An Examination of Noncompleted Sexual Offences, Offenders’ Perceptions of Risks and Difficulties and Related Situational Factors

• Author: Benoit Leclerc,Danielle Reynald,Richard Wortley,Alana Cook,Jesse Cale
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/00224278221085244
• Published date: 01 November 2022
• Date: 01 November 2022
• Subject Matter: Original Research Articles

An Examination of

Noncompleted

Sexual Offences,

Offenders’

Perceptions of Risks

and Diff‌iculties and

Related Situational

Factors

Benoit Leclerc, PhD

1

,

Danielle Reynald, PhD

1

,

Richard Wortley, PhD

2

,

Alana Cook, PhD

3

, and Jesse Cale, PhD

4

Abstract

Objectives: The current study aims to generate insights from sexual offend-

ers on noncompleted sexual offences, that is, on offences that were

stopped or discouraged. Methods: Using a sample of sexual offend ers

1

School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Mt Gravatt Campus, Griff‌ith University,

Queensland 4111, Australia

2

Jill Dando Institute of Security and Crime Science, University College London, 35 Tavistock

Square, London WC1H 9EZ

3

New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, Level 1, Henry Deane Building,

20 Lee Street, Sydney NSW, 2000, Australia

4

School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Gold Coast Campus, Griff‌ith University,

Queensland 4222, Australia

Corresponding Author:

Benoit Leclerc, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Mt Gravatt Campus, Griff‌ith

University, Queensland 4111, Australia.

Email: b.leclerc@griff‌ith.edu.au

Original Research Article

Journal of Research in Crime and

Delinquency

2022, Vol. 59(6) 791-819

© The Author(s) 2022

Article reuse guidelines:

sagepub.com/journals-permissions

DOI: 10.1177/00224278221085244

journals.sagepub.com/home/jrc

who initiated a sexual offence but were stopped or discouraged in action,

which we refer to as noncompleted offences, we f‌irst examine which and

how situational factors and internal states may affect their assessment of

risks of apprehension and diff‌iculties in this context. Second, we examine

whether situational factors, internal states as well as perceived risks and dif-

f‌iculties can predict offence noncompletion. Linear and logistic regression

models were estimated based on the type of offence (noncompleted sexual

offences against women or children). Results: Main f‌indings indicate that

victim physical resistance is critical for how sex offenders are perceiving dif-

f‌iculties related to offending against women. The presence of a person

nearby and victim resistance are predictive of noncompletion of sexual

offences against children. Conclusion: This is a critical line of research

because knowledge on the factors and circumstances that can discourage

or stop offenders from committing crimes can be used by scholars and

practitioners to think of prevention initiatives to reduce opportunities of

crime.

Introduction

In his presidential address to the American Society of Criminology in 2010,

Cullen (2011) argued that the future of criminology lies in producing “scien-

tif‌ic knowledge that is capable of improving offenders’lives and reducing

crime”(p. 287). As part of his proposed agenda towards this goal, he called

on criminologists to 1) ‘understand criminal decision-making’,2)‘know some-

thing about the crime event’and, 3) ‘talk to offenders’(pp. 313–16). Despite

Cullen’s recommendations, there remains an overwhelming imbalance in favor

of criminological research that seeks to understand the causes of crim inal pro-

pensity over research on offender decision making and crime event s.

It has been argued that offenders themselves are a highly valuable source

of information for understanding how and under which circumstances they

commit their crime and informing prevention practices (e.g., Bernasco 2010;

Jacques and Bonobo 2016; Leclerc and Wortley 2013; Wortley et al. 2019).

What offenders have to say regarding which factors affect their decision to

proceed with the commission of an offence is also promising for further

understanding offender decision-making in general (e.g., Bernasco 2010;

Gill 2016; Jacques and Bonobo 2016; Jacques and Reynald 2012;

Lindegaard and Bernasco 2016). Examining noncompleted offences specif-

ically through the eyes of offenders and which situational or individual

decision-making factors (as well as interaction of these factors) may lead to

792 Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 59(6)