By Shivi Bains, Elizabeth Dunk, Lazaros Gonidis,  Jenna Harewell,Emma Howarth, Claire Powell

  Background - The domestic violence and abuse core outcome set (DVA-COS) is an agreed set of five outcomes intended for use in evaluating interventions for children and their families with experience of domestic abuse. The purpose of a core outcome set is to harmonise outcome measurement, helping to reduce variation in outcome selection and measurement across studies, with the aim of preventing research waste. This minimum, but not exclusive, set of outcomes also aims to ensure interventions capture impact meaningful to all stakeholders, whether through routine data collection within domestic abuse services or as outcomes in trials and research evaluations. Since the development of the DVA-COS, work has been undertaken to consolidate and validate outcome measurement instruments (OMIs) to use within the core outcome set. The work reported here builds on and extends these efforts (Powell, Clark, et al., 2022; Powell, Feder, et al., 2022). Aims Foundations, the national What Works Centre for Children & Families, commissioned a programme of work, comprised of two work packages, to develop and validate OMIs for use in the DVA-COS. This report focuses on work package 1, which sought to identify and appraise measurement tools, using the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) Process, to assess three of the five core outcomes of the DVA-COS: family relationships, feelings of safety, and freedom to go about daily life. Work package 2 sought to validate the Short Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (SWEMWBS) for use with child and young people populations with experience of domestic abuse and is reported separately. Methods To meet the aim of work package 1, this project adopted a four-stage process. Within stage A, OMIs were identified through rapid reviews of the domestic abuse literature (peer-reviewed and grey) and through targeted searches of the non-domestic abuse literature; these searches were informed by concept workshops with 15 key stakeholders to highlight priority concepts within the outcomes. In stage B, candidate OMIs and their associated studies were quality appraised, using the COSMIN protocol, and the highest-scoring tools were shortlisted for assessment of their acceptability and feasibility. Feedback workshops and stakeholder votes, held within stage C, determined which tools should proceed to the consensus workshop. Concluding this process (stage D), a consensus workshop was held with 29 domestic abuse practitioners, commissioners, researchers, and survivors to allow stakeholders to discuss and reach agreement on recommending OMIs for the three outcomes. Key findings In total 144 OMIs were identified across all evidence sources and from previous work. A systematic process of conceptual mapping, quality appraisal, and examination of acceptability and feasibility issues resulted in a shortlist of 18 OMIs (seven OMIs mapping to family relationships, six mapping to feelings of safety, and five capturing freedom to go about daily life) for discussion by three stakeholder groups. Of these, eight OMIs (three OMIs for family relationships, three for feelings of safety, and two for freedom to go about daily life) progressed to the final consensus workshop. Votes held during the consensus workshop identified the Children and Families Against Domestic Abuse (CAFADA) Wellbeing and Safety as the preferred OMI to assess two outcomes: family relationships (81.5%) and feelings of safety (74.1%). A provisional recommendation for use of this tool was agreed, given that it was recently developed and so it lacks psychometric validation. Therefore it is recommended that before widespread use, this OMI is subject to further adaptation and evaluation in cooperation with the tool developers. In particular, thought is needed about the tool’s suitability for a wider range of interventions, including those supporting perinatal families or services including the person that harms. No agreement, and therefore no recommendation, was reached for an OMI capturing freedom to go about daily life. Feedback from the consensus workshop highlighted a range of positive attributes that explained the CAFADA Wellbeing and Safety’s high acceptability for use within domestic abuse contexts, such as visually appealing design, trauma-informed and strengths-based language, and the complementary adult and child versions. The consensus workshop also highlighted key areas of development such as removing gendered language, being inclusive of non-traditional family structures, and being accessible to children of different ages or cognitive maturity. Conclusion This work makes important strides towards the realisation of a DVA-COS. It establishes a consensus with respect to the provisional recommendation for use of the CAFADA Wellbeing and Safety scale, in research and practice contexts, to assess feelings of safety and family relationships. This provisional recommendation is dependent on further work being carried out to refine the tool and to evaluate its implementation in real-world contexts and in relation to different types of childand family-focused interventions. The not insignificant challenges of implementing a core outcome set are discussed, including the importance of creating trauma-informed guidance to ensure the DVA-COS adopts a care-first approach and to mitigate any unintended consequences. Key findings In total 144 OMIs were identified across all evidence sources and from previous work. A systematic process of conceptual mapping, quality appraisal, and examination of acceptability and feasibility issues resulted in a shortlist of 18 OMIs (seven OMIs mapping to family relationships, six mapping to feelings of safety, and five capturing freedom to go about daily life) for discussion by three stakeholder groups. Of these, eight OMIs (three OMIs for family relationships, three for feelings of safety, and two for freedom to go about daily life) progressed to the final consensus workshop. Votes held during the consensus workshop identified the Children and Families Against Domestic Abuse (CAFADA) Wellbeing and Safety as the preferred OMI to assess two outcomes: family relationships (81.5%) and feelings of safety (74.1%). A provisional recommendation for use of this tool was agreed, given that it was recently developed and so it lacks psychometric validation. Therefore it is recommended that before widespread use, this OMI is subject to further adaptation and evaluation in cooperation with the tool developers. In particular, thought is needed about the tool’s suitability for a wider range of interventions, including those supporting perinatal families or services including the person that harms. No agreement, and therefore no recommendation, was reached for an OMI capturing freedom to go about daily life. Feedback from the consensus workshop highlighted a range of positive attributes that explained the CAFADA Wellbeing and Safety’s high acceptability for use within domestic abuse contexts, such as visually appealing design, trauma-informed and strengths-based language, and the complementary adult and child versions. The consensus workshop also highlighted key areas of development such as removing gendered language, being inclusive of non-traditional family structures, and being accessible to children of different ages or cognitive maturity. Conclusion This work makes important strides towards the realisation of a DVA-COS. It establishes a consensus with respect to the provisional recommendation for use of the CAFADA Wellbeing and Safety scale, in research and practice contexts, to assess feelings of safety and family relationships. This provisional recommendation is dependent on further work being carried out to refine the tool and to evaluate its implementation in real-world contexts and in relation to different types of childand family-focused interventions. The not insignificant challenges of implementing a core outcome set are discussed, including the importance of creating trauma-informed guidance to ensure the DVA-COS adopts a care-first approach and to mitigate any unintended consequences

