Your Echo
TEXT PHOTOS, VIDEOS + NEWS TO 80360, TYPE BE, THEN LEAVE A SPACE BEFORE YOUR MESSAGE OR E-MAIL »
University stirs up debate over child killers
7:00pm Monday 28th April 2008
Comments (8)RESEARCH into child killers by Bournemouth University has forced its authors into a contentious conclusion.
They believe "Ian Huntley-type" personalities should have to prove they are safe to live among us before they are let out of prison - even if they haven't killed anyone.
The authors, in a paper published last week, found they were 1,880 times as likely to kill a child as the average person.
Prof Colin Pritchard from the school of social sciences said: "It's against human rights - but these men frighten me.
"I am hoping the paper will start a genuine debate."
The research was based on murders investigated by two police forces in what the authors would only describe as "Wessex" and on coroners' reports.
Prof Pritchard and Tony Sayer looked at "VMCCSA" offenders - they used violence, committed multiple types of crimes (burglary and theft, for example), and were also child sex offenders.
They found these "Ian Huntley" style people were rare, with only around 900 in the country, and that only two per cent of them went on to kill.
But the researchers decided that anyone in this category should have to prove they were not a risk to the community before they were released.
Children are far more likely to die from natural causes, car crashes or to be killed by their own parents.
But as individuals, the VMCCSA men are deadly.
Prof Pritchard said: "However, this two per cent as a risk to children, is more than 300 times the rate of children dying from cancer.
"If we can identify such men before they kill, what to do about them?"
The paper was published in the British Journal of Social Work.
Your Say YourBournemouth Echo
2Much, New Forest says...
6:29am Tue 29 Apr 08
As for the research...getting a bit tired of researchers stating the bleedin' obvious! Just the other day on the radio...researchers discovered that 92% of house burglaries were committed by unemployed people...lol
anselm, Pokesdown says...
8:58am Tue 29 Apr 08
I'm afraid it is you who are simple if you cannot even grasp the basic gist of this article. I trust that that is not the case though.
laurie marsh, australia says...
10:27am Tue 29 Apr 08
IF NOT, THEY HAVE TO PROVE THAT THEY WILL NOT OFFEND.
WHERE DOES THIS STOP?
SOCIETY HAS TO PROTECT ITS WOMEN AND CHILDREN BUT HOW FAR COULD A THING LIKE THIS GO IN THE WRONG HANDS?
2Much, New Forest says...
2:32pm Tue 29 Apr 08
anselm wrote:"But the researchers decided that anyone in this category (Ian Huntley Types)should have to prove they were not a risk to the community before they were released"
I think you've both missed the point here. While one would obviously agree that if one of these men has killed someone they should remain locked up, what Prof Pritchard is suggesting, as far as i can gather, is that all men fitting into this category (only 2 have murdered) should have to prove that they are not going to go on to murder after release for a more minor crime. I'm afraid it is you who are simple if you cannot even grasp the basic gist of this article. I trust that that is not the case though.
Am i simple to believe that these men shouldn't be given the chance to "prove" themselves?
sisyphus, Newtown says...
6:07pm Tue 29 Apr 08
HAL101, Bournemouth says...
8:24pm Tue 29 Apr 08
RESEARCH into child killers by Bournemouth University has forced its authors into a contentious conclusion.
They believe "Ian Huntley-type" personalities should have to prove they are safe to live among us before they are let out of prison - even if they haven't killed anyone.
As they cannot do this the conclusion is impractical, unrealistic and a waste of tax money on pointless research.
The answer to the treatment and cure of the homicidal psychopath will be found via serious and formal scientific method; sometime in the future when social sciences catch up with technological sciences, if they ever do!
In the meanwhile, they need to be caged for the protection of the civil liberties of the population as a whole.
HAL101, Bournemouth says...
8:28pm Tue 29 Apr 08
In the meanwhile, they need to be caged for the protection of the civil liberties of the population as a whole.
Not the social sciences, but the homicidal psychopaths - or perhaps - ?
In this section
- Plea to stop teens’ lethal sea-jumping
- Estate agent who hit girl ‘was idiot’
- Company boss loses appeal over conviction
- Bournemouth teenager saves pet from savage attack
- Floating a new solution to carnival travel ban
- Traders face huge repair bill after Wimborne fire
- Diver safe after three-hour rescue operation
- Dorset pupils are warned over swine flu virus exposure
- Don't miss our school proms supplement on Tuesday
- Review: Britain’s Got Talent Live! Grand Finale, Windsor Hall, BIC
Sponsored Links
Local Advertisers
Local Information
Enter your postcode, town or place name
HAL101, Bournemouth says...
9:39pm Mon 28 Apr 08
Yes! What is there to discuss - apart from the positive diagnosis?
Prof Colin Pritchard, from the school of social sciences, appears to be rather simple. How do these people get into positions of power? I hope that we do not pay these people for their 'research'.