NCJ Number
118984
Date Published
1989
Length
43 pages
Annotation
Twelve case histories are presented and discussed to demonstrate the psychological processes underlying sudden and apparently senseless murders of women, in which the perpetrator experiences a strong emotional impression that overwhelms the consciousness with repressed or suppressed conflicts or complexes of ideas and that disrupts logical thinking and controls.
Abstract
This acute catathymic crisis contrasts with the chronic form, which may last from several months to more than a year, that has three basic stages: incubation, violence, and relief. In the acute form, situational and interactive components are important, but the act cannot be explained without an exploration of the offender's personality structure. The 12 cases include a sudden, unprovoked attack on a pregnant woman in plain daylight in a bus station, an unprovoked stabbing of a store employee by a 15-year-old male who had come to the store to pick up newspapers for delivery, the sudden murder of a 7-year-old girl who had rung the doorbell to sell cookies, and the shooting of a date while riding in her car. The cases show that most sexual assaults are a sexual expression of aggression, that offenses have strong situational elements, and that offenders' mental disorders varied in their manifestations.