Homicidal school-age children: Cognitive style and demographic features

Petti, Theodore A.; Davidman, Leonard

doi:10.1007/bf00709624

Cited by 7 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Review of the clinical literature revealed only a few instances in which the child murderers were psychotic or otherwise seriously mentally ill (see Ewing, 1990). Petti and Davidman (1981), for example, conducted a study on nine children (ages 6-11) hospitalized for homicidal aggression. Although none of these children were diagnosed as psychotic, three were characterized as borderline psychotic.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Male and Female Child Murderers

Sellers

Heide

2011

Int J Offender Ther Comp Criminol

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Recent U.S. cases of murders by children below age 11 have captured national headlines. A review of the literature reveals that little is known about this population of juvenile homicide offenders (JHOs). Most studies on juvenile murderers have used small clinical samples, focused on adolescents, and concentrated on male offenders. Studies that have used Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR) data have found significant gender differences among juveniles below 18 years arrested for murder. This study investigated gender differences among 226 juvenile murderers ages 6 through 10 involved in single-victim incidents using bivariate and multivariate statistical techniques. Consistent with previous research, bivariate analyses revealed gender differences with respect to the type of weapon used, age of the victim, relationship to the victim, and circumstances of the crime. Logistic regression analysis identified female JHOs as more likely to use a knife, kill a family member, and kill a victim below age 5, when compared with male JHOs. From these findings, profiles of young male and female JHOs can be drawn. The article concludes with a discussion of the study's implications for prevention and treatment. The authors recommend that future research in gender differences among young children focus on examining psychological, neurological, and sociological variables not included in the SHR data set.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Male and Female Child Murderers

Sellers

Heide

2011

Int J Offender Ther Comp Criminol

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“…Research specifically investigating "little kids" who kill has also been sparse, partly because of its low incidence and the difficulty of obtaining access to these youth (see, e.g., Bender, 1959;Carek & Watson, 1964;Ewing, 1990;Goetting, 1989Goetting, , 1995Petti & Davidman, 1981;Pfeffer, 1980;Shumaker & Prinz, 2000;Tooley, 1975). The importance of distinguishing between preadolescents and adolescents in understanding what motivates youth to kill and in designing effective treatment plans was recognized by clinicians as early as 1940 (Bender & Curran, 1940).…”

Section: Homicides Involving Young Children As Offendersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Individuals who are diagnosed as psychotic have lost touch with reality, often experience hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that are not occurring) and delusions (bizarre beliefs), and behave inappropriately. Most studies report that JHOs are rarely psychotic (see, e.g., Bailey, 1994;Corder, Ball, Haizlip, Rollins, & Beaumont, 1976;Cornell, 1989;Cornell et al, 1987bCornell et al, , 1989Dolan & Smith, 2001;Ewing, 1990;Hellsten & Katila, 1965;Kashani, Darby, Allan, Hantke, & Reid, 1997;King, 1975;Labelle et al, 1991;Malmquist, 1971;Myers et al, 1995;Myers & Kemph, 1988Patterson, 1943;Petti & Davidman, 1981;Russell, 1965Russell, , 1979Shumaker & McKee, 2001;Sorrells, 1977;Stearns, 1957;Walshe-Brennan, 1974Yates, Beutler, & Crago, 1983; with respect to adolescent mass murderers, see Meloy, Hempel, Mohandie, Shiva, & Gray, 2001). Some studies, however, do posit a high incidence of psychosis (see, e.g., Bender 1959;Lewis, Pincus et al, 1988;Rosner, Weiderlight, Rosner, & Wieczorek, 1978;Sendi & Blomgren, 1975) or episodic psychotic symptomatology (Lewis et al, 1985;Lewis, Lovely et al, 1988;Myers et al, 1995;Myers & Scott, 1998) and other serious mental illness, such as mood disorders (Lewis, Pincus et al, 1988;Malmquist, 1971Malmquist, , 1990.…”

Section: Psychological Disorder and Youth Homicidementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several researchers have found significant neurological impairment or abnormalities among young killers (see, e.g., Bailey, 1996a;Bender, 1959;Busch et al, 1990;Lewis et al, 1985;Lewis, Lovely, et al, 1988;Michaels, 1961;Myers, 1994;Myers et al, 1995;Woods, 1961;Zagar, Arbit, Sylvies, Busch, & Hughes, 1990), particularly those on death row (Lewis, Pincus, et al, 1988). Others maintain that neurological difficulties are absent or rare among the juvenile murderers assessed in their studies (see, e.g., Dolan & Smith, 2001;Hellsten & Katila, 1965;Labelle et al, 1991;Petti & Davidman, 1981;Russell, 1986;Scherl & Mack, 1966;Walshe-Brennan, 1974.…”

Section: Neurological Impairment and Youth Homicidementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In contrast, there is disagreement regarding the intelligence of the majority of young killers (see, e.g., Ewing, 1990). Some researchers (Busch et al, 1990;Darby et al, 1998;Hays, Solway, & Schreiner, 1978;Labelle et al, 1991;Lewis, Pincus, et al, 1988;Petti & Davidman, 1981;Solway et al, 1981;Zagar et al, 1990) reported that the average IQ scores of the JHOs in their samples were in the below-average range (70-99). Others (Bender, 1959;Kashani et al, 1997;King, 1975;Patterson, 1943), however, have found that the IQ scores were typically in the average to above-average ranges (100-129).…”

Section: The Intelligence Of Young Homicide Offendersmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Youth Homicide: A Review of the Literature and a Blueprint for Action

Heide

2003

Int J Offender Ther Comp Criminol

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This article first synthesizes the literature on clinical and empirical findings related to youth homicide. Thereafter, it reviews the literature with respect to the treatment of juvenile homicide offenders. Although a large body of literature exists, many questions regarding etiology, associated risk factors, intervention strategies, and long-term outcomes remain unanswered. The article concludes with recommendations to guide future research efforts with the aim of increasing understanding of etiological factors associated with juvenile homicide and designing effective intervention strategies. Greater advances in knowledge will follow with the implementation of enhanced methodological designs that examine juvenile homicide across four distinct time frames: the years preceding the homicide, the time period immediately following the homicide, the incarcerative or treatment period, and the post-release period.

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Juvenile homicide: The need for an interdisciplinary approach

Rowley

Ewing

Singer

1987

Behavioral Sci & The Law

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Most of the empirical literature on juvenile homicide has emerged from the clinical experience of mental health professionals who have diagnosed and/or treated youngsters who killed. After a critical review of this literature, data on 787 juvenile homicide offenders are presented and discussed. These data indicate that intrafamilial killings represent but a small fraction of all homicides perpetrated by juveniles and that there are clear differences between intrafamilial and extrafamilial juvenile homicides.

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Homicidal school-age children: Cognitive style and demographic features

Cited by 7 publications

References 24 publications

Male and Female Child Murderers

Male and Female Child Murderers

Youth Homicide: A Review of the Literature and a Blueprint for Action

Juvenile homicide: The need for an interdisciplinary approach

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