University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences / Department of Sociology

The Long Division is a novel that applies some conventions and tropes of the noir fiction genre to tell a story from the points of view of five individuals whose fates are interconnected through the narrative. Jodie Larkin is an Atlanta housecleaner who, fed up with her thankless job, hits the road with stolen cash, desperate to reconnect with the son she gave up for adoption. That son is Calvin Nowak, a teenager eager to escape an adoptive family that he feels can never understand him. He and Jodie embark on a runaway quest to discover the source of his pain. Their journey will take them to small town New York, where Calvin’s biological father, Sam Hartwick, is secretly tracking the shooter in a double murder case that will test his reputation and his faith in redemption. That killer is Wynn Johnston, a college student gifted and tortured, who clings to his bright academic prospects while hunted by vengeful criminals, police, and his own demons. He strikes up a desperate relationship with Erika Hartwick, Sam Harwick’s legitimate daughter, just as Sam’s illegitimate son Calvin and one-time lover Jodie arrive in town and instigate a climactic confrontation between all the perspective characters. The novel explores the value of family and how it can be tested by extreme circumstances, especially in paradoxical or ironic context where family is founded on, or broken apart by, characters flaws that threaten the stability of family itself. Likewise, it explores whether certain family relationships can or should be repaired, and the motives and morality of individuals when they support or subvert family dynamics.

The topic of my thesis is the methodology of murder investigation. The thesis deals with trace evidence formed during commission of the crime of murder, typical investigative situations faced by crime investigators, and some of the subsequent acts. The aim of this thesis is to familiarize with the offense of murder and the specifics of crime scene investigation. Furthermore, this work provides a summary of the knowledge obtained through the study of monographs, articles in professional journals, and some of the court relevant decisions. Finally, the work further outlines some selected questions and points out the potential problems related to crime scene investigation. The thesis consists of five chapters, which are further divided in to subchapters. Following the introduction, the first chapter describes the murder under criminal law and outlines the various classifications of murder, which include plain murder, murder committed with forethought or prior consideration, and manslaughter. Moreover, the chapter discusses the legislation pertinent to the concept of murder, and explores its roots under the criminal law of England and Wales. The second chapter describes the various disciplines of criminalistics. Additionally, the chapter provides an assessment of murder investigation by exploring...

Thesis (M A(Social Work and Criminology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

Beneath the Foundation is a work of fiction, a detective novel that follows protagonist Cheryl Simpson as she’s thrust into the middle of a murder mystery. Cheryl lives a quite life, an attempt at hiding from her past, but when she arrives at work one Saturday morning and finds her boss dead of a gunshot wound, she finds herself pulled into the middle of the investigation. Clues start popping up all around her, and once they start showing up in her apartment, she realizes there’s more at stake than figuring out who killed her boss. As Cheryl works through the mystery with her friends Alice and Brandon, she is forced to confront what happened in the past in order to survive the present.

Serial crime is an element of society that continues to disturb and fascinate scholars. There is thus a need to understand the uniqueness of serial murderers and their psychological development. The field of psychobiography is a qualitative approach to uncover the story of an individual life through greater understanding of psychological concepts. Psychobiographical research is invaluable in the application of theory to the finished lives of exemplary or enigmatic individuals to develop and test theories of human development. Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer (1960 – 1994), a cannibalistic serial killer who killed 17 young men, served as the single psychobiographical subject in this study. Dahmer was selected based on interest value, his uniqueness and the lack of a specifically academic and psychologically focused case study on his life. A qualitative psychobiographical research method was utilized in this study. The primary aim of the research was to explore and describe Jeffrey Dahmer’s personality development across his lifespan. This was achieved by applying Erikson’s (1950) psychosocial theory of staged developmental crises to the lifespan developmental process and Adler’s (1929) dynamic individual psychology to provide a more comprehensive idiographic interpretation of Dahmer as an individual. Jeffrey Dahmer’s life history was uncovered in this psychobiographical case study research through the systematic and consistent collection, analysis and interpretation of life history materials, which highlighted five significant historical periods: (a) Childhood of Fantasy, (b) The Quiet Loner, (c) Hiatus – or Build-up, (d) Seeking a Compliant Partner and (e) Arrest, Trial and Death. The two theoretical frameworks were used to discern, transform and reconstruct his life into a coherent and illuminating narrative of his psychological movement through life. Alexander’s (1988) model of identifying salient themes was used to analyze data for analytical generalization (Yin, 1994). A conceptual framework derived from the two theoretical perspectives was constructed to organize and integrate data and to guide the presentation and discussion of the findings of the study in an integrative and comprehensive manner. The findings suggested that both theoretical perspectives considered the biopsychosocial as well as cultural and historical influences of situations and experiences in Dahmer’s personality development throughout the lifespan. Adlerian theory indicated that Dahmer held a socially useless lifestyle whose movement was guided purposively towards a fictional goal xxii of godlikeness through creative, concrete expressions of personal superiority. Eriksonian theory held that Dahmer remained in role confusion, which was viewed as a functional, fragmented identity to survive in society and achieve a fantasy. Thus, both theories indicated, despite their different conceptualizations, that Dahmer’s personality development was ultimately not socially beneficial. The study of Dahmer’s personality development has provided a positive demonstration of the value of both Erikson (1950) and Adler’s (1929) theories to understand the processes of personality development in an individual life. It has further highlighted the uniqueness of individual responses to life tasks and consequently unlocked the possibility of perceiving people and their actions differently. Recommendations were made for future research undertakings that utilize a psychobiographical research design and methodology to uncover, illuminate and reconstruct the lives of enigmatic personalities.

