Le but de notre étude était de déterminer des variables du modus operandi de meurtres sexuels prédisant la résolution de l’enquête policière. Notre échantillon incluait 265 homicides sexuels de femmes codifiés dans le ViCLAS. La comparaison entre des meurtres sexuels résolus (N=178) et des meurtres sexuels non résolus (N=87), devait également permettre d’identifier les différences entre les issues de l’enquête, les stratégies du meurtrier pour éviter l’appréhension ainsi que les facteurs prédisant la résolution. D’après l’analyse de régression logistique, les prédicteurs tels que l’utilisation d’une arme, l’utilisation d’un bandeau/bâillon et l’agression impliquant une introduction par effraction ou un vol augmentent les probabilités que l’agresseur soit appréhendé. Au contraire, lorsque l’agresseur emporte un objet et que la victime est piétinée, les chances de résoudre l’enquête diminuent. Ces variables du modus operandi traduisent un déficit des compétences criminelles du meurtrier qui peut le pousser à multiplier les erreurs. De manière générale notre étude nous apprend que le contact rapproché entre l’agresseur et la victime favorise la dispersion d’indices propices à la résolution de l’enquête. Le nombre de ces indices est décuplé lorsqu’il y a pénétration vaginale ou anale et lorsque la victime est battue ou mordue. En outre, des contraintes intrinsèques à l’utilisation de stratégies d’évitement expliquent le fait que ces moyens, entravant l’avancée de l’enquête, ne sont que rarement exploités. Enfin, la faible proportion d’actes sexuels et violents observés dans ce genre de crime entrave le processus de résolution. Il en va de même pour l’impact limité des bases de données et de la spécialisation du meurtrier sexuel. / The aim of our study was to determine the characteristics of the modus operandi involved in sexual murder predicting clearance of police investigation. Our sample involved 265 sexual murders of women codified in the ViCLAS. The comparison between solved sexual murders (N = 178) and unsolved sexual murders (N = 87), should also help to identify the differences between issues of the investigation, the killer strategies to avoid detection and the factors predicting clearance. According to logistic regression analysis, murders involving use of a weapon, use of a blindfold/gag and aggression involving home intrusion or robbery are more likely to be cleared. On the opposite, when the murderer takes an object from the crime scene or when victim is stomped, the clearance rate decreases. These variables reflect a lack of criminal skills which can drive the murderer to make more mistakes. In general, our study reveals that close contact between the aggressor and the victim favors the dispersion of proofs facilitating the work of investigators. Such proofs are more likely to be spread when there is vaginal or anal penetration. The same process is involved when the victim is beaten or bitten. Moreover, most of the sexual murders are not able to clean the crime scene to avoid apprehension because of limited criminal skills. Finally, the low proportion of sexual and violence acts hinders the process of resolution. The same thing is observed concerning the limited impact of databases and specialization of sexual murderer.

Twenty women linked with the sex trade in Edmonton, Canada went missing or were murdered between 2001 and 2008. In this study, I use Foucauldian and feminist theories, via discourse analysis, to examine the ways that Edmonton’s newspapers (re)present these murders. My findings show that the newspapers’ discourse deviantises these women, thereby minimising the tragedy of their disappearances and deaths. This deviantisation is deployed in three ways; by framing sex trade workers as criminally, medically, and morally deviant. Criminal deviance places sex trade workers firmly on the ‘wrong’ side of the law, making them undeserving of police protection; medical deviance implies that only women who are mentally ill in some way would take part in the sex trade, and, simultaneously, hyperbolises the role of sex workers in the spread of venereal diseases. Finally, discourses of moral deviance place sex workers on the ‘wrong’ side of morality and femininity. iv / ix, 126 leaves ; 29 cm

No abstract available. / Thesis (LLM-Law)-University of Natal, Durban, 2000.

