The Metallic Womb

This study of malevolent narcissism examines the relationship between the Washington Snipers, Muhammad and Malvo, from the perspectives of attachment theory and Kleinian theory. Muhammad embodied a perverted understanding of manliness. Malvo was desperate for the love of a father, and fused with the omnipotent destructiveness of John Muhammad. Together they embarked on a failed Quest, recreating the original infant/caregiver scenario, which in their experience was about destruction and death, rather than gratitude and life. Malvo and Muhammad were perfect together, merged into one unit devoted to murder. Their victims were random and multiple, like their early caregivers.     

Why is violent crime so common in the Americas?

Violent crimes, including murders, rapes, and assaults are substantially higher in the Americas than other regions of the world. This study investigated the role of single parenthood ratios in accounting for this regional variation in violent crime of 39 countries using INTERPOL data. It pitted the prediction of parental investment (calling for a delayed relationship between single parenthood and crime) against a mating aggression hypothesis that predicted a contemporaneous effect. Regression analyses found that current single parenthood ratios were strongly and consistently predictive of violent crimes whereas single parenthood ratios 18 years earlier were not and this conclusion remained following controls for income inequality and the population sex ratio. The results indicate that the regional difference in violent crime is best explained in terms of mating competition rather than reduced parental investment. Aggr. Behav. 32:1–9, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Mental Health Screening of Female Juvenile Offenders: Replication of a Subtyping Strategy

Recent research indicates that adjudicated female youth have higher rates of mental health problems and histories of trauma exposure and abuse relative to adjudicated male youth. These differences are important for gender-specific assessment, intervention, and management strategies. We replicated a subtyping strategy for adjudicated female youth based on mental health screening data from the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument-2 (MAYSI-2) by investigating subtype differences on trauma symptoms, abuse history, and other background variables. Cluster analysis of the standard MAYSI-2 scales revealed a three cluster solution replicating results from a prior study. Additionally, results indicated expected differences between female youth with mental health problems compared to those without mental health problems with co-occurring female youth (i.e., self-reported mental health and substance abuse problems) having have greater mental health problems and more extensive abuse histories compared to other subtypes.     

Bayesian journey-to-crime modelling of juvenile and adult offenders by gender in Manchester

This study tested the Bayesian journey-to-crime (JTC) model by gender and age for serial offenders from Manchester, England. The data were 4056 crimes committed by 171 serial offenders between 2003 and 2006. The data were subdivided by gender and age group to examine whether accuracy and precision varied by these subgroups. In general, the centre of minimum distance was found to be the most accurate measure, but the Bayesian risk and product measures were found to be the most precise measurements. The traditional ‘distance decay’ type of JTC function did not produce estimates that are as accurate nor as precise as the Bayesian approach. Tests were conducted on whether specific gender and age group JTC functions and origin–destination matrices improved predictability. With the exception of juvenile male offenders, the general functions were more accurate and precise. In terms of building an accurate and precise geographical profiling methodology, the results point to the need to include information on the likely predisposition of neighbourhoods to produce offenders as well as information on the crime opportunities available to offenders. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Women who kill their husbands: mariticides in contemporary Ghana

Homicide by wives against husbands is a largely unexplored subject in lethal violence research. The paucity of information on the phenomenon is particularly acute in the non-Western world where scholarly research is virtually nonexistent. The specific goal for this article, then, was to provide additional insights into the issue by investigating wife-to-husband killings that occurred in Ghana, a non-Western society, during 1990-2005. In line with the scant, extant literature, the results of the analysis demonstrate that victims were invariably slain at home. The motive for the crime was to punish a womanizing husband, a husband who had taken another wife, or one who was contemplating wedding another wife in this polygynous society. In other instances, the homicidal intent was to physically eliminate a husband to facilitate an amorous relationship between the assailant and her new lover. In several cases, husband-slayers killed a latent or predisposing victim (e.g. sleeping or ill) via burning, slashing with a machete or food poisoning. The implications of the findings are discussed.     

Against the Indifference Hypothesis: The Holocaust and the Enthusiasts for Murder

This essay takes issue with what is known as the "indifference" hypothesis regarding the murder of Jews during the Holocaust. The Germans' fear of typhus, their perception of the Jew as poisonous, biological matter, "life unworthy of life," created a group state of mind in which many individual Germans, particularly those in the professions, enthusiastically participated in the logistics, machinery, ideology and legitimation of mass murder.     

Killing your children to hurt your partner: A South African perspective on the motivations for revenge filicide

The aim of the study was to investigate the offence characteristics and motivations for revenge filicides. Revenge filicide is an act where one parent kills their own offspring for retribution to hurt and upset the other parent. The cases of 20 revenge filicide murderers (14 male and six female) were analysed to determine the motivations and offence characteristics of revenge filicide offenders. It is the first South African study to highlight the motivations and associated characteristics in revenge filicides. Themes such as a loss of social identity due to rejection; extreme rage type anger; external locus of control; sadism; a desire to cause pain and a need to inflict harm are highlighted in this article. The initial emotional response may escalate from mild anger to a level of narcissistic rage which eventually culminates in the murdering of the child to punish and hurt the other parent and to restore control.     

Murder most foul: Predictors of an affirmative response to an outrageous question

Male and female students (N = 761) attending university in Canada and the U.S. were asked if they would personally kill someone they knew and thoroughly hated under conditions of anonymity. Among Canadian subjects, males, those who were not religious, foreign students and those scoring high on irritation or assaultive tendencies were most likely to endorse the “murder” item. Among U.S. subjects, only irritability was a significant predictor of the criterion item. The results were discussed in terms of their methodological implications. © Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

The disposables: our treatment of violent adolescents

This paper discusses the clinical perceptions of levels of attachment disorder as theorized by John Bowlby. The findings are based on interview data of juvenile delinquent offenders who have committed criminal acts that are serious enough to warrant their being tried as adults. The data are based on clinical interviews, and the interviewer encourages empirical research of the clinical findings. It is suggested that attachment levels may be a viable means of determining appropriate types of rehabilitative interventions for juvenile offenders.