Juvenile homicide offenders: Why they were involved in serious crime.

The perpetration of murders by juveniles (individuals under age 18) has been a serious concern in the United States since the 1960s. As a result of four decisions by the United States Supreme Court during the 21st century, the likelihood that juvenile homicide offenders will be released back into society is substantially higher than it was in the year 2000. Given these changes in sentencing policies and practices, understanding why youths under 18 engage in homicidal behavior is more important than ever for two reasons: to prevent juveniles from killing in the first place and to determine whether their reasons for killing are related to post-release outcome. This research is a part of a 35-year follow-up study of 59 boys, age 14 to 17, who were convicted of murder or attempted murder, and sentenced to adult prisons in a southeastern state. Twenty of these men discussed the reasons for their involvement in murder in person in a second interview conducted by the author 35 years after her first interview with them. These men's reasons for engaging in serious homicidal behavior reflected both psychological and sociological factors. Although the type of explanation for criminal involvement was not significantly related to post-release outcome, some interesting patterns were discernible. The implications of these findings, limitations of the study, and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Adopted children who kill their adoptive parents: An examination through the lens of attachment theory.

Adoptive parricide, the killing of adoptive parents by their adoptive children, is a phenomenon that garners much media attention but remains elusive in the extant literature. Previous studies on adoptive parricide have largely consisted of clinical case studies with limited theoretical explanations. The current study uses Bowlby's attachment theory as a theoretical framework to explore adoptive parricide. A content analysis was conducted of news sources to obtain data on adoptive parricide cases. Hypotheses were generated per attachment theory in the context of Heide's (2013b) parricide offender typology. Early adoptees (n = 27) were compared to late adoptees (n = 29) using Fisher's exact tests. Early adoptees were more likely to kill multiple victims, kill for selfish motives, be overindulged by adoptive parents, and not have limits set and enforced by adoptive parents. Late adoptees were more likely to report having been abused by their adoptive parents. The results were not consistent with attachment theory. Implications for the adoption process and adoptive parenting practices are presented.

An examination of the effects of mental disorders as mitigating factors on capital sentencing outcomes.

Mentally ill and emotionally disturbed offenders comprise a significant component of those whose criminal conduct has swept them into the criminal justice system, including a subset who are tried and convicted of capital murder. The present study employs the population of capital cases advanced to penalty phase in the state of North Carolina (1990-2009) to examine whether presentation to the jury of the statutory mitigators of extreme mental and emotional disturbance and capacity impaired, and specific mental illness diagnoses, often referred to as mental disorders, at the sentencing phase mitigate against a sentence of death. Mental disorders included mood disorders, psychotic disorders, anxiety disorders, brain disorders, multiple mental illness diagnoses, learning disabilities, and personality disorders. Results from these 835 cases indicate that with the exception of one, the diagnosis of a learning disability, the capital jury's acceptance of various mental health conditions does not effectively mitigate against a capital sentence. In addition, jury rejection of a diagnosis of mental illness or the two mental health statutory mitigators, capacity impaired and extreme emotional disturbance, as a mitigating factor has a counter-mitigating effect in that it significantly increases the odds of a death penalty recommendation by about 85-200%.

Juvenile homicide offenders: A 35-year-follow-up study.

Murders committed by juveniles have been a major concern in the USA for more than 40 years. Due to decisions in the 21st century by the United States Supreme Court, the likelihood of juvenile homicide offenders being sentenced to life without parole (LWOP) is less than in past decades. In addition, hundreds of individuals in prison who were sentenced to LWOP under mandatory sentencing statutes or their equivalent as juveniles for murder are now eligible for resentencing and may be released. Given these changes in sentencing policies and practices, follow-up research on juveniles involved in murder is needed. This study is a 35-year follow-up study of 59 boys who were convicted of murder and sentenced to adult prisons in a southeastern state, and initially interviewed in the early 1980s. Twenty-two of these men agreed to participate in clinical interviews about their experiences in prison and upon return to the community if released. The experiences in prison are highlighted for all men. Thereafter, attention focuses on the 19 juvenile homicide offenders who have been released. Of these 19 men, 11 were classified as failures given that they were sent back to prison at least once. Length of time served and completion of GED were the best predictors of post-release success. Clinical observations, implications of the findings, limitations of the study, and directions for future research are discussed.