Work Package 1.   

Foundations UK: 2025. 126p.

By Wang Ngai Yeung, Riccardo Di Clemente & Renaud Lambiotte

Criminal networks such as human trafficking rings are threats to the rule of law, democracy and public safety in our global society. Network science provides invaluable tools to identify key players and design interventions for Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs), e.g., to dismantle their organisation. However, poor data quality and the robustness of criminal networks make effective intervention extremely challenging. Although there exists a large body of work building and applying network scientific tools to green intervene criminal networks, these work often neglect the problems of data incompleteness and inaccuracy. Moreover, there is thus far no comprehensive understanding of the impacts of data quality on the downstream effectiveness of interventions. This work investigates the relationship between data quality and intervention effectiveness based on classical graph theoretic and machine learning-based targeting approaches. Decentralization emerges as a major factor in network robustness, particularly under conditions of incomplete data, which renders intervention strategies largely ineffective. Moreover, the robustness of centralized networks can be boosted using simple heuristics, making targeted intervention more infeasible. Consequently, we advocate for a more cautious application of network science in disrupting criminal networks, the continuous development of an interoperable intelligence ecosystem, and the creation of novel network inference techniques to address data quality challenges.

 EPJ Data Sci. 14, 37 (2025)

By Richard Danzig

In this paper, the author warns national security decisionmakers that to accomplish their missions they urgently need to better prepare for the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on cybersecurity. He analyzes the present failings of the U.S. government in this respect, highlights the consequences of these failings, and makes recommendations for correcting them. He offers this effort as a case study and draws from it ten propositions relevant to those who are more broadly concerned with how AI, other technologies, and human decisions are intertwined and co-evolving.

Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2025.

By Suleman Lazarus  · Peter Tickner  · Michael R. McGuire1

 We discuss cybercrimes against senior citizens from three standpoints: (a) online fraudsters often target senior citizens because of their age, which results in the propagation of ageism. Thus, we explicitly defne ageism in the context of cybercrime, characterising it as the intentional targeting or prioritisation of senior citizens as potential victims of online fraud. (b) Senior citizens are vulnerable to online fraud schemes for physiological (e.g., cognitive decline), psychological (e.g., elevated fear of cybercrime), familial (e.g., insider fraud), and sociocultural (e.g., isolation) reasons. (c) Cybercrimes against older adults predominantly fall under the socioeconomic category driven by a common fnancial motive. We argue that ageism serves as a weapon used by online offenders to target older adults, whilst the concept of the ideal victim acts as society’s shield in response to these reprehensible actions. This framework invites closer attention to how age-based targeting in cyberspace reproduces broader social, economic, and moral asymmetries.  Future empirical studies are warranted to substantiate these claims beyond the theoretical realm.

Security Journal (2025) 38:42 

By Winnona DeSombre Bernsen

If the United States wants to increasingly use offensive cyber operations internationally, does it have the supply chain and acquisition capabilities to back it up—especially if its adversary is the People’s Republic of China? 

 The Cyber Statecraft Initiative’s new report from CSI nonresident fellow Winnona DeSombre Bernsen, Crash (exploit) and burn: Securing the offensive cyber supply chain to counter China in cyberspace,  is the first to conduct a comparative study within the international offensive cyber supply chain, comparing the United States’ fragmented, risk-averse acquisition model with China’s outsourced and funnel-like approach.

 Strategic competition between the United States and China has long played out in cyberspace, where offensive cyber capabilities, like zero-day vulnerabilities, are a strategic resource. Since 2016, China has been turning the zero-day marketplace in East Asia into a funnel of offensive cyber capabilities for its military and intelligence services, both to ensure it can break into the most secure Western technologies and to deny the United States from obtaining similar capabilities from the region. If the United States wishes to compete in cyberspace, it must compete against China to secure its offensive cyber supply chain.

Washington, DC: Atlantic Council, 2025. 44p

By Hal S. Stern and Daniel L. Cork, Editors

Cybercrime poses serious threats and financial costs to individuals and businesses in the United States and worldwide. Reports of data breaches and ransomware attacks on governments and businesses have become common, as have incidents against individuals (e.g., identity theft, online stalking, and harassment). Concern over cybercrime has increased as the internet has become a ubiquitous part of modern life. However, comprehensive, consistent, and reliable data and metrics on cybercrime still do not exist - a consequence of a shortage of vital information resulting from the decentralized nature of relevant data collection at the national level.

Cybercrime Classification and Measurement addresses the absence credible cybercrime data and metrics. This report provides a taxonomy for the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the purpose of measuring different types of cybercrime, including both cyber-enabled and cyber-dependent crimes faced by individuals and businesses, and considers the needs for its periodic revision. This report was mandated by the 2022 Better Cybercrime Metrics Act (BCMA).

Washington, DC: The National Academies Press., 2025. 160p.

By Mark Button  · Vasileios Karagiannopoulos  · Julak Lee  · Joon Bae Suh  · Jeyong Jung

Introduction The nature of crime has been changing globally with technological and other societal developments fuelling a growth in fraud and cybercrime (Button and Cross 2017). The diversity and rapid evolution of a broad range of scams has led to millions across the globe becoming victims of fraud (Federal Trade Commission 2019; ONS 2023a, 2023b). A common belief often promoted in policy circles and some research is that older adults are more vulnerable to fraud (James et al. 2014). This is not so clear cut, however, as in terms of victimisation, the middle aged have been most at risk (see Fig. 1 later). This is changing and there is evidence older adults (65+) are fast becoming the one of the most at risk categories and that they also tend to lose much more than other age groups (see Table 1 later). Indeed, there are a variety of trends fuelling a potential explosion in fraud and cybercrime among older adults unless serious action is taken to reduce the risks that we will shortly explore. It is for this reason we conceived this special edition and the research project that underpins it. To set the context for this edition, it is important to examine the factors fuelling the growth in fraud and cybercrime victimisation among older age groups. We will do this using data from the UK and South Korea. The reason for the selection of these countries is simple. The funding for the project stimulating this edition came from ESRC funding aimed at developing relationships with these two countries 

