Abstract
We examined a sample of 112 adolescents convicted of homicide in adult court and sentenced to prison. To add to the descriptive literature regarding juvenile homicide, data are presented regarding their psychosocial characteristics, delineation of the crimes, and features of the victims. Family abuse in this sample was also explored in depth. Youngsters who came from abusive families more often tended to be Caucasian and younger than adolescents who did not have abusive families. Subjects who were abused were also more likely to experience suicide ideation or attempts prior to the commission of the homicide than subjects who were not abused. These findings provide preliminary support for the “lockage phenomenon,” which postulates that, in abusive families, some stressed adolescents may respond by either committing suicide or homicide as a means of escape.
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Darby, P.J., Allan, W.D., Kashani, J.H. et al. Analysis of 112 Juveniles Who Committed Homicide: Characteristics and a Closer Look at Family Abuse. Journal of Family Violence 13, 365–375 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022823219276
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022823219276