Examination of systematic variations in burglars' domain-specific perceptual and procedural skills

Review of expertise and its general implications for correctional psychology and criminology

“…A number of examples of cognitive and behavioral processes that would fit with this model have already been cited in the emerging literature (e.g. implicit planning (Ward & Hudson, 2000) and use of automatic scripts (Bourke et al, 2012) in sex offenders; speedy and superior knowledge of environmental cues (Brantingham & Brantingham, 2004;Clare, 2011;Nee & Taylor, 2000) and automatic scripts (Nee & Meenaghan, 2006;Wright & Decker, 1994) in burglars, and of course are in abundance in this special issue.…”

“…It is likely that this 'pre' stage is occurring continuously and unconsciously (Kahneman, 2003;Logan, 1992). In these studies offenders have also spontaneously described the use of discriminative cues at the scene of the crime (for instance during target selection in burglary) in an effortless way and two studies have elucidated automatic, unconscious processes during the commission of the crime (Bourke et al, 2012;Clare, 2011;Nee & Meenaghan, 2006). As noted above, a considerable challenge for correctional psychology and criminal justice will be to understand more clearly at what point in the offense chain deliberation, consciousness and therefore control comes to the fore and to what extent this can be changed.…”

Examining context-specific perceptions of risk: exploring the utility of “human-in-the-loop” simulation models for criminology

“…For example, it would be possible to extend understanding of offender decision-making behavior, typically examined through offender-based interviews and field studies (e.g., Clare 2011;Nee and Meenaghan 2006) to test exactly what offenders do when presented with criminal opportunities. From a crime prevention perspective, this approach could work hand-in-hand with designing out crime and target hardening initiatives: a real-world test of the "think thief" approach (e.g., Design Council 2003) that would enable the effectiveness of new strategies to be evaluated preemptively (at least in virtual terms).…”

Expertise and child sex offenders

“…It is likely, however, that child sexual offenders' expertise is not just the result of practice; research with other types of offenders (e.g. burglars) has suggested that expertise may also be enhanced by individual characteristics (see Nee, 2015-in this issue;Clare, 2011).…”

“…As a result of their shorter sexual offending histories, novice offenders' knowledge structures relating to child sexual offending would be less integrated, resulting in less successful planning, grooming and victim evaluations, which may ultimately lead to their apprehension. In addition to the likely skills exhibited (or not) by offenders, sexual offenders may escalate the frequency and severity of offending over time (Marshall & Barbaree, 1990;Ward, 1999), and escalation of offending may be the result of the reformulation of goals and the tasks undertaken to achieve them, as well as from a greater sense of self-efficacy (Clare, 2011).…”