Examining modus operandi in stranger child abduction: A comparison of attempted and completed cases

Abstract

Existing inquiries purporting to study and describe offender behaviour in stranger child abduction (SCA) have utilised an overly narrow definition of modus operandi (MO), focusing only on very outset of the offence. The study aims to reflect changes that occur as the offence proceeds and to examine whether differentiating between attempted and completed cases can provide greater understanding of MO in SCA. The MO utilised by offenders in 78 cases of SCA retrieved from publicly available U.K. sources were examined. Descriptive analysis was used to determine which types of behaviour were present. Multidimensional scaling was used to categorise these behaviours and to establish whether any relationships existed between them, with view to ascertaining whether there were any clear patterns among strategies. Results found support for differentiating attempted and completed offences, with the analysis highlighting that offenders who utilised multiple means of control, who were more aggressive, and who shifted their MO from one theme to another, were more likely to complete the offence. The study concludes that more nuanced categorisations of SCA offending approaches, which reflect change over time, are required, and argues for additional, contextual information to be incorporated into future work.

Understanding the complexities of non-familial child abductions: a systematic literature review on the behavioural characteristics of acquaintance and stranger abductors

“…In these cases, 60% of vehicles were owned by the offender or were available to them through routine access. Building on this research, Collie and Greene (2019) identified that vehicle use was specifically associated with offenders who adopted a manipulative MO.…”

“…While three studies examined NFA collectively (e.g. Erikson and Friendship, 2002; Gallagher et al , 2008; Park and Cho, 2019) and two studies solely examined stranger abductions (Collie and Greene, 2017, 2019), the remaining articles differentiated NFA cases based on relationship type. Most of these studies did so using a stranger/acquaintance (or stereotypical/legal definition, see Asdigian et al , 1995) dichotomy (Boudreaux et al , 1999; Brown and Keppel, 2012; Miller et al , 2008; Tillyer et al , 2015).…”

“…UK research suggests that stranger abductors adopting an aggressive MO are more likely to bring weapons (such as a knife) to the crime scene, whereas those using a manipulative MO are more likely to use personal weapons (e.g. hands and feet) (Collie and Greene, 2019). US data also suggest that non-familial abductors generally bring a knife or a gun to the offence (Asdigian et al , 1995; Walsh et al , 2016); however, in cases of non-fatal abductions perpetrated by acquaintances, these are more likely to involve personal weapons (Miller et al , 2008; Walsh et al , 2016).…”

CBR-Based Decision Support Methodology for Cybercrime Investigation: Focused on the Data-Driven Website Defacement Analysis

“…e Modus Operandi changes based on the offender's criminal conduct and interaction with the surrounding such as time, date, and location of crime. Moreover, it evolves based on how the offender reaches his/her victim [28,29].…”

The Approach to Missing and Abducted Children Cases in Turkey: Criticism of First Response, Criminal Investigation and TV Programs

“…Although studies on the subject of missing children and child abduction have increased, it is not enough (1,(12)(13)(14). In the studies, the challenges of the missing person investigations, the behaviour of the missing people, the geographic information in the missing investigations, the importance of the risk assessment and immediate response were discussed and suggestions were made to help the police investigations (1,5,8,13,(15)(16)(17). While these studies generally mention the investigation of missing persons, they rarely touch on the characteristics (e.g.…”