Empathy and Jurors' Decisions in Patricide Trials Involving Child Sexual Assault Allegations

In a mock-trial paradigm, 205 participants considered a patricide trial in which a child defendant claimed the patricide was done in self-defense after years of sexual abuse. Participants in an empathy-induction condition were asked to take the perspective of the defendant and to detail how they would be thinking and feeling if they were the defendant. Control condition participants received no such instructions. Results indicated that, compared to jurors in the control condition, jurors who were asked to take the defendant's perspective had more empathy for the defendant (without feeling more similar to or more sympathy for the defendant), found the defendant less guilty and less responsible for the murder, and were more likely to consider abuse to be a mitigating factor in the killing. Overall, compared to men, women were more likely to believe the defendant's abuse allegations, find the defendant credible, and consider the defendant to be less responsible for the murder. Women in the empathy condition found the defendant less guilty than did all other jurors. Finally, child defendant gender was also varied, but this had few effects on case judgments overall. Jurors, however, were more likely to believe that the girl defendant was sexually abused than the boy defendant. We discuss theoretical implications for understanding the social psychological construct of empathy as well as implications for understanding jurors' decisions in cases involving child sexual assault allegations.     

Female juvenile murderers: Biological and psychological dynamics leading to homicide

The increasing involvement of girls under 18 in violent crime has been a matter of growing concern in the United States in recent years. This article reviews the arrests of female juveniles for violent crime and then focuses specifically on their involvement in homicide. Arrests of girls for murder, unlike arrests for assault, have not risen over the last 30 years, suggesting that the dynamics that propel female juveniles to engage in lethal violence differ from those contributing to assaultive behavior by this same group. A review of the literature indicates that theories as to why female adolescents kill do not take into account recent scientific findings on brain development and the biological effects of early trauma in explaining serious violent behavior by girls. Three cases, evaluated by the authors, involving female adolescents charged with murder or attempted murder, are presented. The authors focus on the biological and psychological dynamics that help explain their violent behavior. They discuss the effects of insecure attachment and child maltreatment, and trace a critical pathway between these early experiences and future risk of violent behavior. The dynamics of child maltreatment in fostering rage and violence are discussed thereafter in terms of offender accountability. The article concludes with a discussion of treatment and recommendations for future research.     

Interpersonal violence cases reported to the police: a Nigerian study

The study involves 204 cases of interpersonal assault reported to the police during a period of 1 year. The patterns of domestic violence and community violence involving friends, neighbors, and strangers are described. The most common type of violence reported to the police is community interpersonal violence in which victims are mostly females and perpetrators are mostly males and members of gangs. Cases of rape are reported, whereas spousal violence tends to be underreported. On the whole, female victims are more likely to be younger than their male counterparts, whereas the male perpetrators are more likely to be unemployed. Repeat assault is found in 43 instances. Possible psychological and sociological explanations are offered for violent gang activities. The need to sensitize the police to become more involved is emphasized. The author proposes suggestions that may help reduce the incidence of community violence.     

Serial killers with military experience: applying learning theory to serial murder

Scholars have endeavored to study the motivation and causality behind serial murder by researching biological, psychological, and sociological variables. Some of these studies have provided support for the relationship between these variables and serial murder. However, the study of serial murder continues to be an exploratory rather than explanatory research topic. This article examines the possible link between serial killers and military service. Citing previous research using social learning theory for the study of murder, this article explores how potential serial killers learn to reinforce violence, aggression, and murder in military boot camps. As with other variables considered in serial killer research, military experience alone cannot account for all cases of serial murder. Future research should continue to examine this possible link.     

Homicide as a cause of the sudden infant death syndrome

The homicidal asphyxiation of a 10 1/2-month-old male infant and the attempted asphyxiation of his 4-month-old sibling, documented by parental confession, is presented as evidence that murder may sometimes be mistaken as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). A review of the literature of the relationship between murder and SIDS deaths reveals the suspicions of some physicians but few published cases; this reflects not only the difficulties of making a determination of murder by suffocation, since no injuries may be present, but also a lack of awareness among physicians who must evaluate infant deaths. It is recommended that murder should be considered in the differential diagnosis of sudden, unexpected death in infants and that the autopsy should include full-body x-rays and at least an initial look at the social history of the child.     

系列杀人案件的成因、特点及侦查对策

发生系列杀人案件的原因取决于作案人的犯罪心理,谋财害命、报复杀人、滥杀无辜和杀人灭口是导致系列杀人案件的主要成因。系列杀人案件的特点体现在作案人的行为特征、作案人的个性特征和犯罪现场的痕迹物证三个方面。在侦查过程中,应引进利用“软件”串并案件的理念以拓展串并案途径,过细勘查犯罪现场,建立失踪人口管理机制以及时发现和串并系列杀人隐案,严格遵循公安部“侦破系列杀人案件工作机制”的要求规范侦查工作,引入和加强犯罪心理画像、犯罪现场重建和辩证侦查思维等现代侦查和取证方法。     

The patterns and prevalence of mass murder in twentieth-century America

Even though previous research has not examined mass murder prior to 1965, scholars have asserted that the mid-1960s marked the onset of an unprecedented and ever-growing mass murder wave. Using news accounts and the FBI's Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR) as sources of data, this study analyzes 909 mass killings that took place between 1900 and 1999. Although the mid-1960s marked the beginning of a mass murder wave, it was not unprecedented, because mass killings were nearly as common during the 1920s and 1930s. The results also show that familicides, the modal mass murder over the last several decades, were even more prevalent before the 1970s. Moreover, mass killers were older, more suicidal, and less likely to use guns in the first two-thirds of the 20th century. Although some have claimed that workplace massacres represent a new “strain” in mass murder, the findings suggest that the only new type of mass killing that emerged during the 20th century was the drug-related massacre.     

Traumatic heart rupture or infarct?

The movie genre "snuff" appeared in the late 70s and shows the allegedly real, often cruel killing of people. More recently, a growing number of short video clips have been distributed via the internet, which also belong into this category and were clearly recognized as fictional on the basis of technical details by two study groups at the 80th Annual Meeting of the German Society of Legal Medicine held in Interlaken from 25 to 29 September 2001 (Schyma/Seidl). By means of a brief review of film history the article shows that "snuff movies" originated from a certain prevailing trend, examples of which are the murder of the actress Sharon Tate by the group around Charles Manson, the development of B horror movies, a promotional campaign for a film which flopped in 1971 (renamed several times by the distribution company from "American Cannibal" to "Snuff" to "Big Snuff") and elements of urban legends. Retrospectively there are no clues that Snuff films--i.e. movies openly distributed and actually available to the public, which were not private documentations found by the police at the homes of killers during investigations of homicides (such as in the murder series of the couple Bernardo/Homolka)--show real killings.     

The role of victim characteristics in the disposition of murder cases

Using data from prosecutors' files in a sample of 33 U.S. counties, we examine how victims' conduct and victims' demographic characteristics affect the disposition of murder cases at various stages of the criminal justice process. We find that victims' age and past conduct do not significantly influence legal outcomes in murder cases, but their race, gender, and conduct at the time of the incident do so. Although these effects vary across the criminal justice decision-making stages considered, they generally are consistent with the claim that killings of disreputable or stigmatized victims tend to be treated more leniently. We also find some evidence that the effects of victim characteristics are stronger in jury proceedings than in bench proceedings, and that the influence of a victim's race on the disposition of murder cases is conditioned by the racial composition of the county in which the case is processed.     

DETERRENCE, BRUTALIZATION, AND THE DEATH PENALTY: ANOTHER EXAMINATION OF OKLAHOMA'S RETURN TO CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

A replication and extension of a weekly ARZMA analysis (1989–1991) by Cochran et al. (1994), which appeared in Criminology, confirms that Oklahoma's return to capital punishment in 1990, after a 25-year moratorium, was followed by a significant increase in killings involving strangers. Moreover, a multivariate autoregressive analysis, which includes measures of the frequency of executions, the level of print media attention devoted to executions, and selected sociodemographic variables, produced results consistent with the brutalization hypothesis for total homicides, as well as a variety of different types of killing involving both strangers and nonstrangers. No prior study has shown such strong support for the capital punishment and brutalization argument. However, there is also a suggestion of a possible lagged deterrent effect for the level of media coverage of executions for nonfelony murders involving strangers. The analysis indicates that the impact of capital punishment in Oklahoma during the 1989–1991 period was much more extensive than suggested by the earlier study. Recommendations are made for further research examining additional jurisdictions and time periods to determine the generalizability of the patterns found for Oklahoma.     

Resuscitation injuries complicating the interpretation of premortem trauma and natural disease in children

Minor soft tissues injuries are common in both adults and children who have had cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Potentially life-threatening injuries are rare. The pre-arrest history in a resuscitated adult often assists the pathologist to interpret autopsy findings. In contrast, an infant or child may not have a reliable history. In this situation, it may be difficult if not impossible to distinguish resuscitation injuries from pre-existing accidental or inflicted trauma. I describe two children who had significant autopsy-documented injuries initially attributed to abuse. The State filed murder charges against the caretaker in each case. However, further history and review of the medical records suggested that resuscitation rather than pre-arrest trauma caused almost all of the injuries. The State dismissed the charges in the first case. A jury returned a "not guilty" verdict in the second. It is essential to consider the entire history and not just autopsy findings when performing a death investigation.     

Partner killing by men in cohabiting and marital relationships: a comparative, cross-national analysis of data from Australia and the United States

Using a national-level U.S. database, T. K. Shackelford (2001) calculated rates of uxoricide (the murder of a woman by her romantic partner) by relationship type (cohabiting or marital), by ages of the partners, and by the age difference between partners. Women in cohabiting relationships were 9 times more likely to be killed by their partner than were married women. Within marriages, the risk of uxoricide decreases with a woman's age. Within cohabiting relationships, middle-aged women were at greatest risk of uxoricide. The risk of uxoricide increased with greater age difference between partners. We sought to replicate the findings of Shackelford (2001) using a national-level database that includes information on more than 4,400 homicides that occurred in Australia between 1989 and 2002. Despite the higher rate of partner killing in the United States, and despite other cultural differences between the two countries, we replicated key patterns with the Australian data.     

Compassionate Killings: The Case for a Partial Defence

The focus of this article is upon compassionate killings, that is, criminal cases where a parent/spouse has killed or assisted to die a child/spouse who was suffering from severe disabilities, debilitating injury, chronic or terminal illness. We argue that the partial defence of diminished responsibility, while appropriate for some cases, fails to acknowledge the compassionate and relational nature of these acts and thus fails to identify the quality of the harm committed. We also argue that the general defences of duress of circumstances and necessity, even if they were to be become available, are inappropriate. Developing the concept of ‘compassion’, which is a consideration in relation to prosecution for assisted suicide, we argue for the introduction of a partial defence of ‘compassionate killing’ which would reduce the offence from murder to manslaughter in recognition of the killing as a responsive, relational act of care.     

Urban homicide: Still the same

We use 1984–1986 data to estimate lifetime risks of being murdered in each of 50 large American cities and then compare these projections to others made earlier from 1971–1972 and 1976–1977 data. We find strong constancy over time in the average urban resident's murder risk (essentially a 1 in 68 chance of eventually being slain). Moreover, we find a high stability in the dispersion of risk by region, race, and city size and in the relative rankings of the 50 cities by murder risk. We comment briefly about such recent phenomena as the proliferation of crack and the resumption of capital punishment.Throughout this paper, we use the words murder, homicide, killing, and slaying interchangeably, meaning in all cases murder and nonnegligent manslaughter as defined by the FBI.     

