Dissertation thesis Psychosocial characteristics of juvenile offenders committing serious crimes deals with the juvenile offenders sentenced for a murder commission in the Czech Republic. The thesis is divided into two parts that are a casuistic part and empiric one. Both parts are based on a large research carried out by means of the sample of 19 juveniles within Czech prisons specialized at this age category. Furthermore the casuistic theoretical part is focused on particular socialization and personal characteristics related to juvenile crime. The empiric part lies in research findings on juvenile murderers including female perpetrators resulting from a set of psychological methods and interviews with the convicted persons. Key words Crime Murder - murderer Juvenile Family Education School Peer Leisure time Addictive substances Personality Self-reflection Life satisfaction Mental capability Aggression Psychopathology

Although the majority of homicides are committed by men (Nilsson et al., 2016), homicides committed by women tend to receive significantly more media coverage (Kordon & Wetterqvist, 2010). Being a female and engaging in criminal activities tends to generate more headlines and detailed coverage by the news media than if it were done by a male offender, especially if the criminal act involves homicide. This is due to statistical evidence which reveals that men are responsible for more homicides compared to women. The disproportionate representation of women perpetrators in news coverage is moreover a result of fascination with female criminals (Kordon och Wetterqvist, 2010). This is a qualitative study conducted from a gender perspective and framing theory. It investigates how two of Sweden's largest newspapers, Aftonbladet and Expressen, portrayed suspected perpetrators in two different murder cases using thematic content analysis. One case involved two female suspects, while the other case involved a male suspect. These two murder cases received significant attention in Swedish news media. The analysis reveals that the newspapers occasionally portray the perpetrators similarly but also revealed notable differences. The actions of the male suspected murderer are for example portrayed as less surprising. This aligns with the norm from a gender perspective, where it is statistically common for men to commit the majority of homicides. Men are commonly portrayed as murderers, guilty, and convicts. However, the case involving the two women is portrayed as more sensational, whereas it is not as prominent for the male perpetrator. The fascination with female criminals gives the media the opportunity to dramatize an engaging story (Kordon och Wetterqvist, 2010). One conclusion drawn from the study is that the rarity of a case involving two female suspects creates an opportunity for commercial newspapers to capitalize on it. Additionally, there is a portrayal suggesting that the two female perpetrators go against the traditional image that women are “good” (Easteal et al., 2015). The study also demonstrates that the two women are placed in a category where they are considered responsible for their actions and therefore deserve punishment from the beginning. Aftonbladet and Expressen’s portrayals heavily allude to the women’s friendship. The media frequently portrayed the friendship between the two women and wrote many articles about them without even mentioning the victim. Due to the extensive media attention and the extensive articles about their relationship and the drama between them, they almost became “celebrities” in Sweden. Media portrays women with personal stress factors, while men are considered decisive and more responsible for their crimes (Houghton et al., 2023), which is a significant difference from a gender perspective. The male suspect is described as considerably more responsible for his actions compared to one of the suspected women.

The main focus of this thesis is to approach the issue of a criminal's (more specifically murderer's) personality, by means of forensic psychology. It is unfortunately not easy to explain why is one able to take another person's life. We on the other hand can gain a closer look to motivation and personal features, which can lead one to do so. The thesis focuses on knowledge of an official referee, which has been gain through a few recent years. The outcome data have been sorted out and eventually used to a criminal personality research. We've tried to map possible likeness of traits in behaviour, motivation and personal variables. A person's behaviour is, apart from the inner variables, influenced by outside factors as well. That is why this thesis pays attention to a broader area in a theoretical field of criminal engagement and criminal history. It offers a comprehensive picture of murder and factors, which influence it. Neverthless, the criminal and his personality remain the key factor. Key words: Personality, murderer, murder, crime, offender, agression, law

