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About

Lecturer in Criminology and Psychology.

Dr. Emek Yuce Zeyrek-Rios is a Lecturer in Criminology and Psychology. She holds a PhD in Investigative Psychology from University of Huddersfield (UK) a MA degree in psychology from New York University (USA) as a Fulbright Scholar and a BS degree in psychology from METU (Turkey). She has experience teaching at PhD, MS and undergraduate levels. Furthermore she has provided professional trainings to members of the CJS such as law enforcement agents, lawyers, prosecutors, judges, forensic psychologists and probation officers.

Research interests

Emek's research interests include offender profiling, investigative interviewing, CSA, effective policing, personality/psychopathology and crime, female criminality, infanticide/neonaticide. She serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling.

Publications (22)

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Chapter

Femicide from Psychological and Criminological Perspectives

Featured 2019 Femicide in All Aspects Nobel Academic Publishing
AuthorsAuthors: Zeyrek Rios E, Editors: Ozturk M, Bulut M
Journal article

Borderline Personality Disorder from the Perspective of the Schema Theory

Featured 2019 Turkbilim Dergisi
AuthorsZeyrek Rios E, Emiral E
Chapter

Profiling Criminals

Featured 2017 Forensic Psychology Nobel Academic Publishing
AuthorsAuthors: Zeyrek Rios E, Editors: Senol Durak E, Durak M
Chapter

Profiling Suicide Bombers

Featured 2017 Forensic Psychology Nobel Academic Publishing
AuthorsAuthors: Lester D, Zeyrek Rios E, Editors: Senol Durak E, Durak M
Journal article

The variation of suicide rates in Muslim nations: the impact of Shariah Rule and Shia/Sunni proportion

Featured 2022 Suicide Studies
AuthorsZeyrek Rios E, Lester D, Lew B
Journal article

The role of psychology in investigations

Featured 2014 The Bulletin of Legal Medicine
AuthorsYoungs D, Zeyrek Rios E
Journal article

The role of psychopathy factors in reactive aggression within a sample of prisoners

Featured 02 February 2015 Journal of Criminal Psychology5(1):25-33 Emerald
AuthorsDebowska A, Zeyrek Rios EY

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of four psychopathy factors (Interpersonal Manipulation (IPM), Callous Affect (CA), Erratic Lifestyle (ELS), and Antisocial Behaviour (ASB)) and the length of incarceration in reactive aggression. The predictive effect of dissatisfaction with peer relations, childhood experiences of violence, and criminal friends on reactive forms of aggressive acts is also explored.

Design/methodology/approach

– In total, 129 (n=129) male prisoners incarcerated in Stargard Szczecinski Prison were recruited for the study. Cross-sectional design using self-report questionnaire of retrospective and prospective nature was utilised.

Findings

– Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that only one psychopathy facet, IPM, forms a significant association with reactive aggression. Another accurate correlate of reactive aggression was the length of incarceration.

Originality/value

– The results of the present study indicate that the commonly suggested two-factor models of psychopathy may be misguided. Future studies examining the effect of psychopathy facets on aggression should consider IPM and CA as separate dimensions. Additionally, this study is the first to demonstrate that reactive aggression may be exacerbated during incarceration.

Journal article

The Qualitative Analysis of the Perceived Abilities, Skills and Characteristics of Turkish Crime Investigators

Featured June 2023 European Journal of Policing Studies6(4):308-326 Koninklijke Boom uitgevers
AuthorsGönültaş BM, Fahsing I, Zeyrek Rios EY, Çetinöz E

A study combining interviews and the repertory grid analyses explored Turkish investigators’ views on what it takes to be an effective investigator. Experienced Turkish police officers (n = 286) from seven different cities dealing with high-harm, low-volume crime investigations were asked to describe what differentiates the effective investigator from the less effective one. A total of 1,819 skills, abilities and personal characteristics (SACs) described could be clustered under three main categories, namely “personality and general knowledge”, “investigative and analytical abilities” and “management and cooperation skills”. A vast majority of SACs identified were quite unspecific and provided only a general indication of a relatively low ability to describe the deeper and underlying functions involved in the job. They view their job mostly as a form of art which can only be mastered through mentorship and job experience. In this study, the variety and vastness of skills, abilities and characteristic in the data indicate that the investigators seem to acknowledge the complexity and the difficulty of modern-day criminal investigations. Thus, we reached inferences from the findings, and they are discussed in relation to levels of professionalism, strategic staff management and previous research from other cultures and jurisdictions. The findings of this research can assist with the development of a cross-cultural and cross-jurisdictional and evidence-based policy for the selection and development of investigators.

Journal article

Perceptions toward Criminals Scale: the reliability and validity analyses

Featured 2019 Anatolian Journal of Psychiatry(0):1 IMR Press
AuthorsGönültaş B, Öztürk M, Rios E, Kanak M, Demir E

Criminal,Attitude,Reliability,Validity,Attitudes towards criminals

Journal article

Dialectical Behavior Therapy in the Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder

Featured 2019 Journal of Cognitive-Behavioral Psychotherapy and Research(0):1 Kare Publishing
AuthorsRIOS E
Journal article
Relationship between emotion regulation and aggression mediated by criminal thinking in women convicted of violent offenses
Featured 30 November 2025 Women's Studies International Forum113:1-9 Elsevier BV
AuthorsZeyrek-Rios EY, Çetinöz E, Erten İ, Gürsoy A, Gönültaş MB

The pathways to violence in women—especially in non-Western contexts—remain underexplored. This study examines the relationship between emotion regulation difficulties, criminal thinking, and aggression among 114 incarcerated Turkish women convicted of violent offenses (i.e., assault, murder/manslaughter, bodily harm, etc.). The mean age of the sample is 35.67 (SD = 9.66). Half of the sample (50 %, N = 58) has a maximum educational level of primary school qualification, and 30 % are unemployed. Drawing on the General Aggression Model and criminal thinking framework, the participants were administered the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), the Buss–Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ), and the Criminal Thinking Scale (CTS). Results revealed significant positive associations between emotion regulation difficulties and all subtypes of aggression, yielding correlation coefficients ranging from 0.25 to 0.62. Furthermore, while offenders scored lower than university students on emotion dysregulation and aggression, they scored higher compared to age-matched community samples—highlighting the importance of contextual comparison. Mediation analysis demonstrated that criminal thinking partially mediated the relationship between emotion regulation difficulties and aggression, suggesting that cognitive distortions amplify the effect of affective dysregulation on violent behaviour. These findings underscore the interplay between affective dysregulation and cognitive distortions in female violence and suggest that gender-responsive, trauma-informed interventions must integrate cognitive restructuring alongside emotional regulation skills to effectively reduce female violent offending. The current study advances our understanding of female violence by integrating emotional, cognitive, and sociocultural perspectives within a non-Western context.

Journal article

Correlates of a Taoist Orientation among Korean Students

Featured June 2007 Perceptual and Motor Skills104(3):1042 SAGE Publications
AuthorsPark BCB, Zeyrek EY, Lester D

Associations of .35 and −.34, respectively, were found for a measure of having a Taoist orientation to life with death anxiety and the perception that one's self is unified (versus fragmented) in samples of 41 Korean high school and 145 Korean university students.

Journal article

Correlates of a Taoist Orientation

Featured December 2006 Perceptual and Motor Skills103(3):846 SAGE Publications
AuthorsMcCollaum B, Zeyrek EY, Lester D

Using rating scales no associations were found between having a Taoist orientation to life, death anxiety, and the perception that one's self is unified (versus fragmented) in a sample of southeastern Asian students (18 women and 12 men).

Journal article

Offense Narrative Roles of Turkish Offenders

Featured 30 September 2022 International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology66(12):1237-1262 SAGE Publications
AuthorsZeyrek-Rios EY, Canter DV, Youngs D

The study of offense narratives emphasizes the agency of the offender which brings psychology closer to law. As an effort to create a standardized and quantitative method to evaluate offender narratives, Youngs and Canter developed the Narrative Roles Questionnaire (NRQ) based on the content analyses of the crime narratives of offenders in UK prisons. The current study aims to investigate the applicability of offense narrative roles framework among Turkish offenders. The application of the offense narrative roles model to a non-Western country is the first step toward the acceptance of criminal narrative theory as a universal explanation of criminal behavior. A translation of the NRQ was administered to 468 Turkish male inmates who have committed a wide range of offenses from fraud to murder. The results of an MDS analysis yielded four roles, namely Professional, Revenger, Hero, and Victim, echoing the original formulation proposed by Youngs and Canter. The reliability coefficients of scales derived for these roles were all at desired levels. The results support the applicability of the NRQ framework in a non-English context.

Journal article

The Plural Self and a Taoist Orientation in Two Cultures

Featured August 2006 Psychological Reports99(1):91-92 SAGE Publications
AuthorsZeyrek EY, Lester D

A positive association between having a Taoist orientation to life and unity in the subjective perception of the self was found in samples of both American ( n = 99) and Turkish ( n = 100) respondents.

Journal article

Modus operandi of persons convicted of a sexual offense from victims’ perspectives in a Turkish sample

Featured July 2023 European Journal of Criminology20(4):1390-1410 (21 Pages) SAGE Publications
AuthorsGonultas (Gönültaş) BM, Zeyrek-Rios EY, Lester D

Child sexual abuse is typically studied using reports from the offender and in Western countries. The aim of the present study was to investigate pre- and post-abuse strategies of persons convicted of a sexual offense to children in Turkey using the statements made by the child victims and to frame the results using rational choice theory. A qualitative study was made for the themes in the police statements from 46 children who were victims of child sexual abuse. The content analysis revealed that persons convicted of a sexual offense to children differ in terms of their methods to approach children and in their pre- and post-abuse behaviors depending on their relationship with the victim. A total of 85% of the offenses were extra-familial and 15% within the family. Only 21% of the extra-familial offenses were opportunist; most involved bribes and introductions through friends or intermediaries. Two tactics unique to Turkey were promises of marriage and the use of children as intermediaries. The use of force and blackmail was more common in the intra-familial offenses. The results of the qualitative analysis were, on the whole, consistent with results from persons convicted of a sexual offense to children’s statements, but some of the tactics used by offenders in Turkey were unique to Turkish culture.

Journal article
An analysis of age-standardized suicide rates in Muslim-majority countries in 2000-2019
Featured 04 May 2022 BMC Public Health22(1):1-18 Springer Science and Business Media LLC
AuthorsLew B, Lester D, Kõlves K, Yip PSF, Chen Y-Y, Chen WS, Hasan MT, Koenig HG, Wang ZZ, Fariduddin MN, Zeyrek-Rios EY, Chan CMH, Mustapha F, Fitriana M, Dolo H, Gönültaş BM, Dadfar M, Davoudi M, Abdel-Khalek AM, Chan LF, Siau CS, Ibrahim N

Background This study examines the 20-year trend of suicide in 46 Muslim-majority countries throughout the world and compares their suicide rates and trends with the global average. Ecological-level associations between the proportion of the Muslim population, the age-standardized suicide rates, male-to-female suicide rate ratio, and the Human Development Index (HDI) in 2019 were examined. Methods Age-standardized suicide rates were extracted from the WHO Global Health Estimates database for the period between 2000 and 2019. The rates in each country were compared with the age-standardized global average during the past 20 years. The countries were further grouped according to their regions/sub-regions to calculate the regional and sub-regional weighted age-standardized suicide rates involving Muslim-majority countries. Correlation analyses were conducted between the proportion of Muslims, age-standardized suicide rate, male: female suicide rate ratio, and the HDI in all countries. Joinpoint regression was used to analyze the age-standardized suicide rates in 2000-2019. Results The 46 countries retained for analysis included an estimated 1.39 billion Muslims from a total worldwide Muslim population of 1.57 billion. Of these countries, eleven (23.9%) had an age-standardized suicide rate above the global average in 2019. In terms of regional/sub-regional suicide rates, Muslim-majority countries in the Sub-Saharan region recorded the highest weighted average age-standardized suicide rate of 10.02/100,000 population, and Southeastern Asia recorded the lowest rate (2.58/100,000 population). There were significant correlations between the Muslim population proportion and male-to-female rate ratios (r=-0.324, p=0.028), HDI index and age-standardized suicide rates (r=-0.506, p<0.001), and HDI index and male-to-female rate ratios (r=0.503, p<0.001) in 2019. Joinpoint analysis revealed that seven Muslim-majority countries (15.2%) recorded an increase in the average annual percentage change regarding age-standardized suicide rates during 2000-2019. Conclusions Most Muslim-majority countries had lower age-standardized suicide rates than the global average, which might reflect religious belief and practice or due to Muslim laws in their judicial and social structure which may lead to underreporting. This finding needs further in-depth country and region-specific study with regard to its implication for public policy.

