Abstract
Violence in serial homicide is a complex and dynamic part of an offender’s behavior. This chapter explores how aggressive and violent behavior is a part of serial homicide and the escalation of aggression to violence. The organized/disorganized dichotomy of serial killers and reactive and proactive aggression is used to help explain different types of aggression and how they may be exhibited during the commission of a crime. The proposed aggression–violence continuum conceptualizes aggression on a behavior continuum for offending behaviors and helps to visualize how violent an offender may be. The violence portion of the continuum is then further broken down into the tiers of serial violence that demonstrate an ascending level of violence and presents the escalating nature of serial homicide.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agnew R (1998) The Causes of Animal Abuse: A Social-Psychological Analysis. Theor Criminol 2(2):177–209
Ahonen L, Loeber R, Pardini D (2016) The prediction of young homicide and violent offenders. Justice Q 33(7):1265–1291. https://doi.org/10.1080/07418825.2015.1081263
Allen JJ, Anderson CA (2017) Aggression and violence: definitions and distinctions. In: The Wiley handbook of violence and aggression. John Wiley and Sons, New York, pp 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119057574.whbva001
Amad S, Gray NS, Snowden RJ (2020) Self-esteem, narcissism, and aggression: different types of self-esteem predict different types of aggression. J Interpers Violence 36(23–24):NP13296NP13313. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260520905540
Anderson CA, Bushman BJ (2002) Human aggression. Annu Rev Psychol 53(1):27–51. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135231
Arsenio WF, Adams E, Gold J (2009) Social information processing, moral reasoning, and emotion attributions: relations with adolescents’ reactive and proactive aggression. Child Dev 80(6):1739–1755. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01365.x
Ascione FR (1993) Children who are cruel to animals: A review of research and implications for developmental psychopathology. Anthrozoös 6(4):226–247
Ascione FR, Maruyama M (2011) Animal abuse and developmental psychopathology
Bandura A (1965) Influence of models’ reinforcement contingencies on the acquisition of imitative responses. J Pers Soc Psychol 1(6):589. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0022070
Bandura A, Walters RH (1977) Social learning theory, vol 1. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs
Barter C, Renold E (2003) ‘Hi, I’m Ramon and I run this place’: challenging the normalisation of violence in children’s homes from young people’s perspectives. In: The meanings of violence. Routledge, pp 90–111
Beauregard E, Martineau M (2016) Does the organised sexual murderer better delay and avoid detection? J Interpers Violence 31(1):4–25. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260514555129
Canter DV, Alison LJ, Alison E, Wentink N (2004) The organised/disorganised typology of serial murder: myth or model? Psychol Public Policy Law 10(3):293. https://doi.org/10.1037/1076-8971.10.3.293
Chan HC, Heide KM (2009) Sexual homicide: a synthesis of the literature. Trauma Violence Abuse 10(1):31–54. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838008326478
Chayer C, Freedman M (2001) Frontal lobe functions. Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep 1(6):547–552. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11910-001-0060-4
Chopin J, Beauregard E (2021) Patterns of overkill in sexual homicides. J Crim Psychol 11(1):44–58. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCP-10-2020-0045
Day DM, Bream LA, Pal A (1992) Proactive and reactive aggression: an analysis of subtypes based on teacher perceptions. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol 21(3):210–217. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15374424jccp2103_2
Douglas JE, Burgess AW, Burgess AG, Ressler RK (2013) Crime classification manual: a standard system for investigating and classifying violent crime. Wiley, Hoboken
Eisenbarth H, Garofalo C (2021) The role of psychopathic traits in explaining associations between childhood traumatic experiences and aggression. J Pers Disord 35(Supplement C):38–55
Federal Bureau of Investigation (2008) Serial murder – multi-disciplinary perspectives for investigators Serial Murder Symposium San Antonio, Texas. https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/serial-murder#director
Flynn CP (2011) Examining the links between animal abuse and human violence. Crime, Law and Social Change 55(5):453–468
Goh KK, Lu M, Jou S (2021) Childhood trauma and aggression in persons convicted for homicide: an exploratory study examines the role of plasma oxytocin. Front Psych 12:719282–719282. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.719282
Gullone E, Robertson N (2008) The relationship between bullying and animal abuse behaviours in adolescents: The importance of witnessing animal abuse. J Appl Dev Psychol 29:371–379
