Sexual sadism and murder

Question 1

Sexual murder

Answer 1

crime scene evidence of sexual components (removal of victim’s clothing, exposure of victim’s sexual organs, sexual positioning of body, evidence of vaginal, oral, or anal intercourse, or other signs of sexual exploitation)

Question 2

Serial murder

Answer 2

evidence that the same person has committed three or more separate homicides in three or more separate locations

Question 3

Vindictive murderers

Answer 3

• AKA displaced anger murderers
  
  • committed homicide out of rage at someone other than the victim
  • they kill after raping
  • rarely derive sexual satisfaction from the assault or murder

Question 4

Lust murders

Answer 4

aggression and sexuality are fused into a single psychological experience “sadism” in which aggression is eroticized

Question 5

Types of sexual sadism

Answer 5

Necrophilia, erontophonophilia, sadistic rape

Question 6

necrophilia

Answer 6

• sexual attraction to corpses; manifestation of sexual sadism due to power aspect, wanting to “possess and destroy their victims beyond death”

Question 7

Erontophonophilia

Answer 7

• AKA lust murder
• like serial killers
• sexual sadism underlies this phenomenon
• sexual kill from the act of killing (orgasm when murdering, power may play a role but not main point)
• if sadism is a continuum, this is the highest point

Question 8

Sadistic rape

Answer 8

• instrumental force

- use only necessary amounts of force (different from sadists due to sexual arousal)

Question 9

Few studies have looked at prevalence of sexual sadism in general community

Answer 9

Ahler et al. 2009 and Crepault & Couture 1980 found ~1/4 men have sadistic fantasies
but is this normal? or is it a distinct preference?

Question 10

Hallmark of sexually sadistic fantasies

Answer 10

themes of violence, power, humiliation, torture, mutilation, dominance; thought to reflect themes present in sexually sadistic crimes; some assume fantasies are precursor to acts

Question 11

Etiology of Sexual Sadism

Answer 11

Pseudo-developmental (juvenile criminality, criminogenic environments)

• paraphilic/deviant pref. model (like any other paraphilia; behaviours are sexually gratifying and arousal is higher with than without; conditioning involved)
• biological::
• Brain dysfunction (Money, 1990): limbic system, aggression & sex brain operates @ same time)
• Damage to temporal lobe (Hucker et al. 1988): abnormalities in right temporal lobe

Question 12

Dietz et al. 1990

Answer 12

• study on sexual homicide
• found 95% serial murderers were white; planned offences; matching vic profiles; physical assault and mutilation & torture

Question 13

prevalence of sexual sadism

Answer 13

around 15-20% in general population

Question 14

catathymic sexual murderer

Answer 14

• misplaced misogyny (usually towards mother); symbolic matricide
• overprotective/sexually seductive (abusive)/inappropriate sexual behaviour (prostitution)/feminizes-child mother
• incubation (build up rage); homicide; relief following expression of rage

Question 15

compulsive sexual murder

Answer 15

• misogynistic

- spends “considerable time” fantasizing about sexual sadism; generates tension; murder!