This dissertation examines the trial of Japanese war crimes conducted by Australia between 1945 and 1951; although the study commences in 1943, when the Government first focussed on the issue, and ends in 1961, when the issue was closed. Beyond providing an overview of the trials the thesis addresses the major criticism of the trials by looking at whether the trails were fair and if they fulfilled Australian aims. This is addressed within the context of the two elements of international law, the political, and the legal, and examined in each of the three sections. The Policy section establishes the political context of the trials by examining the influence of the international community and the Australian Government. Both influenced structure and progress rather than the final application of the law. When Australian attitudes were incongruous with international views, a perception that Australia was harsh and repressive developed even though justice was an important part of the Government???s agenda. A study of legal aspects of the trials commences in the Procedures section. Australia???s legislation and regulations are explained with particular emphasis on the more controversial aspects, and a comparison is made with the war crimes instruments of other Allies trying the Japanese showing many similarities between the regulations used by other nations and Australia???s. Procedures also discusses the framework for the Australian trials, the procedures used to bring a case to trial, the process used in court, the review process and the carrying out of sentences. Such a thorough study of the procedural basis is necessary to evaluate the individual trials. Practical examples of some of the procedural problems are also discussed in the following section ??? Practice. This section reviews a number of trials and the various types of crimes and the claims made in defence to show how Australia applied and interpreted the law. The study finds many similarities between Australia???s application of the law and the practice of other nations, indicating that Australian courts were applying what was considered to be customary expectations of behaviour. Throughout the trials there was little evidence of vindictiveness or revenge, either by Government or in the courts. Both were faced with significant problems, which were not always dealt with well but overall the trials were fair and those involved were concerned that justice should not only be seen to be done, but actually be done.

No description available.

The extant South African literature base on male homicide is relatively small and reveals a paucity of qualitative studies. This study aimed to elicit discourses embedded within the narratives of men involved in homicidal encounters, and to analyse them from a social constructionist perspective. Semi-structured, individual interviews were conducted with 30 male prisoners who were convicted of murder. An analysis of narrative forms, followed by a critical discourse analysis of the narrative contents, was conducted and aimed to assess the social and ideological significance, functions and effects of these discourses. Participants' talk included masculine performances that allowed for positive self-presentation and ways of constructing meaning of their actions for themselves, the interviewer and an `invisible audience'. Narrative forms of stability/continuity, decline, and transformation/growth that relied on normalising, reifying, tipping point, propitiatory and rehabilitatory lexical registers were deployed as a means to position participants as reasonable, normal, rehabilitated, and as `successful' men. Within the narrative contents, participants constructed homicide through exculpatory and justificatory discourses to rationalise and minimise their agency, and drew on essentialist, moral and deterministic notions of male violence. Discourses of spectacular and instrumental violence were also evident. References to male honour, status and power; a defence against emasculation; the assertion of control over commodified female partners; the maintenance of referent familist and ageist discourses; and the normalisation of male violence as a utilitarian tool to access resources in unequal social contexts, underpinned these discourses. The homicidal acts thus represented adapted performances of hegemonic masculinity in a noxious context where this dominant form of masculinity is often unattainable. While participants' talk reproduced hegemonic constructions of masculinity within broader social contexts, it also contested hegemonic orders of moral discourses that govern the legitimacy or illegitimacy of violence. The findings reveal how contexts of discoursal production have a contradictory response to violence - denouncing it, but also simultaneously acting as a pernicious incubatory environment for male homicide. It concludes that the prevention of male homicide must involve the de-linking of masculinities and violence at material, structural and institutional levels, but also within systems of signification, if non-violent masculinities are to gain ascendancy. / Psychology / D.Litt. et Phil.(Psychology)

