This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by BOUDREAUX, M. C. Articles by JARVIS, J. P. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by BOUDREAUX, M. C. Articles by JARVIS, J. P. Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Behavioral Perspectives on Child Homicide

The Role of Access, Vulnerability, and Routine Activities Theory

University of California, Los Angeles

WAYNE D. LORD

Federal Bureau of Investigation

JOHN P. JARVIS

Federal Bureau of Investigation

This article reviews existing research on the topics of child abduction and child homicide and attempts to identify and assess potential victim risk factors through a discussion of victim access, vulnerability, and routine activities theory. For example, are children of certain ages or genders more likely to be targeted by offenders? Who are the offenders in child homicides and what are the relationships between the offenders and their victims? Does motive or crime technique differ between offenders who have familiarity with victims versus those who are strangers? Ecological perspectives on child homicide are also discussed, including the concepts of competition, predation, and developmental victimology. Research that addresses these questions directly benefits law enforcement personnel, social workers, and forensic scientists actively working child homicide cases, and social scientists involved in the formulation of child homicide prevention programs and policies. In addition, this information helps improve prevention programs designed to protect children, helps children protect themselves, and provides potential avenues for identifying offenders in such cases.

Key Words: child homicide • developmental victimology • routine activities theory • behavioral science • criminal profiling • predation

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				E. Beauregard, M. R. Stone, J. Proulx, and P. Michaud Sexual Murderers of Children: Developmental, Precrime, Crime, and Postcrime Factors Int J Offender Ther Comp Criminol, June 1, 2008; 52(3): 253 - 269. [Abstract] [PDF]

				K. R. Beyer and J. O. Beasley Nonfamily Child Abductors who Murder their Victims: Offender Demographics from Interviews with Incarcerated Offenders J Interpers Violence, October 1, 2003; 18(10): 1167 - 1188. [Abstract] [PDF]