This research explored the topic of professional caregivers who commit serial murder in institutional settings. In-depth case studies were created for individuals convicted of serial murder in institutional settings in the United States. The purpose of this research was to identify the characteristics of this group of institutional serialists and compare the current data to existing data on serial killers. A technique of secondary data analysis was utilized to gather information on the sample of 17 individuals. Only public information was reviewed. Results of the data comparison between the current sample and existing information on serial killers indicated that institutional serialists share many similarities with previously identified serialists, but differences between the groups were identified as well. The characteristics of this current sample that were similar to those identified in previous research include sex of offender, race of offender, the offender's age at first murder, marital status of offender, number of victims, and victim characteristics. The characteristics that differed from those identified in previous research include sex of offender, the offender's childhood family situation, the offender's birth order, method of murder, number of victims, and victim characteristics.

In the Philippines, amok is often viewed as a form of homicidal behaviour to which Muslim Filipino or Moro men are prone. Various assumptions about contemporary Filipino perceptions of amok are challenged in this thesis. It is assumed that this perception corresponds with the actual occurrence of amok in the Philippines, and this is challenged by the demonstration that the perception is merely a construct. The perception of amok is assumed to be the culmination of attempts by Spaniards, Americans and Filipinos to discern the true nature of amok, and this is challenged by the fact that discrepancies exist between recognition of amok by the Spanish on one hand and the Americans and Christian Filipinos on the other. It is argued that contemporary Filipino understanding of amok is the product of two factors: the American drive to acquire information about Filipinos that would enable them to control their newly acquired subjects, and the conflict between Americans and Filipinos generated by this attempt at control. The association of amok with Muslim Filipinos is the outcome of the mistaken conflation of amok with the juramentado convention of the Moros, and the idea that the Muslim Filipinos were the most Malay of the Malay ‘subraces’ in the Philippines and thus most likely to run amok. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Murder is not a phenomenon that sits comfortably with the typical image of nurses and yet the number of cases of nurses accused and convicted of murdering patients is mounting. The nursing literature is quiet on the subject and therefore what is generally known on the topic predominantly comes from the media. An analysis of this seemingly unfathomable phenomenon is required to re-consider the problem and understand from new perspectives how and why this is happening. The aim of the study is to provide information for health professionals and organisations that will help them work together to recognise situations in which murder by nurses can occur. The research question is: How do the various discourses surrounding murder committed by nurses on patients in the course of their work shape the definition and treatment of these crimes? A discursive analysis of texts guided by a number of discourse theorists is undertaken to reveal the social construction of murder of patients by nurses. Texts related to the media and professional reporting of over 50 cases of registered nurses, enrolled and licensed nurses and assistants were retrieved from searches of Factiva, CINAHL and MEDLINE between 1980 to 2006. The software program JBI-NOTARI® (Joanna Briggs Institute, 2003b) houses the texts and facilitated analysis. Discursive constructions are reported in four findings chapters and include: the profile of murderous nurses; types of murders; contexts in which murder takes place; factors that aid detection and apprehension; legal processes that guide charges, convictions and punishment; and finally the reactions of the public, the profession, the regulators and the families. The murder of patients by nurses is construed as a combination of extraordinary nurses, extraordinary deeds in ordinary contexts. While members of the nursing profession may not be held accountable for the actions of aberrant nurses who murder there is a responsibility to understand how hospitals and units form crucibles in which murder can take place. The recommendations from this study relate to both practice and research. Practitioners are recommended to critically reflect on structures and processes. / Thesis(Ph.D.)-- School of Population Health and Clinical Practice, 2008

