Homicidal offenders Flashcards
1st degree murder
planned and deliberate
- or murder of law enforcement or correctional staff member
- murder occurring during commission of another violent offence like sexual assault
- automatic life sentence, no possible parole until 25 years
2nd degree murder
all other murders, intends to cause harm/death
- min sentence life sentence, no parole 10 years
manslaughter
unintentional murder
- might have intent for harm
- criminal negligence also
- life sentence?
infanticide
killing of a baby by it’s mother
- up to 1 year of age
- max sentence is 5 years
homicide rates
- less than 1% of violent crimes in Canada
- 80-90% known to victim
- 4/5 male victims
- 1/4 gang related
- 6.5X higher for indigenous people
- females more likely to be killed by spouse
bimodal classification of homicide
reactive (affective) aggression - family/ known -80% - 55% acquaintances instrumental (predatory) aggression - likely among strangers -20% - higher PCL-R scores
filicide
killing of children by biological or step parents
- majority of child homicide victims
- male/ female equally victimized
- risk declines as children age
- half committed by men
- strangulation, suffocation, drowning
- 2008-2018 38% decrease
neonaticide
murder of newborn baby with 24 hours
- most commonly by mothers
- typically, young, poor, unmarried, no stable relationship with father, emotionally immature
- concealment of pregnancy: fear of rejection, family, shame
- active - violent act (most common)
- passive - neglect/ absence of medical care
- majority no mental illness at time of killing
Affective denial - aware but resent Pervasive denial -physical manifestations are misinterpreted or absent Psychotic denial
mothers who kill
most research focus
- neonaticides
- committed by battering mothers
- committed by mothers with mental illness
postpartum mental illnesses
postpartum blues - 85% of women - crying, irritability, anxiety - last few hours- 12 days postpartum depression - 7-19% -clinical depression -up to several months postpartum psychosis -1 or 2 per 1000 - delusions, hallucinations, suicidal or homicidal thoughts - first 3 months
Andrea Yates
postpartum depression and psychosis
- killed 5 children
Suzanne Killinger-johnson
killed herself and child by jumping in front of train
- had depression
Sonia Blanchette
killed her 3 children
- no mental illness found
- killed herself before trial
fathers who kill
- most of familicides committed
familicide
killing of spouse and child
- often history of spousal and child abuse
- 50% perp commits suicide
- usually male 30-40
- most common type of mass killing
- 1/3 full time employed
despondent non hostile - depressed and worried about impending disaster - suicide common after - keep family together Hostile accusatory - control/ revenge - express hostility towards wife
youth who kill
- low homicide rates
- attempted homicide are higher but still much lower than adults
- usually have an accomplice 57%
- psychotic, conflict, or crime
parricide
killing of parents
Jasmine Richardson
persuaded older boyfriend to kill parents and brother
- 12 at time
Femicide
killing of a women
androcide
killing of men
uxoricide
killing of wife by husband
mariticide
killing of husband by wife
sexual homicide
killing that involves a sexual component
- most offenders white, single,~28, diverse criminal history
MO
modus operandi
overkill
more violence than necessary to kill victim
classifying multiple murderers
- number of victims
- number of events
- number of locations
- presence of “cooling-off” period
serial killer
2+ victims (FBI 3), 2+ events, 2+ locations, with cooling off period
mass murderer
4+ victims at one event and location
- public kill strangers
- family
- most often planned and weapons are gathered to kill as many as possible
- often plan to commit suicide or get killed by law enforcement
spree murderer
2+ victims one continuous event at 2+ locations with no cooling off period
characteristics of serial killers
majority male, Caucasian, 20-40, operate individually, female victims not related to offender
- loner
- may have stable relationships
- 1/2 criminal record of lifelong
- some employed stably
- 10% of murders in US
female serial murderers
- 15% of multiple homicides by women
- most likely to kill people they know
- black widow: kill spouse for financial gain
- angels of death: nurses or caregivers who kill patients
- mercy, sadistic, or hero persona
Dorothea Puente
serial killer of tenants for social insurance checks
Aileen Wuornos
male victims
- revenge/ control
- money
Holmes and Holmes typology
serial killer typology
- visionary
- in response to voices or visions - mission oriented
- targets “undesirable” group - Hedonistic
- Lust
- thrill
- comfort (money) - power/control oriented
- absolute dominance
Fox and Levine typology
serial killer typology
- revenge
- loyalty
- team kills to demonstrate commitment - profit
- power
Keppel and Walter (1999)
classification of serial sexual murders power: - power assertive - power- reassurance Anger: - anger- retaliation - anger- excitation
Joseph-Albert Guay
- mass plane murderer
- planned to kill wife, also killed 22 others
General aggression model
(GAM)
- Inputs
- biological, environmental, psychological and social factors that influence aggression
- person or situation factors
- routes
- outcomes
- useful for understanding and developing interventions
Jolliffe and Farrington (2007)
meta analysis of treatment effectiveness for violent male offenders
- effective to some extent
- anger management decreased
- empathy training increased
Treatment of Homicidal offenders
target:
- anger management and emotion management
- self regulation
- problem solving
- interpersonal skills
- social attitudes
not much research/ attention
- moral/ empathy training – not effective
- general violence lower recidivism
- cognitive skills + anger management = significantly lower
- without anger management no difference from control
