The Psychology Of Extreme Violence

Featuring a unique overview of the different forms of extreme violence, this book considers the psychology of extreme violence alongside a variety of contributing factors, such as brain abnormalities in homicide offenders. Featuring several contemporary real-world case studies, this book offers insight into the psychology of serial homicide offenders, mass shooters, school shooters and lone-actor terrorists. The main purpose of this book is not to glorify or condemn the actions of these individuals, but to attempt to explain the motivations and circumstances that inspire such acts of extreme violence. By adopting a detailed case study approach, it aims to increase our understanding of the specific motivations and psychological factors underlying extreme violence. Using nontechnical language, this book is the ideal companion for students, researchers, and forensic practitioners interested in the multidisciplinary nature of extreme violence. This book will also be of interest to students taking courses on homicide, mass shooting, school shooting, terrorism, forensic psychology and criminology and criminal justice.

Featuring a unique overview of the different forms of extreme violence, this book considers the psychology of extreme violence alongside a variety of contributing factors, such as brain abnormalities in homicide offenders. Featuring several contemporary real-world case studies, this book offers insight into the psychology of serial homicide offenders, mass shooters, school shooters and lone-actor terrorists. The main purpose of this book is not to glorify or condemn the actions of these individuals, but to attempt to explain the motivations and circumstances that inspire such acts of extreme violence. By adopting a detailed case study approach, it aims to increase our understanding of the specific motivations and psychological factors underlying extreme violence. Using nontechnical language, this book is the ideal companion for students, researchers, and forensic practitioners interested in the multidisciplinary nature of extreme violence. This book will also be of interest to students taking courses on homicide, mass shooting, school shooting, terrorism, forensic psychology and criminology and criminal justice.

Chronicling horrific events that brought the 20th century to witness the largest number of systematic slaughters of human beings in any century across history, this work goes beyond historic details and examines contemporary psychological means that leaders use to convince individuals to commit horrific acts in the name of a politial or military cause. Massacres in Nanking, Rwanda, El Salvador, Vietnam, and other countries are reviewed in chilling detail. But the core issue is what psychological forces are behind large- scale killing; what psychology can be used to indoctrinate normal people with a Groupthink that moves individuals to mass murder brutally and without regret, even when the victims are innocent children. Dutton shows us how individuals are convinced to commit such sadistic acts, often preceded by torture, after being indoctrinated with beliefs that the target victims are unjust, inhuman or viral, like a virus that must be destroyed or it will destroy society.

The Psychology of Interpersonal Violence is a textbook which gives comprehensive coverage of interpersonal violence - exploring the various violent acts that occur between individuals in contemporary society. Examines in detail the controversial use of corporal punishment Explores ways that psychology can add to our understanding of interpersonal violence Offers directions for future research that can help to prevent or reduce incidents of interpersonal violence

This book brings together an international collection of research literature on the topics of criminal profiling and serial violent crime by integrating the respected insights of both scholars and practitioners from around the globe. It explains etiological factors and psychological mechanisms to reveal criminal motives.

Terrorism and radicalization have a long history, but in recent years their prominence has been a particularly conspicuous and influential feature of the global political landscape. This important book presents an overview of the processes involved in radicalization and terrorism, and introduces a systematic framework which captures the most crucial individual and social factors involved in determining these processes. The authors begin by considering the possible role of prejudice, economic deprivation, and discrimination, and the cognitive responses and emotions they can trigger. Such responses tend in turn to increase the importance of group membership, and promote intergroup differentiation and polarization, a process which is often accompanied by more pronounced and more extreme religious and ideological beliefs. The book also describes the role of cultural values and social climate in processes of radicalization, as well as the role of personality factors and demographics such as age and marital status. As for violent terrorist action itself, this final most radical stage is elicited by a number of group factors such as groupthink, isolation, and leadership. Certain cognitive mechanisms – for example, dehumanizing the target and attributing responsibility elsewhere – can also provide excuses for violence. The book explores why some groups turn to violence and others don’t, and it addresses processes of disengagement, deradicalization programs, and other methods used to inhibit the spread of radicalization and terrorism. The Psychology of Radicalization and Terrorism takes a unique and systematic approach to a vital topic, integrating knowledge from diverse literatures, and using social psychology as a basis for comprehending human behaviour. It will be essential reading for students and researchers from all disciplines seeking a greater understanding of terrorism and violent political conflict in all its forms.

This unique history of the last 100 years of criminal psychology shares insights about infamous murderers from the psychiatrists and other trained psychological professionals who analyzed and treated them. The Mind of a Murderer: Privileged Access to the Demons That Drive Extreme Violence presents a series of cases in which a psychiatrist, psychologist, or counselor gained privileged access to a mass or serial murderer, going beyond the typical mental assessment to learn more about criminal behavior. Through their work, readers are granted a unique view of criminology and a better understanding of the criminal mind. The book opens with the earliest professional observations of criminals in the late 19th century and goes on to explore the rudimentary behavioral profiling and case analysis of the early 20th century. It shows how, by the 1960s and 1970s, behavioral professionals recognized the need for intense study of extreme offenders and got close to the likes of Richard Speck, John Wayne Gacy, and Ted Bundy to gain a fuller picture of their psychological development. Finally, readers learn how today's behavioral professionals rely on neurobiological correlates to assess predatory, impulsive, and addictive behavior.

What turns an apparently 'normal' individual into a killer? Many people who commit "rage type" murders have no history of violence. Using psychoanalytic theory and a number of case studies, this book isolates key psychological factors that appear to help explain why such acts of extreme violence occur. Starting from a psychoanalytic standpoint, Psychoanalysis, Violence and Rage-Type Murder argues for a pluralistic approach to understanding aggression, and claims that the origins of aggression have no single source or cause. Drawing broadly on psychological, criminological and psychoanalytic research the author outlines the clinical features of the act and explores the possible role that psychopathology and personality might play in the build up to murder. These observations raise a number of questions about the so-called 'normality' of the individual alongside the capacity to commit murder, and how we might understand the stability of such offenders. Psychoanalysis, Violence and Rage-Type Murder will be of great interest to psychotherapists, forensic psychotherapists, psychoanalysts, psychologists, criminologists and health care workers.