Scribd
Upload
333 views2 pages

Murder and Society: Why Commit Murder?: Peter Morrall Looks at How The Phenomenon of Murder Varies in

The document discusses different perspectives on what motivates murder and how societies view murder. It explores factors like lust, love, loathing, and financial gain as potential motives. It also examines the role of individual traits and how wider society can influence violence. While murder devastates many, it also strangely fascinates.

Uploaded by

Vikram
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
333 views2 pages

Murder and Society: Why Commit Murder?: Peter Morrall Looks at How The Phenomenon of Murder Varies in

The document discusses different perspectives on what motivates murder and how societies view murder. It explores factors like lust, love, loathing, and financial gain as potential motives. It also examines the role of individual traits and how wider society can influence violence. While murder devastates many, it also strangely fascinates.

Uploaded by

Vikram
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Murder and society: why commit

murder?
Peter Morrall looks at how the phenomenon of murder varies in
motivation, cause, definition and consequences according to global
situations and societal values.

T
he official global murder rate per annum is gains a sexual payoff.
rising toward one million (Morrall, 2006). Love: the 'mercy killing' of a baby with a major
But there is no universal, cross-cultural deformity or partner with incurable cancer.
meaning of murder that can be adhered to in any Loathing: lethal hate directed towards one person
context, no matter who are the victims and who the (for example, an abusive parent), group (such as
killers. Murdering can be sanctioned by the State homosexuals or prostitutes), culture or nation (for
(the death penalty) or by groups with a particular example, Palestinians towards Israelis and visa
interest in using murder (suicide-bombers) as a versa).
tactic to achieve what are considered laudable Loot: killing for financial gain through inheritance
aims not only by themselves but by other groups or insurance pay-outs; a murder occurring during
or States. a robbery, or gang-warfare over the control of
Moreover, societies adopt their own moral drug markets; employment as a contract killer or
hierarchies of murder depending on who are the mercenary.
victims and who are the perpetrators. This means But finding a motive for murder does not go far
that even if all killing is legally proscribed, particular enough to explain murder. Most people experience
types of killing are given harsher punishments than lust, love, and loathing, and seek 'loot' in the sense
others. Furthermore, punishments vary hugely of wishing to be free from financial concerns.
transnationally. Non-custodial sentences may However, the vast majority of people do not commit
apply for infanticide in some countries, whereas murder.
in others it is viewed as warranting long-term
imprisonment. In some parts of the world the death Mad-bad
penalty is handed out for drug-trafficking, adultery, Can murderers be considered to be either mad
and sedition, but in other parts these acts may not or bad? A few very 'mad' people do kill because
be even criminalised or they attract alternative of their psychotic delusions and hallucinations,
approaches to social control such as medical or because they have psychopathic personalities
treatment and hospitalisation. (Morrall, 2000). But most people who suffer from
Take for example the Iraq war. According to mental disorder (even those who are severely
research by Burnham et al (2006), 655,000 Iraqi paranoid or psychopathic) do not kill. Moreover,
civilians have died in the three years following the defining madness is in itself contentious and can be
invasion of 2003. Yet the invasion forces do not a 'default' label when no motive is apparent.
routinely collect data on civilian deaths. Therefore, Furthermore, the most 'evil' individuals in
the criminal or military justice systems, except in history (for example, Hitler, Pol Pot, Stalin, and
rare cases, do not address these killings. By the end Mao), are viewed as heroes by some inhabitants
of 2006 only a handful of American troops and one of the very countries whose populations they ruled
British soldier had been found guilty of any serious with such terrible cruelty. Modern military and
crime in which Iraqi civilians had died (although political leaders, whilst executing warfare, construe
four US marines were awaiting trial for the murder the deaths of innocent civilians not as murder but
of 24 civilians in the town of Haditha). as 'collateral damage'. Computerised modelling
of likely outcomes from their lethal interventions
Motives inform them at the planning stage about just how
So, what can be said about the reasons for many babies, children and adults are going to
committing murder when there are so many die. Consequently, 'badness' can be a matter of
types of murders? 'Motive' is central to police opinion.
investigations. Although a conviction is possible
without a motive being discovered, finding a Individual
specific reason makes it much more likely. Motives Testosterone, the male sex hormone, can be
for murder can be condensed into four sets of 'Ls': correlated with competitive and assertive behaviour
Lust; Love; Loathing; and Loot: (murder is largely an act of men, although women
Lust: a lover kills a rival for his/her object of desire; are becoming more violent). A reduction of serotonin
the 'thrill-killer' who murders people because he increases the likelihood of spur-of-the-moment and

