NCJ Number
133142
Date Published
1991
Length
219 pages
Annotation
A psychiatrist investigates the causes and dynamics of homicidal behavior by looking at the cases of 100 murderers.
Abstract
The book emphasizes a psychiatric focus because homicide is viewed as the behavioral end product of mental processes. Four key questions are addressed: what causal factors prompt persons to kill; whether persons who kill are homogeneous or heterogeneous; what factors can be used to aggregate killers into meaningful clusters; and what can an enhanced causal understanding of homicide contribute to prediction, prevention, and case management. The author shows that proximate causal factors can account for the initiation of homicidal behavior, that considerable heterogeneity exists among murderers, and that cluster analysis techniques can be used to identify homicide clusters. He considers personality dysfunction, alienation, madness, psychoneurosis, impaired self-image, stress, substance abuse, personality disorganization, and antisocial personality disorders in relation to homicide. He also discusses his findings in terms of homicide prevention through conflict resolution, stress management, psychiatric intervention, the restriction of weapons, and the improvement of childhood growth and development experiences. Appendixes provide supplemental information on the study sample and methods, causal factors, and childhood behavior patterns. 38 references and 35 tables