The purpose of this study was to provide basic information about extortion by written threat. Cases were classified, and the relationships between the behavioral typologies of extortion by written threat and offenders' characteristics were examined. The data used in this study were collected from solved extortion cases that occurred in Japan between 2004 and 2012 (N=414). A correspondence analysis identified two dimensions among five behavioral variables: “anonymity” and “use of victim's guilt.” The object scores obtained by correspondence analysis were analyzed using a hierarchical cluster analysis. The results of this analysis indicated that offenders could be classified into three types: “low anonymity/low use of victim's guilt,” “low anonymity/high use of victim's guilt” and “high anonymity.” The relationships between each of these three types of offenders and their characteristics were also analyzed. “Low anonymity/low use of victim's guilt” offenders were under the age of 30 and targeted their friends/acquaintances. “Low anonymity/high use of victim's guilt” offenders were motivated by resentment and targeted their spouses/lovers or former sex partners. “High anonymity” offenders were in their 50s or older, extorting from companies to cover their cost of living or to get out of debt.

There have been researches regarding unrealistic expectations of abusive parents on abused children. Data in child guidance centers were collected and were classified into four groups: (1) maltreated children rated by their abusive parents (Mal-Pr), (2) maltreated children rated by careworkers (Mal-Cw), (3) non-maltreated comparisons rated by their parents (Non-Pr), and (4) non-maltreated comparisons rated by careworkers (Non-Cw). Both the Social Maturity scale and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-fourth edition had been administered. A discrepancy between the social quotient and intelligence quotient was defined operationally as an unrealistic expectation of raters. Linear mixed model was applied to analyze a group difference with age factor set as a random effect and thus showed that the discrepancy of the Mal-Pr group was higher than that of the Non-Pr group significantly, F[3, 126.3]=4.54, p=0.005. Cognitive biases were discussed as possible factors to occur the unrealistic expectation in abusive parents. The author concludes that the findings that revealed the presence of the unrealistic expectation suggest an effective clue for support and train the abusive parents in child guidance centers.

Motives for single and serial cases of arson in the recent 10 years in Japan were classified by using text-mining. In Study 1, the author analyzed 67 nouns in the confessions of 253 single arsonists, by using classical multi-dimensional scaling (cMDS) with weighted Euclidean distances. The coordinate data obtained from cMDS were analyzed by hierarchical clustering (Ward method, Euclidean distances). The results indicated that the 67 nouns could be classified into 7 clusters. These clusters were interpreted as single cases of arson motivated by (1) revenge, (2) suicide, (3) frustration, (4) secondary crimes, including concealment of theft or dissatisfaction of a failed crime, (5) insurance fraud, (6) vandalism, and (7) gloomy pessimism. In Study 2, 44 nouns were analyzed in the confessions of 127 serial arsonists by using the identical method in Study 1. The results showed that the motives of serial arsonists could be divided into 5 clusters: (1) frustration, related to gambling losses, among others, (2) frustration, related to working or failure in job hunting, among others, (3) fire tumult, (4) unfair resentment against the police, and (5) secondary crimes. Furthermore, this study suggested that the core motive for single arson was revenge and that for serial arson was frustration.