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An analysis of the characteristics and motives of the UK homicides involving acts of dismemberment

Victoria Jade Pointon (Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Staffordshire, UK) a
Michelle Wright (Greater Manchester Police, Manchester, UK)

Journal of Criminal Psychology

ISSN: 2009-3829

Article publication date: 20 December 2022

Issue publication date: 23 January 2023

211

Abstract

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.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully thank the reviewers who took the time to review this article for publication. Declaration of conflicting interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this study.

Funding: The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this paper.

Citation

Pointon, V.J. and Wright, M. (2023), "An analysis of the characteristics and motives of the UK homicides involving acts of dismemberment", Journal of Criminal Psychology, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCP-06-2022-0018

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited

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