Inom loppet av sex månader mördades tre personer i Hudiksvalls kommun. Morden blev uppmärksammade i media och beskrevs som brutala i sitt tillvägagångssätt. En 20-årig man dömdes för mordet på Vanja Nilsson och Kjell List och en 22-årig man dömdes för mordet på Tova Moberg.Ambitionen med uppsatsen var att undersöka hur Hudiksvalls tidning med hjälp av gestaltning och dramaturgi formar en mediebild av en individ. I det här fallet en bild av två män, från att dessa häktats fram tills dess att påföljd meddelats av tingsrätten. Ännu en ambition var att undersöka hur samma tidning förhållit sig enligt det pressetiska ramverket i sin rapportering kring gärningsmännen och dess offer.Teoretiska utgångspunkter aktuella för uppsatsen har varit gestaltningsteori och dramaturgi. Dessa visar hur och med vilka hjälpmedel man framställer händelser och individer i media. Utgångspunkten medier och brott blev en stor tillgång då den fokuserar helt på medierna och dess omättliga aptit för brott och avvikelser. Pressetiken och de pressetiska rekommendationerna var nödvändiga för att se hur Hudiksvalls tidning förhållit sig enligt dessa.Uppsatsen är huvudsakligen kvalitativ men har stärkts med kvantitativ metod.Analysen visade att Hudiksvalls tidning gestaltat gärningsmännen utifrån avvikelser i vederbörandes personlighet och bakgrund. Hos 20-åringen var gestaltningen nyanserad av mannens psykiska ohälsa medan gestaltningen av 22-åringen var influerad av mannens bakgrund med droger och kriminalitet. Pressetiskt visade sig ett ställningstagande från tidningens sida där man gick ut med den ena gärningsmannens identitet i form av både bild och namn, medan den andra gärningsmannen förblev anonym.I analysen med fokus på gärningsmännens offer, var resultatet att namn och bild publicerades på alla tre offren. I fallet Tova Moberg fann jag att det till viss del fanns ett allmänintresse då hon från början var anmäld som försvunnen. I fallet Vanja Nilsson och Kjell List fann jag däremot inget uppenbart allmänintresse i identifierandet av offer, att Hudiksvalls tidning är en lokaltidning visade sig däremot vara av betydelse. / In less than six months three people are murdered in the county of Hudiksvall, Sweden. The homicides were described as brutal and received a lot of media attention. A 20-year-old man was later convicted for the murder of Vanja Nilsson and Kjell List and a 22-year-old man are later convicted for the murder of Tova Moberg. The ambition with this paper has been to examine how Hudiksvalls newspaper, with the help of framing and dramaturgy creates a media image of a person. In this case, an image of two men, from the moment they were arrested, until penalty was given by the district court. Another ambition was to investigate how the same newspaper handled the media coverage in relation with the [Swedish] press ethical framework, both in its reporting about the perpetrators and its victims.Theoretical framework relevant to this essay has been framing theory and dramaturgy. These show how and with which means you make and portray events and individuals in the media. Media and crime were also a big theoretical asset since its main focus is on the relation between media and crimes. The [Swedish] press ethical framework was necessary as a theoretical approach since one of the essays main issues were to see how Hudiksvalls newspaper handled the media coverage in relation to the press ethical guidelines. The essay is mainly qualitative but has been strengthened by quantitative method.The analysis showed that Hudiksvalls newspaper portrayed the perpetrators based on abnormalities in their personality and backgrounds. The image of the 20-year-old man was shaded by the his psychological problems, while the image of the 22-year-old was influenced by his background with drugs and crimes. The analysis also showed that the newspaper revealed the identity of one of the perpetrators’, while the other offender remained anonymous.In the analysis focusing on the perpetrators' victims, the result showed that names and images were published off all three victims. In the case of Tova Moberg, I found that to some extent there was a public interest since she initially was reported as a missing person. However, in the case of Vanja Nilsson and Kjell List I found no obvious public interest in revealing their identity, all though the fact that Hudiksvalls newspaper is a local newspaper, proved to be of importance in the matter.

Our focus in this study was to examine how Piteå-Tidningen produced Kaj Linna, the man who was accused and later convicted for murder. In addition to the frames we could distinguish about the perpetrator we also examined the small community, Kalamark, were the murder occured. In the next step of our analysis we examined how he was produced when he was declared innocent. We did this by applying a framing-analysis on 35 articles from Piteå-tidningen that covered the events that occured 2004 and 2017.   The frames we could identify from Piteå-Tidningen that described Kaj Linna 2004 was as an odd man, a man without no stable income and a man with money as his motivitaton. The community was framed as the victims, who stood together in sorrow and in despair. Kaj Linna got excluded and the community of Kalamark got included in the frames we identified.   The turning point in 2017, when Kaj Linna was declared innocent and was set to become a free man the frames changed. He was framed as a family man, a man with feelings that had people caring about him. Like a man who was one of us. He was included in 2017. The frames about the community in 2017 was hard to find as the focus of reporting about the case exclusively was about Kaj Linna.

Extreme violence, which often results in murder, is a prominent theme in the American literary canon; therefore, it deserves a wider and more focused lens in the study of Twentieth-Century American literature. Murder and entertainment seldom coexist in canonical literature, but the very nature of the murder, foreign to many readers, consequently piques one’s curiosity, and demands special attention. The literary texts I have chosen to discuss are four novels and three plays. They all belong to the genre known in literature as ‘a crime novel or play.’ The murderers are easily identified, and their criminal acts have been carried out successfully, often with much forethought and detail. My focus has been to conduct a psychological study to highlight the impetus for the crime. Three basic themes have captured my attention: 1- Is the murder a sin or a crime? What is the role of religion in the lives of the accused? 2- Is it right to blame society for such horrendous acts? 3- How is the American Dream portrayed in these works? The closer we get to the end of the Twentieth-Century, the harder it is to detect an affirmative ending in the works of literature I have explored. The insatiable appetite for material consumption overshadows the pursuit of happiness, or, maybe happiness is defined by material wealth. The critical question is: can American society read the warning written on the wall?

