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PubMed2006

Changing coverage of domestic violence murders: a longitudinal experiment in participatory communication.

Stressing relation-building and participatory communication approaches, the Rhode Island Coalition against Domestic Violence worked with journalists to develop a best practices handbook on news coverage of domestic violence murders. This study compares print coverage of domestic violence murders prehandbook (1996-1999) and posthandbook (2000-2002). Significant changes include increased labeling of the murder of intimates as domestic violence and doubled usage of advocates as sources. As a result, domestic violence murders, previously framed as unpredictable private tragedies, are more commonly framed posthandbook as social problems warranting public intervention. The authors conclude that relation-building approaches can affect news cultures and public discourse when conducted in conjunction with comprehensive participatory communications strategies.

Domestic Violence↗

PubMed1996

MMPI-2 profiles of men charged with murder or other offenses.

This study describes MMPI-2 profiles of men charged with murder or other offenses and examines how well the MMPI-2 differentiates between these groups. Records of 135 men charged with murder and 82 charged with other offenses were examined. Results do not support the use of the MMPI-2 to differentiate between murder and other defendants. Both groups may be described as having 6-8/8-6 profiles. The mean MMPI-2 profile for the murder group was compared to the MMPI profile described by Holcomb, Adams, Ponder, and Anderson in 1984. These mean profiles have generally the same configuration and scale elevations but show important differences. This suggests that further research needs to be conducted examining the psychometric equivalence of the MMPI and the MMPI-2. Also, caution should be used when making predictions based solely on MMPI-2 profiles.

Adult↗

PubMed1979

Murderers: a personal series.

One hundred people who were accused either of murder (70 persons) or of attempted murder (30 persons) in Queensland were personally examined by the writer. The methods, motives, and ways of prevention of homicide are discussed. A considerable preportion of murderers in this series were either mentally ill or severely emotionally disturbed at the time the crime was committed, and at least one in 10 of these murders could have been prevented. It is recommended that the treatment and assessment of potentially violent psychotic patients should be undertaken more carefully, and that the antipsychiatrist campaigns for the freedom of the individual should be tempered with a consideration for public safety.

Aggression↗

PubMed1999

Offender and offense characteristics of a nonrandom sample of mass murderers.

A nonrandom sample (N = 30) of mass murderers in the United States and Canada during the past 50 years was studied. Data suggest that such individuals are single or divorced males in their fourth decade of life with various Axis I paranoid and/or depressive conditions and Axis II personality traits and disorders, usually Clusters A and B. The mass murder is precipitated by a major loss related to employment or relationship. A warrior mentality suffuses the planning and attack behavior of the subject, and greater deaths and higher casualty rates are significantly more likely if the perpetrator is psychotic at the time of the offense. Alcohol plays a very minor role. A large proportion of subjects will convey their central motivation in a psychological abstract, a phrase or sentence yelled with great emotion at the beginning of the mass murder; but in our study sample, only 20 percent directly threatened their victims before the offense. Death by suicide or at the hands of others is the usual outcome for the mass murderer.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1987

Identification of serial homicide victims in the "Green River Murder" investigation.

The Green River Murder Investigation in King County, Washington, is currently the longest and most active serial murder investigation in U.S. history. To date, little information has been reported on methods used in identification of serial murder victims. In this paper, various methods used in victim identification are reviewed and difficulties encountered during the course of the investigation are described. The experience of the authors is presented in order to acquaint other agencies with problems of victim identification associated with these serial murder victims and to provide key methods that may be useful in other such investigations.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1997

Assessment of PTSD symptoms in a community exposed to serial murder.

This study examined the presence of PTSD symptoms across time in a community exposed to serial murder. One hundred eighty four subjects (48% response rate) responded to the initial survey while 64 and 30 subjects, respectively, participated in the 9- and 18-month follow-up studies. Results indicated widespread endorsement of PTSD symptoms following the murders. The most severe reactions were found among residents demographically similar to the victims. PTSD symptoms, while not transient, appeared to decrease over time with few subjects still reporting symptoms at 18 months. These data suggest that violent acts such as serial murder can have far reaching psychological consequences for the community and result in vicarious victimization.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Differentiating stranger murders: profiling offender characteristics from behavioral styles.

The literature on "offender profiling" suggests that different "styles" of homicide will reflect differences in the background characteristics of the offender. To test this suggestion, hypotheses were drawn from studies of aggression to propose that murder crime scenes would reveal stylistic distinctions in the role of the aggression in the offense. It was further hypothesized that these distinctions would be clearest for those crime scene indicators that reflect the instrument (cognitive) actions that shape the offense rather than the more expressive (impulsive and emotional) components. Hypotheses about associated offender characteristics were also deduced on the assumption that the murder scene theme revealed the killers' typical styles of interpersonal transaction. To test these hypotheses MDS analyses were carried out on the crime scene and offender characteristics derived from 82 single offender, single victim stranger homicides. A multivariate structure resulted, including all three hypothesized styles, allowing 65% of the cases to be assigned to unique styles and a further 36% to be assigned to appropriate hybrids. Offender characteristics related in the anticipated way to the different crime scene styles, providing a basis for law enforcement inferences about offenders in stranger murders.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

Murderers' and sexual offenders' experiences of police interviews and their inclination to admit or deny crimes.

This research concerns murderers' and sexual offenders' experiences of Swedish police interviews and their attitudes towards allegations of these serious crimes. The explorative study is based on a questionnaire answered by 83 men convicted of murder or sexual offences. Results show that when police officers interview murderers and sexual offenders, the individuals perceive attitudes that are characterized by either dominance or humanity. Logistic regression shows that police interviews marked by dominance are mainly associated with a higher proportion of denials, whereas an approach marked by humanity is associated with admissions. When suspects feel that they are respected and acknowledged, they probably gain more confidence and mental space, allowing them to admit criminal behaviour.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

A comparative analysis of North American adolescent and adult mass murderers.

Thirty adult mass murderers and 34 adolescent mass murderers in North America are compared on both offender and offense variables to delineate similarities and differences. Findings indicate a plethora of psychiatric disturbances and odd/reclusive and acting-out personality traits. Predisposing factors include a fascination with weapons and war among many of the adolescents and the development of a "warrior mentality" in most of the adults. Precipitating factors indicate a major rejection or loss in the hours or days preceding the mass murder. Results are interpreted through the lens of threat assessment for targeted violence (Borum, Fein, Vossekuil, & Bergland 1999), recognizing that a fact-based, dynamic behavioral approach is most useful for mitigating risk of such an extremely low-base-rate violent crime.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1996

Adolescents who murder

Although few in number, children and adolescents who murder attract much public attention. Following a review of the literature on aetiology, assessment, treatment programmes and outcomes, descriptive data on a 5-year cohort of 20 adolescent murderers from England and Wales are presented. An outline is made of their pathway through the care and criminal justice system together with a framework for ongoing individual therapy. Suggestions are made about refinement of categories of juvenile homicide, and increased information sharing between child and adolescent and adult forensic specialists and the relevance of this group to the mainstream adolescent offenders.Crimes of violence of children differ little from place to place and from epoch to epoch. In Britain approximately the same number of juvenile murderers and future privy councillors are born each week. Anger, shock, grief and self righteousness often demand certain punishments but sanctions thus motivated cannot be said to have the efficacy of curative measures (Wilson, 1973).

Journal Article↗

PubMed1994

Selective reductions in prefrontal glucose metabolism in murderers.

This study tests the hypothesis that seriously violent offenders pleading not guilty by reason of insanity or incompetent to stand trial are characterized by prefrontal dysfunction. This hypothesis was tested in a group of 22 subjects accused of murder and 22 age-matched and gender-matched controls by measuring local cerebral uptake of glucose using positron emission tomography during the continuous performance task. Murderers had significantly lower glucose metabolism in both lateral and medial prefrontal cortex relative to controls. No group differences were observed for posterior frontal, temporal, and parietal glucose metabolism, indicating regional specificity for the prefrontal deficit. Group differences were not found to be a function of raised levels of left-handedness, schizophrenia, ethnic minority status, head injury, or motivation deficits in the murder group. These preliminary results suggest that deficits localized to the prefrontal cortex may be related to violence in a selected group of offenders, although further studies are needed to establish the generalizability of these findings to violent offenders in the community.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

A survey of the psycho-social aspects of murderers in Iran.

The psycho-social aspects of 72 murderers (one female, 71 males) were studied. The murderers came from the Khoozestan and the Lorestan provinces of Iran. One of them had been transferred from the north of Iran (probably on exile). The murderers were mostly from lower social classes and crowded homes. The majority of them had worked as unskilled labourers or farmers. A great number of them regretted their action but a few were proud of what they had done. They believed that they had saved the chastity of their family which is very important in Islam. None of them were epileptic nor had any history of it. Four claimed to be nervous. Eight were alcoholics and three were addicted to drugs. One of them was suspected of having manic-depressive psychosis and only one had paranoid schizophrenia. The female and four of the males were psychopaths.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1997

Muti or ritual murder.

Ritual or muti murders are a form of human sacrifice practised by some African tribes. The murder is carried out after body parts are removed while the victim is still alive. This case report describes the methods of identification of a young child who was murdered by a traditional healer (isangoma) in Cape Town, and the practice of the traditional healer.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1996

Murder: the importance of the structural and cultural conditions of society.

