Expressiveness and Instrumentality of Crime Scene Behavior in Spanish Homicides

María del Mar Pecino-Latorre, María del Carmen Pérez-Fuentes, Rosa María Patró-Hernández and Jorge Santos-Hermoso
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María del Mar Pecino-Latorre: Department of Psychology, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain
María del Carmen Pérez-Fuentes: Department of Psychology, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain
Rosa María Patró-Hernández: Department of Psychology, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Jorge Santos-Hermoso: Institute of Forensic Sciences and Security, Autonomous University of Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 22, 1-15

Abstract: One of the current trends in the study of criminal profiling consists of developing theoretical and methodological typologies to offer information of operational use in police investigations. The objective of this work was to verify the validity of the instrumental/expressive model, so as to establish homicide typologies based on modus operandi relationships, characteristics of the victims, and characteristics of perpetrators. The sample consisted of 448 homicide cases registered in the database of the Homicide Revision Project of the Office of Coordination and Studies of the Spanish Secretary of State and Security. Through multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis, three expressive homicide subtypes were identified (expressive-impulsive, expressive-distancing, and expressive-family), as well as two instrumental homicide subtypes (instrumental-opportunist and instrumental-gratification). The expressive homicide typologies accounted for almost 95% of all of the studied cases, and most of the homicides occurring in Spain were found to take place between individuals who know one another (friends, family members, intimate couples/ex-couples). The findings from this study suggest that the instrumental/expressive model may be a useful framework for understanding the psychological processes underlying homicides, based on the study of relationships between the crime and aggressor characteristics, which may be very helpful in the prioritization of suspects.

Keywords: homicide; instrumental homicide; expressive homicide; delinquent; criminal profiling; crime scene behavior (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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