Exploring the risk of resulting in homicide and suicide in Spanish missing person cases

Néstor García-Barceló; Miguel Ángel Alcázar Córcoles; Javier Revuelta Menéndez; Penny Woolnough; José Luis González Álvarez

doi:10.1007/s10610-023-09536-y

Exploring the risk of resulting in homicide and suicide in Spanish missing person cases

Néstor García-Barceló^*
, Miguel Ángel Alcázar Córcoles
, Javier Revuelta Menéndez
, Penny Woolnough
, José Luis González Álvarez

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Sociological and Psychological Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

112 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The study explores in depth the relationship between missing persons’ psychosocial and criminological characteristics/circumstances and violent-fatal outcomes (suicide and homicide). A relational analytical explicative study of 929 cases and controls was designed using a retrospective and stratified design. Data gathering was conducted through the content analysis of judicial and police information, as well as the development of psychological autopsy techniques and semi-structured interviews with the persons involved in the missing person cases including offenders in prison. Bivariate and multivariate statistical techniques were utilised for analyses. The findings showed that there are different risk and protective factors which can distinguish between good state of health, suicide, and homicide outcomes. This research entails implications for prevention and police risk assessment system.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	545–565
Number of pages	21
Journal	European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research
Volume	30
Issue number	4
Early online date	13 Mar 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10610-023-09536-y
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2024

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Keywords

Homicide
Suicide
Missing persons
Risk assessment
Risk factors
Prevention

Access to Document

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Woolnough_ExploringTheRisk_Published_2024Final published version, 748 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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AU - Woolnough, Penny

AU - González Álvarez, José Luis

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Exploring the risk of resulting in homicide and suicide in Spanish missing person cases

Abstract

UN SDGs

Keywords

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