How do YOU measure evil? Online survey hopes to create a global standard used to rate depraved crimes in court

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How do YOU measure evil? Online survey hopes to create a global standard used to rate depraved crimes in court

Posted by sciencetech-blog on Wednesday, November 26, 2014 Label:

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With depraved crimes ranging from terrorism to rape and murder, how do you measure exactly what makes a crime evil - and how evil is one crime compared to another?

A forensic psychiatrist is hoping to quantify this idea by surveying millions of adults to establish what he calls a Depravity Standard.

Using an online survey, Dr Michael Welner is hoping the standard will be used alongside legal precedent to help juries analyse cases more objectively.

The Depravity Standard was created by forensic psychiatrist Dr Michael Welner. Dr Welner said it would be used in courts alongside legal precedent to standardise what constitutes an evil crime, such as genocide (Adolf Hitler left), terrorism (Osama Bin Laden left), rape and more

The Depravity Standard survey was created by Dr Welner and the Forensic Panel in New York.

It begins by asking participants for details about their income, level of education and whether they have ever been sentenced to prison. It also asks questions about their views on the death penalty.

Users are then randomly assigned a number.

As the survey explained: 'We are interested in the public's opinion of depravity as it presents itself in different types of crime.

'[Participants] are randomly assigned to one of four crime categories to help us best understand how to most accurately distinguish depravity in crime, in a way that most closely reflects the attitudes of you and the broader community.

The survey (pictured) begins by asking participants for details about their income, level of education and whether they have ever been sentenced to prison. It also asks questions about their views on the death penalty. Users are then randomly assigned a number which relates to a criminal offence category

For example, the study asks the participant to imagine they are on a jury, considering the severity of a sex crime. Participants are then presented with 25 items and are asked to rate them from one to 100 - with 100 being the most extreme depravity (pictured)

'In this study, we are interested in how you view depravity based on your experience, and how your perspective of depravity may differ from or be similar to others.'

For example, the study asks the participant to imagine they are on a jury, considering the severity of a sex crime.

Participants are then presented with 25 items and are asked to rate them from one to 100 - with 100 being the most extreme depravity.

Each item has a drop-down menu option so people can add longer descriptions and examples for each item.

Users are also encouraged to think about the degree of depravity of each item relative to other answers.

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF 'ANGELS OF DEATH'

Experts have identified characteristics, or 'red flags' of nurses who become serial killers.

Published in the Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, the study was carried out by Professor David Wilson and Dr Elizabeth Yardley of the Centre for Applied Criminology from Birminghan City University.

It was based on 16 cases from over 37 years.

Their examination of hospital-based nurses convicted of serial murder in Europe and North America between 1977 and 2009 used a criminological checklist of 22 factors - or 'red flags'.

The most common red flags are making colleagues anxious, being in possession of drugs at home or in a locker, if the person appears to have a personality disorder, depression, history of mental instability as well as higher incidences of death on his or her shift.

According to the research, the findings could be used to improve early identification of so-called Angels of Death.

Professor Wilson said: 'We hope that this research might help hospital administrators to think more critically when they notice a spike in deaths on a particular ward, rather than relying on crude statistical analyses related to particular nurses and their shift patterns. Inevitably that method will lead to miscarriages of justice.'

The authors caution, however, that increased instances of death needs to be considered against other criteria and not simply in isolation.

For example, if a user finds they have scored two items with the same number they should consider if they find them to be equal, and therefore deserve the same rating.

If they don't agree, they can change a previous response and save their progress throughout.

In the case of the sex crimes category, participants are asked to rate the depravity of the criminal carrying out the offense to cause physical disfigurement, exploiting a trusted relationship, and targeting vulnerable and helpless victims.

According to Dr Welner, the Depravity Standard would be used in courts alongside legal precedent.

It would attempt to standardise what constitutes an evil crime, based on the views of people globally.

Dr Welner told FoxNews: 'In criminal courts today, the decision to charge a case as heinous, atrocious, cruel, depraved or vile rests with the prosecuting authority because the law does not include a standard to what constitutes an evil crime.'

He hopes the standard would prevent decisions being made based on jury bias, political allegiances or sensationalism.

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