23/02/2026 - Weekly Research Summary

Lee, N. et al. 2026. Perspectives on improving communication during police interviews: insights from police officers and individuals convicted of child sexual abuse. Journal of Sexual Aggression. 

“The research demonstrated that interviewing officers need to understand child abuser grooming behaviours, motivations, implicit theories, and cognitive distortions in order to minimise dominance and negative behaviours in interview. This has led to the development of two research-based training courses, compliant with UK legislation and practice, that are focused on enhancing child sex abuser suspect interviews.” 

Merola, M. et al. 2026. Preaching to the fire: evaluating attributes of homicides involving the use of fire. Homicide Studies.  

“Using a non-random convenience sample of 71 homicides involving the use of fire, we examined victim, offender, and incident characteristics, with an emphasis on differences between arson homicides and homicide crime concealment, offenders with convictions for domestic violence, and multi-offender and multi-victim incidents.” 

Meyrick, J. et al. 2026. Across landscapes and lifespan: causes and solutions of gender-based violence from survivors of sexual violence against women and girls (VAWG). Journal of Sexual Aggression.  

“This study listened to 13 survivors across 3 focus groups in one UK region. Questions focused on sexual violence terminology, settings and perceptions of safety. Challenges around reporting and policy revisions were discussed.” 

Rossouw, Z. et al. 2026. The stranger you know: predicting victim-offender relationships in sexual homicides by comparing offender behaviors by crime location. Journal of Criminal Psychology. 

“Although crime location is known to matter in sexual homicides, it remains unclear whether predictors of the victim–offender relationship differ between indoor and outdoor settings. This exploratory study aims to examine whether these predictors distinguishing stranger and offenders known to the victim vary across crime scene locations.” 

Swancott, L. et al. 2026. "County lines" and child criminal exploitation in the UK: a secondary data analysis of focus groups with young people who attended a theatre-in-education programme. Journal of Sexual Aggression.  

"This study completed a secondary data analysis on focus group data collected as part of a Theatre-in-Education (TiE) programme evaluation, which aims to teach young people about types of exploitation through a performance and workshop approach.” 

Wynter, H. et al. 2026. The dangerisation of drill music in Western Sydney: cultural signifiers, pre-crime policing and the decline of the presumption of innocence. Current Issues in Criminal Justice. 

“In this article, we examine the gradual development of legislation that undermined the presumption of innocence, and the mechanisms of dangerisation that associate serious crime with certain genres of music and performing musicians.”