<p>ABSTRACT</p><p>Many studies have been conducted on infanticide and child homicide. Researchers have approached the subject with different theoretical frameworks and explored it from different dimensions, geographical areas, and time periods. As much as the questions have varied so have the answers. This study contributes to greater clarity on the causes of infanticide. Despite numerous studies on the subject, there is still no consensus its causes. My aim has been to combine different strategies for understanding the subject. I have used material both from an aggregated level and from an individual level. The main question I sought to answer was whether social causes rather than individual factors force or trigger women to kill their newborn child? Court material also provides for an in-depth understanding of our history. The social sciences have frequently drawn sketches of the social world with big lines. These lines have been necessary and useful to point at large-scale transformations of civilisation and modernisation but, in terms of understanding real life, they can provide us with a foggy and even mistaken picture. When social scientists enter the historical archives and similar sources, we often blunder in its richness and variation. Society may, in any case, have always been complicated and the every day life for each person as well.</p><p>My findings show that infanticide signals low tolerance. In general, the women did not want to kill their own children. Moreover, my findings, like the results of other studies before mine, demonstrate that women who carry out infanticide represent normal women. To my knowledge, there isn’t one study on infanticide that claims the women were not normal. Women who committed infanticide did so out of fear: fear of losing their social bonds. They killed their children if the existence of the bonds was endangered or threatened. Often social bonds were related to their work situation as maids in farming households. If they couldn’t stay in the household after having the baby, many women had no where else to go. Their parents – poor, elderly or deceased – were unable to help. Sometimes the social bonds were threatened by other factors, often related to the child’s father. If he was already married or had a close relation with the woman’s family, their relationship could in fact, break her bonds to her own family and other relatives. Some women already had an illegitimate child. With a child out of wedlock, they had a difficult time getting work and housing. If they got pregnant again and the father to the new child refused to marry her or to support the child, she could in fact lack any resources for handling the situation.</p><p>Finally: the findings talk about honour and infanticide. It was always shameful to get a child out of wedlock. But demographic research from North of Sweden has shown that these children had almost the same chances of survival during their first year as legitimate children. Sexuality outside marriage was not respected but much discussion around honour was more related to how the women would manage with the child. In my findings, shame seems to be related to having no support. Extramarital relations were not accepted but people probably didn’t care to much about it as far as they managed on their own. Being rejected, helpless, not able to work and not able to take care of the child that was what shame was about.</p><p>Keywords: Infanticide, child homicide, illegitimacy, social bonds, shame</p>

ABSTRACT Many studies have been conducted on infanticide and child homicide. Researchers have approached the subject with different theoretical frameworks and explored it from different dimensions, geographical areas, and time periods. As much as the questions have varied so have the answers. This study contributes to greater clarity on the causes of infanticide. Despite numerous studies on the subject, there is still no consensus its causes. My aim has been to combine different strategies for understanding the subject. I have used material both from an aggregated level and from an individual level. The main question I sought to answer was whether social causes rather than individual factors force or trigger women to kill their newborn child? Court material also provides for an in-depth understanding of our history. The social sciences have frequently drawn sketches of the social world with big lines. These lines have been necessary and useful to point at large-scale transformations of civilisation and modernisation but, in terms of understanding real life, they can provide us with a foggy and even mistaken picture. When social scientists enter the historical archives and similar sources, we often blunder in its richness and variation. Society may, in any case, have always been complicated and the every day life for each person as well. My findings show that infanticide signals low tolerance. In general, the women did not want to kill their own children. Moreover, my findings, like the results of other studies before mine, demonstrate that women who carry out infanticide represent normal women. To my knowledge, there isn’t one study on infanticide that claims the women were not normal. Women who committed infanticide did so out of fear: fear of losing their social bonds. They killed their children if the existence of the bonds was endangered or threatened. Often social bonds were related to their work situation as maids in farming households. If they couldn’t stay in the household after having the baby, many women had no where else to go. Their parents – poor, elderly or deceased – were unable to help. Sometimes the social bonds were threatened by other factors, often related to the child’s father. If he was already married or had a close relation with the woman’s family, their relationship could in fact, break her bonds to her own family and other relatives. Some women already had an illegitimate child. With a child out of wedlock, they had a difficult time getting work and housing. If they got pregnant again and the father to the new child refused to marry her or to support the child, she could in fact lack any resources for handling the situation. Finally: the findings talk about honour and infanticide. It was always shameful to get a child out of wedlock. But demographic research from North of Sweden has shown that these children had almost the same chances of survival during their first year as legitimate children. Sexuality outside marriage was not respected but much discussion around honour was more related to how the women would manage with the child. In my findings, shame seems to be related to having no support. Extramarital relations were not accepted but people probably didn’t care to much about it as far as they managed on their own. Being rejected, helpless, not able to work and not able to take care of the child that was what shame was about. Keywords: Infanticide, child homicide, illegitimacy, social bonds, shame

