Knoll James L, Hatters-Friedman Susan
Forensic Psychiatry Program, Department of Psychiatry, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY.
Psychiatry and Pediatrics, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH.
J Forensic Sci. 2015 Sep;60(5):1253-7. doi: 10.1111/1556-4029.12819. Epub 2015 Aug 10.
Homicide-suicide represents a single episode of violence which may decimate an entire family. This study aimed to further describe motives and context of these tragedies. Psychological autopsies were completed for 18 homicide-suicide cases in Dallas, Texas. This included postevent interviews with surviving family members and review of police and coroner records. Two-thirds of perpetrators had made either verbal or written threats prior to the homicide-suicide. A simplified typology describing victim-perpetrator relationship and motive type is suggested for future studies and clinical ease. Two-thirds of perpetrators fell into the category of Intimate-Possessive, most of whom were depressed men who were abusing substances and undergoing separation. Additional categories included Intimate-Ailing, Filial-Revenge, Familial-Psychotic, and Friend-Psychotic. Further, implications from this psychological autopsy study regarding risk assessment include use of collateral interviews regarding threats and past violence.
他杀后自杀是一种可能使整个家庭遭受重创的暴力事件。本研究旨在进一步描述这些悲剧的动机和背景。对得克萨斯州达拉斯市的18起他杀后自杀案件进行了心理剖析。这包括对幸存家庭成员的事后访谈以及对警方和验尸官记录的审查。三分之二的行凶者在他杀后自杀之前曾发出过口头或书面威胁。为了未来的研究和临床便利，建议采用一种简化的类型学来描述受害者与行凶者的关系及动机类型。三分之二的行凶者属于亲密占有型，其中大多数是抑郁的男性，他们滥用药物且正在经历分居。其他类型包括亲密患病型、子女复仇型、家族精神病型和朋友精神病型。此外，这项心理剖析研究在风险评估方面的启示包括就威胁和过去的暴力行为进行间接访谈。
