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Classification of Planning and Violent Behaviours in Serial Homicide: A Cross‐National Comparison Between South Africa and the US
Author(s) -
Sorochinski Marina,
Salfati C. Gabrielle,
Labuschagne Gerard N.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of investigative psychology and offender profiling
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.479
H-Index - 22
eISSN - 1544-4767
pISSN - 1544-4759
DOI - 10.1002/jip.1427
Subject(s) - homicide , context (archaeology) , criminology , psychology , sample (material) , thematic analysis , violent crime , social psychology , poison control , geography , suicide prevention , sociology , social science , medicine , qualitative research , medical emergency , archaeology , chromatography , chemistry
Abstract Recent literature suggests that different ‘styles’ of homicide will most appropriately be reflected in the different types of behaviours committed by offenders during the crime. In the last few years, there has been a move to standardise classification systems of single homicides and establish their cross‐national generalisability. Literature on serial homicide to date has mostly centred on homicides occurring in the US. However, national differences due to factors such as culture, national identity, political, and socio‐economic circumstances may decrease the applicability of these models or certain aspects thereof in other countries and thus must be evaluated. The present study tested the applicability in the South African context of a recently developed US‐based serial homicide crime scene classification framework. Specifically, this study compared the thematic differentiation in planning and violent behaviours that the offenders engage in and how this differentiation compares with that in the US. The sample consisted of 25 homicides that were in total responsible for the murder of 267 victims. Results indicated that overall, the framework is useful and applicable in the South African sample, but important environmental and contextual constraints must be taken into account. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.