  Security Journal (2025) 38:40

By Lauren R. Shapiro 

This paper evaluated three cyber-enabled imposter scams against older adults using Lifestyle Routine Activity Theory. The frst section examined the motivated ofender’s tools for manipulating older adult targets (social engineering and persuasion) and explained how Artifcial Intelligence could increase exposure and susceptibility of imposter victims. The next section focused on the suitable victim by examining how heuristics and impaired cognitive, physical, and psychosocial abilities contributed to the older adult target’s susceptibility to imposter scam by interfering with the process of rational decision-making. The third section examined ways in which capable guardians, in the form of agencies and laws, protected and helped older adult targets from imposter scams. Recommendations regarding the creation of educational programs that teach older adults how to be safer online (i.e., less suitable victims) through evaluating risks, identifying potential imposter scams, and becoming efcient self-advocators were provided.   

  Security Journal (2025) 38:43

By Mark Button  · David Shepherd  · Chloe Hawkins  · Jacki Tapley

This paper explores older adults who are largely over 75 and their experience of fraud, based upon research with the clients of a UK charity working with this age group. The researchers used a postal questionnaire yielding almost 2000 responses, supplemented with interviews with clients and key staf. The research found higher rates of fraud victimisation than national rates for this age group as well regular attempted frauds, largely through the telephone. The experience of fraud and attempted fraud has a devastating impact on some of the lives of older adults, causing fear, anxiety, and related issues, which afects their quality of life. This is the frst study to illustrate that fear of fraud is a major problem amongst older adults, particularly females living alone.  

Security Journal (2025) 38:44

By Katalin Parti  · Faika Tahir  · Pamela B. Teaster 

Cyber victimization targeting vulnerable populations, particularly older adults, has become increasingly prevalent in the digital age. Grounded in the Bioecological Systems Framework (Bronfenbrenner in The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1979), this research explores the factors contributing to victimization, including the ease of exploitation, the situational factors setting up victims for scams, their vulnerabilities, the dynamics within their environments, and the challenges victims face in recognizing scams. Using semi-structured interviews, we asked scam victims (n=19) aged 60 years and above about their personal and structural circumstances as well as their individual assessment of the impact of their being victimized. Despite high levels of education and computer literacy among our sample, their victimization occurred far too frequently, which prompts a call for the revision of existing approaches toward helping older adults overcome scam victimization.  

  Security Journal (2025) 38:49

By Marcelo F. Aebi Stefano Caneppele Lorena Molnar (Eds.)

  Cybercrime has become part of everyday life. We live in hybrid societies, fl uctuating between the material and the virtual world, and we are hence confronted with online, offl ine and hybrid offences. However, the few victimisation surveys conducted in Europe reveal that victims of online crimes seldom report them to the police. Consequently, cybercrimes – which according to the best estimates represent between one third and more than half of all attempted and completed crimes in Europe – seldom appear in national criminal statistics. The State seems powerless to prevent them and private security companies fl ourish. During two days, experts from all over the continent gathered together in the framework of a virtual conference organized by the Council of Europe and the European Union to discuss what we know, what we do not know, and what we could do to improve our knowledge of crime in our contemporary hybrid societies, develop evidence-based criminal policies, provide assistance to crime victims, and implement realistic programs in the fi eld of crime prevention and offender treatment. This book presents their experiences, refl exions, and proposals  

The Hague: Eleven Publishing, 2022. 150p.  

