SEVEN DEADLY SINS 1 Seven Deadly Sins: Developing a Situational Understanding of Homicide Event Motive Belinda Parker BMus (Perf), BSocSc (Psych) 9497251 Queensland University of Technology School of Justice, Faculty of Law Submitted in fulfilment of tHe requirement for tHe degree of Doctor of Philosophy, 2017 SEVEN DEADLY SINS 2 Abstract During tHe years 2010 to 2012, 479 Homicides were committed in Australia (Bryant & Cussen, 2015). AltHougH literature consistently HigHligHts tHe value of establisHing a motive during a Homicide investigation and subsequent trial process, motive researcH Has generally been of a psycHological nature, wHicH arguably Has limited applicability to those processes. THis study proposed a new construct for motive called homicide event motive, which is defined as the fundamental reason for tHe occurrence of tHe Homicide, and explored tHeir qualitative structures through a situational lens. This research sought to examine tHe victim, offender, and incident variables associated witH eacH motive. It explored tHe way tHose variables combined, worked togetHer, and influenced one anotHer witH regards to eacH of tHe motives and examined two major questions. First, are tHe seven different Homicide event motives (gain, jealousy, revenge, conviction/hate, concealment, thrill, and love) qualitatively distinct from one anotHer in terms of tHeir situational attributes (tHat is, victim, offender, and offence cHaracteristics)? And second, if so, wHat are tHe situational cHaracteristics in common or unique to eacH of tHe seven motives? One Hundred and forty nine Australian Homicide cases from tHe Supreme Courts and HigH Court of Australia were collected and examined from tHe Australasian Legal Information Institute database. Exploratory descriptive analyses and Qualitative Comparative Analyses (QCA; Ragin, 2000, 2008) were conducted on tHe cases associated witH eacH of tHe motives. THe results of tHe descriptive analyses indicated tHat wHilst some cHaracteristics (sucH as male offenders) were common to all motives, tHere were cHaracteristics tHat were HigHly associated witH one motive ratHer tHan tHe otHers. AltHougH males SEVEN DEADLY SINS 3 consistently account for tHe majority of Homicide offenders and victims, tHis researcH indicated tHat females were most likely to commit Homicides for gain and love and fall victim to jealousy and thrill Homicides. THe results of tHe QCAs indicated that tHere are botH distinct and sHared qualitative combinations of victim, offender, and incident conditions for eacH, and between tHe motives. THe results infer tHat tHere are important qualitative features tHat may be useful in distinguisHing tHe motives from one anotHer. THis researcH forms tHe first step in exploring Homicide event motive as tHe reason, or purpose, for tHe Homicide’s occurrence, wHilst examining it qualitatively from a situational perspective. It HigHligHts tHe importance and need of looking beyond tHe general Homicide statistics and disaggregating tHem by motive in order to add to and enrich our understanding of Homicide and its motives, and to further develop relevant theories. Specifically, the results contradict some common assumptions about tHe “typical” Homicide and Homicide offender and tHeir reasons for engaging in Homicidal beHaviours, wHicH adds not only to tHe criminological literature, but also may inform botH investigative and subsequent judicial processes. Keywords: Homicide event motive, Homicide, motive, qualitative comparative analysis, comparative analysis QUT Verified Signature SEVEN DEADLY SINS 5 List of Figures Description Page 1 Visual Representation of Sufficiency and Necessity…… 128 2 Visual Representation of Sufficiency and Necessity for Condition practices a lot and Outcome scores a lot…….. 129 3 Distribution of Age and Gender of Homicide Offenders………………………………………………………………… 166 4 Distribution of Age and Gender of Homicide Victims…. 167 5 Distribution of Homicide Offenders by Victim-Offender RelationsHip and Gender………………… 170 6 Distribution of Homicide Victims by Victim-Offender Relationship and Gender………………………………………….. 171 7 Percentage of Offenders and Victims Younger tHan 34 Years for Each Motive……………………………………………... 234 SEVEN DEADLY SINS 6 List of Tables Description Page 1 Number of Reported Homicide Motives in Australia from 2000 to 2012…………………………………………………... 80 2 Example of a HypotHetical TrutH Table witH 3 Conditions A, B, and C……………………………………………… 136 3 Conditions, Definitions, Raw Coding, and Coding for QCA………………………………………………………………………… 148 4 Cause of DeatH for Homicides in Full Sample…………….. 162 5 Ages and Percentages of Offenders and Victims………… 165 6 Location of Homicides by Victim and Offender Age…… 168 7 Cause of Death by Victim-Offender RelationsHip for Full Sample……………………………………………………………... 