Description
Book SynopsisSexual Murder: Catathymic and Compulsive Homicides is the culmination of the author's 45 years of experience with, and studying, sexually motivated homicide. Sexual murders are generally of two types catathymic and compulsive. Catathymic homicides are caused by a breakthrough of underlying sexual conflicts. They can be unplanned, explosive (acute) attacks or planned murders stemming from a chronic obsession with, or disturbed attachment to, the victim. In compulsive homicides, a fusion of sex and aggression results in a powerful internal drive which pushes the offender to seek out victims to kill and the killing itself is sexually gratifying. These murders also may be planned or unplanned. In compulsive homicides that are unplanned, the urge breaks through and disrupts the offender's controls when a victim of opportunity crosses his path. The compulsive offender who plans his crimes often eludes law enforcement, and as a result he can have multiple (serial) victims over extended peri
Trade Review"Sexual Murder: Catathymic and Compulsive Homicides, is a brilliant integration and application of previous theory and research, and advances the field of criminal forensic psychology." —J. Reid Meloy, Ph.D., Forensic Psychologist, Criminal & Civil Case Consultant, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCSD, Faculty Member of San Diego Psychoanalytic Center, San Diego, California, USA
Table of Contents1 Understanding Sexual Murder: Problems and Approaches
2 Forensic Assessment: Evaluation of the Sexual Murder
3 The Place of Sexual Murder in the Classification of Crime
4 Catathymia and Catathymic Crisis: Contributions of Hans W. Maier and Fredric Wertham
5 Acute Catathymic Homicides
6 Chronic Catathymic Homicides
7 Compulsive Homicides in Historical Context
8 Planned Compulsive Homicides
9 Unplanned Compulsive Homicides
10 Prediction and Disposition