Adopted children who kill their adoptive parents.

The killing of parents, frequently referred to as parricide, is a disturbing phenomenon that often generates widespread media coverage. Most of the scholarly literature on this topic has focused on biological offspring who kill mothers and fathers. Some analyses have examined juveniles and adults who kill their stepparents. To date, virtually no research exists on children who kill their adoptive parents because this type of victim-offender relationship has been absent from available homicide databases, thereby preventing such analyses. The present study is a content analysis of news reports of 46 cases of adopted children who killed their adoptive parents in several different countries. Data pertaining to offender and victim demographics, incident characteristics, and the processing of offenders from the initial charge through conviction and sentencing are examined. To the extent possible, media accounts are used to classify cases according to motives or circumstances leading to the killings. The article concludes with a comparison of profiles of children who kill adoptive parents in relation to those who kill biological parents, important observations that emerged from these news accounts, and discussion of possible explanations of parricide by adopted children, including adopted children syndrome, reactive attachment disorder, and biological risk factors. Limitations of this study and directions for future research are addressed.

Can empathy close the racial divide and gender gap in death penalty support?

Public opinion data indicate that the majority of US respondents support the death penalty. Research has consistently indicated, however, that Blacks and females are significantly less likely to support capital punishment than their White and male counterparts. Past research efforts attempting to account for these differences have, at best, only partially accounted for them: the racial divide and gender gap in death penalty support, while narrowed, remained evident. This study proposes that empathy, particularly ethnocultural empathy, may be a key explanatory correlate of death penalty support and that racial and gender differences in empathy may fully explain the observed racial and gender differences in death penalty support. This study uses three forms of empathy measures (cognitive, affective, and ethnocultural) to test this hypothesis using survey data from a sample of undergraduate students. Our results show that neither a variety of other "known correlates" of death penalty support nor cognitive or affective empathy scales were able to fully account for the observed racial difference in death penalty support. Ethnocultural empathy, however, was successful in reducing the effect of race on death penalty support to nonsignificance. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to have done so.

Male and Female Single-Victim Sexual Homicide Offenders: Distinguishing the Types of Weapons Used in Killing Their Victims.

Most studies have focused on male sexual homicide offenders (SHOs) without testing whether sex differences exist. Accordingly, little is known about the distinctions between male and female SHOs, particularly with respect to their use of weapons in killing their victims. This study used a sample of 3,160 single-victim sexual homicide cases (3,009 male and 151 female offenders) from the U.S. Supplementary Homicide Reports database to explore sex differences in the types of murder weapons used by offenders in killing victims over the 37-year period 1976 to 2012. Findings indicated that significantly more male SHOs used personal weapons (43%) and more female SHOs used firearms (63%) in their offense commission. In general, female offenders predominantly used weapons that were physically less demanding (e.g., firearms and edged and other weapons; 89%). Different trends in the murder weapons used by male and female SHOs from different age groups were observed. Interestingly, findings showed that the type of weapon used by SHOs was in part influenced by the victims and their characteristics.

Post-incarceration Recidivism of Lone versus Group Juvenile Homicide Offenders.

Killings by juvenile homicide offenders (JHOs) who use accomplices have been increasing since the 1980s and currently represent approximately half of juvenile arrests for murder in the United States. Nevertheless, prior research has not compared JHOs who kill alone with JHOs who kill in groups. The present research followed up 30 years later on a sample of 59 male murderers and attempted murderers sentenced to adult prison. This study was designed to analyze whether lone and group JHOs differed on pre-incarceration, incarceration, and post-incarceration variables. Significant findings indicated that compared with lone offenders, group JHOs had a higher mean of pre-homicide arrests and were more likely to be Black, have a pre-homicide delinquent record, commit a crime-related homicide offense, and target a stranger. With respect to post-homicide variables, group JHOs were more likely to be released from prison and more likely to be rearrested. The two types of JHOs did not differ significantly in relation to the number of post-release violent offenses. Preliminary implications of the findings and avenues for future investigation are discussed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Double Parricide: An In-Depth Look at Two Victim Homicides Involving Parents as Victims.

