What did Homant and Kennedy (1998) conclude about crime-scene classification and offender characteristics?

• A. True
• B. Not specified
• C. Only for arson cases
• D. False

Answer: (A)

The idea being tested is whether the way a crime scene is classified can reveal something about the offender’s characteristics. Homant and Kennedy argued that there is a meaningful relationship between crime-scene classification and offender traits—meaning the way a scene is set up, the level of planning, organization, and other scene features can reflect the offender’s cognitive style and behavioral patterns. Their conclusion supports using crime-scene classifications to generate informed hypotheses about who the offender might be, rather than treating scenes as random or uninformative.

Context helps: organized scenes tend to suggest more planning, control, and deliberate actions, while disorganized scenes point to impulsivity or less planning. This link underpins the practice of crime-scene analysis in profiling, but it’s important to recognize limitations—classification is not determinative on its own, and biases or atypical cases can lead to incorrect inferences. Still, the study affirmatively supports a connection between how a scene is classified and offender characteristics, which is why the answer reflects that affirmative conclusion.