Identifying criminal predators, sentences, and criminal classifications

This paper speculates that due to antiquated criminal predator identification that the courts render less prison time to predators who continually commit abominable forms of crime than to first time violent offenders who were controversially convicted of the crime of murder. A sample of 89 respondents includes 61 males and 28 females incarcerated in high custody penitentiaries. The findings show that many predators are rarely charged and/or convicted of heinous predatory acts consequently their prison sentences averaged an eight year confinement as compared to nonpredators with an average of 25 years to life, often without parole. The hypothesis was supported and a criminal offender classification was created to explain various offender profiles. One implication of this finding is that methods of crime control including criminal profiles are inadequate to deal with one of America's worst problems-predatory attacks. An assumption that arises from this implication is that crime control is linked to popular myths produced by the media and therefore predators largely go unchecked. Further research should be concluded to determine efficient methods of intervention for various categories of predators. © 2000 Society for Police and Criminal Psychology.