Scope, trends and characteristics.

By Klara Hradilova-Selin

This study is the fourth in a series of Brå’s research reports on homicide in Sweden, based on material from the criminal justice system. The analyses build on audited data from police preliminary investigations and, in cases that have been cleared, judgments obtained from both district courts and appeal courts. The aim has been to outline trends in and characteristics of homicide cases since 1990, with a particular focus on the most recent period for which data have been collected, 2018–2021. Some analyses also include data from Brå’s statistics on confirmed cases of lethal violence for 2022 and 2023. 

Report 2024:6

By Lina Fjelkegård and Emma Patel

The number of residential burglaries has decreased sharply in recent years – between 2017 and 2023, they were basically halved. However, many people still become victims of burglary. In 2023, 10,000 residential burglaries were reported to the police, and only 4 per cent were solved. Those affected may experience the burglary as a violation of privacy, and feel unsafe at home.

For these reasons, Brå initiated this study on residential burglaries. The purpose is to provide an overall picture of the nature of residential burglaries, but also to examine the development of this crime over time, and how the police handle residential burglaries. Different methods and materials were used for this. We start from a number of preliminary investigations into residential burglaries, which Brå has coded and analysed. We have also used reporting statistics, data from police records, and interviews with police employees.

By Henrik Angerbrandt, Mariana Dufort and Victor Dudas

This study examines gun violence trends in the criminal milieu since the mid-2000s, analysing how the criminal milieu has changed and what role these changes may have played in gun violence trends.

By Megan M. McNally and Graeme R. Newman

From the cover: There has been a glaring lack of scholarly attention to the crime of identity theft, according to the editors. The chapters in this volume attempt to fill some of this gap by exploring theory and research on identity theft, as well as situational measures to prevent its occurrence.

The editors' introduction outlines several key issues related to the definition, extent and commission of identity theft. The chapter by Graeme Newman applies the opportunity perspective to the study of identity theft. Megan

McNally uses the "script" approach to examine the meaning and mechanics of identity theft in all of its forms. Henry Pontell, Gregory Brown and Anastasia Tosouni present new findings on how identity theft affects victims, based on data collected by the Identity Theft Resource Center. Heith Copes and Lynne Vieraitis describe how a sample of identity theft offenders viewed their crimes. Michael Levi recounts the evolution of identity fraud and its control in the U.K. Russell Smith presents a framework for evaluating preventive measures, particularly document-based systems, biometric technologies and identity cards. Sara Berg considers how information technology can be used within a situational crime prevention framework to fight identity theft. Robert Willison examines the use of situational crime prevention to protect sensitive personal information in the context of information systems security.

Crime Prevention Studies, volume 23. Willan Publishing. Culmcott House, Uffculme, Cullompton Devon EX 15 3AT, U.K. 2008. 195p.

By Arthur MacDonald.

The narrative in Volume 1 asks many pointed questions: What does it mean to be “abnormal”? Who decides? And how have these judgments shaped modern science, education, and criminal justice?

First published in 1893, Arthur MacDonald’s Abnormal Man is one of the earliest American attempts to systematically study human difference through the emerging tools of psychology, anthropology, and criminology. Drawing on international research—from European criminal anthropology to American child-study movements—MacDonald sought to classify the physical, mental, and moral traits considered “aberrant” in his era. His work reflects the hopes and anxieties of a society confronting rapid industrialization, immigration, social change, and new scientific approaches to crime and mental health.

To the modern reader, Abnormal Man reveals both the ambition and the pitfalls of nineteenth-century science. Its pages contain pioneering observations about child development, deviance, and social responsibility, alongside early theories—now discredited—about heredity, physiognomy, and race. What emerges is a vivid and sometimes unsettling portrait of a culture striving to understand human variation without the benefit of modern psychology or ethical safeguards.

The Read-Me.org edition Volume 1 presents Abnormal Man as both a historical artifact and a gateway to critical reflection. It illustrates how scientific thought evolves, how cultural bias can shape research, and how early debates about abnormality laid the groundwork for contemporary approaches to mental health, special education, criminology, and social policy. To make such work, much of it controversial then as it is today, minimally believable, requires extensive documentation. The voluminous Bibliography of Abnormal Man reproduced here in Volume 2, contains all that Macdnald referred to within his detailed exposition. To some, his arguments may seem unsupported, or lacking in evidence. But he left no stone untuned as this amazing bibliographical documentation of all relative contemporary research

A foundational text at the crossroads of science and society, Abnormal Man invites readers to explore the origins of modern debates about deviance, diversity, and the boundaries of the “normal.”

Read-Me.Org Inc. New York-Philadelphia-Australia. 2025. 240p.

By United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute

Historical Context: The document outlines the evolution of Sovietcriminology through three stages: the 1920s, the 1960s "thaw," and the period of perestroika and glasnost in the 1980s.

Crime Trends: There was a significant increase in crime rates,particularly serious crimes, from the 1970s to the 1980s. The Document highlights issues like recidivism, professionalization of economic crime, and the rise in crimes among students and rural inhabitants.

Criminal Legislation: The document discusses the need for reforms inSoviet criminal law, emphasizing the importance of clear and logical legal language to reduce errors in the justice system.

Social and Psychological Factors: It explores the socio-psychological mechanisms behind criminal behavior, including the influence of social environment, personal traits, and the process of socialization.

UNICRI, 1990, 179 pages

By Robert D. Crutchfield 

Are the unemployed more likely to commit crimes? Does having a job make one less likely to commit a crime? Criminologists have found that individuals who are marginalized from the labor market are more likely to commit crimes, and communities with more members who are marginal to the labor market have higher rates of crime. Yet, as Robert Crutchfield explains, contrary to popular expectations, unemployment has been found to be an inconsistent predictor of either individual criminality or collective crime rates. In Get a Job, Crutchfield offers a carefully nuanced understanding of the links among work, unemployment, and crime.

Crutchfield explains how people’s positioning in the labor market affects their participation in all kinds of crimes, from violent acts to profit-motivated offenses such as theft and drug trafficking. Crutchfield also draws on his first-hand knowledge of growing up in a poor, black neighborhood in Pittsburgh and later working on the streets as a parole officer, enabling him to develop a more complete understanding of how work and crime are related and both contribute to, and are a result of, social inequalities and disadvantage. Well-researched and informative, Get a Job tells a powerful story of one of the most troubling side effects of economic disparities in America.

New York; London: NYU Press, 2014. 303p.

By Mary Louise Frampton, Ian Haney Lopez, and Jonathan Simon

Since the 1970s, Americans have witnessed a pyrrhic war on crime, with sobering numbers at once chilling and cautionary. Our imprisoned population has increased five-fold, with a commensurate spike in fiscal costs that many now see as unsupportable into the future. As American society confronts a multitude of new challenges ranging from terrorism to the disappearance of middle-class jobs to global warming, the war on crime may be up for reconsideration for the first time in a generation or more. Relatively low crime rates indicate that the public mood may be swinging toward declaring victory and moving on.
However, to declare that the war is over is dangerous and inaccurate, and After the War on Crime reveals that the impact of this war reaches far beyond statistics; simply moving on is impossible. The war has been most devastating to those affected by increased rates and longer terms of incarceration, but its reach has also reshaped a sweeping range of social institutions, including law enforcement, politics, schooling, healthcare, and social welfare. The war has also profoundly altered conceptions of race and community.
It is time to consider the tasks reconstruction must tackle. To do so requires first a critical assessment of how this war has remade our society, and then creative thinking about how government, foundations, communities, and activists should respond. After the War on Crime accelerates this reassessment with original essays by a diverse, interdisciplinary group of scholars as well as policy professionals and community activists. The volume's immediate goal is to spark a fresh conversation about the war on crime and its consequences; its long-term aspiration is to develop a clear understanding of how we got here and of where we should go.

New York; London: NYU Press, 2008.256p