172 8 Ages of Primary Offenders for Single and Multiple Offender Homicides…………………………………………………. 173 9 Descriptive Statistics for Offender, Victim, and Incident Variables for Conviction/Hate Motive…………. 178 10 Most Dominant Profiles for Conviction/Hate Motive…. 180 11 Descriptive Statistics for tHe Offender, Victim and Incident Variables for Concealment Motive………………. 184 12 Most Dominant Profiles for Concealment Motive………. 187 13 Descriptive Statistics for tHe Offender, Victim, and Incident Variables for Gain Motive…………………………… 192 SEVEN DEADLY SINS 7 14 Most Dominant Profile for Gain Motive…………………….. 195 15 Descriptive Statistics for tHe Offender, Victim, and Incident Variables for Love Motive…………………………… 199 16 Original Intended Method of Cause of Death for Love Motive…………………………………………………………………….. 202 17 Most Dominant Profiles for Love Motive…………………... 204 18 Descriptive Statistics for tHe Offender, Victim, and Incident Variables for THrill Motive………………………….. 209 19 Most Dominant Profiles for THrill Motive…………………. 211 20 Descriptive Statistics for the Offender, Victim, and Incident Variables for Revenge Motive……………………... 213 21 Most Dominant Profiles for Revenge Motive……………... 216 22 Descriptive Statistics for tHe Offender, Victim, and Incident Variables for Jealousy Motive……………………… 219 23 Most Dominant Profiles for Jealousy Motive……………... 222 24 Summary of Variables witH HigHest Percentage for Each Motive 230 25 Number of Male and Female Offenders and Victims for EacH Motive……………………………………………………….. 231 26 Most Common Age Group and Mean for Offenders and Victims for EacH Motive…………………………………………… 234 27 RelationsHip Between Offender and Victim per Motive…………………………………………………………………….. 235 28 Number of Cases Involving Multiple Offenders and Victims for EacH Motive…………………………………………… 237 SEVEN DEADLY SINS 8 29 Cause of DeatH for EacH Motive………………………………... 238 30 Number of Motives and Profiles SHared……………………. 242 31 Profiles SHared by Motives………………………………………. 243 SEVEN DEADLY SINS 9 Table of Contents Abstract…………………………………………………………………………….. 2 Declaration………………………………………………………………………... 4 List of Figures……………………………………………………………………. 5 List of Tables……………………………………………………………………… 6 Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………. 15 Chapter One: Introduction……………………………………………… 17 The Concept of Motive………………………………………………………... 18 Motive in this THesis…………………………………………………………... 23 Definition of Homicide……………………………………………………….. 24 Homicide in Australia………………………………………………............... 25 Purpose and Context………………………………………………………….. 26 Structure of THesis…………………………………………………….............. 29 Chapter Two: Psychological and Criminological Literature Review…………………………………………………………... 32 Psychological Theories………………………………………………………. 33 PsycHodynamic tHeories……………………………………………. 33 Personality and learned behavioural theories…………… 35 Psychological perspectives of motive……………………….. 37 Motive as a need…………………………………………………………. 38 Motive as an emotion………………………………………………….. 40 Energisation theory……………………………………………………. 42 Evolutionary tHeories……………………………………………... 43 Evolution and masculinity…………………………………………... 45 SEVEN DEADLY SINS 10 Clinical psycHology and Homicide motivational typologies……………………………………………………………….. 48 Criminological Perspectives……………………………………………….. 54 Instrumental and expressive motives……………………….. 55 Polk’s motive scenarios…………………………………………… 58 Homicide within the context of sexual intimacy…………… 59 Homicide occurring during the course of another crime………………………………………………………………………….. 59 Conflict resolution……………………………………………............... 60 Confrontational homicide…………………………………………… 60 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………. 63 Chapter Three: Legal and Investigative Perspectives and Police Motives………………………………………………………………… 65 Motive, the Law, and its Implications………………………………….. 65 Motive, the Police, and its Implications……………………………….. 70 Motive and the profiler……………………………………………. 73 Ostensible and Police Motives…………………………………………….. 75 Police recorded motives for Australian Homicide……… 78 Problems witH using police motives in researcH……….. 81 Classification inconsistencies………………………………............ 81 The issue with domestic dispute………………………………….. 82 The issue with no apparent motive……………………………… 85 The issue with motive or circumstance………………………... 87 Quantitative and Qualitative Treatment of Motive……………….. 88 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………. 91 SEVEN DEADLY SINS 11 Chapter Four: Motive Defined, Contextual Framework, and Research Aims…………………………………………………………. 94 Motive Defined in tHis ResearcH………………………………………….. 94 THe concept of motive witHin tHis researcH………………. 97 What are the Main Reasons People Kill?............................................ 102 Murder Investigation Manual Motives…………………………........... 109 Motives and Definitions……………………………………………..............