2.3 Criminological Classifications: Victim Exposure Analysis

This phase of building a profile gives important information on how the killer committed his crime. It is the amount of exposure to harmful elements experienced by the victim. The victim exposure is basically calculated based on age, gender, physical stature, resistance capability, job, lifestyle, situation of the victim in the daily life (if the victims lives a life of habits or lives spontaneously), and the mindset of the victim at the time of the offense.

Von Henting gave a list of categories of people that have a higher risk of victim exposure,by the simple fact of belonging to their category: the young (children and infants), the women, the old, the mentally defective or deranged, the immigrants, the minorities, the "dull-normal" (simple minded people), the depressed, the acquisitive (greedy people looking for quick gain), the wanton (promiscuous people), the lonesome and heartbroken, the tormentors (abusive parents).

The types of exposure are:

- Low exposure: concerns an individual whose personal, professional and social life does not normally expose him or her to a possibility of suffering harm or loss. (ex: male fitness trainer who has a rich social life and is never alone and lives with a roommate)

- Medium exposure: concerns an individual whose personal, professional and social life can expose him or her to a possibility of suffering harm or loss. (ex: a woman who is cautious but open and tends to trust people easily)

- High exposure: concerns an individual whose personal, professional and social life continuously exposes him or her to the danger of suffering harm or loss (ex: a women who works at night and has to walk home alone, a home where she also live alone, or a prostitute)

- Lifestyle exposure: is the amount of exposure to harmful elements experienced by the victim and resulting from the victim's usual environment and personal traits (gays are usually high exposure victims because of the promiscuity of their way of life and how easily they engage in sexual relationships with total strangers picked up in a bar or a club)

- Situational exposure: is the amount of exposure to harmful elements experienced by the victim and resulting from the environment and traits at the time of the victimization (can be a victim alone in the woods, or depressive, or under the influence of drugs or alcohol)

Situational exposure refers to the environment but also the victim's state of mind or perception of reality at the time of the victimization. So you also have to research if emotional elements that could have increased the risk of exposure of the victim:

- private: such as depression

- sentimental: a dispute or a break-up

- professional: loss of employment

The killer can seem to prey on low exposure victims who, because in a state of stress or trauma at the time of the offense, become medium or high risk victims. He would then not be highly organized and sophisticated, but simply organized and opportunistic

In this section, we also need to talk about the risk taken by the killer. The offender exposure analysis refers to the amount of exposure to discovery, identification or apprehension experienced by the offender.

- MO exposure is the degree to which an offender's MO exposes him to discovery, identification or apprehension. The more skill, planning and precautionary acts evidenced by an offender, the lower the offender may perceive his or her own risk to be caught or identified. Low MO exposure applies to offenders who evidence a high amount of skills, planning and precautionary acts before, during and after a crime. High MO exposure applies to offenders who evidence a low amount of skills, planning and precautionary acts before, during and after a crime.

- Offender situational exposure is the amount of exposure to discovery, identification or apprehension experienced by the offender resulting from personal traits and environment at the time of the attack.

Offender behavior according to victim exposure level and environment exposure level

	High victim exposure	Medium victim exposure	Low victim exposure
High environment exposure	The killer does not take risks. He is highly unorganized, impulsive, immature and necrophiliac tendencies (opportunistic killing). Can be organized if he tortures the victim on the spot.	Killer is able to easily start a conversation. But he quickly switches to a blitz attack considering the very isolated place.	Very organized and sadistic killer. Takes pleasure in chatting with, raping and torturing a victim that is capable to fight back, even bound. But he can be unorganized*, or even necrophiliac.
Medium environment exposure	The killer knows the environment. Globally unorganized (the victim profile is prevalent). The attack is reduced to a blitz attack.	The killer starts to have a certain maturity, a self confidence that would classify him as an average organized killer.	Sadistic and rather uninhibited killer. Hunts for victims in familiar places where he might be seen. But once he made contact with the victim he would attract her to a remote area to carry the attack.
Low environment exposure	Mixed killer. Organized because knows very well the environment and can approach his victim with confidence. Unorganized as he will use a blitz attack.	Organized killer but not very intelligent or not very well integrated socially. He is neither sophisticated nor sadistic.	The killer takes the highest risk. Organized individual, often mature, uninhibited and sadistic (the crime is very well planned). Probably stressed but thinks he is untouchable.**

* after a blitz attack. He probably suffers from a minor disability that discourages him to make conversation with his victim (speech problem, ugliness, inferiority complex...)

** he feels the need to be excited to act while keeping his nerves. Here the seduction phase is very important and almost always transports the victim to a high exposure environment.