Citation

St-Pierre E, Parent S, Deslauriers-Varin N. Front. Psychol. 2022; 13: e856798.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Frontiers Research Foundation)

DOI

10.3389/fpsyg.2022.856798

PMID

35496201

PMCID

PMC9043286

Abstract

This study investigated the modus operandi strategies employed by 120 coaches who committed sexual abuse toward 331 athletes under their authority. More than 2,000 Canadian court judgements and media reports were identified using online search databases. Using descriptive analysis, 51 strategies used in six modus operandi stages were identified.

RESULTS highlighted the most frequent strategies used by coaches for each stage of the crime commission process. Additionally, findings revealed the influence of the victims' gender, coaches' sport level and year of coaches' first offenses on modus operandi strategies used. Implications for crime prevention measures are discussed.

Language: en

Keywords

sexual abuse; athletes; sports; coaches; modus operandi; sex offenders