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Article history:
Received 26 May 2015
Received in revised form 4 October 2015
Accepted 3 November 2015
Available online 18 November 2015
Keywords:
Crime
Homicide
Associated factors
Social constructivism
Judicial decision making
a b s t r a c t
Homicide is a crime that is currently decreasing in Europe (UNODC, 2013). However, it is serious enough to justify
the empirical efforts that have been developed, in order to better understand it and to seek its decrease and prevention. The following article aims to conduct a literature review on the factors that have been associated with
this crime, thus gaining a comprehensive view and critical reection from a social constructivist perspective.
The acquisition and development of aggressive and violent conducts that can potentiate a crime such as homicide
have multifactorial origins and imply multiple interconnections. This study discusses research results as well as
ofcial national and international statistics. Together, these data provide vital insight when dening healthcare,
education and social policies and also during the judicial decision making process. Research themes are also presented in this work, since they are clearly incipient in Portugal.
2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Contents
1.
2.
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Method used in reviewing, summarizing and organizing existing research
2.1.
Factors associated with homicide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.1.1.
Physiological factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.1.2.
Developmental factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.1.3.
Psychopathological factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.1.4.
Social factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1. Introduction
In modern societies, homicide is considered the most serious crime,
a relentless attack on the collective conscience, inheritor of the indignation incited by sacrilege and crimes of lse-majest (Durkheim, 1969). It
is perceived as crime against humanity. As Durkheim (1969), killing an
individual is, in a certain way, to break with humanity and stay out of it,
therefore becoming associated with the main line of thought of the 19th
century, which perceives the criminal, namely the killer, as belonging to
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: monica6botelho@gmail.com (M. Botelho),
rabrunhosa@psi.uminho.pt (R.A. Gonalves).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2015.11.001
1359-1789/ 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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the pre-human plan. However, this behavior took on a normative characteristic when, in ancient Greece, for example, homicide was only punishable if it occurred within the same family. Despite being forbidden,
infanticide was tolerated in Europe until the 17th century, without
any type of punitive consequences (Hughes-Sheper, 1987). Nowadays,
it is the only crime that is condemnable by societies in general and
with more severe sentences (Cassel & Bernstein, 2007), including
death. The constructs by which societies are administered authorize
killing those who kill others and perceive casualties of war as collateral
damage, thus threatening civil values such as freedom, equality and the
right to life.
Roberts, Zgoba, and Shahidullah (2007) dene homicide as the intentional, unintentional or accidental death of a person. This is supported by Liem (2013), who perceives it as the most violent manifestation of
10
a criminal behavior. But why do people kill? What factors facilitate and
determine this behavior? The literature is very broad and many times
contradictory. The process of reading this type of crime and criminal
has followed the paradigms of science and criminology, with direct consequences in social and judicial terms. By assuming a social constructivist perspective, this article presents a critical review of the literature
focused on the factors associated with homicide. It does so by highlighting the risk of overvaluing certain variables over others without admitting that intra and inter-subject variations are signicant or considering
the dynamism of factors and, above all, the fact that it is not always obvious whether a certain condition was a cause or consequence of homicidal behavior. However, it is impossible to examine this crime without
considering the historical context, since, on the one hand, we cannot ignore its effect on the subject and, on the other hand, the determination
of what is culpable or illegal relies on the penal code/laws currently in
force.
2. Method used in reviewing, summarizing and organizing existing
research
This literature review is a comprehensive but concise summary of
the research that has been done about factors, which can be associated
with homicide. The emphasis is on integration, interpretation and critical analysis of primary research articles. This article intends to embrace
different epistemological perspectives from more positivists to the constructivist postmodern, and attempts to organize the research data into
major categories. The goal was to summarize and evaluate current ndings, and also include older articles because it helps to understand the
history of this research area. Relevant publications were obtained with
computer database search in Science Direct, PsycInfo, PubMed,
SCOPUS, Medline and Google Scholar, using the following keywords:
homicide psychobiological, homicide genetic , homicide abuse,
homicide dysfunctional families, homicide substance abuse, homicide alcohol abuse, homicide mental illness, homicide economic
deprivation, and homicide racial. Studies published between 1979
and 2014 were selected to fulll the inclusion criteria for this review. Articles' titles and abstracts were reviewed and all articles that appeared
relevant were retrieved in full-text format and evaluated for inclusion
in the review, if they: a) were peer-reviewed; b) the full text was accessible; c) exploring factors which can be associated with homicide
d) quantitative studies; and e) articles written in English and Portuguese. Grey literature was researched, including the websites for the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, Home Ofce, UNODC and World Health
Organization. After reading and analyzing the articles and the information from the websites it was possible to identify and organize the data
into four major categories of factors associated with homicide: physiological, developmental, psychopathological and social factors. Then it
was made an objective description of the data, and simultaneously critical thinking and judgment were applied. At the end grounded alternatives are provided, founded on the given aws and critiques of the
related issue.
