The Research and Training Center for Interview and Interrogation Techniques is one of the national police institutions located in the campus of the National Police Academy of Japan. The Center provides training courses in investigative interviewing to senior police officers from prefectural police headquarters who are responsible for training front-line police officers in their prefectures. The Center has trained the police officers using the textbook including psychological findings on investigative interviewing, especially “Cognitive Interview” and “PEACE Model,” developed and employed in Western countries. This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of the new training course mentioned above. Forty-five trainees (senior police officers) participated in this study. Before and after the training, participants interviewed mock witnesses who watched videos of mock thefts. The results showed that the participants elicited more information from the mock witnesses and were more likely to use open-ended questions after the training. This result demonstrated the effectiveness of the new training.

The aim of this study was to identify risk factors for recidivism of female offenders in Japan, and to classify them by those factors. The subjects were comprised 1,154 female convicted inmates who were released from penal institutions across Japan. Investigated were recidivism within two years with the possible variables that were thought to predict the re-offending, by referring to existing research. As a result of survival analysis (Kaplan–Meier estimation method), there were significant differences between groups in many variables of index crime, criminal history, family history, academic achievement/work, and psychiatric problems. Three clusters were extracted by K-means method for these variables. Each cluster had significant difference in the recidivism rate, criminal tendency, familial and working situations, and psychiatric problems. We discuss an appropriate treatment methodology based on the characteristics of each cluster.

Prison-based therapeutic community for drug abusers in U.S. shows some evidence to be effective in reducing recidivism. This study evaluates a prison-based therapeutic community for variety of inmates in Japan to determine if Japanese prison-based therapeutic community also achieve to this effect. The data included 2665 male inmates released from Prison A between February 2009 and March 2015. The participants were divided into cohorts; TC participant cohort of 148 and all other 2517. Having conducted statistical compensation by propensity score matching method and adjusting for confounding factors, the effectiveness of the TC was reviewed based on whether or not subjects returned to prison. The results showed that the TC participants had a significantly lower rate of repeat incarceration (p＝0.020) and longer survival-day-count (p＝0.009). This study shows therapeutic communities could be implemented in Japanese prisons and effective to reduce recidivism for variety of inmates.

For many sex offenders, failure to form an attachment with the mother may have a negative impact on attachment style, and can be linked to sex offences (Marshall et al., 1993). For this reason, considering the relationship between the sex offender and his mother is warranted. This study aimed to examine the attachment styles of sex offenders with their mothers. The participants of this study was comprised of 1,226 males (sex offenders n＝262, non-sex offenders n＝964) currently incarcerated in Japan. The results of the analysis demonstrated the following: 1) there was no discrepancy between sex offenders and non-sex offenders in terms of their relationship with their mother, and sex offenders did not have significantly worse relationships with their mothers than those who committed other crimes; 2) regardless of the charge, the more negative the relationship with the mother, the less complete the attachment style; 3) attachment style was less stable (“anxiety” is higher) in sex offenders than non-sex offenders; and 4) regardless of the type of conviction, the more negative the mother–child relationship, the more likely the attachment style to be insecure.

Offender profiling (OP) has been romanticized in the media. The purpose of this study is to investigate the image of OP amongst common people and the effect of this image on the expectation and reliability of OP. The results of a questionnaire survey on the image of OP among profilers, police officers, and common people showed that the expectation and reliability of OP was the lowest among common people between the three groups. The exploratory factor analysis identified three factors that represent understanding regarding OP: understandings regarding the ability of OP, science of OP, and its relation to the existing investigative strategies. After constructing a hypothetical model assuming the relation between the three factors of understanding and the expectation/reliability of OP, the model was evaluated with multiple group structural equation modeling. The significant differences in the three factors between the profilers and other groups suggested that police officers and common people evaluated the expectation and reliability of OP with incorrect knowledge. Improvement in the expectation and reliability of OP based on the suggested effects of the three factors was discussed.

This study examined the transitions among sexual crimes in 519 sexual offenders, as well as the relationships between sexual and theft crimes. The author analyzed a dataset of 519 sexual offenders who had together committed a total of 15 crimes. The results of a correspondence analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis revealed that the 7 sexual crimes could be categorized into three types along two dimensions (where the crime took place and whether physical contact was involved): (1) contact type (e.g., indoor and outdoor rape, indecent assault including against youth), (2) non-contact type (e.g., exhibitionism and voyeurism), and (3) theft type (e.g., undergarment theft). The eight theft crimes were also classified into three types: (1) theft through breaking and entering (e.g., residential or commercial burglary), (2) vehicle theft (e.g., motor, motorcycle, and bicycle), and (3) non-breaking-and-entering theft (e.g., theft from a vehicle or shoplifting). The results suggested that (1) indecent assault offenders tend to transition to indoor rapes and (2) exhibitionists tend to transition to indecent assaults against youth. Furthermore, the contact type was moderately associated with vehicle theft, while indoor rapes specifically were related to theft through breaking and entering. The non-contact type was weakly connected to theft crimes.

In criminal psychology there is considerable evidence using meta-analysis in juvenile delinquency and recidivism. The aim of the current study was to examine an effect of child guidance centers in Japan on recidivism in juveniles under 14 years old who violated punitive laws and orders. I collected 344 delinquent case data (82 recidivisms) from archives of child guidance centers; the longest observational period was five years in this study which adopted survival time analysis. Kaplan–Meier estimator showed the three interaction effects between continuous interviews, especially in four or more times, for parents and given child and cases characteristics of (1) family with biological parents, (2) law-breaking with accomplice, and (3) violation of special law which is excepting criminal law. Furthermore results indicated that (a) maltreated experience of delinquents could increase the risk of recidivism remarkably and (b) child self-support facilities can have suppression effects on recidivism but may loss the effects after leaving the institutions. The author concludes that there are a few advantages and a lot of tasks to address for delinquents in child guidance centers.

This research focuses on the Victims’ Statement of Opinion System started in 2000 and the Victim Participation System started in 2008. The research explores evaluations of the systems by bereaved families of crime victims using both systems and their understanding of matters such as their meanings and issues. In our survey, we received the cooperation of 97 members of families bereaved by crimes such as traffic offenses and murder. In addition to ask them to evaluate the systems, we requested them to describe in free form the “meaning of the system,” “issues in the system,” and “points you kept in mind when using the system.” Both systems were highly evaluated by the bereaved families. Moreover, statements such as “we were able to communicate our feelings and opinions directly to the defendants, judges, and others through the system” and “the system enabled us to arrange our thoughts and feelings” facilitated positive evaluations. Conversely, statements such as “I did not know how what I said was taken by defendants and judges” and “we had lack of support from experts and experienced people” inhibited positive evaluations.