NCJ Number
130719
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 39 Issue: 6 Dated: (June 1991) Pages: 70-74
Date Published
1991
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Criminal psychology techniques are applied to the investigation and assessment of the lust murder.
Abstract
Current research on types of criminal personalities identifies the organized criminal offender and the disorganized criminal offender. In lust murders, the offender can share characteristics of both. The identification of the majority of forms of behavior and type of psychosexual activity involved in an event can provide information on whether the motivation and psychodynamics were psychotic or psychopathic. Profile characteristics of organized and disorganized murders are listed as well as the crime scene differences between the organized and disorganized murders. A description of the psychosexual aspects lists obsessive fantasies and behaviors. Two case histories are presented of an organized and disorganized lust murder to illustrate similarities and dissimilarities in their psychodynamic and psychosexual aspects. Whether the offender is organized or disorganized, there are elements of fantasy, ritualism, fetishism, and symbolism as well as other behavioral clues at the crime scene that provide clues to the psychodynamic and psychosexual nature of the event.