The majority of studies examining the killing of parents and step-parents by biological and stepchildren involve a single victim and single offender. Little is known when parricide incidents involve multiple victims or multiple offenders. Using the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), this study examined double parricide incidents involving single or multiple offenders over the 20-year period 1991-2010 with the aim of investigating juvenile and adult involvement. Forty-five incidents of double parricide were identified and verified; in 35 of these cases, the offenders acted alone. Frequencies reported include offender, victim, and incident characteristics. The results indicated that the typical double parricide offender who acted alone was a White male approximately 30 years of age. When multiple offenders were involved, the offenders tended to be younger and were more likely to include a female accomplice. Newspapers were utilized to augment available case information. Study limitations, implications, and directions for future research are also discussed.

Girls arrested for murder: an empirical analysis of 32 years of U.S. data by offender age groups.

Most studies on juvenile homicide offenders (JHOs) have used small samples and have concentrated on adolescent male offenders. As a result, little is known about the population of female juveniles arrested for murder. This study utilized the Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR) database to investigate age differences between younger (aged 6-12 years) and older (aged 13-17 years) females arrested for murder in the United States from 1976 to 2007. As predicted, six variables used to test seven hypotheses with respect to younger and older female JHOs in single victim incidents were significant (victim age, victim gender, victim offender relationship, murder weapon, offender count, and homicide circumstance). Regression analysis revealed that younger girls were seven times more likely than older girls to kill children aged 0-12 years. Girls aged 6-12 years were five times more likely than their teen counterparts to be involved in conflict-related homicides as opposed to crime-related homicides. Although approximately the same percentages of younger and older girls killed infants under the age of 1, the victims were significantly different for the two offender age groups. This article concludes with a discussion of our findings and directions for future research.

Matricide and stepmatricide victims and offenders: an empirical analysis of U.S. arrest data.

Almost all of the clinical and empirical literature on female parricide victims focuses on mothers killed, with only little information available on stepmothers murdered. This study is the first to compare the victim, offender, and case correlates in incidents when mothers and stepmothers were killed. Supplementary Homicide Report Data for 1976-2007 were used to investigate similarities and differences between the two female victim types in the United States. Similarities between stepmothers and mothers included that more than 70% were White and killed in single victim, single offender incidents. Their killers were adult sons in between 67% and 87% of incidents. Several significant differences emerged with respect to age, involvement in multiple offender incidents, and weapon use. Stepmothers and their stepchildren, relative to mothers and their offspring, were significantly younger. Sixty-four percent of stepchildren, compared with 35% of biological children, were under age 25 at the time of their arrest for murder. A higher percentage of juveniles than adult killers was involved in multiple offender (MO) incidents involving mothers. Relative to their male counterparts, higher percentages of female juveniles were involved in MO incidents involving the deaths of mothers and stepmothers. A higher proportion of female adults, relative to their male counterparts, were involved in MO matricide incidents. Offenders who killed stepmothers, relative to those who killed mothers, were significantly more likely to use guns. Juvenile matricide offenders were significantly more likely to use firearms than their adult counterparts. Possible reasons for the differences are discussed in the conclusion.

Juvenile Homicide Offenders: Factors in Desistance after Incarceration.

While several prior studies have examined the prevalence and predictors of recidivism among juvenile homicide offenders (JHOs), much less scholarly attention has been devoted to exploring the post-release factors that influence JHOs to desist from criminal behavior. Given relatively recent rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court, individuals who commit homicide offenses as juveniles are less likely to spend the rest of their lives in prison. Accordingly, it is important to understand the factors associated with desistance in the post-incarceration lives of JHOs. The present study was designed to assess the effects of post-release factors on JHOs' recidivism outcomes, using a sample of 19 male JHOs from a southeastern U.S. state who were convicted as adults and sentenced to serve time in prison in the 1980s. These men were interviewed approximately 35 years after their original homicide offense about their adjustment to life in prison and after release, as well as their reasons for engaging in criminal behavior during adolescence. Thematic qualitative analysis was used to identify the post-release factors that were prevalent in the lives of the JHOs who desisted from crime. These five factors included avoiding old neighborhood and friends, positive intimate relationship, stable employment, human agency, and generativity. The implications of the findings for the prevention of recidivism among JHOs, as well as avenues for future research, are discussed.

