Dr Jackie De Wet

This theoretical paper explores some prevailing discourses surrounding serial murder and that the existing debates surrounding serial murder, which adopted a singular theoretical focus, have offered one dimensional conceptualisations of the phenomenon. This singular focus has also permeated through to offender profiling practices which have been found to have limited empirical value. Within this discourse the argument is made that a clearer, integrated understanding of the personality development of serial murderers as well as the influence of the situational and environmental context on individual behaviour would be more consistent with contemporary conceptualisations of personality and behaviour. A psychosocial perspective is discussed which approaches the individual and exhibits behavioural patterns as being a product of both internal psychological processes and multiple situational, contextual, and environmental points of connection.

This article reflects research which aim is to increase our collective knowledge of the modus operandi of serial rapists in South Africa in an attempt to contribute to the prevention and prosecution of perpetrators. The sample consists of 22 convicted cases of serial rapists and reflects 204 victims. The authors note that a mere understanding of the modus operandi is not sufficient to fully understand the behaviour of the serial rapists. However, they draw attention to the argument that, understanding the perpetrator’s modus operandi has been recognised by both criminal investigators and academics as making a valuable contribution to understanding crimes including that of serial rapists. A behavioural checklist was developed to provide assistance with accounting for the chronological pattern of the crime from the time of victim acquisition to the actual attack. The rational choice perspective and routine activity theory were then used as an organising framework within which to analyse the strategies of the perpetrator. The results indicated that the modus operandi exhibited by serial rapists in South Africa differs from offenders in other countries. Aspects of the routine activity theory is contextualised and used to interpret the current findings. The authors highlight shortcomings of the current research and suggest how the current findings should form the basis of further research.

© 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. There is an abundance of literature on serial homicide from a Western perspective that outlines operational definitions, types of offenders and how they prey upon their victims. However, currently, there is a lack of studies that compare serial homicide in different countries. The current study aims to give an overview of the demographics of serial homicide offenders and victims in South Africa and compare these to the demographics of offenders and victims from other currently available empirical studies of other countries. The sample consisted of 33 out of the total 54 solved series in South Africa between 1936-2007, which includes a total of 33 offenders, 302 victims, and 254 crime scenes. Results of the sample as a whole showed that South African serial homicide offenders are similar to offenders in other countries in terms of their actions at the crime scene and victim choice, with some notable exceptions. Additional analysis looked at the offender's consistency of targeting certain types of victims across their homicide series in comparison with the patterns of serial homicide offenders in other countries.

A sample of serial rape cases (n = 23) consisting of 205 individual cases of rape that occurred in South Africa from 1996 to 2014 were studied with the aim of determining whether specific behavioural dimensions of offending could be identified in serial rape offences within the South African context and whether such dimensions are consistent and distinct across series. Despite the increase in empirically-based research on behavioural consistency of serial offenders, the application of these findings in different cultural contexts is limited. Behavioural variables were derived through content analysis of case files and police dockets which recorded the crime scene actions, and the behavioural dimensions were analysed through multidimensional scaling (MDS) analysis. Frequency analysis was conducted to ascertain the central behavioural elements, as well as to identify low frequency behaviours that have higher distinction value. Two MDS solutions identified three behavioural dimensional themes: Sexualised; Impersonal; and Hostile. The themes showed similar behavioural characteristics as identified in previous research. The findings did illustrate that behavioural elements exhibited by serial offenders in South Africa can be characterised in accordance with thematic classifications.

One of the most potent criminal influences which have spread through modern society is that of serial crime, particularly serial rape of females. In the South African context no research has been conducted on the phenomenon of serial rape and international research has limited application in the local context. This article will focus on the initial findings of an ongoing research project on serial rape in the South African context. The study used police records to determine the offender characteristics of nine male South African serial rapists who offended against 75 female adults and children in an attempt to lay the foundation for a scientific offender profile of these offenders, and to compare those characteristics to U.S. serial rape offenders.

Serial rape attracts much media attention and has become a topic of increased interest and concern. However, both locally and internationally, there is a paucity of empirically based research. The limited research which exists often does not focus on the victim as a “subject” which could contribute to solving existing cases or in curtailing the serial rapist. In this article, socio-demographic characteristics of 75 victims of serial rape, and how they were selected by the rapist were used to construct a general profile of the people who are the targets of the serial rapist. Factors or contexts which put women at risk are also identified and investigated. Comparisons are made between the characteristics of the victims of serial rapists in other countries, while comparisons are also made between the victims of single-victim rapists and those of the serial rapist. Of great concern is, amongst others, that the results indicate that in South Africa a large number of victims of the serial rapist are girl children. Limitations of the research are indicated, while a suggestion for future research concludes the article.