Clinical and Psychological Perspectives on Foul Play

Clinical and Psychological Perspectives on Foul Play examines a wide range of factors that can influence how police determine foul play in possible homicide cases and in other possible crimes. It develops a new theory of uncertainty at micro, meso, and macro levels to explain how law professionals arrive at this decision.  Specifically, it examines the extent to which uncertainty in these situations can be influenced by media coverage, family and community pressures, socioeconomic factors, demographic elements of victims, as well as police knowledge and resources.  Written for forensic practitioners, this book describes how these professionals can consult with law enforcement on such issues as the staging of crime scenes to mask intent, the initiation of community strategies to find missing persons, and the reliability of behavioral profiles.  The latest research from the Foul Play Project and the Missing Persons Project are employed to support the recommendations in this book and to point the way toward further research in this area.

1.  Death Investigations.- 2.  Law Enforcement Agencies.- 3.  Child Victims.- 4.  Children Abducted and Missing during Child Custody.- 5.  Kidnapping and Missing Person Hoaxes and False Reports.- 6.  Suspicious Suicides and Homicides Staged as Suicides.- 7.  Arson and Arson-Associated Homicides.- 8.  Substance Misuse and Drug Overdose.- 9.  Suspicious Objects.- 10. Bomb Threats.- 11. Cemetery Damage and Vandalism.

Dr. Stephen J. Morewitz is President of the consulting firm, Stephen J. Morewitz, Ph.D., & Associates, San Francisco & Tarzana, CA, which was founded in 1988. He is the Founder and President of the Forensic Social Sciences Association. He is a Lecturer in the Department of Justice Studies and Department of Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, San Jose State University and is a Lecturer in the Department of Health Sciences, California State University, East Bay. Dr. Morewitz has been on the faculty or staffs of Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Medicine and School of Public Health, and the California School of Podiatric Medicine. Dr. Morewitz, a triple-certified forensic social scientist, is the award-winning author of thirteen books, and many other publications. His books include the award-winning Handbook of Forensic Sociology and Psychology (Co-Edited with Dr. Mark L. Goldstein) (New York: Springer, 2014), the award-winning Death Threats. New Research and Clinical Perspectives (New York: Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 2010), the award-winning, Domestic Violence and Maternal and Child Health (New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers/Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 2004), the award-winning Stalking and Violence. New Patterns of Trauma and Obsession (New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers/Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 2003), and Sexual Harassment and Social Change in American Society (Bethesda, MD: Austin & Winfield, Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Group, 1996). In 2010, he was named San Jose State University Scholar Presenter for his book, Death Threats. New Research and Clinical Perspectives (New York: Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 2010).