Body part removal: a thematic exploration of U.K. homicide offenses

Almond, Louise, Pell, Connor and McManus, Michelle (2021) Body part removal: a thematic exploration of U.K. homicide offenses. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36 (11-12). NP6370-NP6389. ISSN 0886-2605

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260518814268

Abstract

Body part removal (BPR) is a rare homicide phenomena, which emerges as a result of a variety of motives. Fifty-eight BPR U.K. homicide cases were analyzed. Findings indicated key characteristics within BPR murder offenses, with most offenders males; aged around 31 years; knew their victims; with presence of alcohol, drugs, and mental health issues; and more than two thirds of the sample had previous convictions, more than 50% for theft. Offense behaviors showed “multiple wounds” and “victim naked” as highest frequency, with the head as the most frequently removed body part. Smallest space analysis (SSA) identified two behavioral themes (expressive and instrumental) with 62.1% of cases classified as one of these. The study has provided the largest U.K. sample of BPR homicide, furthering understanding this type of offense and the offenders who commit it.

Item Type:	Article (Article)
Peer-reviewed:	Yes
Date Deposited:	13 Nov 2023 14:51
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Additional Information:	This is an accepted manuscript of an article which appeared in final form in Journal of Interpersonal Violence, published by SAGE Publications. Users who receive access to an article through a repository are reminded that the article is protected by copyright and reuse is restricted to non-commercial and no derivative uses. Users may also download and save a local copy of an article accessed in an institutional repository for the user's personal reference. For permission to reuse an article, please follow see: https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/process-for-requesting-permission.
Divisions:	Faculties > Health and Education
Subject terms:	Humans, Motivation, Human Body, Homicide, Aged, Crime Victims, Male, Criminals, Homicide, body part removal, mutiliation, offence behaviors, violent offenders, Aged, Crime Victims, Criminals, Homicide, Human Body, Humans, Male, Motivation, 1602 Criminology, 1607 Social Work, 1701 Psychology, Criminology
URI:	https://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/633107
DOI:	https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260518814268
ISSN	0886-2605
e-ISSN	1552-6518

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