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Differentiating Contract Killers: A Narrative‐Based Approach
Author(s) -
YANEVA MIROSLAVA,
IOANNOU MARIA,
HAMMOND LAURA,
SYNNOTT JOHN
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
the howard journal of crime and justice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.462
H-Index - 7
eISSN - 2059-1101
pISSN - 2059-1098
DOI - 10.1111/hojo.12243
Subject(s) - narrative , psychological contract , action (physics) , psychology , multidimensional scaling , space (punctuation) , narrative inquiry , metric (unit) , thematic analysis , social psychology , sociology , computer science , qualitative research , linguistics , operations management , economics , social science , philosophy , physics , quantum mechanics , machine learning , operating system
Previous attempts to determine contract killers’ behaviour have not benefited from any formal psychological framework of behavioural distinction. The Narrative Action System model (NAS model; Canter and Youngs 2009) offers an empirical basis for differentiating contract killings and examining the psychological underpinnings of different contract killer styles. The model identifies four major narrative offender types: Professional, Revenger, Hero, and Victim. The present study aims to examine whether these themes can be applied to contract killing. Content analysis of 75 contract killer cases identified 56 crime scene actions. Data were subjected to a non‐metric multidimensional scaling procedure, namely Smallest Space Analysis (SSA‐I). Findings revealed four distinct types of contract killers that could be related to the four modes of offending proposed by the NAS model. Differences in the thematic structure of contract killing offences are discussed, and implications are offered for clinical and investigative purposes.