Comparing male and female juveniles charged with homicide: child maltreatment, substance abuse, and crime details

This study examines a sample of 136 male and female juveniles charged with attempted homicide or homicide. The purpose of this study is to explore the differences between nondirect file male and female juvenile homicide offenders regarding individual, family, and crime circumstances. Findings suggest that compared to male juvenile offenders, female juvenile homicide offenders have higher rates of reported childhood abuse, more serious substance abuse, and mental health problems including suicidal ideations, depression, anxiety, anger, and irritability. Male juvenile homicide offenders reported higher rates of substance use than their female counterparts but the females had more serious substance abuse problems. Female juveniles were found to more often kill a person known to them and male homicide offenders were found to more often kill a stranger. These findings suggest strongly that male and female juvenile homicide offenders are dissimilar and require unique assessment and treatment.     

Neuropsychological and Criminological Features of Female Homicide Offenders

Few studies have examined life history and cognitive characteristics unique to female homicide offenders. Understanding these characteristics could aid in risk assessment for extreme violence in this group of offenders. The current study utilized t‐tests or chi‐square tests to compare 27 female and 81 male homicide offenders on psychiatric, neurologic, criminal, and cognitive characteristics. Additionally, we explored the role of abuse history in female offenders through Kruskal–Wallis or Fisher's exact tests. Results indicate that in comparison with male counterparts, females are more likely to have history of mood disorder, borderline personality disorder, and abuse. Cognitively, female homicide offenders exhibit circumscribed cognitive impairment in verbal abilities and perform similarly to male homicide offenders across most cognitive tasks. Within the female offender group, history of sexual abuse is associated with higher rates of impulsive homicide and poorer verbal abilities. These findings provide preliminary evidence for distinct factors associated with homicide in women.     

Gender-specific risk factors for intimate partner homicide--a nationwide register-based study

The present study examined gender differences in intimate partner homicide (IPH) and offender characteristics with the focus on putative gender-specific risk factors in a nationwide consecutive sample of homicide offenders. Data on all offenders (N = 642; 91 females, 551 males) convicted of homicide and subjected to a forensic psychiatric examination in Finland were obtained for the years 1995 and 2004. IPH offenders, 39 female and 106 male, were compared for risk factors with female and male offenders whose victims were not spouses. The forensic psychiatric examination reports were retrospectively analyzed, and the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) was rated. Significant gender differences were found in four risk factors: employment, intoxication of victim, self-defense, and quarrel, mostly related to alcohol as a factor of the offense. The findings support the notion that female IPH is linked to defensive reactions resulting from prior abuse, and that IPH offenders resemble the general population more than offenders of other types of homicide.     

Psychopathic traits in Finnish homicide offenders with schizophrenia

There is a paucity of studies examining psychopathy in comparable samples of violent individuals with and without psychotic illness. The main goal of the study was to assess the prevalence and nature of psychopathic traits as measured by PCL-R among Finnish homicide offenders with schizophrenia. Further, the impact of co-morbid psychopathy on the homicidal incidents, as well as the associations of psychopathy and offender background factors, among offenders with schizophrenia was investigated.A retrospective study was performed using extensive forensic psychiatric evaluation reports and crime reports as sources of information. The sample consisted of 72 homicide offenders with schizophrenia and 72 controls without psychotic illness.Psychopathic features were prevalent among Finnish homicide offenders with schizophrenia, although for the most parts to a lesser extent compared to other homicide offenders. Like non-mentally ill psychopathic offenders, offenders with schizophrenia and many psychopathic traits are likely to present early starting problems in many areas of life and they also commit homicides that resemble other psychopathic offenders' in their choice of victims, intoxication and post-offense behavior.The observed prevalence of psychopathic traits highlights the importance of psychopathy assessment among violence-prone individuals with schizophrenia. In most respects, offenders with schizophrenia and high levels of psychopathic traits seem to be similar to psychopathic offenders without psychotic illness, which has implications for early intervention and management.     

Female Sexual Homicide Offenders: A Descriptive and Comparative Study

Research on female sexual homicide has been very scarce. In Europe, it has rarely been examined, and in Scotland, it has never previously been studied. This exploratory study aims to examine the characteristics of sexual homicides involving female offenders between 1990 and 2015 in Scotland. Using data from the Scottish Homicide Database between 1990 and 2015, female sexual homicides (n = 7) were compared to nonsexual homicides committed by females (n = 106) and to sexual homicides committed by men (n = 89) using Fisher's exact tests. The findings show that although female sexual homicide offenders are similar to both female nonsexual homicide offenders and male sexual homicide offenders in certain aspects, there are important differences that distinguish sexual homicides involving female offenders from both groups. Female sexual homicide offenders can arguably be seen as a distinct group of offenders, with specific characteristics and specific needs.     

