Patterns of Sex Worker and Non-Sex Worker Victim Selection: Relationship to Offender Characteristics

• In Event: Posters I

Abstract

The profiling process rests on the assumption that offender characteristics are manifested in their behaviors at their crime scenes. An important behavior to consider when analyzing offender characteristics is the type of victim they choose. Offenders’ victim type may not be consistent in serial cases. To narrow down the suspect pool there is a need to understand if offender characteristics are reflected in their victim choice. Although offenders who exclusively offend against prostitutes and non-prostitutes (mixed) have been examined, mixed offenders who offend as part of the same series have not. This study examined 21 offenders: 9 single prostitute offenders, 7 serial prostitute offenders and 5 serial mixed offenders with a total of 57 victims. It was hypothesized that there will be differences between characteristics of offenders who target exclusively prostitutes versus those who target prostitutes and non-prostitutes and this will relate to different patterns in their victim choice. Results confirmed the hypothesis and concluded that those who target only prostitutes can be classified into a non-criminal background theme and those who offend against both prostitutes and non-prostitutes can be classified into a criminal background theme. It was also found that the mixed offender has more victims in their series.

Authors

• Marissa Marie Abrams, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

• Brianna Palmer, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

• C. Gabrielle Salfati, John Jay College of Criminal Justice