2.1. Factors associated with homicide
2.1.1. Physiological factors
The scientic study of crime begins by considering biological rationality and by looking for explanations and causes in the organic structure of the delinquent. This is achieved by way of physical and biomorphological observation, factors over which individuals have no
control, thus putting them at the mercy of this determinism. It is in
keeping with this rationality that, in the 19th century, we witness the
development of bio-anthropological theories, highly inuenced by Darwin, who was mentored by Cesare Lombroso (Bruinsma & Weisburd,
2014; Canter, 2010; Cusson, 1998). The criminal was not only someone
who had broken the law, he/she was an atavistic being, characterized by
precise physical stigmas (Canter, 2010) and associated with certain
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12
when compared with the control samples. Only a small number of people with schizophrenia commit crimes. And when they do, it is a consequence of the disease's symptomatology: command hallucinations
(Hakkanen & Laajasalo, 2006). However, the authors highlight that although this aggression may be directed at someone else, it is most typically self-directed. In other words, there is a greater probability of the
aggression resulting in suicide than in homicide.
Although the single cause of homicide cannot be attributed to psychopathological factors, one can observe that when this crime is committed by an individual with some type of psychiatric disorder, there
is a higher prevalence of psychotic and personality disturbances, mental
disability and use of psychoactive substances (Bennett et al., 2011; Fazel
& Grann, 2004; Flynn, Rodway, Appleby, & Shaw, 2014; Hodgins, 2008;
Kraya & Pillai, 2001; Leth, 2010; Nielssen, Malhi, & Large, 2012; Nolan,
Volavka, Mohr, & Czobor, 1999; Saraiva, Costa, & Pereira, 1995; Stroud,
2008; Sturup & Lindquist, 2014). But even when considering that certain mental disorders can increase this risk, one must critically reect
on the essentialism of the concept of psychiatric disturbances, which
tends to support a series of elements surrounding criminality and violence (the normal criminal), which is the basis of social and judicial
comprehensibility.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
(American Psychiatric Association, 2013) includes the use of substances
and alcohol as triggers of psychiatric disorders. On the other hand, the
psychiatric comorbidity of the use of depressants and/or central nervous system (CNS) blockers by subjects with severe mental illness is relatively common, thus increasing the risk of violent criminality when
these subjects suffer a psychotic episode (Hodgins, 2008). In fact, it is
common to associate the use of alcohol or other substances with an increased probability of violent conduct. However, as Miles (2012) points
out, it is not psycho-pharmacologically possible to establish a direct relation between the effects of toxic substance abuse and homicide. A possible explanation for this association is proposed by Cohen (1999) and
Wiesner, Kim, and Capaldi (2005), who highlight the nancial constraints generated by the need to maintain the pattern of drug use and
trafcking, thus potentiating criminal conduct. On the other hand, as
Graham and West (2001) and Quigley, Leonard, and Collins (2003)
state, intoxicated individuals are more likely to hang out in locations
that serve alcohol, increasing the risk of altercations that can lead to extreme violence. Goldstein (1985) analyzed the homicide cases that took
place in New York in 1984 involving individuals under the inuence of
narcotics. Three relationship types were identied: psychopharmacological violence, economic compulsion and systemic violence. The rst
is associated with the use or absence of substances, since both situations
can change the individuals' behavior and make him/her more aggressive. Economic compulsion occurs when the addicted individual
chooses to follow a criminal trajectory as a way to support his/her addiction. The more common crimes are associated with drug selling
and crimes against property, which often result in homicide. Lastly, systemic violence involves the relationship between dealers and users, implying a very high level of violence: debt collection, territory disputes,
drug trafcking all of which can lead to homicide. Following the
same line of results, research developed by Brownstein, Baxi,
Goldstein, and Ryan (1992) and Varano and Cancino (2001) indicates
that drug use and trafcking play a decisive role in the motive for homicide, since they place the subject in violent situations.
The association between the use of alcohol and the prevalence of incidents and violent crimes (like homicide) has been reported at the scientic level and in national and international statistics (Darke, 2010;
Home Ofce, 2008; Room & Rossow, 2001; Rossow, 1996; World
Health Organization, 2005, 2006). Alcohol intoxication decreases selfcontrol (Giancola, 2013) and leads the individual to focus only on the
present moment, without considering the past or the future (Graham
& West, 2001; Graham, West, & Wells, 2000). Darke (2010) highlights
the disinhibiting effect of fermented or distilled beverages, responsible
for a type of cognitive blindness that inhibits individuals from making
protective factor. These communities are more cohesive and united; individuals interact with one another and easily determine common
goals, a characteristic that is not common among other urban communities. Assumptions such as conict between cultures and decient socialization fall at when we consider the results of the aforementioned study.
