The 3 main types of homicidal motivation in murderers.

We talk about the most common motivations behind murder.

Possibly, the act of taking the life of another human being is one of the most mediatized and repudiated in our society, and one of the most difficult to understand. In this article we will try to answer what internal psychological processes guide the commission of a murder, what motivations "move" serial killers and why such homicidal behaviors are maintained.Although it must be taken into account that in each case these motivations will vary to a greater or lesser degree.

The concept of homicidal motivation

Homicidal motivation is a multidimensional construct.This means that there are several classic concepts to take into account linked to the motivation of serial killers, such as: modeling (learning or improving a behavior by imitation), trial and error techniques (perfecting their modus operandi), vicarious learning (seeing a behavior to learn from it), self-reinforcement and behavioral conditioning, and the killer's own justifications that perpetuate the commission of these murders.

Thus, killers can come to learn and model their behaviors. In fact, one of the "problems" that exist in prisons is that many convicted prisoners come to learn to commit murder more accurately thanks to the explanations of other criminals.

The 3 types of motivation in homicides

Although the basic motivational processes are similar to those of other non-homicidal persons, murderers often have specific goals, different attributions and, above all, erroneous or biased cognitions. Let us say that the cognitive processes associated with certain acts are reevaluated by means of the same distorted cognitive processes.

Murderers in general, and especially serial killers (a concept introduced by Robert K. Ressler in the 1970s), tend to do what satisfies their needs, and use violence as a means to achieve their ends. This statement falls within the basic motivational processes of any person, but instead of using violence as a method of action, non-homicidal people employ other strategies.

The focus for understanding criminal motivation in homicides is on the type of violence used. The manner and means employed will provide crucial clues as to their motivation.. This is why the analysis of the crime scene is so important, as it reflects the offender's state of mind and feelings, which can give us clues as to why he committed the crime.

In the following we will describe the three basic types of homicidal motivation. Obviously, they are not mutually exclusive, but in some offenders one or the other may be more intense.

1. Revenge and justification

The main motivation of these murderers is to take revenge in a more or less specific way on those who they believe have contributed to their misfortunes.

These killers justify their acts as lawful and just; for them, murder is a natural consequence of their misfortunes.For them, murder is a natural consequence of the mistreatment or unjustified rejection they have suffered. They feel they must punish a profile of people for something they have done or for what they represent (p. e.g., an aggressor who as a young man has been rejected on several occasions by women, years later takes revenge for these events by murdering several women who have nothing to do with the affair, but who resemble those who initially rejected him).

2. Control and power

If there is one thing that is totally reinforcing for a killer, it is the feeling of power, however fleeting. They have absolute control and power over the victim, over his or her life or death.. The feeling of being "omnipotent" is common, that is, to be like a kind of God. This is an experience that can become totally addictive for the aggressor, becoming a very powerful source of personal satisfaction. It can make up for the emptiness they feel in other spheres of their life, such as boredom, being unnoticed, being "just one more"?

This feeling of control-power reinforces and maintains aggressive behaviors.It is very likely that if the murderer is moved by this type of motivation, he will return to action.

3. Ecstasy-Relief

Before a general state of discomfort or unrelieved excitationIn the face of a general state of discomfort or unrelieved excitement, they try to find a behavior or activity that frees them from this tension. They present a state of anxiety, nervousness and restlessness that in many occasions manifests itself in alcoholism or antisocial behaviors, and other times ends in a homicidal act.

The cathartic moment of expression of feelings and anger is the murder itself. is the murder itself, and an intense feeling of euphoria and ecstasy is common. After the homicidal act comes a feeling of intense and pleasurable calm, of relief. However, this feeling of relief does not last forever, and the most common thing is the appearance after a while of new feelings of uneasiness, anxiety, tension, accumulated anger... They have learned that to "relieve" these feelings an infallible way is the commission of a murder.

Final reflection on motivation in murders

We must make some nuances about criminal motivation in homicides: the motivation of a murderer is implicit, individual and unjustified. We will find as many motivations as there are murderers: it is difficult to identify all the motivations of murderers within the three types mentioned above, although this classification can be of initial help in understanding their motivations.

In this sense, the motivations for committing a murder have always been very heterogeneous: there are ideological, religious motivations (proof of this is ISIS terrorism), motivations of passion, selfishness, economics, revenge, and so on. Obviously, the best way to know the motivations of serial killers is to talk directly to them, to conduct a meticulous interview by a trained professional and draw conclusions. Some very famous interviews in this field are those of Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy.

The most important thing, more than being able to classify the murderer into one type of motivation or another within the classification, is to be able to predict what is important to him and why he does it, to be able to understand what his personal criminal motivation is, what his history is. In this way we will be able to more reliably predict their behavior, analyze their behavior in greater detail and be able to stop them.