Risk Assessment and Post-Release Recidivism in a Sample of Juvenile Homicide Offenders.

Given recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings regarding the constitutionality of juveniles who received mandated life sentences, questions have arisen in the field of criminology regarding how these offenders will adjust if someday released. Risk scores were calculated for 59 male juvenile homicide offenders (JHOs) based upon the eight domains in the Youth Level of Supervision/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI) and used to examine recidivism among the 48 JHOs who were released. Sample subjects were charged as adults for murder and attempted murder in the 1980s, convicted, and sentenced to adult prison. Chi-square analyses were used to assess the relationship between risk score category and two measures of recidivism, which were general arrests and violent offenses. Results indicated risk scores failed to predict both general and violent recidivism. Implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed.

Juvenile Homicide Offenders Look Back 35 Years Later: Reasons They Were Involved in Murder.

Murders committed by juveniles have been a serious concern in the United States for more than 50 years. Decisions by the United States Supreme Court during the 21st century have reduced the likelihood that juvenile homicide offenders will be sentenced to life without parole (LWOP). As a result of these decisions, hundreds of prisoners who were sentenced as juveniles for murder to LWOP under mandatory sentencing statutes or its equivalent are now eligible for the reconsideration of their sentences. In light of these changes in sentencing policies and practices, follow-up research on juveniles convicted of murder is essential. This research is part of a 35-year follow-up study of 59 boys who were convicted of murder and sentenced to adult prisons in a southeastern state, and initially interviewed in the early 1980s. Twenty of these men agreed to participate in clinical interviews during which they reflected upon the reasons (i.e., motives, circumstances) for which they got involved in criminal behavior as juveniles. These reasons, which broadly tap tenets of psychological and sociological theories, were analyzed in terms of predominance. Thereafter, the attention focuses on looking at the relationship of these 20 reasons to recidivism among the 18 juvenile homicide offenders (JHOs) who have been released from prison. JHOs who lived in neighborhoods where crime was routine and who engaged in crime because the opportunity presented itself were approximately 20 and 22.50 times more likely to be arrested post release and returned to prison, respectfully. The implications of these findings, the limitations of the study, and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Racial Differences Among Juvenile Homicide Offenders: An Empirical Analysis of 37 Years of U.S. Arrest Data.

Homicides by juvenile offenders have been of great interest to the public and policymakers in the United States for four decades. Despite the concern over young murderers, many analyses have been limited to small clinical samples. Empirical studies using Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR) data, a national database maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, have largely concentrated on analyzing basic victim, offender, and offense data or exploring gender differences. Racial differences, when explored with respect to juvenile homicide offenders (JHOs), largely have concentrated on White and Black offenders, given the low percentage involvement of American Indians and Alaskan Natives, and Asian and Pacific Islanders. This article used 37 years of SHR data (1976-2012; n = 52,916) to investigate differences between the four racial groups (White, Black, American Indian/Alaskan Native, and Asian American/Pacific Islander). This article focused on three questions: First, did the offender and offense characteristics of all JHOs arrested during the study period vary by race? Second, did the characteristics of victims, weapons used, crime circumstances, and offender count in incidents in which JHOs killed single victims differ across racial groups? Third, are offender, victim, and offense characteristics predictive of racial classification? Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted. The findings revealed more similarities than differences across the racial groups. Multinomial regression analyses revealed, however, that several variables were found to distinguish racial groups of JHOs in a predictive way: region, location, White victim, family victim, gun use, and homicide circumstance. Importantly, American Indian/Alaskan Native and Asian/Pacific Islander JHOs significantly differed from White and Black JHOs. In contrast to media depiction, gang-related homicides were significantly more likely to involve Asian/Pacific Islander juveniles than juveniles from the other racial groups. Implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed.

