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Non-consensual intimate media sharing (NCIMS)—defined as the non-consensual sharing of sexually explicit images or videos—has notably increased in recent years, despite legislative actions to tackle this. This study aimed to investigate whether the Dark Triad traits of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy—as well as sex and social desirability—predicted NCIMS proclivity, enjoyment, and approval in UK university students. A total of 653 participants were recruited through Prolific, the University of Birmingham survey circle, and social media. All participants completed various measures to assess self-reported levels of Dark Triad traits, social desirability, and NCIMS proclivity, enjoyment, and approval. The results showed that the models for each multiple linear regression (NCIMS proclivity, enjoyment, and approval) were statistically significant, though only certain variables were independent predictors for each regression. For proclivity, only psychopathy independently added to the prediction. For enjoyment, significant predictors were sex, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. For approval, only Machiavellianism added statistically to the prediction. This research adds to the growing literature base around NCIMS, specifically within university students in the UK, and provides strong evidence for the development and implementation of interventions designed to address the likelihood of individuals perpetrating NCIMS.

We examined how encoding view influences the information that is stored in and retrieved from memory during an eyewitness identification task. Participants watched a mock crime and we varied the angle from which they viewed the perpetrator. In Experiment 1, participants ( N  = 2904) were tested with a static photo lineup; the viewing angle of the lineup members was the same or different from the perpetrator at encoding. In Experiment 2, participants ( N  = 1430) were tested with a novel interactive lineup in which they could rotate the lineup faces into any angle. In both experiments, discrimination accuracy was greater when the viewing angle at encoding and test matched. Participants reinstated the angle of the interactive faces to match their encoding angle. Our results highlight the importance of encoding specificity for eyewitness identification, and show that people actively seek out information in the testing environment that matches the study environment to aid memory retrieval.

ObjectivesThis study examined patterns of sexual violence against adults and children in Kenya during the COVID-19 pandemic to inform sexual violence prevention, protection, and response efforts.DesignA prospective cross-sectional research design was used with data collected from March to August 2020.SettingKenya.Participants317 adults, 224 children.Main measuresPerpetrator and survivor demographic data, characteristics of the assault.ResultsBivariate analyses found that children were more likely than adults to be attacked during daytime (59% vs 44%, p<0.001) by a single perpetrator rather than multiple perpetrators (31% vs 13%, p<0.001) in a private as opposed to a public location (66% vs 45%, p<0.001) and by someone known to the child (76% vs 58%, p<0.001). Children were violated most often by neighbours (29%) and family members (20%), whereas adults were equally likely to be attacked by strangers (41%) and persons known to them (59%). These variables were entered as predictors into a logistic regression model that significantly predicted the age group of the survivor, χ2(5, n=541)=53.3, p<0.001.ConclusionsPatterns of sexual violence against adult and child survivors during the COVID-19 pandemic are different, suggesting age-related measures are needed in national emergency plans to adequately address sexual violence during the pandemic and for future humanitarian crises.

Eyewitness-identification studies have focused on the idea that unfair lineups (i.e., ones in which the police suspect stands out) make witnesses more willing to identify the police suspect. We examined whether unfair lineups also influence subjects' ability to distinguish between innocent and guilty suspects and their ability to judge the accuracy of their identification. In a single experiment (N = 8,925), we compared three fair-lineup techniques used by the police with unfair lineups in which we did nothing to prevent distinctive suspects from standing out. Compared with the fair lineups, doing nothing not only increased subjects' willingness to identify the suspect but also markedly impaired subjects' ability to distinguish between innocent and guilty suspects. Accuracy was also reduced at every level of confidence. These results advance theory on witnesses' identification performance and have important practical implications for how police should construct lineups when suspects have distinctive features.

This article discusses the latest research that reveals that children seem to be facing new risks of sexual violence in Kenya during the COVID-19 pandemic. The evidence suggests there have been changes in patterns of sexual offenses against children coincident with lockdowns, curfews, and school closures. In particular, emerging evidence from Kenya suggests that child victims are younger, more likely to be victimized by a neighbor in a private residence, and in the daytime, compared to pre-pandemic. We conclude that situational crime prevention strategies that focus on providing alternative safe venues to reduce offending opportunities must be a central part of a public health approach to reduce children's vulnerability during crises such as COVID-19.

A typical police lineup contains a photo of one suspect (who is innocent in a target-absent lineup and guilty in a target-present lineup) plus photos of five or more fillers who are known to be innocent. To create a fair lineup in which the suspect does not stand out, two filler selection methods are commonly used. In the first, fillers are selected if they are similar in appearance to the suspect. In the second, fillers are selected if they possess facial features included in the witness’s description of the culprit (e.g., “20-y-old white male”). The police sometimes use a combination of the two methods by selecting description-matched fillers whose appearance is also similar to that of the suspect in the lineup. Decades of research on which approach is better remains unsettled. Here, we tested a counterintuitive prediction made by a formal model based on signal detection theory: From a pool of acceptable description-matched photos, selecting fillers whose appearance is otherwise dissimilar to the suspect should increase the hit rate without affecting the false-alarm rate (increasing discriminability). In Experiment 1, we confirmed this prediction using a standard mock-crime paradigm. In Experiment 2, the effect on discriminability was reversed (as also predicted by the model) when fillers were matched on similarity to the perpetrator in both target-present and target-absent lineups. These findings suggest that signal-detection theory offers a useful theoretical framework for understanding eyewitness identification decisions made from a police lineup.

Rationale False face recognition rates are sometimes higher when faces are learned while under the influence of alcohol. Alcohol myopia theory (AMT) proposes that acute alcohol intoxication during face learning causes people to attend to only the most salient features of a face, impairing the encoding of less salient facial features. Yet, there is currently no direct evidence to support this claim. Objectives Our objective was to test whether acute alcohol intoxication impairs face learning by causing subjects to attend to a salient (i.e., distinctive) facial feature over other facial features, as per AMT. Methods We employed a balanced placebo design ( N  = 100). Subjects in the alcohol group were dosed to achieve a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.06 %, whereas the no alcohol group consumed tonic water. Alcohol expectancy was controlled. Subjects studied faces with or without a distinctive feature (e.g., scar, piercing). An old-new recognition test followed. Some of the test faces were “old” (i.e., previously studied), and some were “new” (i.e., not previously studied). We varied whether the new test faces had a previously studied distinctive feature versus other familiar characteristics. Results Intoxicated and sober recognition accuracy was comparable, but subjects in the alcohol group made more positive identifications overall compared to the no alcohol group. Conclusions The results are not in keeping with AMT. Rather, a more general cognitive mechanism appears to underlie false face recognition in intoxicated subjects. Specifically, acute alcohol intoxication during face learning results in more liberal choosing, perhaps because of an increased reliance on familiarity.

When constructing lineups for suspects with distinctive facial features (e.g., scars, tattoos, piercings), current police guidelines in several countries state that the distinctive suspect must not stand out. To this end, police officers sometimes artificially replicate a suspect’s distinctive feature across the other lineup members (replication); other times, they conceal the feature on the suspect and conceal a similar area on the other members by pixelating the area (pixelation), or covering the area with a solid rectangle (block). Although these three techniques are used frequently, little research has examined their efficacy. This thesis investigates how the lineup techniques for distinctive suspects influence eyewitness identification performance and, in doing so, tests the predictions of a new model of eyewitness decision-making—the diagnostic-feature-detection model (Wixted & Mickes, 2014). The research uses a standard eyewitness identification paradigm and signal detection statistics to examine how replication, pixelation, and block techniques influence identification performance: [1] compared to doing nothing to stop the distinctive suspect from standing out; [2] in young, middle-aged and older adults; and [3] when the culprit does not have the feature during the crime. It also examines [4] how variation in the way the suspect’s feature is replicated influences identification performance. The results converge to suggest that all three lineup techniques currently used by the police to accommodate distinctive suspects are equally effective and, when the culprit has the feature at the time of the crime, all enhance people’s ability to discriminate between innocent and guilty suspects more than doing nothing to prevent a distinctive suspect from standing out. All three lineup techniques enable people of all ages to make highly confident decisions when they are likely to be accurate. These findings align with the predictions of the diagnostic-feature-detection model, which suggests that the model remains a viable theory of eyewitness decision-making.

This chapter examines research on the effects of acute alcohol intoxication and other drugs on memory performance. In laboratory eyewitness memory studies, alcohol intoxication has been found to reduce the quantity but not the accuracy of memory reports. People who were alcohol-intoxicated during the crime can also perform similarly on person identification tasks, although recent research with field participants indicates identification responses may be more liberal with relatively high doses. Finally, there is limited research on the effects of drugs on eyewitness memory. Research to date suggests memory reports are less complete but no less accurate when eyewitnesses were under the influence of cannabis compared to sober during the crime. The implications for the legal system are considered.