Sexual Murder - Justicia Forense

In contrast to these overly simplistic views, Burgess, Hartman, Ressler,Douglas, and McCormack (1986) provide a rather complex theoretical modelof the sexual murderer. These researchers present a motivational model ofcausation divided into five stages:1. Ineffective social environment. The future offender fails to bond as achild because of his abusive upbringing.2. Formative events. The future offender’s thinking becomes fixatedon traumas he has experienced, particularly abuse. He feels helplessand, as a result, develops compensatory fantasies of dominationand control.3. Patterned responses. The future offender becomes socially isolated,engages in auto-erotic activities, and develops an antisocial/hostileview of the world. The feelings of others are not important to him.4. Actions toward others. The future offender’s behavior toward otherpeople is based on achieving a feeling of domination. At this stage,he may be cruel to animals, set fires, steal, and destroy property. Ashe gets older, his actions become increasingly violent: assault, burglary,nonsexual murder, and finally sexual murder involving torture,mutilation, and necrophilia.5. Feedback filter. The murderer is proud of his violent behavior, and hejustifies it to himself.Meloy (2000) notes the heuristic value of this model, but he also stressesits limitations. Specifically, Meloy believes the theory could have beenenhanced if psychological test results were added. And as in the Ressler et al.(1988) research project out of which this theory grew, no control or comparisongroup was used. Thus, whether the model is specific to sexual murderor to sexual aggression in general remains unknown.9.9.3 Biological TheoriesThe first theory of sexual murder, proposed by Krafft-Ebing (1886), was basedin a biological/evolutionary perspective. Krafft-Ebing considered sexual murderto be atavistic, in that it is a throwback to behavior that was common atan earlier time in the evolutionary cycle. “The conquest over women takesplace today in the social form of courting, in seduction and deception. Fromthe history of civilization and anthropology we know that there have beentimes, as there are savages today that practice it, where brutal force, robbery,or even blows that made a woman powerless, were made use of to obtainlove’s desire” (p. 60). The author reasoned that primitive men would forcethemselves on women in an effort to propagate the species. “In the intercourseof the sexes, the active or aggressive role belongs to man; woman remains