36 CENTRE FOR CRIME AND JUSTICE STUDIES


hostile impulses. Alterations in the breakdown of glucose with sexually damaging childhoods. But he suggests that
in the body also appear to affect mood and behaviour. Both neurological disorder (and possibly illegal drug use) has to be
hyperglycaemia and hypoglycaemia can lead to aggression. present before the likelihood of violence increases. Pincus also
Alcohol in the bloodstream undermines higher-order control accepts the role of society in 'releasing' the potential to murder
exercised by the cerebral cortex. Environmental pollutants created by awful personal experiences and cerebral pathology.
circulating in the body (for example, pesticides and lead) Governments and media give backing to violence by initiating
are linked to heightened aggression. Nutritional deficiencies 'moral panics' about certain groups (for example, paedophiles,
caused by eating too much 'junk' food may provoke aggressive refugees), as well as starting wars and indoctrinating the
behaviour and even murder (Lawrence, 2006). population to view a former friendly neighbouring country as
For the evolutionary psychologist David Buss, killing an enemy.
is a core element of human nature because in evolutionary
terms it serves a purpose. Specifically, it is advantageous to Devastation and fascination
reproduction. It is an adaptive strategy. Murder, therefore, Reasons for murders being committed may be complex and/
is inherently logical. The mind is designed to murder. The or obscure. What is far more knowable is the devastation
gains for killing, argues Buss, are: the killer has not been caused by murder for both the secondary victims (the families
killed and therefore can reproduce; augmenting his (and it and friends of both the primary victim and the perpetrator).
usually is a man) own survival and the death of a reproductive Murder invokes a particularly virulent and long-term form of
rival, he can have sex with the dead man's mate, and take his bereavement, which can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder.
property; it scares the hell out of any would-be antagonist; Moreover, the degree of violence across the world has created
he is immediately converted into a sexually attractive partner a tertiary victim, that of global society itself.
for admiring females; he has displayed another attribute that But, despite the suffering, murder is also fascinating. Our
these doting but vulnerable women need, protection from lust for gore is voracious. Real and fictional murder abounds
predatorial males (presumably, also from dinosaurs and other on television, cinema, the internet, books, plays, magazines,
marauding beasties). and 'murder mystery weekends' that can be taken as holidays.
However, the reasons for the fascination of murder are as
Society complex and obscure as those that purport to explain why
Sandra Bloom (2001) argues that Western societies, murder is committed.
particularly the USA, are essentially 'sick' due to their
addiction to violence. It is society rather than individuals that
propagates violence. Values such as those associated with Dr Peter Morrall is Head of Mental Health, Learning
actual physical violence, or competitiveness in sport and at Disabilities and Behavioural Sciences, University of Leeds.
work, are inculcated into the individual via, for example, the
educational system and the media. References
Elie Godsi (2004) points out how violent acts of the Bloom, S. (2001) (ed), Violence: A Public Health Menace and
powerful in society are concealed, whereas the violence of a Public Health Approach. London: Karnac.
the powerless are revealed. For example, governments and
businesses are responsible for the spread of Creutzfeldt- Burnham, G., Lafta, R., Doocy, S. and Roberts, L. (2006)
Jakob Disease (CJD), asbestosis, and methicillin-resistant 'Mortality after the 2003 Invasion of Iraq: A Cross-sectional
staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The tobacco and arms Cluster Sample Survey', The Lancet, DOI10.1016/S0140-
industries have brought about millions of deaths in the first 6736(06)69491-9.
world, and continue to do so in the third world.
Miethe and Regoeczi (2004) have analysed different Buss, D. (2005) The Murderer Next Door: Why the Mind is
murder situations for different sorts of people in the USA (for Designed to Kill. New York: Penguin.
example, men, women, teenagers, adults, strangers, intimates,
blacks, whites and Hispanics). They suggest that murders Godsi, E. (2004) Violence and Society - Making Sense of
committed using guns revolve around issues of gender, race, Madness and Badness. Ross-on-Wye, England: PCCS Books.
class and urban locations. Moreover, violence is correlated Lawrence, F. (2006) 'Omega-3, Junk Food and the Link
with 'hot spot' situations such as parking lots, bars/pubs, night between Violence and What We Eat', The Guardian, 17th
clubs, accident and emergency hospital units, psychiatric acute October.
services, sex shops and 'red light' areas, drug-buying locations
and shelters for the homeless. The home offers a viable killing Miethe, T. D. and Regoeczi, W. C. (2004) Rethinking
arena, not only because of the relationships within it, but Homicide. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
because it is shielded from observation and has its own rules
of conduct. Morrall, P. (2006) Murder and Society. Chichester: Wiley.

Individual and society Morrall, P. (2000) Madness and Murder. London: Whurr.
However, the split between faulty individual and faulty
society, whilst offering an explanation for some murders, is Pincus, J. (2002) Basic Instincts: What Makes Killers Kill?
in general too simplistic. There is a 'reflexive' relationship New York: Norton and Company.
between social factors and the individual's constitution.
For example, Jonathan Pincus (2002) links murder

CJITI no. 66 Winter 2006/07 37

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy