Unit 4

Why is murder so fascinating? Excessive exposure as dysfunctional Desensitize to human suffering Appears more widespread than it is

CRIMINAL HOMICIDE Criminal homicide Causing the death of another person without legal justification or excuse M urder Nonnegligent manslaughter Negligent manslaughter

Assault Aggravated assault The intentional inflicting of serious bodily injury on another person, or the attempt to inflict such injury Use of a deadly or dangerous weapon Simple assault The unlawful, intentional inflicting of less than serious bodily injury without a deadly or dangerous weapon, or the attempt to inflict such bodily injury Without a deadly or dangerous weapon

Demographics and Circumstances of Homicide Male Young Committed in process of family violence or felony Weapons Guns, knives Weapons effect

Psychological Aspects No universal set of risk factors or personality characteristics which predict those prone to commit murder Situation specific Weapon availability Alcohol Provocation Circumstances and motivation Offender emotional state

Family Violence What is family violence? How much family violence is there? What are the correlates of the offenders and victims? Is family violence fundamentally different from other kinds of violence? What are the causes of family violence?

Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy Parent consistently and chronically bring a child in for medical attention with symptoms falsified or directly induced by the parent or parents

Characteristics of Abusers Abuser Motives Possessiveness Self-defense Abuse by victim Feelings arising out of arguments Other motives Unknown Alcohol abuse

Types of Batterers Type 1 Abuse family members only Most common Type 2 Abuse family members because of emotional problems Volatile Type 3 Violent toward both family members and persons outside the family, across situations

Cycle of Violence Cycle of Violence Hypothesis Individuals grow up to be abusive because they were abused themselves Violence does not necessarily beget violence Resilience The opposite sequence Victims of child abuse may be even less likely than their nonabused peers to commit aggressive acts as adults within their families

Effects on Children Behavioral and emotional problems Negative effects on children’s emotional health and overall adjustment Immediate and long-term cognitive functioning and attitudes Strategies for resolving violence and conflict