Proposer l'existence de théories infantiles de la mort suppose de considérer la mort, au même titre que la sexualité, comme un organisateur psychique. Toutefois, si elle oriente le désir, il n'est pas aisé d'accéder à ses effets sur le sujet. Le sujet se supporte d’une certaine dénégation face à la finitude de l'être afin de ne pas succomber à l'impossible de la mort. Cet impossible se manifeste par un gel du désir du fait de la crainte de la mort ou, à l'inverse, face à l'horreur qui se manifesterait d'une vie qui rejaillirait indéfiniment. Le démenti qu'émet le sujet transite par un tressage entre ses théories infantiles de la mort. Nous en proposons trois, "la théorie du retour dans le sein maternel", "la théorie de la survivance" et "la théorie du meurtre et de la loi du talion". Au-delà de ce triple rapport à la mort qu'offrent les théories, le sujet peut se définir par une position alternative, celle de l'entre-deux-morts, afin de ne pas céder sur son désir. / Think about childhood theories of death supposes to consider death, in the same way as sexuality, as a psychic organizer. However, if death directs the desire, it is not easy to notice its effects on the subject. The subject bears itself of a certain denial in front of finiteness of being so that he does not succumb in to the impossible of death. This impossible shows itself by a frost of desire because of deaths fear or, by contrast, in front of the horror which would show itself from a life which would spatter infinitely. The subject’s denial passes by a plaiting between its childhoods theories of death. We propose three of them, “the return in the mother's breast theory”, “survival theory” and “murder and the lex talionis theory”. It is here that reappear the childhood theories of death according to the events crossed by the grown-up subject. Taking in consideration one’s mortal condition is necessary to desire, as much as it is to cover it. So, beyond this triple relationship with death that childhood theories offers, it could be a position in which the subject would pass, between - two deaths,  in order to not give in to the desire.

The mystery surrounding serial homicide is the apparent lack of motive for the murder. No extrinsic motive such as robbery, financial gain, passion or revenge exists, as there usually is in the case of other murders. Serial homicide is a serious, worldwide problem that has received a large amount of media attention, but only a relatively small amount of scientifically based research exists on this phenomenon. Since the 1970s various models such as the psychosocial theory model, learning theory, the motivational, fantasy, neurological theory, psychiatric, post-modern, feminist and the paranormal/demonological models were used to explain the phenomenon of serial homicide. The researcher, however, states that these models do not satisfactorily address the intrapsychic/object relation development of the serial killers personality. The structure of the research project consists of analysis of the background information of two serial killers which was gathered from one semi-structured personal interview, psychometric testing (Thematic Apperception Test, Test of Object Relations and the Picture Test of Separation and Individuation) as well as from relevant literary sources. The information was interpreted using the selected psychoanalytic theory of Sigmund Freund and the object relation theory of Melanie Klein and the data was then analysed, interpreted and tested against the following research questions: “What is the intrapsychic origin of serial homicide?”; “What is the parent-child relationship like?”; “How does the parent-child relationship influence the object relations of the serial killer?”; “How does the parental relationship influence the serial killer’s interpersonal relationships?”. These questions determine the specific internalised factors that may have contributed to the eventual development of a serial killer’s personality. The research method that is employed is a qualitative, exploratory case study method. A qualitative study was selected due to the fact that there are currently not enough incarcerated serial killers in South Africa and from those incarcerated serial killers only two were willing to participate in the research. The case study method was selected because it deals with contemporary events, multiple data sources may be used and the findings can be generalised to other case studies. Data gathering was done by psychometric testing (TAT, PTSI and TOR), a semi-structured interview and other biographical information on the subjects. The data was analysed by the descriptive-dialogic case study method. The data integration method that was selected is the data integration method of the descriptive-dialogic case study method. The data was discussed in relation to the already developed theories. This implies that parallels were drawn between the processed information and the theories. Similarities and differences between the two case studies were discussed and a general overview of the intrapsychic structure of the serial killer was stated. / Dissertation (MA (Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Psychology / unrestricted

