Final Exam Flashcards
Mass murderers
Have 4+ victims, no cooling off period, and kill in a single location. Divided into three categories: classic, family, felony.
Classic (public) mass murderers
Are male, young, and commit suicide. Extensive planning goes into their crimes and they average about 8.37 victims. They are depressed, frustrated, angry, and socially isolated. Their crimes are motivated by revenge, power, and hate, and their targets are symbolic of their anger.
Family mass murderers
Are the most common type (48%). They average 4.55 victims and are older males. They believe they are protecting their family from hardship. Victims are more often children.
Spree murderers (rapid sequence offenders)
Murder in 2+ locations and have 2+ victims. These crimes are a single event and their crimes do not have a cooling-off period.
Serial murderers
Have 2+ killings (previously 3) in different locations and separate events. Cooling-off period present.
Characteristics of US serial killers
Are generally 25-40 year-old white (52%) males (84%). They are of average intelligence and from troubled backgrounds. They tend to act alone and are geographically stable. Have an average of 4 unrelated, vulnerable female victims. Crimes are motivated by enjoyment, financial gain and anger. Methods are most often shooting, strangulation, and stabbing.
MMIWG epidemic
Indigenous women 7x more likely to be targeted by serial killers. Targets of domestic violence and reports go uninvestigated. 2021 231 calls to action.
Holmes and Holmes victim types
Visionary, mission-oriented, power/control-oriented, hedonistic
Criticisms of Holmes and Holmes typology
Overlap of types, lack of empirical scrutiny (typology generated from case files), and cannot explain changing motives
Risk factors for serial killing
Psychopathy, troubled backgrounds
Psychopathy and serial killing
While serial killers are often described as psychopathic, they are not all psychopaths. 90% number is likely inflated.
MacDonald triad
Triad of early childhood behaviours which are potential precursors to antisocial behaviour as an adult. Fire setting, enuresis (bed-wetting), and animal abuse.
Hickey (2002)’s trauma control model
Assumes equifinality. The combination of certain predisposition factors and early traumatic events interact with other factors to “create” a serial killer
Psychopathy
Refers to a collection of high level of traits, including: affective features, interpersonal traits, lifestyle features, and anti-social features.
Affective features of psychopathy
Callous, remorseless, no felt responsibility, disaffiliated, unempathetic
Interpersonal traits of psychopathy
Manipulative, grandiose, superficial charm, deceptive, dominant
Lifestyle features of psychopathy
Impulsivity, irresponsibility, need for stimulation, parasitic orientation, lack of realistic goals
Antisocial features
Early behaviour problems, delinquency, criminal versatility, failure to follow through on consequences, poor behavioural control
How common is psychopathy?
Less than 1% prevalence in general community, 4% of CEOs, 10-20% of incarcerated population, 10% of incarcerated child molesters, 35% of incarcerated rapists.
Adversarial allegiance
Tendency of forensic experts to form opinions in a manner that better supports the side that hired them
Reactive violence
Refers to unplanned violence. Generally crimes of passion resulting from extreme provocation.
Instrumental violence
Refers to planned violence, with the intent to settle a score. Crimes are generally cold-blooded.
Costs of violence and antisociality
According to Brazil and Forth (2020), does psychopathy involve appearing attractive during interactions?
Men higher in physical attractiveness received higher attractiveness ratings, as did men higher in psychopathy, who received higher attractiveness ratings.