Murderers Who Rape and Mutilate (From Cruelty to Animals and Interpersonal Violence: Readings in Research and Application, P 179-193, 1998, Randall Lockwood and Frank R. Ascione, eds. -- See NCJ-179175)

• NCJ Number: 179177
• Author(s): Robert K. Ressler; Ann W. Burgess; Carol R. Hartman; John E. Douglas; Arlene McCormack
• Editor(s): Randall Lockwood, Frank R. Ascione
• Date Published: 1998
• Length: 15 pages
• Grant Number(s): 84-JN-AX-K010; 82-CX-0065
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Justice (NIJ); Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
• Sale Source: Purdue University Press
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. Reprinted from the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 1 (1986), P 273-287

Annotation

The authors assess the relationship between sexual abuse in childhood and adolescence and sexual interests, activities, and deviations of convicted sexually-oriented murderers, based on data collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in various U.S. prisons between 1979 and 1983.

Abstract

To qualify for the study, a murder had to be classified through crime scene observations and evidence as a sexual homicide. Primary analysis was conducted using information about crime scenes of 36 sexually-oriented murderers. When questioned about prior sexual abuse, 43 percent of these murderers indicated such abuse in childhood, 32 percent were abused in adolescence, and 37 percent were abused as adults. More than 50 percent reported concern with sexual issues such as sexual conflicts, incompetencies, inhibitions, ignorance, and dysfunction. In addition, more than 50 percent reported interest in pornography, fetishism, and voyeurism. An analysis of the relationship between sexual abuse in childhood and adolescence and participation in certain sexual activities indicated sexually abused murderers were likely to engage in sexual contact with animals, bondage sex, obscene telephone calls, indecent exposure, and cross-dressing. For 19 of the 36 murderers who responded to a question about the age at which they began to fantasize about rape, ages ranged from 5 to 25 years. For 19 murderers, the age of first consensual sexual experience ranged from 11 to 35 years. An assessment of the relationship between sexual abuse in childhood and the mutilation of murder victims after death was positive. Study findings are discussed in terms of sexual interests and behaviors and murder behavior. 31 references and 4 tables