When a criminal offense occurs, law enforcement must investigate the crime’s elements. As human beings, we strive to understand the reasons for the offense and what drives people to commit such acts.

Preoffense

Identification

The preoffense stage starts with the offender’s identification of their motivation. This can originate as internal stimuli—such as feelings, fantasy, emotions, desires, and needs—that are more abstract and difficult to conceptualize. When motivated by an internal stimulus, the offender seeks a victim to fulfill that intrinsic urge. The motivation could be an unquenched sexual desire; a lack of approval, security, or control; or some other emotional drive that must be met.

A motivation can also originate from concrete external stimuli, such as a person, institution, organization, business, or object. In these circumstances, that external stimulus—such as money, food, or shelter—could be instrumental for the offender’s survival. Substances such as alcohol or other drugs that fuel the individual’s addiction could also serve as external stimuli that motivate criminal action. An external stimulus may also be a person who stimulates a sexual impulse or, conversely, is a source of displeasure or contempt.

In any circumstance, whether internal or external, the identification of this stimulus is paramount in understanding how the offender’s modus operandi moves toward achievement of that goal. 

Fixation

After identifying the motive, the second step of the preoffense stage is fixation. Here, the offender focuses with unwavering concentration on their motivation. Due to this, the individual must adjust that focus to the stimulus and away from other aspects of life. Much of their time and attention is spent on the stimulus to the point that it becomes their obsession.

In the case of an internal stimulus, the offender spends considerable time attempting to satisfy an emotional need through other non- or less-criminal means (e.g., internet, social media, and pornography consumption). Some individuals do not progress past this stage if these other means satisfy their needs. For others, however, these attempts are often in vain and only feed and intensify the desire, thus, necessitating progression toward criminal action. 

If the motivation is an external stimulus, the offender may exhibit stalking behavior (e.g., following, watching, initiating unwanted communications and social media contact). This does not mean the individual and the target will have physical contact or actual interaction, but the intensity of the focus further solidifies the offender’s choice to commit a crime. 

Conceptualization

Once the intensity of the offender’s fixation on the stimulus has escalated, the next step of the preoffense stage is conceptualization of how to commit the crime to satiate their needs. During this stage, the offender spends considerable time planning their best course of action to increase their chances of successfully committing the act. 

The conceptualization process will largely be steered by whether the stimulus is internal or external. If internal, the offender creates scenarios, or mental scripts, in which the perfect victim will fulfill that intrinsic desire. In these cases, the victim is unknown, but the fantasy is painted within the offender’s imagination. With an external stimulus, the individual creates scenarios involving the known target. The perpetrator uses prior knowledge of the target and any potential protective factors surrounding them to formulate a strategy to succeed in offending against them to fulfill the underlying motivation.

During conceptualization, the mental planning may occupy the offender’s time and attention. They may withdraw from some activities and relationships or change their routine to compensate. Friends, family, and other bystanders may see the individual become distracted and behave differently.

These changes and subsequent observations lead to an important opportunity for intervention. Law enforcement interviews of those close to the offender can help determine the duration and intensity of this step to better understand the development of the offender’s modus operandi.    

Refinement

Hand in hand with the conceptualization of the criminal act is refinement. This step involves the plan’s evolution through various tests to move toward execution. Planning and subsequent research always reveals new information, which leads to adjustments and improvements. 

Refinement also involves learning from other individuals’ successes and failures. The internet provides countless examples of photos, videos, and testimonials that not only serve as learning materials but also normalize the proposed action to minimize any adverse emotional response caused by the actual criminal event. 

During the final stage of the conceptualization and refinement steps, the offender will also plan for and acquire the necessary instruments for committing the crime. The acquisition of instruments also gives those close to the individual the opportunity to detect behaviors indicative of potential criminal activity and offers a chance for intervention.

These two steps of the preoffense stage may take moments or even years for the offender to feel comfortable and confident in committing the crime. Or the individual may never feel comfortable or confident enough to follow through to action and instead settle for non- or less-criminal means to manage their otherwise unlawful intent.

Offense and Postoffense

Realization

Once the offender has developed and refined the plan toward criminal action, the next stage is realizing the offense. Fantasy no longer suffices as a substitute for action, and the individual decides to commit the crime. 

However, deciding to act may not always lead to success. In some instances, an offender will take steps to complete the criminal act only to stop under the weight of disappointment, fright, guilt, shame, or underestimated emotional or physical intensity. Outside factors, such as an unanticipated victim reaction or a witness interruption, can also impede completion of the crime. However, with some crimes, the mere commission of an overt act toward the offense can prompt consequences.

Evaluation

Once the offender has completed the criminal act, they must return to thought for evaluation of their successes and/or failures throughout the process of committing the crime. In the event of a successful completion, it is easy to miss opportunities to identify areas for “improvement.” After a failure, the offender will identify any necessary changes to their process and set new goals by returning to the conceptualization and refinement steps. This process of reconceptualization and refinement necessitates adaptability for the offender. Such self-awareness and fluidity of thought in the individual highlight their problem-solving capabilities and focus on the identified stimulus rather than adherence to a concrete modus operandi. 

Aside from evaluating success versus failure, the offender must also weigh whether to repeat the criminal action. In cases where the individual is motivated by an external stimulus, a successful crime against a targeted individual or institution may preclude any additional criminal acts as the goal has been achieved and the associated need fulfilled. If an external stimulus like drugs or money is more instrumental to the offender, there may have been an amount acquired that does not necessitate further action. In some cases involving internal stimuli as motivation, the offender may find that the emotional state resulting from the criminal act does not warrant repeating; in other words, the reward is not worth the potential consequences.

On the contrary, the individual may have experienced the emotional state they sought but elects to continue to pursue it or even escalate the violence to reach higher levels of arousal. These serial offenders continue in the evolution of their criminal actions, adapting to find what is necessary for the execution of the crime as well as which actions need to be completed to satisfy their psychological, emotional, and/or sexual needs.

Conclusion

To understand the progression of criminal action, it can be helpful to break the process down into three stages—preoffense, the offense itself, and postoffense. As the offender progresses through these stages, their thoughts and emotions are translated into action, only to return to thought. 

In the preoffense stage, there is the need to identify the internal or external stimulus motivating the offender toward criminality. The individual then fixates on the stimulus, which becomes the focus of their attention—or even obsession. In the conceptualization and refinement steps, the offender develops, tests, and improves plans and strategies to approach, interact with, and offend against either targeted or unknown victims. 

Once the plan has been refined and finalized, the offender comes to the next stage of the progression, the actual offense. The realization of the crime represents the transition from thought to action by offending against a victim to achieve an identified goal. 

In the postoffense stage, the offender returns from action back to thought to evaluate the success or failure of the act and must also determine whether further action is warranted. In some cases, the individual may determine that the risk of committing the crime is not worth the potential consequences and abandon further criminal action. However, repeat or serial offenders will continuously learn and adapt to perfect their modus operandi for guaranteed success and satisfaction of their psychological, emotional, and/or sexual needs. 

To fully discover the scope of the criminal action and the intentions of the offender, each step must be fully explored by investigators to understand what happened, why it happened, and what will happen next. This will help flush out the offender’s postoffense mental processes and lead to the identification and disruption of potential repeat or serial offenders.