Sexual homicide: a synthesis of the literature.

Sexual homicide is a heavily studied, but unclearly defined, area of homicide studies. This article examines the empirical studies in sexual homicide from the mid-1980s to 2008. A review of the literature focuses on definitions, general theoretical understanding, and typologies that have evolved over the years. Issues surrounding the study of sexual murderers, such as sadistic fantasy and developmental deficits, are addressed. A comparison of different types of sexual homicides through a synthesis of 32 published empirical studies is made. The article concludes with an analysis of these studies and discusses implications for practice, policy, and research.

Recidivism Patterns Among Two Types of Juvenile Homicide Offenders: A 30-Year Follow-Up Study.

Although juvenile homicide has been a matter of concern in the United States since the 1980s, prior research has not addressed long-term recidivism patterns for convicted juvenile murderers. Furthermore, a prominent juvenile homicide typology had not previously been tested with U.S. offenders. The present study examined whether juvenile offenders who killed or attempted to kill during the commission of a crime differed from those who killed due to some type of conflict on pre-incarceration, incarceration, and post-incarceration variables. These offenders were sentenced to adult prison in the early 1980s. Follow-up data spanned 30 years. The results indicated that approximately 88% of released offenders have been rearrested. Analyses of pre-incarceration variables revealed that crime-oriented offenders were significantly more likely to commit the homicide offense using accomplices than conflict-oriented offenders, and the latter were significantly more likely to use a firearm during the homicide incident. The circumstances of the homicide, however, were not significantly related to any other pre-incarceration variables, release from prison, number of post-release arrests, and number of post-release violent offenses. The implications of the findings, their comparability to previous follow-up research on this typology, and avenues for future research are discussed.

Parricide: an empirical analysis of 24 years of U.S. data.

Empirical analysis of homicides in which children have killed parents has been limited. The most comprehensive statistical analysis involving parents as victims was undertaken by Heide and used Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR) data for the 10-year period 1977 to 1986. This article provides an updated examination of characteristics of victims, offenders, and offenses in parricide incidents using SHR data for the 24-year period 1976 to 1999. The analysis proceeds in two stages. First, offense (homicide circumstances), victim (age, race), and offender (age, race, sex) correlates are reported. Second, juvenile involvement in incidents in which parents were killed is examined and a determination is made whether changes in youth involvement in parricide offenses are discernible over the 24-year period. The article concludes with a comparison of findings that emerged from 24 years of data with those from the earlier 10-year period and the discussion of the significance of these findings.

Weapons used by juveniles and adult offenders in U.S. parricide cases.

In recent decades, attention has focused on juveniles who kill their parents. Research has indicated that increases in juvenile homicide have been associated with the availability of firearms, but little is known about the weapons juveniles use to kill their parents and whether their weapon usage is different from that of adult children who kill their parents. This article uses Supplementary Homicide Report data for the 24-year period 1976 to 1999 to investigate weapons selected by parricide offenders to kill biological mothers and fathers. Significant differences were found in the weapons used in matricide and patricide incidents and in the weapons selected by juvenile and adult offenders. A comparison with an earlier study by Heide revealed that weapon usage in parricide events is stable. Differences found in both studies between weapons used to kill parents and offender age are consistent with a physical strength hypothesis proposed by Heide in 1993.

A comparative analysis of media reports of U.S. parricide cases with officially reported national crime data and the psychiatric and psychological literature.

This article is a content analysis of 150 unique cases of children killing parents in the United States as reported in the electronic news media. The accuracy of online coverage of U.S. parricide incidents is assessed using two types of resources: officially reported national statistics on known parricidal incidents and the psychological and psychiatric literature on matricide and patricide. Comparisons of news accounts of media-reported U.S. parricide cases with Supplementary Homicide Report data indicate that electronic media coverage of parricide cases focused on the more sensational and unusual parricides. Analyses of these media accounts by offender age found 13 significant differences between juvenile and adult offenders. Ten of these 13 differences related to motive and Heide's parricide offender types (severely abused, severely mentally ill, and dangerously antisocial) and were consistent with the mental health-related literature in this area. The limitations and directions for future research are discussed at length.