Between 1953 and 1974 the author made psychiatric examinations for the prosecution of 400 persons, 367 males and 33 females, accused of the murders of 307 victims, 194 males and 113 females. The 367 males were accused of 273 murders, 172 male and 101 female victims, and the 33 females were accused of 34 murders, 22 male and 13 females victims. The salient features amongst the accused were maleness, youthfulness, the causal importance of alcohol, the rarity of suicide after murder an the high percentage of psychiatrically normal persons: in these last two respects the picture differed from that reported in England and Wales. The normality of these Scottish accused was further shown by the finding that in the decade 1965 to 1974 no material psychiatric abnormality was seen in 90 per cent of the males examined.

Homicide in the West of Scotland.

Two gun control laws designed to reduce different types of violent crimes were evaluated. In 1981, East St. Louis, IL, imposed stricter penalties for individuals who carry firearms outside their homes for protection (individuals could keep firearms in their homes). This law had only a temporary impact in reducing firearm use in assaults and robberies. In Evanston, IL, a slightly different approach was taken with legislation that banned handguns in the entire city (i.e., individuals could not keep handguns within their homes). A temporary reduction in firearm assaults occurred a few months before the gun law took effect. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Firearm violence and the effects of gun control legislation

It’s commonly assumed that psychiatric violence is motivated by delusions, but here the concept of a reversed impetus is explored, to understand whether delusions are formed as ad-hoc or post-hoc rationalizations of behaviour or in advance of the actus reus. The reflexive violence model proposes that perceptual stimuli has motivational power and this may trigger unwanted actions and hallucinations. The model is based on the theory of ecological perception, where opportunities enabled by an object are cues to act. As an apple triggers a desire to eat, a gun triggers a desire to shoot. These affordances (as they are called) are part of the perceptual apparatus, they allow the direct recognition of objects – and in emergencies they enable the fastest possible reactions. Even under normal circumstances, the presence of a weapon will trigger inhibited violent impulses. The presence of a victim will also, but under normal circumstances, these affordances don’t become violent because negative action impulses are totally inhibited, whereas in psychotic illness, negative action impulses are treated as emergencies and bypass frontal inhibitory circuits. What would have been object recognition becomes a blind automatic action. A range of mental illnesses can cause inhibition to be bypassed. At its most innocuous, this causes both simple hallucinations (where the motivational power of an object is misattributed). But ecological perception may have the power to trigger serious violence also –a kind that’s devoid of motives or planning and is often shrouded in amnesia or post-rational delusions.

/pdf/reflexive-and-automatic-violence-a-function-of-aberrant-evvo1tfqn1.pdf

Reflexive and automatic violence: a function of aberrant perceptual inhibition

Criminal homicide statistics for the U.S., especially large cities are a cause of alarm to society and the criminal justice system. Research implicates mostly young people, predominantly blacks and males, in homicides that are basically intra-sex, intra-racial, family-friend oriented, and which are precipitated by illiteracy, lack of skills, violence in the media, family instability and racial prejudice. While New Orleans leads the nation's cities in the homicide rate, a systematic study of the problem has not been undertaken. This study was conducted with the purpose of identifying criminal homicide patterns in New Orleans and relating selected characteristics of the victims and offenders to features of the crimes. Data for the three-year period, 1971-73, were gathered from the New Orleans Police Department to test a set of twelve null hypotheses concerning race, sex and age of the victim and accused in relation to various aspects of homicide. The findings of the study substantiated basically

/pdf/a-study-of-criminal-homicide-patterns-and-selected-465ehosk0z.pdf

A Study of Criminal Homicide Patterns and Selected Characteristics of Victims and Offenders in the City of New Orleans, 1971-73.

This work shows the interdisciplinary investigation of homicides in the Osijek area during the war and prewar periods. Similarities between the prewar and wartime perpetrators are related to social-demographic characteristics. Nevertheless, significant differences are found in the homicidal method of selection among victims and participation of victims involved. The major contributing factors in homicide genesis were acute alcohol intoxication and personality disorder among perpetrators. Besides these factors, the war stressors and access to firearms were significant factors during the war homicides. Prevention efforts should be directed toward consequential measures and further investigation suggests that the emphasis must be put on victimological aspects of the homicide problem. This work is a review of an interdisciplinary investigation of prewar and war homicides in the city of Osijek district. It provides confirmation of how the number of war homicides relate to the prewar number. Language: en

Homicides in war and peace in Croatia.

Most people incorrectly believe that murder by strangers, with robbery as a motive, poses a most serious threat in the U.S. The evidence shows that murder ranks relatively low on the list of causes of violent death and that most victims are relatives or friends of the murderer. The "mythology" of murder has caused many people to purchase arms as a means of self-defense when in fact this greatly increases the hazard to themselves and their families. The author recommends more stringent gun control legislation.

Judge George Edwards

Papers

Murder and gun control.