Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T05:05:11.078Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

4.8 - Murder:

legal, psychological and investigative approaches

from Part IV - Psychology and criminal behaviour

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 July 2010

By
Louis B. Schlesinger
Edited by
Jennifer M. Brown  and
Elizabeth A. Campbell
Jennifer M. Brown
Affiliation:
London School of Economics and Political Science
Elizabeth A. Campbell
Affiliation:
University of Glasgow
Get access

Summary

Murder is a complex phenomenon that encompasses legal, psychological and investigative considerations. The main purpose of the various legal standards, specifically the degree of murder based on intentionality, is to assign punishment; the more intent involved, the greater the amount of punishment awarded. Psychiatric murderers are mentally disturbed, psychotic, or mentally retarded. Murders as a result of psychological disorders include various types of homicides such as sociogenic homicides, situational murders, homicides committed by impulsive offenders, and catathymic homicides. Compulsive murders stem from internal psychogenic sources; the need to commit the act is compelling, and there is a high likelihood of repetition. Another approach to understanding and classifying murder has been utilized by law enforcement and is based mainly on crime-scene characteristics. Categories of murder commonly used in the investigative approach are sexual murders, serial murders, mass murders, and spree killings.
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Forensic Psychology , pp. 527 - 534
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×