This paper argues that a crucial feature in studying murder is to recognize that the structural and cultural conditions of a society may provide the context in which psychopathologies are created and emerge to such devastating effect. The paper focuses on some recent contributions in the development of a widening academic interest in the phenomenon of serial killing, in particular, and then considers murder in general. Issues of time and place are paramount and lead to two types of question: Firstly, is serial killing quintessentially a modern phenomenon? Secondly, why does it occur in some countries and not others? The discussion then considers why there is traditionally a low murder rate in England and Wales. The recent works of Bernard Capp, Maria Tatar and Elliott Leyton provide the framework for trying to answer these questions.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1981

The Whitechapel murders: the case of Jack the Ripper.

Between August 31 and November 9, 1888, in the Whitechapel section of the East End of London, the murders of five women came to be referred to as the notorious Jack the Ripper murder cases. Each victim was a woman of the streets who was a heavy drinker and apparently heavily intoxicated when she was killed. All except one were strangled, had their throats cut, and were mutilated after they were killed. The victim who was not mutilated was strangled and saved from desecration when the killer was startled and interrupted before carrying out postmortem mutilation. The last victim was killed indoors, and all deaths occurred late in the evening or in the early morning hours. Forensic science laboratories were not yet developed, so the only truly forensic examinations were made on the bodies and of the notes which the killer was alleged to have sent to the police and others. After the last crime there were no further communications with the murderer, and no one was ever charged with these crimes. This case has become the standard to which similar cases have been compared for the past century. It has been the subject for many fictionalized works written in many languages, including cinema and television productions. This case is reviewed and evaluated as to how a similar case may be investigated using modern forensic techniques.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Murder-suicide in New Hampshire, 1995-2000.

Combined murder-suicide is defined as homicide(s) followed by the perpetrator's suicide within 1 week of the homicide(s). This phenomenon is observed worldwide with generally similar incidence rates. The authors report data from New Hampshire, a population distinguished from those in previous United States studies by its location, racial homogeneity, nonurban character, and low homicide rate. Sixteen murder-suicide events occurred in New Hampshire between October 1995 and October 2000. This represents an incidence of 0.26 per 100000 person-years, a rate similar to previously reported values. Murder-suicide events accounted for 14.7% of all homicides in the state, higher than previous studies but not unexpected in view of the state's lower homicide rate. Most perpetrators were male (94%), and most victims were female (88%), often in a spousal or consortial relationship. Firearms accounted for the majority of deaths. Various cofactors are examined, and a comparison of two recently proposed classification systems is discussed.

Cause of Death↗

PubMed2001

Murder misdiagnosed as SIDS: a perpetrator's perspective.

AIMS: Child murder misdiagnosed as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is a difficult area to study. We present a perpetrator's descriptions to enrich clinicians' knowledge of possible presenting features of this phenomenon. METHODS: Interview material was collected as part of a qualitative study of maternal filicide performed from a naturalistic paradigm in order to access the perpetrators' view of events. The woman participant has been convicted for three child murders and two attempted murders which were initially misdiagnosed as SIDS. Interviews were done in the participant's home with her partner present, while she was on leave from prison. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, recorded, transcribed, and analysed for themes. Specific ethical permission was gained to present this case in isolation and the paper was written in consultation with the woman described. RESULTS: She described initial intense attachment to her first victim and described killing her because she was unable to bear her apnoea attacks and her fear of losing her. She described difficulty grieving for this child and subsequent failure to attach to her next child or feel for the other victims. CONCLUSIONS: Expressions of intense attachment to an infant and description of intense grief over a death in a way which engages compassion should not deter a paediatrician from considering the possibility of the parent having killed the child.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Psychiatric disorders in single and multiple sexual murderers.

BACKGROUND: Sexual homicides - and particularly offenders with multiple victims - receive much attention in the general public as well as among forensic experts. The aim of this study was to assess psychiatric disorders in a large sample of sexual murderers and to identify disorders related to multiple sexual homicides. SAMPLING AND METHODS: Psychiatric court reports from 20 German forensic psychiatrists on 166 men who had committed a sexual homicide were evaluated for psychiatric disorders according to DSM-IV, including standardized instruments for personality disorders (criteria from the Structured Clinical Interview) and psychopathy (Psychopathy Checklist-Revised). Offenders with a single sexual homicide victim (n = 130) were compared to those with multiple victims (n = 36). RESULTS: High lifetime prevalence rates were found for substance abuse or dependence, paraphilias (especially sexual sadism), sexual dysfunctions and personality disorders (especially antisocial, borderline, sadistic and schizoid). In the multiple sexual murderer group sexual sadism, voyeurism, sadistic, antisocial and schizoid personality disorders were more frequent than in the single-victim group; none of the multiple offenders was diagnosed with a mood disorder. CONCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS: Multiple sexual murderers are characterized by disorders in three major psychopathological domains: sexual as well as 'character' sadism, antisociality and schizoid personality. A thorough diagnostic evaluation of Axis I as well as Axis II disorders should be part of risk assessments in sexual homicide perpetrators. Although the study was a retrospective investigation on psychiatric court reports, the size of the sample and consistency with results from previous studies give confidence that the identified group differences are unlikely to be due to methodological limitations.

Adolescent↗