“The relationship between the criminal and victim is much more complicated than the law would care to acknowledge. The criminal and his victim work on each other unconsciously. We can say that as the criminal shapes the victim, the victim also shapes the criminal. The law differentiates distinctly between the attacker and the victim. But their relationship may be, and often is, quite close, so that their roles are reversed and the victim becomes the determining person, while the [victimiser] in the end becomes his own victim.” (Abrahamsen, 1973:35). This research was directed at establishing whether narcissistic individuals will go to extreme levels of violence, specifically murder, if their self-image is threatened. The aim was to determine the extent of pre-existing narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) in these individuals and how this contributed to the murderous action they committed. Emphasis was placed on the psychological motivation of the perpetrator, as well as the relationship that existed between the perpetrator and the victim prior to the event. As the subject of the research was a relatively unknown phenomenon, a qualitative research approach was used. The research focused on analysing specific cases of murder, more particularly cases where rage-type murders were committed. It endeavoured to identify the underlying personality dynamics to determine whether an association between rage-type murder and NPD exists. Case studies illustrating rage-type murderers who had been admitted to Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital for a 30-day observation period were identified and analysed. These cases were selected through reviewing the case history of each individual to determine whether the murder fitted the outlined definition of a rage-type murder. The cases that met the outlined requirements were deemed suitable for the purpose of the research, where after the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2) results of the selected cases were examined to determine the personality organisation of the individuals. This information was then used to determine the possible association between NPD and rage-type murder. The MMPI-2 was selected as the assessment tool as it is the most widely used personality assessment available. For the purposes of this research a two-point code type was used to indicate the presence of narcissistic personality traits. A two-point code type implies an elevation of two scales, for the purposes of this research specifically the Pd (Psychopathic deviance) scale and the Pa (Paranoia) scale, also referred to as the 4-6/6-4 code type. As interpretation based only on a two-scale elevation was considered to be overly simplistic, all the MMPI-2 clinical scales were interpreted independently, and a clinical interpretation provided in the context of each individual’s background. The 4-6/6-4 code type individual was used to indicate whether the individuals did have narcissistic personality traits, and thus were classified as having NPD. Nine cases were identified of individuals thought to be rage-type murderers, who were admitted for a 30-day period of psychiatric observation to Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital in Pretoria. Only five cases were acknowledged as rage-type murders. All the cases selected were referred to Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital by order of the court and involved males over the age of 20 years. The individuals involved were admitted to the Forensic Unit of the hospital and were subjected to standard psychiatric hospital observations, which included psychiatric interviews, psychological interviews, psychological testing, as well as general behavioural observations in the ward. All the information obtained during the standard psychiatric hospital observations is held in the clinical case files in the archives at the hospital. All the standard psychiatric hospital observation evaluations were completed prior to the initiation of the research, and the case records had been closed. Although more research is necessary, this research has established an association between the selected cases of rage-type murder and NPD and there is historic documented evidence suggesting that individuals with NPD will most likely react in a similar manner in similar circumstances, as a result of their underlying personality disorder. This suggests that incarceration in a correctional facility is not the most appropriate place to rehabilitate individuals. It also serves as support to why a person with NPD who commits a rage-type murder should be acquitted because of their personality disorder and subsequently be committed to a psychiatric facility as a patient of the state president. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

This comparative study focuses on the detective genre and is conducted through literary analysis with a feminist critical perspective of two of its most iconic protagonists, Sherlock Holmes and Miss Marple, created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1887 and Agatha Christie in 1930 respectively. The purpose is to attempt to establish the effect of the gender differences on these two protagonists. Both Holmes and Miss Marple are deemed as iconic in the detective genre, but the protagonists do not have similar experiences and are created by authors of different genders. Thus, the focus is to explore how gender differences are represented in the literary texts A Study in Scarlet (1887), “A Scandal in Bohemia” (1891), and The Murder at the Vicarage (1930) when it comes to their work as detectives. By using a feminist critical perspective and with the help of previous research, the differences in three central issues, that is, work methods, attitudes and method of disguise, are established. The most prominent result from the analysis is that Miss Marple has to work independently from the police force and trust another character, Leonard Clement, with what she knows hoping that Clement will use her observations to make the case move forward. By contrast, Holmes is approached by clients and even assists the police force in investigations, while Miss Marple is dismissed because of gender discrimination and ageism when she reaches out to the police force. Miss Marple is clearly a victim of gender discrimination and ageism, while Holmes is seen as eccentric but fully competent as a detective. Holmes is even described as having “extraordinary powers” while Miss Marple is described as an “old pussy” in a derogatory manner. Therefore, the results are that there is a significant difference in attitude where Holmes as a man encounters more positive attitudes and Miss Marple as a woman encounters more negative attitudes, all because of gender discrimination and ageism. These results are of great importance as it reveals what gender differences Holmes and Miss Marple encounter in their literary texts. It opens up the opportunity for more research in gender differences and gender discrimination in comparisons between protagonists. That Miss Marple is successful in the end, however, functions as a feminist statement.