographical profiling system (Dragnet) to see whether it could provide a map that showed the most likely area the offender would reside in. The purpose of this study was to explore whether geographical software such as Dragnet can be used by investigators of crimes with no physical crime locations. The result showed that the offender in this case had his home close to the region assigned the highest probability of containing home or base, which indicates that Dragnet can provide maps that can narrow down the search areas for the police in cases without physical crime locations.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2008. Vol. 5, no 1-2, p. 93-105
Keywords [en]
Geographical, profiling, obscene phone calls, Dragnet
Keywords [sv]
Geografisk gärningsmannaprofilering, Dragnet, obscena telefonsamtal
National Category
Psychology Social Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hkr:diva-5178DOI: 10.1002/jip.80OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hkr-5178DiVA, id: diva2:242202
Available from: 2009-10-07 Created: 2009-10-07 Last updated: 2017-12-13Bibliographically approved
In thesis
1. Child molesters and children as witnesses: spatial behaviour, modus operandi and memory recall
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Child molesters and children as witnesses: spatial behaviour, modus operandi and memory recall
2008 (English)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

Offenders who target children are a negative phenomenon in our society. These offenders are often seen as the worst of the worst of criminals and are therefore a priority for investigators trying to solve these crimes as fast as possible. The purpose of this thesis is to see if there are common denominators among these offenders in their modus operandi (MO) and their spatial patterns. If similar patterns emerge amongst these offenders, that would be of investigative importance for those who work with crimes against children. In Study I, a group of child molesters and their MO were studied in order to see how they found their victims and where they committed their crimes. The results were consistent with previous studies on child molesters in that they all committed their crimes at home or close to their homes. In Study II, a geographical profiling tool was tested in order to see if such a program could be used to find an offender who made obscene phone calls (OPC) to children. The results showed that the geographical software based on spatial behaviour, was able to narrow down the search area in which the offender actually lived when he committed his crimes. In Study III, the focus was on the potential witnesses/victims and how much a child could remember correctly of a staged event simulating a potential child molester looking for new victims. The results showed that the children’s event memory were comparable with an adult control group. The combined results could be summarized as follows: offenders who target children usually commit their crimes at home or close to home (or base), they tend to lure children to go with them by using bribes or the recruitment of former victims. Girls seem to be the preferred sex over boys. Children could be used as accurate witnesses in these types of crimes.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Lund: Department of Psychology, Lund University, 2008. p. 136
Keywords
Geographical offender profiling, spatial behaviour, modus operandi, memory recall
National Category
Psychology Social Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hkr:diva-5181 (URN)978-91-628-7596-1 (ISBN)
Public defence
Palaestra nedre plan, Paradisgatan 2, Lund (English)
Opponent
Supervisors
Available from: 2009-10-29 Created: 2009-10-07 Last updated: 2021-09-28Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

No full text in DiVA

Other links

Publisher's full text

Authority records

Ebberline, Jessica

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Ebberline, Jessica
In the same journal
Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling
PsychologySocial Sciences

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar

doi
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
urn-nbn
Total: 288 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf