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Forensic Psychology > Homicidal Offenders > Flashcards

Homicidal Offenders Flashcards

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1
Q

First-Degree Murder

A
  • Premeditiated: planned and deliberate
  • Killing of peace officer

During commission of other specified offence (Kidnapping, no matter intent)

Automatic life sentence w/ no parole for 25 years (Other sentences - eligible after 2/3)

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2
Q

Second Degree Murder

A

All other murders

10 - year minimum sentence

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3
Q

Manslaughter

A
  • Unintentional murder
  • “Heat of passion”
  • negligence
  • No minimum sentence– can be very light dependent
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4
Q

Infanticide

A
  • Mother killing newborn (< 12 months), has to be the mother***
  • Max sentence is 5 years
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5
Q

Homicides - %

A

0.1% of police-reported violent crime

Higher in US

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6
Q

Homicide rate for indigenous victims

A

6x higher

1.55 –> 9.17

25% of victims

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7
Q

Most common method

A

Shootings (40%)

Stabbings, then beatings

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8
Q

What kind of homicides take longer to solve?

A

Shootings

Less than half solveed after 100 days

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9
Q

Reactive Violence

A
  • More likely with family
  • Impulsive
  • Unplanned
  • Emotional
  • Response to provocation
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10
Q

Instrumental Violence

A

More likely a Stranger

  • Proactive
  • Calculated
  • Planned
  • Motivated by goal
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11
Q

Homicide Characteristics - Studies

A

30,000+ single-offender homicides in US

  • 80% reactive
  • Mostly Acquaintance (55%)
  • Family then stranger
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12
Q

Filicide

A

Killing one’s own child (or step-child)

**Disagreement on typical offender characteristics, research focuses on maternal filicide

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13
Q

Neonatacide

A

Kill child within 24 hours of birth

  • Typically young, unmarried women
  • No history of mental illness
  • Concealed pregnancy, fear rejection
  • Severely lack social support
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14
Q

Battering mothers

A

Impulsively kill due to behaviour of child

  • High levels of financial, marital stress
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15
Q

Mental disorders and Maternal Filicide

A
  • Tend to be older, have multiple victims
  • Often psychosis or depression
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16
Q

Femicide

A

Killing of women

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17
Q

Uxoricide

A

Killing of wife by husband

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18
Q

Androcide

A

Killing of men

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19
Q

Mariticide

A

Killing of husband by wife

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20
Q

Which type of spousal killers are more common?

What is common following?

A

Uxoricide is much more common (Killing of wife by husband)

High incidence of suicide following the act

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21
Q

Motivation for Spousal killers

A

Anger

43% of uxoricides

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22
Q

Canadian Study - Motivations for intimate partner homicides in Canada

A

escalation of arguments

Jealousy

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23
Q

Serial Murder

Study These Flashcards
A

2+ victims

Separate events, separate locations

Cooling-off period in between

24
Q

Mass Murder

Study These Flashcards
A

Multiple victims

Single event

Single location

25
Spree Murder
2+ victims Single event Multiple locations No cooling off
26
2020 Nova Scotia Attacks
Gabriel Wortmon - Vehicle disguised as RCMP - Murdered 22 people, injured 6 - 13hrs, 16 locations SPREE murders
27
Why are we so fascinated by them?
Increased media attention Fictionalized accounts Topic of study
28
Serial killers -- Example of disagreement on definition
Hitmen Are these technically serial killers?
29
Characteristics of serial killers
- Overwhelmingly male - Most common motive is enjoyment - Most common method is shooting - Victims often female - Tend to offend near residence
30
Female Serial Killers
Extremely rare
31
Bruce McArthur
- Targeted gay community in TO - No bodies found - Controversy how police handled it - Eventually linked to Bruce - Find body parts at his landscaping jobs - NO JURY trial
32
Why is the LGBTQ+ Community angry with the Bruce Mcarthur case?
- Community was targeted by these murders - How police handled it- Was not seeming to care because of the community - Wasn't given dangerous offender designation-- will have potential for parole in 25 years
33
Black Widows
Woman killing for financial gain
33
Female Serial Killers
- extremely rare - Black widows, Angels of death
34
Angels of Death
Nurses who kill their patients
35
Elizabeth Wettlaufer
- Nurse in woodstock, ON - Murdered 8 pts. with insulin overdose, tried 6 others - History of substance abuse - Had been written up for being high at work
36
How did Elizabeth Wettlaufer get caught?
CAMH in Toronto She confessed to a counsellor during therapy, they notified the police
37
Typologies of serial killers -- Supported by research?
Not really
38
Holmes and Holmes Serial Killer Classification
Classified in 2 ways: Motivation and Location of murder Visionary, mission-oriented, Hedonistic, Power/control
39
Visionary
- Voices/visions telling them to - Hallucinations, delusions - Likely Diagnosed as psychotic
40
Mission-Oriented
- Feels that specific group that needs to be eliminated - See themselves as vigilantes - See their violence as social political activism - Often includes sex workers, racial groups, homeless people
41
Hedonistic
- Kill for self gratification - 3 subcategories - Lust murder: Sexual gratification - Thrill murder: Excitement from seeing victims in pain - Comfort murdered - Financial/material gain (eg. black widow)
42
Power/Control
- Enjoy absolute dominance - extends the act for as long as possible -- torture
43
Critiques of Holmes and Holmes serial killer model
- reliability/Validity concerns - Lack of empirical support - Definition issues/overlap - Mixed types
44
Critiques of Holmes and Holmes: Reliability/Validity concerns
- Unclear how typologies developed - No explanation of method - did not outline what types of questions/interviews they used in developing this model
45
Critiques of Holmes and Holmes: Lack of empirical Support
When model is tested, can't find discriminating features
46
Critiques of Holmes and Holmes: Definitional issues/Ovelap
- very vague situations/terms - eg. what is controlled crime scene? no operationalization - Lots of features listed in multiple categories
47
Critiques of Holmes and Holmes: Mixed types
Don't discuss killers that overlap multiple categories
48
Hickey's Trauma-Control Model (Theory of Homicidal Aggression)
- No single thing that causes later homicide --> but there is a combination of biopsychosocial factors - Major trauma in early childhood is common - This leads to feelings of powerlessness, self-esteem issue - Can become motivated by need for control, leads to violent behaviour - This behaviour can lead to restored self-esteem
49
Social Learning Thoery (Theory of homicidal aggression)
- Albert Bandura - Learn through social reinforcement - Likelihood of aggressive behaviour increases when behaviour is rewarded - Children learn vicariously through family, media, and peers (especially in adolescence)
50
General Aggression Model
- 3 Main steps - Chain of influence along the way - Input (two types) - Routes/processing - Output
51
General Aggression Model: Input
- Sets someone up to be violent/aggressive - Two types Personal disposition: Personality traits, beliefs, genetics (neurotransmitter) Situational: Provocation, frustration, weapons availability, threat
52
General Aggression Model: Routes/Processing
- Current Internal states - These are highly influenced by our inputs (personal and situational) - Cognitions --> What you are thinking about, this person deserves to die - Affect: how you are feeling - Arousal: Increase heart rate
53
General Aggression Model: Output
- What happens - The behaviour - Appraises situation - Responds with particular behaviour - Depending on what happens with output, what is the social response - If there are no consequences, they are a lot more likely to repeat the behaviour
54
General Aggression Model - Example
Husband murders his wife Input: Personal - highly aggressive history of violence situational Routes: Affect - Cognition, thinks "she deserves to dies" Arousal - Increased heart rate Output: He acts impulsively and stabs his face

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