Journal article

Death Anxiety and a Taoist Orientation in Two Cultures

Featured December 2006 Perceptual and Motor Skills103(3):778 SAGE Publications
AuthorsZeyrek EY, Lester D, Alpan E

A negative association between having a Taoist orientation to life and death anxiety was found for a sample of 99 American students but not in a sample of 100 Turkish students

Journal article

Arthur Schopenhauer and Andras Angyal

Featured December 2006 Psychological Reports99(3):799-802 SAGE Publications
AuthorsLester D, Zeyrek EY

Schopenhauer attributed will to both humans and objects, and commentators have dismissed the notion that objects have will. It is proposed that by focusing on our perception of the environment, rather than the environment itself, the theory of personality proposed by Angyal provides a way of attributing forces to both the individual and to the environment.

Journal article

Cronbach Alpha Reliability and Concurrent Validity of the Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale in a Turkish Sample

Featured June 2008 Psychological Reports102(3):706-708 SAGE Publications
AuthorsZeyrek EY, Lester D

In a sample of 100 Turkish undergraduates, the Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale had adequate interitem reliability and adequate concurrent validity with Templer's Death Anxiety Scale.

Journal article

A Taoist Orientation and Fears of Death and Dying

Featured February 2009 Perceptual and Motor Skills108(1):81-82 SAGE Publications
AuthorsZeyrek EY, Lester D

In samples of 100 Turkish undergraduates and 87 American undergraduates, having a Taoist orientation was not consistently associated with fear of death and dying.

Journal article

Suicidality, Problem-Solving Skills, Attachment Style, and Hopelessness in Turkish Students

Featured 18 September 2009 Death Studies33(9):815-827 Informa UK Limited
AuthorsZeyrek EY, Gençöz F, Bergman Y, Lester D

Among 180 Turkish university students, the probability of suicide was strongly predicted by both hopelessness and deficiencies in problem solving. In addition, for women, unhealthy attachment styles (preoccupied and dismissing) also predicted suicidality. The clinical implications of these findings are that psychotherapists should focus on helping suicidal adolescents improve their problem solving skills and decreasing their hopelessness and, for women, assisting them to develop healthier relationship styles. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Activities (2)

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Visiting fellow / Visiting professor

Postdoctoral Research Program & Visiting Professor

16 August 2022
Postdoctoral Research Program is based on the principle of appointing a researcher who has been working as a faculty member at any university in Türkiye or abroad or who works at a public or private institution, at METU for a temporary period of time after obtaining his/her doctoral degree. Within the scope of PRP, researchers are defined in 2 categories. 1) The academic staff who come to METU from any university in Türkiye or abroad upon the invitation of a faculty member working at METU to conduct research are defined as Visiting Scholars. 2) The researchers who plan to conduct postdoctoral research under the supervision of a faculty member at METU, and who work in a public or private institution are defined as Postdoctoral Researchers (See Article 3a); The aim of the program is to encourage visiting scholars or postdoctoral researchers to conduct joint research with METU faculty members who are competent in their field and to increase scientific interaction between them.
Journal editorial board

Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling

2022
Associate Editor

Teaching Activities (1)

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Research Award Supervision

Profiling the narrative experiences of survivors of human trafficking

01 February 2023 - 31 August 2023

Lead supervisor