MAKING A PLACE AT THE TABLE:

This response to Timothy Tippins and Jeffrey Wittmann's article "Empirical and Ethical Problems with Custody Recommendations: A Call for Clinical Humility and Judicial Vigilance" builds upon the authors' conclusions that custody evaluations cannot and should not be a substitute for the socio-legal judgment of the best interests of the child. Recognizing that clinical humility and judicial vigilance may not be sufficient to restrain the misuse of psychological evaluation, we offer for consideration three structural changes that would provide for a more appropriate use of the skills and talents custody evaluators bring to legal decisions. We suggest using custody evaluators in the less adversarial setting of preparing parenting plans, revising the procedures by which custody evaluations are elicited in litigation, and adopting the approximation standard for child custody determinations.     

Psychological self-defense

A small but increasingly visible number of battered women eventually kill their batterers. While most of these women plead self-defense, they are generally convicted of murder or manslaughter because their homicidal acts rarely fit the narrow legal definition of self-defense. This article (a) explains who battered women are and why they kill; (b) suggests that many, perhaps most, battered women who kill their batterers do so in psychological self-defense; and (c) argues that current self-defense law should be expanded to justify such killings.Adversary Forum is edited by Gary B. Melton.     

Legal Responses and Sentencing in Murder Cases – A Comparison of Law and Judicial Reactions in India and Germany

While there are huge cultural, social and socio-legal differences between India and Germany, the sentencing laws of the two countries show a couple of similarities. In India and Germany alike, the substantive law makes only little specifications for the sentencing process. There are no sub-statutory sentencing guidelines, within the range provided by the penal codes the courts have a wide discretion in the sentencing process. It is, however, interesting to see that the courts exercise their discretion in similar ways which can specifically be observed in murder cases. The article describes the legal framework which is applicable in murder cases in India and Germany and compares the judicial decisions in selected cases: hold-up murder, sexually motivated murder, domestic violence killings and honor killings. The comparison gives evidence of the communicative function of punishment. After a serious crime like murder the public – typically well informed by the media, agitated and highly troubled – will in both countries only be settled by a judgment considered as fair, just and proportionate. Peace under the law and internal security, however, do not seem to be dependent on specific forms of punishment. Capital punishment and life imprisonment appear as penalties which may be necessary reactions to murder in a given cultural context, but which are not indispensable to a criminal justice system.     

Putting the group back into intergroup justice studies

This paper argues that groups have traditionally been conceptualized in two major ways—subjective and objective—which correspond to the different conceptions found within the disciplines of psychology and sociology. We argue that the term group is frequently used too carelessly since rarely are readers informed of the conception of group to which the findings are relevant. Findings generated from studies involving one conception of group may not allow valid inferences to groups conceptualized differently. We suggest that a more sociological conception of group is needed to balance the current emphasis based in the psychological tradition. We believe that such a difference in conceptualizing groups could well lead to very different speculations about the nature of intergroup justice relations.     

Mephitic projects: a forensic leisure science analysis of the BTK serial murders

Although it has been suggested among both forensic experts and a small number of leisure scientists that serial murder may be a form of recreational leisure, such suggestions remain largely unexplored both theoretically and empirically. Given the absence of scholarship on this possibility, this project explored and analyzed the structure and function of leisure activities within an unusual case (Dennis Rader) of serial murder. A thorough analysis of relevant case documents confirmed that serial murder itself can be experienced by the killer as a form of recreational leisure with the potential for optimal psychological experience (flow), and that various leisure activities may function in specific ways within the serial murder process. An unexpected finding in this case was that leisure, specifically project-based leisure, served to structure specific killings. Findings provide valuable new insights for forensics behavioral experts that may be used to guide future research.     

THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILD

Despite heavy use of the concept of the "best interests" of the child, there is little consensus about what criteria constitute a child's best interests or how these criteria should be applied. This article explores some of the problems of the best interest concept, from the developmental and psychological perspective, and suggests that the concept is a worthwhile one if decision makers are able to go beyond cliches and superficial definitions.