Executive Functioning, Childhood Psychosocial Deprivation, and Premeditated/Impulsive Homicide: a Forensic Sample

• In Event: Neurocognitive Pathways to Violence: Psychosocial Deprivation, Media, Cognition, and Intervention

Abstract

Empirical understanding of individuals characterized by extreme and repetitive violence is currently lacking. While executive functioning (EF) in general—and decision-making and executive planning abilities in particular—have been examined in individuals characterized by violence, to date, this approach has rarely been extended to comparisons among single-event/single-victim (SESM), single-event/multiple-victim (SEMV; e.g., mass killer), and multiple-event/multiple-victim (MEMV; e.g., serial killer) killers. The potential impact of childhood psychosocial deprivation upon decision-making and executive planning deficits and premeditated/impulsive offending has also not been systematically explored in these individuals. Forensic psychological evaluation data (clinical interviews and a comprehensive battery of psychological tests) from multiple examinees accused of homicide were utilized for the present study. Examinees—based upon their instant offenses—will be rated on a four-point premeditation/impulsivity scale by two raters blind to neuropsychological performance and each other’s ratings. EF performance will be analyzed in conjunction with childhood psychosocial deprivation factors and premeditation/impulsivity ratings in group comparisons among killer types. Implications for an advanced, “next wave” of serial killer research will be discussed, as will the potential contributions of neurocriminological methods to treatment and prevention applications related to individuals on the outermost end of the violence continuum.

Authors

• Isabella Monterosso, California State University, Long Beach

• Shichun Ling, California State University, Los Angeles

• Robert Schug, California State University, Long Beach