Empress Livia – Murderer or wrongfully accused? An overview of the ancient sources on the empress Livia and what that suggests that shemurdered her husband Emperor Augustus and his adoptive children to make way for herown son Tiberius as the emperor of Rome.This work will analyze the ancient roman sources by the great historians from that time;Tacitus, Suetonius and Cassius Dio, and their works discussing the murder conspiracy of theempress of Rome; Livia.Here I examine what these ancient sources tell about the possible involvement of Livia, on thedeath of Augustus himself and his adoptive sons. Each author to these ancient sources will beexamined and contextualized according to their contemporary time, but also their political andideological views of women in high position and Ceasarism itself. Their characteristics andstyles of their written account will also be examined.The following issues will be dealt with in this work:  What does the ancient sources of; Tacitus, Suetonius and Cassius Dio say about theconspiracy theory in which empress Livia is central.  What is known about the authors of these ancient sources and to what extant mighttheir political and ideological view affect their written account?  Can the allegations directed at Livia be the result of the fact that she was a highlyinfluential woman at her time, something which the ancient authors by romanstandards saw as unfit for a woman, and therefore is mistreated in the written sources?  If so, were all women with power under the same time and circumstances criticized inthe same way in which Livia is portrayed?  Are there any other aspects that have not been treated equally in the past by authorsand researchers, in which new questionable guidelines can be made? As is very important to point out, this work and essentially all others alike will not evenassume to solve the final question if empress Livias was guilty or not of murdering herhusband, Emperor Augustus and/or his adoptive sons. This work is to be foremost accepted asan appendix of other works regarding the same issue.

<p>Empress Livia – Murderer or wrongfully accused?</p><p>An overview of the ancient sources on the empress Livia and what that suggests that shemurdered her husband Emperor Augustus and his adoptive children to make way for herown son Tiberius as the emperor of Rome.This work will analyze the ancient roman sources by the great historians from that time;Tacitus, Suetonius and Cassius Dio, and their works discussing the murder conspiracy of theempress of Rome; Livia.Here I examine what these ancient sources tell about the possible involvement of Livia, on thedeath of Augustus himself and his adoptive sons. Each author to these ancient sources will beexamined and contextualized according to their contemporary time, but also their political andideological views of women in high position and Ceasarism itself. Their characteristics andstyles of their written account will also be examined.The following issues will be dealt with in this work:</p><p> What does the ancient sources of; Tacitus, Suetonius and Cassius Dio say about theconspiracy theory in which empress Livia is central.</p><p> What is known about the authors of these ancient sources and to what extant mighttheir political and ideological view affect their written account?</p><p> Can the allegations directed at Livia be the result of the fact that she was a highlyinfluential woman at her time, something which the ancient authors by romanstandards saw as unfit for a woman, and therefore is mistreated in the written sources?</p><p> If so, were all women with power under the same time and circumstances criticized inthe same way in which Livia is portrayed?</p><p> Are there any other aspects that have not been treated equally in the past by authorsand researchers, in which new questionable guidelines can be made?</p><p>As is very important to point out, this work and essentially all others alike will not evenassume to solve the final question if empress Livias was guilty or not of murdering herhusband, Emperor Augustus and/or his adoptive sons. This work is to be foremost accepted asan appendix of other works regarding the same issue.</p>

Sexual homicide is a rare occurrence. Little is known about the offending perspective of sexual homicide from a criminological standpoint. Recently, Chan, Heide, and Beauregard (2011) proposed an integrative theoretical framework using concepts and propositions of Social Learning Theory (differential association, definitions, differential reinforcement or punishment, and imitation) and Routine Activities Theory (a motivated offender, an attractive and suitable target, and the absence of a capable guardian or guardianship) to elucidate the sexual homicide offending dynamics. According to this integrative model, the individual-level view of the sexual murderers is explained by the social learning principles, while the offending process is complemented by the routine activities propositions from a micro-level to provide a better explained sexual homicide offending model. However, this model has yet to be tested empirically. In addition to testing the Chan et al.'s model, this study proposes and tests an alternative model by incorporating the construct of pre-crime precipitators to better explain the motivating factor of an offender to commit a sexual homicide. To empirically test both models, this study utilizes the dataset collected by a group of Canadian researchers on 230 incarcerated non-serial homicidal (N = 55) and non-homicidal (N = 175) sex offenders in the province of Quebec, Canada for the period between 1995 and 2005. Using step-wise logistic regression, four regression models are tested to examine the offending process of sexual homicide by investigating the effects of the offender's motivation, the target suitability and attractiveness, the absence of a capable guardian or guardianship, and the pre-crime precipitating factors in deciding the lethal outcome of a sexual offense. The theoretical model proposed by Chan and colleagues received some support. Consistent with Chan et al.'s theoretical propositions, findings suggest that the sex offender's sexually deviant behaviors and attitudes serve as a motivating factor, and the presence/absence of a capable guardian or guardianship at the immediate crime surroundings are significant factors in deciding the survival rate of the victim. Methodological limitations of the study, practical implications for offender profiling and crime preventive measures, and suggestions for future research are discussed.