NCJ Number
192355
Journal
Homicide Studies Volume: 5 Issue: 4 Dated: November 2001 Pages: 363-387
Date Published
November 2001
Length
25 pages
Annotation
This study analyzed the structure of crime-scene actions in Finnish homicides using the theoretical distinction between instrumental and expressive aggression.
Abstract
The purpose was to analyze the empirical structure of crime-scene actions in Finnish homicides in an attempt to identify different constellations of such actions and in an effort to replicate and expand on similar explorations of British homicides. The assumption was that the actions might be suggestive of different types of adaptive problems that the individual has attempted to resolve through homicide. Thirty-eight crime-scene actions were derived from the files of single-offender, single-victim homicides. A multidimensional scaling procedure was used to investigate their structure. Results show that there is a need to develop the general concepts of instrumental and expressive aggression as they relate to homicide. The study suggests a large subgroup of offenses in which the act of the murder is the dominant impulsive activity and where there is no related preparation or dealing with the body. These crime-scene actions seem indicative of aggression as a reaction to threats to life, status, or resources, or aggression due to sexual jealousy. Among these offenses, the instrumental crimes can be distinguished between those that are part of property crimes and those that grow out of sexual crimes. Finnish homicides are different from British homicides in the respect of rare activities that have been recorded, such as the removal of body parts and the presence of related arson. The wider availability of firearms in Finland has also meant that actions relating to their use are more prevalent in the present sample than in the British sample. The smallest space analysis of the crime-scene actions suggested the existence of a number of impulsive core actions that occur in most homicides. The findings demonstrate that the behavior of individuals committing homicide is not random. It is possible to deduce the psychological mechanisms underlying the homicides from the exhibited crime-scene actions.