Running head: IDENTIFYING AND GATHERING RELEVANT DATA 1 IDENTIFYING AND GATHERING RELEVANT DATA 5 Identifying and Gathering Relevant Data Sherry L. Crowe Dr. Robert Meyer Psychology of Criminal Behavior FP6015 May 24, 2017 Homicide is the killing of human beings by another person. Murder and manslaughter are both forms of execution. The death inflicted by a person taking another person’s life regardless of the intention of the action is a criminal offence. Homicide is a crime according to United States Laws, as is many other states globally. Justified self-defense is not categorized as a crime. Similarly, there are other forms of murder including euthanasia, killing during war, and capital punishment of a person (Smith, 2013). Homicide can be categorized into criminal and non-criminal. Criminal homicide is like murder or manslaughter; this is when there is killing by intention and without any danger being imposed on the murderer (Reid, 2016). Non-criminal includes capital punishment of a convicted person and euthanasia in respective jurisdictions. This involves the arms of government who are mandated to protect the nation, and in that event, they can kill to eliminate the public threat. Actions like terrorism and international security threat can fall under excused homicide in the aim of protecting the people and reducing the risk. Insanity poses another accepted justification of killing, and induced killing in aid of self-defense and the others security is among the noncriminal homicide (Eriksson, 2013). Many aspects contribute and accelerate the rate of homicide, the poverty of people and poor social status can lead to people into stress and committing crimes that are either criminal or non-criminal (Riedel, 2015). The socio-economic situation of people influences the rate of homicide in the society. The less privileged individuals in the community are the most affected in the sense that they undergo a lot of mental and physical stress in satisfying their needs and livelihood. The most affected group in the society is the youth; youth more often are perpetrators of the crime. Extreme lifestyle cases and peer pressure has played a key role in the determination of the criminal activities that are experienced in the society today. Societal achievement and different opportunities available in the lifestyle arena engages the young people’s minds in a negative way to an extent they make the un-informed decision due to rushing to find solutions. According to the FBI, the rate of crime in the US increased by 3.9 percent in 2015 an increase from the previous year. The criminal cases have escalated because of the rate at which societal influence has impacted on the people with the rise of technology and lifestyle change (Cramer, 2016). Social and human rights education must be addressed to the public, and thus the relevant government must ensure that they engage the appropriate authorities in the exercising of the h ...

1. Running head: IDENTIFYING AND GATHERING RELEVANT
DATA 1
IDENTIFYING AND GATHERING RELEVANT DATA 5
Identifying and Gathering Relevant Data
Sherry L. Crowe
Dr. Robert Meyer
Psychology of Criminal Behavior
FP6015
May 24, 2017
Homicide is the killing of human beings by another person.
Murder and manslaughter are both forms of execution. The
death inflicted by a person taking another person’s life
regardless of the intention of the action is a criminal offence.
Homicide is a crime according to United States Laws, as is
many other states globally. Justified self-defense is not
categorized as a crime. Similarly, there are other forms of
murder including euthanasia, killing during war, and capital

2. punishment of a person (Smith, 2013).
Homicide can be categorized into criminal and non-criminal.
Criminal homicide is like murder or manslaughter; this is when
there is killing by intention and without any danger being
imposed on the murderer (Reid, 2016).
Non-criminal includes capital punishment of a convicted person
and euthanasia in respective jurisdictions. This involves the
arms of government who are mandated to protect the nation, and
in that event, they can kill to eliminate the public threat.
Actions like terrorism and international security threat can fall
under excused homicide in the aim of protecting the people and
reducing the risk. Insanity poses another accepted justification
of killing, and induced killing in aid of self-defense and the
others security is among the noncriminal homicide (Eriksson,
2013).
Many aspects contribute and accelerate the rate of
homicide, the poverty of people and poor social status can lead
to people into stress and committing crimes that are either
criminal or non-criminal (Riedel, 2015). The socio-economic
situation of people influences the rate of homicide in the
society. The less privileged individuals in the community are
the most affected in the sense that they undergo a lot of mental
and physical stress in satisfying their needs and livelihood.
The most affected group in the society is the youth; youth more
often are perpetrators of the crime. Extreme lifestyle cases and
peer pressure has played a key role in the determination of the
criminal activities that are experienced in the society today.
Societal achievement and different opportunities available in
the lifestyle arena engages the young people’s minds in a
negative way to an extent they make the un-informed decision
due to rushing to find solutions. According to the FBI, the rate
of crime in the US increased by 3.9 percent in 2015 an increase
from the previous year. The criminal cases have escalated
because of the rate at which societal influence has impacted on
the people with the rise of technology and lifestyle change
(Cramer, 2016).