The investigation of crime is one area in which the South African Police Service is measured on. There is no doubt that poor application of investigation methods results in acquittal of criminals or, at worst, failing to identify the perpetrator. In murder cases, the response from the communities who are directly affected is usually unpleasant and intolerable. This is so because murder is a crime against human life. One death in the family will have significant, undesirable implications to the family involved and, to a certain extent, the community. Violent crime such as murder has a negative effect, not only on the family who has lost the loved one, but also has a severe direct impact on the economy. For instance, no potential investors would want to associate themselves with a country where the incidence of violent crimes has become the norm and where the government appears to be reluctant to take tangible actions to remedy the situation. For years, the South African Police Service applied one methodology in murder investigations, even though their crime statistics showed that this type of crime was constantly increasing and required drastic steps to curb it. This study gives a detailed analysis of the prosecution-led investigation model and its feasibility in murder cases. This research was conducted on the basis that this model appears to work successfully in commercial crimes, judging by the conviction rates reported annually by the National Prosecuting Authority. The study discusses the current investigation model used by the South African Police Service in the investigation of murder and compares it to an intelligence-led investigation model. It then examines the meaning of the prosecution-led investigation. Finally, international experiences in terms of criminal investigation and prosecution procedures are discussed and compared with those of South Africa. The researcher explored the models from the selected countries and interviews conducted were used as a foundation for describing and explaining the future application of the findings emanating from this research. Using the qualitative approach, data was gathered by means of a literature review and qualitative interviews with the sampled participants to answer the research questions. The researcher is of the view that this study (analysing the prosecution-led investigation model in murder cases) presents a significant contribution to the development of practical guidelines that can be used to effectively and efficiently investigate murder cases. / Police Practice / D. Phil. (Criminal Justice)

The aim of this descriptive research was to determine the methods of case linkage (methods to link murder cases to each other as well as to link the murder series to one offender) employed by the South African Police Service (SAPS) to investigate serial murder in South Africa and to comprehensively explain them. A qualitative approach was employed with a multi-method data collection process which included case study, interviews and literature review in order to gain an in-depth understanding of the subject. The methods of case linkage are explained within three phases of a serial murder investigation: the identification phase, the investigation and apprehension phase, and the trial and sentencing phase. The main findings of the study revealed the need for further training of the SAPS members and the need for a Standing Operating Procedure to be implemented to specifically govern the system of investigation for a serial murder case. / Criminology and Security Science / M.A. (Criminology)

In this dissertation, the researcher wants to establish the use of firearm evidence in the investigation of the crime of murder. Firearm evidence can be of significance to the investigators during murder investigations. To determine the importance of this evidence the researcher has formulated the following research questions to address the research problem:  What is the role of forensic science in the investigation of crimes?  How can firearm evidence be used in the investigation of murder? An empirical research design and qualitative research approach were used for this dissertation. International and national literature sources were consulted and the researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with the investigators from Akasia SAPS, crime scene experts from the Pretoria North LCRC and ballistics experts from the Forensic Science Laboratory in Silverton, Pretoria. The role of forensic science and the use of firearm evidence in the investigation of murder were established. Recommendations have been made for further research on aspects highlighted by the findings. / Police Practice / M. Tech. (Forensic Investigations)

For decades there has been growing interest into the crime of child murders. Emphasis was placed on victims and those at risk. Not much focus was placed on perpetrators and their families. Evidence suggests that the family and social systems play a vital role in determining adult violent behaviour. This qualitative study aims to explore the experiences of convicted child murderers in their family and social system. Data was collected and analysed, using genogram interviews and analysis. Themes were highlighted using hermeneutic thematic analysis, within a post-modern paradigm. Results were presented in the form of genogram analysis and thematic content analysis. Prominent themes that arose were separation, rejection, abuse, neglect and substance abuse. These life experiences together with poor education are some of the characteristics that may have contributed to the child murderers actions towards children. / Psychology / M. A. (Clinical Psychology)