juvenile murderers

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Juvenile Murderers:

An Explanation

Christopher Richard Isaac

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3 Juvenile Murderers: An ExplanationBy Christopher Richard Isaac

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Essay Question:

Discuss the demographics and psychological characteristics of juvenile

murderers.

Word Count:

1109 (Not Including References in Text)

1. Introduction:Juvenile murderers are often the subject of much controversy. Their culpability

is assumed to be higher than that of other violent offenders while not exhibiting

much of a difference in demographics (DiCataldo & Everett, 2008:166). They

are often exposed to violent and poverty stricken environments leaving them

frustrated and incapable of resolving conflict non-violently (Bartol & Bartol,

2005:290, 300).

2. Definitions:2.1.Criminal Homicide:Criminal homicide is defined by Bartol and Bartol (2005:284) to be the

unlawful killing of a person that is beyond excusable by law. Criminal

homicide is always defined by premeditation, intent and malice. The degree to

which these attributes manifest in the homicide define whether it is murder or

no negligent manslaughter.

2.1.1. Murder:What differentiates murder from other forms of criminal homicide is the level

of premeditation, intent and malice involved in the homicide (Bartol & Bartol,2005:285). This is not to say that all murders are thought out far in advance just

that the act be thought out before being committed.


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2.1.2. Nonnegligent Manslaughter:Nonnegligent manslaughter is defined as having intent but a lesser degree of

premeditation (Bartol & Bartol, 2005:285). Therefore, it is different from

murder in the sense that the intent and malice were evident in the committing of

the crime but there was no evidence of premeditation in either.

2.2.Multi ple Murder:2.2.1. Serial Murder:According to Bartol and Bartol (2005:343), serial murder is defined as the

murder of multiple victims with intervals in between. These murders do not

occur regularly and are defined by three things. The murders are, as a rule;

premeditated and planned, and the victims are often chosen and particular rather

than random opportunistic acts of violence. The murders are also not committed

one after the other as stated above that is known as a cooling off period that

may range from days to years (Labuschange, 2000:25).

2.2.2. Mass MurderBartol and Bartol (2005:343) define mass murder as the multiple murder of

three or more individuals at a single location with no intervals or cooling off

periods between. Two further definitions are described. The first is classical

mass murder which is the murder of three or more people in a public place. The

second is family mass murder which is the murder of three or more family

members.

3. Juvenile Murderers:In the article by DiCataldo and Everett (2008:172) an attempt to define

differences between juvenile offenders found guilty of homicide and those

found guilty of other non-homicidal violent offences. The study was done for

purpose of being able to define juvenile murderers in scientific terms for

purposes of sentencing.


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Their research was conducted in the United States and, therefore, is not wholly

applicable to a South African context. However, their demographic was in some

ways universally representative in the form of the offenders level of education.

The level of education was also very similar when looking at the types of

offenders juvenile murderers were slightly more likely to have committed

offences if they had not graduated high school (DiCataldo & Everett,

2008:166). The majority had failed or were yet to finish high school and the

largest minority shows the same for an eighth grade education. There is also the

strong likelihood of both types of offenders having been exposed to violent

behaviour in the community and to have come from less affluent back grounds

(Collings & Magojo, 2003:125).

Despite the demographic being similar it was found that overall the non-

homicidal offenders were more likely to have offended previously and exhibit

more risk factors than those having committed homicide and were only truly

distinguishable in two areas (DiCataldo & Everett, 2008:170). The first of these

areas was that the offenders that committed homicide had been more likely to

have been exposed to guns and had easy access to them. The second is that the

homicidal had a higher tendency to be intoxicated at the time of having

committed the offence. This shows that homicidal juveniles were more likely to

commit murder because of lowered inhibition and poor judgement as well as

easy access to guns.

DiCataldo and Everett (2008:171) acknowledge the limitations in the study by

stating that the sample group was relatively small and that attempted murder

cases were left out of the study. The latter is the biggest flaw as its inclusion

could completely alter the results. This can be said because while the end result

is not death the intent and malice of the act is present in attempted murder

cases. Knives which could be considered far more aggressive an instrument for

a murderer to wield are logically less likely to result in death for the same

reason they can be considered more aggressive weapons. Knives require a


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physical confrontation. Bartol and Bartol (2005:294) state that knives and

razors account for 55% of all weapons held by juveniles arrested in the United

States.

3.1.Seri al Murder:Juvenile serial murderers are extremely rare (Bartol & Bartol, 2005:348) and as

a result little scientific knowledge has been built up surrounding them.

However, if by examining the case studies presented by Wright and Hensley

(2003:76-82) there is evidence in the five cases to suggest that the serial

murderers are likely to committed their first murder as a juvenile. Three of the

five cases show that this was the case and all of those mentioned had

experimented with cruelty towards animals at a younger age than the others. As

can be seen from the example of these cases the vast majority showed signs of

conduct disorder such as cruelty to animals, frustration toward and abuse by an

authority figure, as well as the murders being highly sexual and symbolic of

abuses suffered in the past (Bartol & Bartol, 2005:348; Wright & Hensley,

2003:83).

3.2.Mass MurderAs with juvenile serial murderers, juvenile mass murderers are rare (Bartol &

Bartol, 2005:353). Cases of school shootings and killings give us an insight to

the emotional state of the juveniles committing these acts. In some ways these

juvenile mass murderers are similar to juvenile serial killers in that they feel

frustration and often exhibit animal cruelty (Bartol & Bartol, 2005:354).

However, the frustration felt is generally expressed toward peer and social

rejection due to an inability to cope socially (Bartol & Bartol, 2005:353). Most

care little about dying in the process of committing the mass murder as they

view their impulsive outburst as retaliation towards social rejection and see

themselves almost as martyrs for social equality (Palermo, 1997:2). Thus, these

school killings are fuelled by revenge according to Fox and Levin (in Siegel,

2004:341).


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5. References:Bartol, C.R., & Bartol, A.M. (2008). Criminal Behaviour: A Psychological

Approach. (8th

Ed). Pearson Education Inc.: United States of America: New

Jersey.

Collings, S.J., & Magojo, T.S. (2003). Youth Violence: An Analysis od

Selected Aetiological Pathways in a Sample of South-African High School

Males.Acta Criminologica 16(2), 125-137.

Davis, L., Snyman, R., (2005). Victimology in South Africa. Van Schaik

Publishers: Pretoria: Hatfield.

DiCataldo, F., & Everett, M. (2008). Distinguishing Juvenile Homicide From

Violent Juvenile Offending. International Journal of Offender Therapy and

Comparative Criminology 58(2), 158-174.

Labuschange, G. (2000). Serial Murder: An Interactive Perspective on Serial

Murder.Acta Criminologica 13(1), 23-30.

Levin, J., &d Madfis, E., (2009). Mass Murder at School and Cumulative

Strain.American Behavioural Scientist52(9), 1227-1245.

Mouzos, J., & West, D. (2007). An Examination of Serial Murder in Australia.

Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, Australian Institute of

Criminology.

Palermo, G.B. (1997). The Berserk Syndrome: A Review of Mass Murder.

Aggression and Violent Behaviour2(1), 1-8.

Siegel, L.J. (2004). Criminology Theories, Patterns, & Typologies, (8th

Ed).

Canada: Wadsworth.

Wright, J., & Hensley, C. (2003). From Animal Cruelty to Serial Murder:

Applying the Graduation Hypothesis. International Journal of Offender

Therapy and Comparative Criminology 47(1), 71-88.

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