3. Social and human rights education must be addressed to the
public, and thus the relevant government must ensure that they
engage the appropriate authorities in the exercising of the
human rights and thereby reduction of crime in the society
(Matejkowski, 2014). Consequently, the criminal gangs must be
eliminated from the society to reduce the criminality in the
community. There should be a well-defined curriculum in
schools on behavior change to mentor good citizens in the
society who respect law and order. Community policing and real
collaboration with the law enforcers is also another aspect that
must be enhanced to eliminate vice in the society.
Transparency and fairness must be employed when solving the
criminal cases. This will ensure that only the legal liable
persons are convicted of the crimes that they committed and not
innocent people. The courts must be fair and transparent to the
extent of the truth and impose the penalty to be taken by the
convicts.
In San Diego County, there was a “total of 5,409 Part 1 violent
crimes which include homicide, rape, robbery, and aggravated
assault. Between January and June of 2016 there was an
average of 30 per day and about one more per day than the first
half of 2015 (Burke, 2015).”
In the state of California, the homicide reported in 2015 was
1,861 which was an increase of 164 from 2014. That is a
twenty-five point one decrease from the 2,483 reports in 2006
(Harris, 2015).

4. References
Burke, C., Ph.D. (2016). Crime in the San Diego Region Mid-
Year 2016 Statistics. Criminal Justice Research Division,
SANDAG, 3-18. Retrieved May 31, 2017, from
http://www.delmar.ca.us/DocumentCenter/View/2490
Cramer, C. E. (2016). Why the FBI's Justifiable Homicide
Statistics Are a Misleading Measure of Defensive Gun Use. U.
Fla. JL & Pub. Pol'y, 27, 505.
Eriksson, L., & Mazerolle, P. (2013). A general strain theory of
intimate partner homicide. Aggression and violent behavior,
18(5), 462-470.
Harris, K. D. (2015). California Homicide Statistics for 2015.
Retrieved May 31, 2017, from
https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/cjsc/publications/ho
micide/hm15/hm15.pdf?
Matejkowski, J., Fairfax-Columbo, J., Cullen, S. W., Marcus, S.
C., & Solomon, P. L. (2014). Exploring the potential of stricter
gun restrictions for people with serious mental illness to reduce
homicide in the United States. The Journal of Forensic
Psychiatry & Psychology, 25(3), 362-369.
Reid, S. (2016). Compulsive criminal homicide: A new
nosology for serial murder. Aggression and Violent Behavior.
Riedel, M., & Welsh, W. N. (2015). Criminal violence: Patterns,
causes, and prevention. OUP Us.
Smith, E. L., & Cooper, A. (2013). Homicide in the US known
to law enforcement, 2011. Washington, DC: US Department of

5. Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Running head: CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR 1
CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR 2
Criminal Behavior
Sherry L. Crowe
Dr. Robert Meyer
Psychology of Criminal Behavior
FP6015
May 24, 2017
The criminal behavior that I have chosen for this is
homicide. Homicide is death caused by one person taking the
life of another person notwithstanding the intention of their
action. Homicide is a broad term used to describe various
categories of killings with murder and manslaughter being the
most prevalent. Others include; euthanasia, war killings, and
capital punishment. Homicide is further subdivided into
criminal and non-criminal types depending on the context and

6. laws of a particular jurisdiction (Geberth, 2013). Thereby
causing some homicide behaviors to be accepted in society even
by the legal system, while others will be shunned and attract
huge ethical and legal sanctioning.
The legally accepted homicide includes; euthanasia in
jurisdictions that accept it and capital punishment. On the other
hand, one may be convicted of manslaughter homicide with or
without the intent of killing as long as their action harms
another person to an extent of causing death. Manslaughter may
also be a result of voluntary action based on passion from
emotions that blur an individual’s judgment abilities leading
them to kill. In accidents, the death must occur within the first
year of neglect behavior.
There are situations that call for excusable homicide. This may
include killing of others by authorized persons such as law
enforcement agencies in the aim of protecting a nation from its
enemies. Thus, the law enforcement agencies in the country may
be ordered to kill. Other situations that may call for actions
involving killing may be during the prevention of crime where
police officers may be forced to use deadly force to be able to
protect the lives and liberties of other citizens from the harm
and potential harm. Another legally accepted justification is
insanity, intoxication or necessity including self-defense and
that of others.
Whereas homicide is a crime committed across all social;
classes, it has been found to be prevalent with poverty and other
social factors such as stress. Thus, the area of focus here is the
low socio-economic class that has to be underprivileged with
the means to take care of their needs.
Homicide affects all people in society. However, the group of
focus is the youth in society who may be pushed into
committing homicide in the quest to provide for their needs
(Singh, et.al, 2013). In a society that fosters unequal
competition and contentions towards success in wealth and
power, some youth who find role models in celebrities may be
compelled into finding a means to reach their target.

7. Homicide and especially criminal homicide occurs in society
and needs to be addressed by the society in general. This calls
for awareness creation campaigns among communities and
groups on homicide. Similarly, civilians need to collaborate
with law enforcement agencies by reporting early signs of
homicide within the community and evidence when called upon
to give their testimonies. When called upon to act on a case,
the police should be ready to handle the situation promptly.
Having identified the major casualty as being poverty, it is
necessary to initiate programs that empower youths with job
skills and enhance their talents (Stansfield, Williams & Parker,
2017). Thus, it becomes a way of helping them achieve their
goals in the right way. Besides, it is necessary to empower the
group with life skills that will; enable them to be confident
while handling crisis situations and these that provoke
emotions. It may also involve learning relation techniques to
help them in making rational decisions. With the elimination of
poverty and awareness creation in society, there is a high
likelihood of the reduction of homicides. Further, a
collaboration between the police and civilians as a means of
helping to reduce homicide that has proven to work.
References
Geberth, V. J. (2013). Practical homicide investigation checklist
and field Guide. cRc Press.
Singh, G. K., Azuine, R. E., Siahpush, M., & Kogan, M. D.
(2013). All-cause and cause-specific mortality among US youth:
socioeconomic and rural–urban disparities and international
patterns. Journal of Urban Health, 90(3), 388-405.
Stansfield, R., Williams, K. R., & Parker, K. F. (2017).
Economic Disadvantage and Homicide: Estimating Temporal
Trends in Adolescence and Adulthood. Homicide Studies, 21(1),
59-81.

8. Running head: FINAL DRAFT 1
FINAL DRAFT 8
Final Draft
Sherry L. Crowe
Dr. Robert Meyer
Psychology of Criminal Behavior
FP6015
June 14, 2017
Criminal behavior
Homicide
Homicides are crimes that comprise of murder and
manslaughter, and they violate the criminal laws (Hodell, 2014).
In other cases, there can be crimes involving self-defense and
are categorized as not criminal. Legal killings include
manslaughter and murder in multiple degrees depending on the
gravity of the offence. Homicide is the act of killing of human
beings by another person depending on different intentions.
According to FBI, homicide falls under a broad category of the

9. violent crimes. Research shows that in the US the crime rose by
5.3 % in 2016. The data provided detailed information as to the
cause of the offence and the degree of the criminality of the
cases. It also indicated the type of crimes done and the people
involved. In the year 2015, the crime rate perpetrated by the
male was 89% and the female 11%. This enabled the authorities
to come up with various ways and means of mitigating crime
committed by the male people in the society.
Murder
In homicide, the first-degree murder is the most serious crime.
Murder can be both intentional and premeditated. Intentional
murder or deliberate involves short or long-term plan to kill a
victim. In case someone intends to kill a certain individual and
in the long run by mistake kills another person (Chakravorty,
2015). The crime is still categorized under the first-degree
murder because of the intention of the accused. In cases where
there is the lack of premeditated murder, but the victim killed a
person it is described as “in the heat of passion”, it can be
categorized and second-degree murder. The categorization
depends on the intensity of the crime and at some point, can fall
under manslaughter charges as cited by the state and its rules
and regulation as enshrined in the constitution.
Manslaughter
Manslaughter is the widespread killing of a fellow human being.
The lowest category of crime is involuntary manslaughter.
Involuntary manslaughter occurs when the perpetrator had no
intention of killing but killed the victim through the criminal
behavior of negligence or recklessness. A good example is a
drunk driver driving recklessly and accidentally knocks and
kills someone on the road. The driver did not intend intent o
kill, but in the long run, someone has died. Voluntary
manslaughter entails the offender did not have prior intent to
kill in the case the homicide it can occur “in the heat of
passion” and with no forethought. The state criminalizes and
categorizes under a variant of murder charges, instead of
manslaughter (Stubbs, 2016).

10. There are similarities in the civil and criminal legal systems
regarding the burden of persuasion, and penalties imposed on
the key players or perpetrators. Criminal justice imposes
penalties the minute a suspect is found and pronounced guilty
(Stephen, 2014). The categories involved in a crime is
probation, imprisonment and restitution and other punishments
involved as deemed fit by the different constitutions of different
states. In civil cases, the system is entitled to pay monetary
damages in case of being accused guilty. Proving beyond a
reasonable doubt is a standard that is applied during the
prosecution of a criminal and determination of the offence; it is
a necessity and a critical one in order not to convict the wrong
persons. Civil cases mostly rely on the preponderance of
evidence which is a standard application in civil matters where
the ruling is on the weight of the evidence provided (Cicchin,
2016).
Etiology theories
There are different theories involved in trying to explain the
factors that influence criminal behaviors that make offenders to
commit the homicide. There are environmental ideas involved
with physical methods of killing (Akers, 2013). These theories
include socialization, social and control structural theories.
Socialization
According to socialization theory, the men’s aggression and go-
getter tendencies make them achieve their objectives (Taylor,
2013). The male seems more aggressive than the female
counterparts. The gender difference is a variation factor to
differentiate between male and female is used to justify the
reason why the homicide offender is increasing in women than
men. Socialization is widely embraced in academic and
professional circles relying on the concept of defending
homicide patterns that could lead to erratic conclusions. Drug
abuse is the most influential factor in the causes of murder.
Extreme socialization leads to lack of physiologic tolerance to
drug and substance abuse. According to the journal by Oxford
University, the data collected on the homicide cases suggest

11. that the ex-convicts are eight times probably to commit a crime
in 2 weeks after their release. Similarly, the extreme cases were
noted to occur with the ex-convicts who were under drug abuse.
Drugs used by the convicts are just a way of survival tactics and
mitigating boredom cases, these adaptation leads to drug
addiction and thus influences their reasoning capability in a
negative manner. Prisoners are highly capable of committing
homicide because of the adverse environment that they are
exposed to during their serving of the sentence (Wortley, 2016).
The conditions they live in affects them psychologically and
thus shape their character and can influence their actions even
when out of prison. Many ex-convicts suffer from long-life
trauma and thus are taken into a rehabilitation center, and most
of them never recover completely.
Social structure
The social structure theory tries to explain the reasons as to
why a person would want to murder another person. There are
perspectives like the social problems including education and
poverty which are the root causes of the homicide in the
society. (Eck, 2015) Denoted that there is uncertainty whether
social structures influence a person to commit suicide and they
get involved in criminal activities and more so murder. Lack of
education can be contributing factor which lures teenagers into
committing illegal activities. School dropouts are the most
affected victims by the fact that they are lured into joining
criminal gangs who engage themselves in the criminal activities
in the society. The lifestyle also influences the social and the
criminality. Most teenagers like the classy and expensive
lifestyle and thus as they want to achieve their self-
actualization. They get involved with expensive lifestyle and
thus in the spirit of satisfying their needs they should get
involved with gangs for the benefit of gaining income to sustain
their lifestyle (Donovan, 2016). Search for livelihood and
money has led to involvement in criminal activities that are
experienced in the society today. In an example of San Diego
County, a “total of 5,409 Part 1 violent crimes were recorded