Abstract Introduction. Approximately 88.000 cases of assault were reported to the Swedish police during 2010. Twenty-five percent of these cases were considered as violence against women. Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a worldwide issue and poses a major threat to women’s health. In Sweden, 17 women are killed each year by an intimate partner. This study aimed at increasing the knowledge of perpetrators of intimate partner homicide (IPH), in terms of type of mental disorder and type of deadly violence exerted. Method. A total of 49 forensic psychiatric investigations were obtained from the Swedish National Board of Forensic Medicine in Huddinge. Eighteen perpetrators of IPH were compared to 31 perpetrators of deadly violence in a non-intimate relationship. Comparisons were made by coding principal diagnoses as described in the forensic psychiatric investigations, and type of deadly violence exerted using the Cornell coding guide for violent incidents. Results. Perpetrators of IPH were, to a greater extent, diagnosed with a dysphoric or borderline personality disorder (BPD), whereas perpetrators of deadly violence in a non-intimate relationship were significantly more often diagnosed with an antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). Perpetrators of IPH used more deadly violence with reactive features, whereas perpetrators of deadly violence in a non-intimate relationship used significantly more deadly violence with instrumental features. Discussion. The results of this study are in agreement with previous research. In conclusion, perpetrators of IPH are more reactive in their deadly violence and less antisocial, in terms of being diagnosed with ASPD and previous convictions, compared to perpetrators of deadly violence in a non-intimate relationship. This may be helpful in terms of preventing future risk for IPV and IPH.

Title from PDF of title page. / Document formatted into pages; contains 78 pages. / Thesis (M.A.)--University of South Florida, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. / Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. / ABSTRACT: This research explored the topic of professional caregivers who commit serial murder in institutional settings. In-depth case studies were created for individuals convicted of serial murder in institutional settings in the United States. The purpose of this research was to identify the characteristics of this group of institutional serialists and compare the current data to existing data on serial killers. A technique of secondary data analysis was utilized to gather information on the sample of 17 individuals. Only public information was reviewed. Results of the data comparison between the current sample and existing information on serial killers indicated that institutional serialists share many similarities with previously identified serialists, but differences between the groups were identified as well. / ABSTRACT: The characteristics of this current sample that were similar to those identified in previous research include sex of offender, race of offender, the offender's age at first murder, marital status of offender, number of victims, and victim characteristics. The characteristics that differed from those identified in previous research include sex of offender, the offender's childhood family situation, the offender's birth order, method of murder, number of victims, and victim characteristics. / System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Michigan State University. Comm Arts & Science Media & Information Studies, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed July 17, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. 164-176). Also issued in print.

Dissertation (Ph. D.)--University of Akron, Dept. of of Sociology, 2006. / "May, 2006." Title from electronic dissertation title page (viewed 10/11/2006) Advisor, Kathryn M. Feltey; Committee members, Gay C. Kitson, Matthew Lee, Amy Kroska, Sandra Perosa; Department Chair, Mark Tausig; Dean of the College, Ronald F. Levant; Dean of the Graduate School, George R. Newkome. Includes bibliographical references.

Texte remanié de: Tesis Dr.--Derecho--Séville--Facultad de derecho de la Universidad de Sevilla, [1988?]. / Bibliogr. p. 225-231. Notes bibliogr.