Harbort S, Mokros A (2001) Serial murderers in Germany from 1945 to 1995: a descriptive study. Homicide Stud 5(4):311–334. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088767901005004005
Hazelwood RR, Burgess AW (eds) (1995) Practical aspects of rape investigation: a multidisciplinary approach. CRC Press, Boca Raton
James J, Higgs T, Langevin S (2020) Reactive and proactive aggression in sexual homicide offenders. J Crim Just 71:101728. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2020.101728
Jordan CE, Pritchard AJ, Duckett D, Wilcox P, Corey T, Combest M (2010) Relationship and injury trends in the homicide of women across the life span: a research note. Homicide Stud 14(2):181–192. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088767910362328
Joubert D, Welsh K, Edward LJ (2021) Validity of the MacDonald triad as a forensic construct: Links with psychopathology and patterns of aggression in sex offenders. Leg Criminol Psychol 26(1):103–116
Jung H, Herrenkohl TI, Lee JO, Hemphill SA, Heerde JA, Skinner ML (2017) Gendered pathways from child abuse to adult crime through internalizing and externalizing behaviors in childhood and adolescence. J Interpers Violence 32(18):2724–2750
Knight ZG (2006) Some thoughts on the psychological roots of the behavior of serial killers as narcissists: an object relations perspective. Soc Behav Personal Int J 34(10):1189–1206. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2006.34.10.1189
Knight ZG (2007) Sexually motivated serial killers and the psychology of aggression and “evil” within a contemporary psychoanalytical perspective. J Sex Aggress 13(1):21–35. https://doi.org/10.1080/13552600701365597
Krahé B (2020) The social psychology of aggression. Routledge, London. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429466496
Ladny RT, Meyer L (2020) Traumatized witnesses: Review of childhood exposure to animal cruelty. J Child Adolesc Trauma 13(4):527–537
Lee EJ (2014) The relationship between unstable self-esteem and aggression: differences in reactive and proactive aggression. J Early Adolesc 34(8):1075–1093. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431613518973
Little TD, Henrich CC, Jones SM, Hawley PH (2003) Disentangling the “whys” from the “whats” of aggressive behaviour. Int J Behav Dev 27(2):122–133. https://doi.org/10.1080/01650250244000128
Liu J, Chen X, Lewis G (2011) Childhood internalizing behaviour: analysis and implications. J Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs 18(10):884–894
Loeber R, Wung P, Keenan K, Giroux B, Stouthamer-Loeber M, Van Kammen WB, Maugham B (1993) Developmental pathways in disruptive child behavior. Dev Psychopathol 5(1–2):103–133. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579400004296
Loeber R, Pardini D, Homish DL, Wei EH, Crawford AM, Farrington DP, Stouthamer-Loeber M, Creemers J, Koehler SA, Rosenfeld R (2005) The prediction of violence and homicide in young men. J Consult Clin Psychol 73(6):1074–1088. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.73.6.1074
Lussier P (2017) Juvenile sex offending through a developmental life course criminology perspective: an agenda for policy and research. Sex Abus 29(1):51–80. https://doi.org/10.1177/1079063215580966
Lussier P, McCuish E, James J (2021) The developmental pathways of sexual deviance: more than 100 years of research in context. In: Sexual deviance: understanding and managing deviant sexual interests and paraphilic disorders (pp. 25–40). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119771401.ch2
MacDonald JM (1963) The threat to kill. Am J Psychiatry 120(2):125–130
Marono A, Keatley DA (2022) An investigation into the association between cannibalism and serial killers. Psychiatry, Pschology & Law, Routledge
Marono AJ, Reid S, Yaksic E, Keatley DA (2020) A behaviour sequence analysis of serial killers’ lives: From childhood abuse to methods of murder. Psychiatr Psychol Law 27(1):126–137
McAuliffe MD, Hubbard JA, Rubin RM, Morrow MT, Dearing KF (2006) Reactive and proactive aggression: stability of constructs and relations to correlates. J Genet Psychol 167(4):365–382. https://doi.org/10.3200/GNTP.167.4.365-382
Meloy JR (2000) The nature and dynamics of sexual homicide: an integrative review. Aggress Violent Behav 5(1):1–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1359-1789(99)00006-3
Meloy JR (2006) Empirical basis and forensic application of affective and predatory violence. Aust N Z J Psychiatry 40(6–7):539–547. https://doi.org/10.1080/j.1440-1614.2006.01837.x
Miller L (2014) Serial killers: I. Subtypes, patterns, and motives. Aggress Violent Behav 19(1):1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2013.11.002
Mills S, Raine A (1994) Neuroimaging and aggression. J Offender Rehabil 21(3–4):145–158. https://doi.org/10.1300/J076v21n03_09
Mokros A, Schilling F, Eher R, Nitschke J (2012) The severe sexual sadism scale: cross-validation and scale properties. Psychol Assess 24(3):764. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026419
