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SPECIFIC AND NON-SPECIFIC MURDER

NCJ Number
61525
Journal
Canadian Journal of Criminology Volume: 21 Issue: 4 Dated: (OCTOBER 1979) Pages: 442-452
Author(s)
M HUARD
Date Published
1979
Length
11 pages
Annotation
RORSCHACH TESTS OF THREE GROUPS OF HOMICIDAL PATIENTS WITH VARYING DEGREES OF FAMILIARITY BETWEEN THEMSELVES AND THEIR VICTIMS SHOW THAT 'SPECIFIC' MURDERERS HAVE A BETTER PROGNOSIS FOR BEING CURED.
Abstract
THIS STUDY WAS DESIGNED TO DISCOVER WHAT DIFFERENCES EXIST BETWEEN THREE DIFFERENT TYPES OF MURDERS: UXORICIDES (WIFE MURDERS) AND PARRICIDES (MURDERS OF CLOSE RELATIVES) MADE UP THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP, AND HOMICIDES (UNAWARE OF THEIR VICTIMS' IDENTITIES) COMPOSED THE CONTROL GROUP. RORSCHACH TESTS TAKEN BY THE 10 PATIENTS IN EACH OF THE 3 GROUPS WERE STATISTICALLY ANALYZED USING THE KOLMOGOROV-SMIRNOV AND THE RHO DE SPEARMAN TESTS. THE ANALYSIS CORROBORATED THE HYPOTHESIS THAT ALTHOUGH UXORICIDE AND PARRICIDE ARE ALMOST ALWAYS CONSIDERED SPECIFIC MURDERS BECAUSE OF THE NARROW TIES BETWEEN MURDERER AND VICTIM, THE UXORICIDE WAS SHOWN TO DIFFER IN THAT THE LINE BETWEEN THE MURDERER AND HIS VICTIM (HIS WIFE) TENDED TO REPRESENT A DISPLACEMENT OF A MUCH MORE BASIC TIE WITH THE MOTHER, WITH THAT ORIGINAL RELATIONSHIP REMAINING CONFLICTUAL (JUST AS IN NONSPECIFIC HOMICIDAL MURDERS); THUS, THE RISKS OF RECIDIVISM WERE SHOWN TO REMAIN CONSTANT AS LONG AS THAT CONFLICTUAL SITUATION WAS NOT SUFFICIENTLY RESOLVED. PARRICIDE MURDERERS (SPECIFIC MURDERS) SEEMED TO BE CAPABLE OF BETTER AND MORE RAPID RECUPERATION WITH BRIEFER HOSPITALIZATION THAN UXORICIDES OR HOMICIDES. IF CONFLICT RESOLUTION IS THE MAJOR INHERENT FACTOR TIED TO HOMICIDE AND RECIDIVISM PREVENTION, THEN PARRICIDE MURDERERS WHO HAVE A MOTIVE FOR THEIR CRIMES STAND A BETTER CHANCE OF BEING CURED. GRAPHS AND TABLES ILLUSTRATE THE STATISTICAL ANALYSIS. FOOTNOTES AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY ARE INCLUDED. --IN FRENCH. (MHP)

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