%0 Journal Article
%T An Empirical Analysis of 30 Years of U.S. Juvenile and Adult Sexual Homicide Offender Data: Race and Age Differences in the Victim-Offender Relationship
%J Journal of forensic sciences
%D 2010
%A Chan, Heng-Choon (Oliver)
%A Myers, Wade C.
%A Heide, Kathleen M.
%V 55
%N 5
%P 1282-1290
%X Little is known about the racial patterns of crimes committed by sexual homicide offenders (SHOs). This study examined race and age influences on victim-offender relationship for juvenile and adult SHOs. A large sample (N = 3868) from the Supplemental Homicide Reports (1976-2005) was used. Analyses of victim-offender patterns included examining victim age effects (child, adolescent, adult, and elderly). The findings revealed several race- and age-based differences. Black offenders were significantly overrepresented in the SHO population. This finding held for juveniles and adults independently. White SHOs were highly likely to kill within their race, "intra-racially" (range 91-100%) across four victim age categories, whereas Black SHOs killed both intra-racially (range 24-82%) and inter-racially (18-76%), with the likelihood of their killing inter-racially increasing as the age of the victim increased. This study underscores the importance of considering victim-offender racial patterns in sexual murder investigations, and it offers practical implications for offender profiling.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
%G en
%I John Wiley and Sons
%@ 0022-1198
%U http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1556-4029.2010.01448.x