Purpose

The purpose of this study was to contribute to the evidence base by analysing the characteristics and motives of homicides involving acts of dismemberment.

Design/methodology/approach

The current study explored offence, victim and offender characteristics and the motives for 71 homicides involving dismemberment using open source data. All cases included in this study were investigated in the UK between 1970 and 2016. A non-metric multi-dimensional scaling procedure smallest space analysis (SSA) was used to explore the characteristics and motives derived from a content analysis of homicide data sourced online.

Findings

A distinction between expressive and instrumental characteristics was observable with three thematic regions identified: instrumental – defensive, instrumental – predatory and expressive – affective. Support was found for previously identified motives for criminal dismemberment, with defensive being the most common motive identified in 63% (N = 45) of the cases.

Originality/value

The implications of the findings are discussed with suggestions made for future research. The findings have practical implications for assisting law enforcement and forensic and clinical practitioners in further understanding offenders who engage in homicidal dismemberment. This includes aiding homicide investigations, in terms of supporting investigators to draw upon offence, victim and offender characteristics and motives for homicides involving acts of dismemberment. Differentiation between cases of dismemberment and understanding of motives also has practical implications for the development of interventions and treatment pathways for homicide offenders who dismember victims.

中文翻译：

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英国肢解凶杀案特征及动机分析

目的

本研究的目的是通过分析涉及肢解行为的凶杀案的特征和动机，为证据基础做出贡献。

设计/方法/途径

目前的研究使用开源数据探索了 71 起涉及肢解的凶杀案的犯罪、受害者和罪犯特征以及动机。本研究中包含的所有案件均于 1970 年至 2016 年间在英国进行了调查。使用非度量多维缩放程序最小空间分析 (SSA) 来探索从在线来源的凶杀数据的内容分析中得出的特征和动机。

发现

通过确定三个主题区域可以观察到表达和工具特征之间的区别：工具 - 防御，工具 - 掠夺和表达 - 情感。发现支持先前确定的犯罪肢解动机，在 63% ( N = 45) 的案件中，防御是最常见的动机。

原创性/价值

讨论了调查结果的含义，并为未来的研究提出了建议。这些发现对于协助执法人员以及法医和临床从业人员进一步了解参与杀人肢解的罪犯具有实际意义。这包括协助凶杀案调查，支持调查人员利用涉及肢解行为的凶杀案的罪行、受害者和罪犯的特征和动机。肢解案件的区分和对动机的理解也对为肢解受害人的凶杀犯制定干预措施和治疗途径具有实际意义。