The unequal distribution of resources promotes social anomy, something that seems to be supported by studies that establish a relation between poverty, racial and ethnic segregation and homicide (Martinez,
Jacob, Stowell, & Lee, 2010; Morenoff, Sampson, & Rondenbush, 2001;
Silver & Miller, 2004). Economic factors such as lack of opportunities, social inequality, population density, unemployment and marginalization,
can be risk factors of violent criminality. By resorting to different methodologies, several studies have aimed to establish a link between
homicide and economic deprivation (Avison & Loring, 1986; Blau &
Blau, 1982; Hannon, 2005; Kubrin & Herting, 2003; Lynch, 1987;
MacDonald & Gover, 2005; Messner, 1982; Messner, Raffalovich, &
McMillan, 2001; Messner & Rosenfeld, 1999; Pridemore, 2002, 2008).
From a theoretical point of view, economic inequality is a criminogenic
factor, since it emerges from the accumulation of a competitive advantage (Messner, 1982). In other words, it results from the juxtaposition
of the blocked opportunities faced by many social groups, as well as
the exaggerated emphasis placed on measures of success. However,
the majority of studies that have tried to establish a connection between
homicide and economic disadvantage have been highly criticized, since
they fail to explain and specify a macro-social model able to relate homicide with economic deprivation (Chamlin & Cochran, 2005; Lee,
Martinez, & Rosenfeld, 2001). While studying the link between homicide rate and access to economic and social rights, Cardia, Adorno, and
Poleto (2003) conrmed that poverty (rate of poor population) alone
could not explain high homicide rates. According to the authors, homicide rates were higher when combined with the following factors over
time: concentration of younger population, absence of elderly individuals, unemployment, head of household's low level of education and absence of policies that aimed to diminish the impact of poverty. On the
other hand, when social development indicators and political institution
instability were studied, they followed the increase in homicide rates.
The authors also concluded that homicide rates were linked to substance use and trafcking.
Establishing univocal links between homicide, poverty, social, racial
and ethnic segregation, immigration and social integration can minimize
the complexity of this criminal act, thus restricting its analysis to an explanatory reductionism. The organization and social context to which an
individual belongs can be a criminogenic factor, inter-extenuating and
inserted in a social and historical period, thus highlighting the fact that
the conduct's legality and the penal system in force are socially
established. The social state of fundamental legal assets gives ground to
requests from the social environment, neo-criminalizing behaviors that
were conned to morality such as domestic violence and showing
that crime is the result of a social construction.
Determining and explaining the causality of homicide is complex.
The multiplicity and heterogeneity of factors that seemed to serve as explanations (albeit contradictory) lack an integrative vision concerning
each specic event. In fact, biological (prefrontal cortex decits, genetic
mutations), developmental (abuse, dysfunctional families, exposure to
violence), psychopathological (psychoactive substance abuse and mental illness) and social (poverty, racial segregation) indicators interact
and are associated with the increase in aggressiveness and violence
(Andrews & Bonta, 2010; Raine, 2013). However, it is important to highlight the fact that the individual belongs to a historical, social and political system, in which reciprocal interactions are established and from
which one cannot be excluded (Fig. 1).
13
Psysiological
Developmental
Homicide
Psychopathological
Social
making process. A preventive perspective will always be the best solution, acting as prevention against criminality and leading to economic
results with inherent advantages for any society. By failing to establish
any causal links between child negligence/abuse and violent crime,
the results of the studies presented suggest the exponentiation of risk.
It is important to reconsider the quality of the interventions (social, educational) that have been developed and the access to available
resources. On the other hand, the risk of a violent crime being committed by subjects suffering a psychotic episode is well known. It is important to highlight the role of the healthcare centers that monitor
individuals with severe mental illnesses and their families, as well as
their educational role, which is vital to eliminating the shame and prejudice associated with mental illnessa stigma that so often hides the
problem rather than treating it. The assessment of risk and violence
and the need to apply the 36/98 law are also important, in order to
quickly and effectively intervene during patient decompensation, thus
serving as a preventive measure against a possible violent crime.
From a remedial point of view far from the punitive logic that current society attempts to establish a better understanding of this type
of crime aids in dening improved intervention programs for inmates.
Rehabilitation strategies can and should contribute to blocking criminal
trajectories and support future social integration.
In terms of family intervention, knowing and understanding homicide allow for more conscientious intervention for both victimized families: those of the victim and those of the offender. In the Portuguese
research eld, the way families organize themselves to ght against
this type of victimization is important. However, research in the eld
of social sciences is lacking.
Lastly, in the judicial realm, it is important to highlight the objectivity and rationality of the law that imposes its practice to those who
apply it the judges. Those who commit a homicide are convicted according to the admission of apparently proven elements and the sentence is either reduced or increased. This is not a simple exercise of
gathering proof. The way each judge understands homicide, its context
and the moment it was committed is also added and connected. One
could then question if the person judging the trial is aware of the impossibility of a rational decision. Research in this eld is vital to providing
information that can be useful during the academic training of judges.
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3. Conclusion
Knowing and understanding this type of crime are vital when dening social, education and healthcare policies and in the judicial decision
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