A 28-year (1963-90) study of homicide in Marion County, Oregon.

We describe 240 consecutive homicidal deaths that occurred in Marion County, Oregon, over a 28-year period (1963-90). An epidemiological assessment of the homicides yielded the following information: More than 91% of these deaths were primary homicides. In primary homicide, 63% of the victims and 88% of the offenders were male. In secondary homicide, 76% of the victims and all of the offenders were male. A high percentage of victims (83%) and offenders (84%) in primary homicide were Caucasian, as were 100% of victims and offenders in secondary homicide. About 12% of victims and 10% of offenders in primary homicide were Hispanic. Fifty-nine percent of primary homicides were intrasexual, as compared to 87% of secondary homicides. An intraracial pattern was found in 90% of primary homicides and in 100% of secondary homicides. The most frequent means of death in both primary and secondary homicides were firearms, physical beating, and stabbing. Strangers committed 80% of secondary homicides. This was in marked contrast to the victim-offender relationship found in primary homicides, where strangers were responsible for approximately 16% of the total, acquaintances for approximately 36%, and family members for approximately 48%. The overall clearance rate (i.e., the identification and charging of a suspect for the death) was 88%.     

Aging and homicide rates

There are no published studies concerning the effect of mortality rate on the rate of homicide by habitually violent offenders. On the basis of nation-wide statistics in Finland, the frequency of homicide is 61% lower among 50-year old males than among 30-year old males. However, when the 4.9-fold mortality of habitually violent offenders is taken into account, the homicide rate is only 43% lower among 50-year old males than among 30-year old males. This is an important issue in forensic psychiatry and that requires further attention, as age is used a predictive factor when assessing the risk of violent behavior.     

An Empirical Study of Rape in the Context of Multiple Murder

In recent years, multiple homicide offending has received increased research attention from criminologists; however, there is mixed evidence about the role of rape toward the perpetration of multiple murder. Drawing on criminal career data from a nonprobability sample of 618 confined male homicide offenders selected from eight U.S. states, the current study examines the role of rape as a predictor of multiple homicide offending. Bivariate analyses indicated a significant association between rape and murder charges. Multivariate path regression models indicated that rape had a significant and robust association with multiple murder. This relationship withstood the confounding effects of kidnapping, prior prison confinement, and prior murder, rape, and kidnapping. These results provide evidence that rape potentially serves as a gateway to multiple murder for some serious offenders. Suggestions for future research are proffered.     

The Intergenerational Cycle of Criminality—Association with Psychopathy*

Abstract: Preventive interventions early in life are likely to lower the risk of intergenerational transmission of criminal behavior. We investigated if psychopathy among homicidal offenders is associated with criminal offending among the offenders’ offspring. The basic sample consisted of consecutive Finnish homicide offenders (during 1995–2004) who had been subjected to a forensic psychiatric examination and rated for a file‐based PCL‐R, and their offspring. Criminal behavior among both genders of the offspring was more common than in the general population. In general, the offspring’s crimes against others (e.g., threat, intimidation, deprivation of freedom, breach of domicile) were associated with their parent’s psychopathy. A grandfather’s major mental disorder was associated with a high rate of crime committed by the offspring. Especially, the sons of male psychopathic homicidal offenders had the highest rate of committing crimes, which was often expressed as vandalism. However, both genders of offspring seem to require special preventive programs to ameliorate these problems.     

Male and female juveniles arrested for murder: a comprehensive analysis of U.S. data by offender gender

Murders committed by juveniles remain a serious concern in the United States. Most studies on juvenile homicide offenders (JHOs) have used small samples and have concentrated on male offenders. As a result, little is known about female JHOs and how they differ from their male counterparts on a national level. This study utilized the Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR) database to examine more than 40,000 murders committed by male and female juvenile offenders from 1976 to 2005. This research effort, the most expansive to date, replicated previous findings with respect to gender differences using bivariate and multivariate analyses. As predicted, six variables used to test eight hypotheses with respect to male and female JHOs in single-victim incidents were significant (victim age, victim-offender relationship, murder weapon, offender count, victim gender, and homicide circumstance). Regression analysis revealed that all variables remained significant when entered into the model. This article concludes with a discussion of our findings and directions for future research.     

Female murderers in a southern city, 1975–1992

A study of a population of 36 females arrested for homicide in a southern, nonurban city from 1975 to 1992 was conducted using both qualitative and quantitative data. The study explored the demographic, social, legal, and offense characteristics of female homicide offenders as well as events leading to the murder. The profile of female homicide offenders in a southern, non-urban setting that emerged from this study is supportive of earlier studies focusing on female homicide offenders in large urban areas.     

Psychopathy (PCL-R) in a forensic psychiatric sample of homicide offenders: some reliability issues

Several studies have shown that psychopathy is overrepresented among homicide offenders. There is a consensus that Hare's Psychopathy Checklist-Revised PCL-R is currently the most valid and useful tool for rating psychopathy (e.g., [Fulero, S. M. (1995). Review of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised. In J. C. Conoley & J. C. Impara (Eds.), Twelfth Mental Measurements Yearbook (pp. 453-454). Lincoln, NE: Buros Institute]). Usually, when making a rating of psychopathy, both an interview and an examination of the subject's files are used. However, it has been discussed what is really required to be able to rate psychopathy in a reliable manner. The aim of the present study was to retrospectively rate the degree of psychopathy in 35 homicide offenders being subjected to forensic psychiatric assessment. These ratings of psychopathy were carried out using forensic psychiatric files and courts'; verdicts only. Another aim was to examine the reliability of PCL-R in this specific Swedish sample of homicide offenders. There was a good agreement between the two raters with respect to the categorical diagnosis of psychopathy (Cohen's kappa=.81, p<.001), which indicates that retrospective ratings of psychopathy are well suited for research purposes. The prevalence of psychopathy among the homicide offenders was 31.4% (using a cut-off score of 30), which means that the construct of psychopathy may contribute to the understanding of the phenomenon of homicide. In the planning of treatment for homicide offenders, a consideration of possible psychopathy is necessary. As criminal psychopaths are known to relapse into violent criminality, it is very important that they are given efficient treatment, placement and management.     

Do Gang Members Commit Abnormal Homicide?

Gang membership is a robust correlate of homicide offending and victimization, but little is known about the association between gang status and various abnormal forms of homicide (e.g., multiple-victim homicide, sexual homicide, and abduction homicide). The current study utilized data from a large sample of 618 male convicted murderers to empirically examine gang status and diverse forms of homicide perpetration. Gang-involved offenders were nearly three times as likely to commit a normal homicide characterized as a single-victim murder. However, gang members were 64 % less likely to perpetrate multiple-victim murder. In other models, gang status reduced the likelihood of sexual homicide by 75 % and reduced the likelihood of abduction homicide by 56 %. These findings present an anomaly in the gang-homicide literature, and suggestions for additional research are offered.     

Differences between Homicides Committed by Lone and Multiple Offenders in Korea

The aim of this study was to differentiate between homicides committed by multiple offenders and homicides committed by lone offenders. Using data on homicide incidents that occurred in South Korea between 1985 and 2008, we compared 134 homicides committed by multiple offenders, with 369 homicides committed by lone offenders. A greater proportion of homicides committed by multiple offenders involved injuries to the victim's head compared to homicides by lone offenders. Homicides committed by multiple offenders were more likely to involve blunt instruments and ligatures, whereas homicides by lone offenders were more likely to involve sharp instruments. In addition, a majority of the homicides committed by multiple offenders were planned. The results of this study have practical implications for homicide investigations, as well as theoretical implications for homicide research on the difference in offense behaviors based on the number of offenders.     

Homicide–Suicide in China: an Exploratory Study of Characteristics and Types

This study explores 63 homicide–suicide cases that include two or more homicide victims, in the People’s Republic of China. This is the first study to examine homicide–suicide in the Chinese context, following calls to develop a research strategy outside of the USA and Europe. Data are derived from a content analysis of Chinese news sources from 2000 to 2014. Findings show homicide–suicide offenders are likely to be married males living in rural cities who kill their intimate partners and/or children inside a residence using knives. Intimate partner conflict and extramarital affairs are precipitating factors in almost half of the incidents. Patterns of homicide–suicide in China are comparable to those in high-income countries, except that firearms are not the primary means in China and there is no evidence of “mercy killing” among older persons, as described in western homicide–suicide studies. Findings are related to the social and economic structure of Chinese society. Clinical and policy implications include the need for greater transparency and a nationwide homicide and suicide tracking system in China, stricter domestic violence laws, postmortem studies of the brains of homicide–suicide offenders, and psychological autopsies on homicide–suicide perpetrators.     

Assessing the interaction between offender and victim criminal lifestyles & homicide type

Purpose

This study examined the interaction between homicide victim and offender criminal lifestyles and the situational characteristics of homicides that occurred in the city of Newark, New Jersey from 1997 through 2007. Three research questions were explored: (1) what are the lifestyles exhibited by homicide victims and offenders; (2) are there different types of homicide actors (i.e., victim and/or offender) based on their criminal lifestyle; (3) do varying homicide actor (i.e., victim and/or offender) types influence the characteristics of homicide incidents?

Methods

Five hundred and thirteen homicide incidents was used to answer the three research questions. Hierarchical Agglomerative Cluster and Logistic Regression Analyses were employed to answer the research questions.

Findings

The findings showed that criminal lifestyles were indeed very common among homicide victims and offenders, and that they resemble each other. The findings also showed that there were two types of homicide victims and offenders, and that these types influenced the etiology of homicide incidents.

Conclusion

Overall, the results suggest that researchers and practitioners should take into account the criminal lifestyles of potential victims and offenders when tailoring homicide prevention strategies.     

Homicide Followed by Suicide in Finland: Trend and Social Locus

In the early 1960s, 15% of Finnish homicide offenders committed suicide after the crime. In 1998–2000, this ratio was 6%. The downward trend was due to the increase in non-suicidal homicide, as well as to a substantial decrease in the general homicide-suicide rate. Over the time span, the rate of suicidal homicide offenders per 100,000 population was halved. The decrease took place in the two most significant homicide-suicide types (that is, those of intimate-partner homicides and parent-child killings) and, within these crime types, in crimes committed by men. The present article describes the prevalence and trend of homicide-suicide in Finland, and examines the socio-economic correlates of this phenomenon. The findings indicate that the percentage and the rate of homicide-suicide have been consistently highest among middle classes and lowest among the unemployed and working classes. Victim-offender relationship, stressful life events, and alcohol consumption are discussed as explanations for this stable social difference.     

Profiles in the offending process of nonserial sexual murderers

The aim of this study was to investigate specific pathways in the offending processes of nonserial sexual murderers and to examine possible relationships with different precrime, per-crime, and postcrime factors. Included in this study were 36 offenders who have committed at least one sexual murder against a female victim and they were classified using cluster analysis. Participants using the sadistic pathway planned their offenses and used physical restraints during the offenses. Furthermore, they mutilated and humiliated their victims. Finally, they hid the bodies of the victims. Participants using the anger pathway had not premeditated the homicide. Mutilation, humiliation, and physical restraints were less predominant with these participants than with those using the sadistic pathway. Moreover, these offenders were more likely to leave the bodies at the crime scenes after the killings occurred. These two profiles are compared with empirical studies addressing sexual homicide.     

Domestic Homicide: Neuropsychological Profiles of Murderers Who Kill Family Members and Intimate Partners

Domestic homicide is the most extreme form of domestic violence and one of the most common types of homicide. The objective was to examine differences between spontaneous domestic homicide and nondomestic homicide offenders regarding demographics, psychiatric history, crime characteristics, and neuropsychological status, utilizing neuropsychological test data from forensic examinations of 153 murderers. Using standard crime classification criteria, 33% committed spontaneous domestic homicides (SDH) and 61% committed nondomestic homicides (NDH). SDH offenders were more likely to manifest psychotic disorders, but less likely to be diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder or to have prior felony convictions. SDH offenders manifested significantly worse neuropsychological impairments than NDH offenders. The mean number of victims was lower for the SDH than the NDH group and only 14% of SDH offenders used a firearm, whereas 59% of NDH offenders used a firearm. These findings corroborate the notion that spontaneous domestic homicide may represent a discernible criminological phenotype.     

Criminal history and social disadvantage as predictors of the severity of violent offending

ABSTRACT

Lethal violence is often seen as the tip of the iceberg and homicide perpetrators are seen as manifesting the most extreme number of various risk factors. This article explores whether that is the case. Using a unique data set combining data from several administrative registers with a nationally representative sample of different types of police-reported violence committed during 2010–2011 (N = 26,303 offenders) in Finland, we compare the offenders of five different types of violence (minor assault, assault, aggravated assault, attempted homicide, and completed homicide). In addition, we examine the association between the severity of violence and prior criminal history and different types of strain. The results give partial support to the hypothesis: the more serious the violence, the more crime prone and socially disadvantaged the offender. Yet, lethal offenders do not stand out alone; the division, rather, appears to be between offenders of serious (aggravated assault, attempted homicide, completed homicide) and less serious (minor assault, assault) forms of violence.