NCJ Number
73919
Journal
Annales de Vaucression Dated: special issue (1979) Pages: 425-450
Date Published
1979
Length
26 pages
Annotation
This study argues that the acting out of adolescent impulses resulting in homicide can only occur within a family with unique problems and family dynamics, in which violence, externalized or repressed, plays a major role.
Abstract
Researchers focused on families of adolescents who had been institutionalized as a consequence of having committed homicide. The seriousness and irreparable nature of this act operates as a catalyst on existing family problems, and the trauma it inflicts on all family members totally alters the family structure. The juveniles discussed here with the aid of personal case histories were divided into two age groups, i.e., under 16 and between 16 and 17 years of age. Young killers behave differently from most juvenile offenders: they keep to themselves, are taciturn and conformist in their conduct. Their families, being in a state of shock and, therefore, particularly vulnerable, were surprisingly accessible to the researchers. Since acting-out behavior does not take place in a vacuum but fits into a specific configuration, it became obvious that the parents of all the juveniles charged with homicide had personal histories of violence. The case histories related in this study prove this assumption. In many cases the adolescents reenacted events that had occurred in their parents' lives. In order to reeducate and resocialize the children, the parents must bring their problems and conflicts into the open: the only intervention modes that may prove effective are those involving all members of the offender's family. A 17-item bibliography is appended.