12. including homicide, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.
Relevant prevention, intervention, and treatment to homicide
Many stages can achieve prevention and Solve of criminal
cases. Criminals may be people who are ex-convicts or new
criminals. Transparency and fairness in closing the cases must
be engaged in the process of determining the criminals. The
courts must be fair and transparent regarding truth and
imposition of the penalty to the convicts and should entail
“prove beyond reasonable doubt” and should be enhanced in
order not to convict the innocent people in any criminal case
(Robinson, 2013). Any party is found guilty of any wrongdoing
to another individual is entitled to pay monetary damages in the
case found guilty. The criminal system rectifies the offender
while the civil system seeks to compensate the aggrieved party.
Both scenarios deliberate their judgment through the evidence
provided in the courts of law in every state. In also elaborates
the provision of professional practitioners like the judges who
must be involved in the determination of the cases. Since
Homicide occurs in our societies, it needs to be addressed by
the general public. Awareness regarding campaigns by
communities and different groups must be enhanced. The
security arms of the government must collaborate with the
public in determining cases involving homicide. The public
must be ready and swift to report such incidents to the police
and the police in their turn must be quick to act and prevent the
crime taking place, and in this case, the crime rate will be
reduced. The introduction of rehabilitation centers for the ex-
convicts who are involved in the homicide is an important
feature that must be considered by the governing state.
Rehabilitation centers will make the convicts be incorporated
back into the society while making them productive and in that
way, they gain confidence and work productively with the
community they come from (Magrude, 2016). Programs that
create jobs for the unemployed youths must be designed to
enhance employment for the energetic young people in building
the nation and raising their life standards and thus help them to

13. avoid crime.
Reference
Hodell, E. C., Wasarhaley, N. E., Lynch, K. R., & Golding, J.
M. (2014). Mock juror gender biases and perceptions of self-
defense claims in intimate partner homicide. Journal of Family
Violence, 29(5), 495-506.
Chakravorty, S., Daripa, S., Saha, U., Bose, S., Goswami, S., &
Mitra, S. (2015). Data mining techniques for analyzing murder
related structured and unstructured data. American Journal of
Advanced Computing, 2(2).
Stubbs, J. (2016). Murder, manslaughter and domestic violence.
Stephen, J. F. (2014). Selected Writings of James Fitzjames
Stephen: A General View of the Criminal Law. Oxford
University Press, USA.
Cicchini, M. D., & White, L. T. (2016). Testing the Impact of
Criminal Jury Instructions on Verdicts: A Conceptual
Replication.
Akers, R. L. (2013). Criminological theories: Introduction and
evaluation. Routledge.
Wortley, R. K., & Townsley, M. (Eds.). (2016). Environmental
criminology and crime analysis (Vol. 18). Taylor & Francis.
Taylor, I., Walton, P., & Young, J. (2013). The new

14. criminology: For a social theory of deviance. Routledge.
Donovan, J. E. (2016). Child and adolescent socialization into
substance use. In the Oxford Handbook of Adolescent Substance
Abuse.
Robinson, J., Cox, G., Malone, A., Williamson, M., Baldwin,
G., Fletcher, K., & O’Brien, M. (2013). A systematic review of
school-based interventions aimed at preventing, treating, and
responding to suicide-related behavior in young people. Crisis.
Magruder, K. M., Kassam-Adams, N., Thoresen, S., & Olff, M.
(2016). Prevention and public health approaches to trauma and
traumatic stress: a rationale and a call to action. European
journal of psychotraumatology, 7.