A Descriptive Model of the Homicide Process

Abstract

Homicides are committed by a diverse array of individuals in all sectors of society for many different reasons. Any successful theory of homicide will have sufficient scope to encompass this diversity. Researchers in the fields of drunk driving and sexual offending have developed descriptive theories, using grounded theory approaches, which show promise in outlining the diversity of offence processes in these areas. This study uses a grounded theory approach to develop a descriptive multi-pathway model of the homicide process. The resulting model consists of three distinct phases and provides a fine grained description of the homicide process. A major finding is that individuals vary in terms of their goals, emotional states, degree of planning, and behaviour throughout the different phases of the model. Finally, the clinical and theoretical implications of the study are briefly discussed.