Moore CC, Hubbard JA, Bookhout MK, Mlawer F (2019) Relations between reactive and proactive aggression and daily emotions in adolescents. J Abnorm Child Psychol 47(9):1495–1507. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-019-00533-6
Myers WC, Husted DS, Safarik ME, O’toole, M. E. (2006) The motivation behind serial sexual homicide: is it sex, power, and control, or anger? J Forensic Sci 51(4):900–907. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1556-4029.2006.00168.x
Nitschke J, Osterheider M, Mokros A (2009) A cumulative scale of severe sexual sadism. Sex Abus 21(3):262–278. https://doi.org/10.1177/1079063209342074
Osborne JR, Salfati CG (2015) Re-conceptualising “cooling-off periods” in serial homicide. Homicide Stud 19(2):188–205. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088767914526716
Pardini DA, Loeber R (2008) Interpersonal callousness trajectories across adolescence: early social influences and adult outcomes. Crim Justice Behav 35(2):173–196. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854807310157
Parfit C, Alleyne E (2018) Not the sum of its parts: a critical review of the Mac Donald Triad. Trauma Violence Abuse 21(2):300–310
Patterson GR, Reid JB, Dishion TJ (1992) Antisocial boys, vol 4. Castalia Publishing Company, Eugene
Philbin T (2011) I, Monster: serial killers in their own chilling words. Prometheus Books, New York
Radojević N, Radnić B, Petković S, Miljen M, Čurović I, Čukić D, Šoć M, Savić S (2013) Multiple stabbing in sex-related homicides. J Forensic Legal Med 20(5):502–507. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jflm.2013.03.005
Ressler RK, Burgess AW (1985) Crime scene and profile characteristics of organised and disorganised murders. FBI Law Enforcement Bull 54(8):18–25
Ressler RK, Burgess AW, Douglas JE (1988) Sexual homicide: patterns and motives. Simon and Schuster
Seah SL, Ang RP (2008) Differential correlates of reactive and proactive aggression in asian adolescents: relations to narcissism, anxiety, schizotypal traits, and peer relations. Aggress Behav 34(5):553–562. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.20269
Skrapec CA (2001) Phenomenology and serial murder: asking different questions. Homicide Stud 5(1):46–63. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088767901005001004
Stefanska EB, Higgs T, Carter AJ, Beech AR (2021) “We boil at different degrees”: factors associated with severity of attack in sexual killing. J Interpers Violence 36(5–6):2409–2429. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260518758333
Sutton MR, Keatley D (2021) Cooling-off periods and serial homicide: a case study approach to analysing behaviour between murders. Forensic Sci Int Mind Law 2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsiml.2021.100066
Tamsen F, Logan FK, Thiblin I (2015) Homicide injury quantification: correlations and reliability of injury severity scores applied to homicide victims. Homicide Stud 19(1):88–100. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088767914558142
Taylor S, Lambeth D, Green G, Bone R, Cahillane MA (2012) Cluster analysis examination of serial killer profiling categories: a bottom-up approach. J Investig Psychol Offender Profiling 9(1):30–51. https://doi.org/10.1002/jip.149
Vitaro F, Brendgen M (2005) Proactive and reactive aggression: a developmental perspective. In: Tremblay RE, Hartup WW, Archer J (eds) Developmental origins of aggression. The Guilford Press, New York, pp 178–201
Vitaro F, Brendgen M, Tremblay RE (2002) Reactively and proactively aggressive children: antecedent and subsequent characteristics. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 43(4):495–505. https://doi.org/10.1111/1469-7610.00040
Volant AM, Johnson JA, Gullone E, Coleman GJ (2008) The relationship between domestic violence and animal abuse: An Australian study. J Interpers Violence 23(9):1277–1295
Volkow ND, Tancredi L (1987) Neural substrates of violent behaviour a preliminary study with positron emission tomography. Br J Psychiatry 151(5):668–673. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.151.5.668
Warburton WA, Anderson CA (2015) Aggression, social psychology of. Int Encycl Soc Behav Sci 1:373–380. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-097086-8.24002-6
Wright J, Hensley C (2003) From animal cruelty to serial murder: applying the graduation hypothesis. Int J Offender Ther Comp Criminol 47(1):71–88. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X02239276
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Sutton, M., Press, N., Chapman, B., Keatley, D. (2022). Extremes of Violence in Serial Homicide. In: Martin, C., Preedy, V.R., Patel, V.B. (eds) Handbook of Anger, Aggression, and Violence. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98711-4_16-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98711-4_16-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-98711-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-98711-4
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences