Annotated Bibliography: Source #3

Murderers: Affective/Impulsive Versus Predatory/Instrumental (Premeditated)

Homicide." Criminal Justice And Behavior 40.8 (2013): 933-948. PsycINFO. Web. 27
Apr. 2016.
The authors of this study classified 77 murderers into two distinct categories:
Affective/Impulsive versus Predatory/Instrumental. As the categories suggest, they are not only
different in the act of killing, but there are also other differences between the groups. It has been
determined that the impulsive murders have a lower Full Scale IQ than those who commit
premeditated murders. The results of this study took into consideration such significant
information that included relevant background factors. The affective/impulsive classification of
murderers were found to have anger issues and a short temper. The victim of the impulsive
murder is usually know by the perpetrator, such as a family member, friend, co-worker, etc. The
predatory/instrumental classification of murderers were found to be proactive. In other words,
they seek out their victims based on a certain criteria. They also were shown to display higher
psychopathic traits, commit more severe physical violence, and have tendencies toward antisocial and narcissistic behavior. Knowing which kind of killer the suspect is, which behavioral
science is a great tool to figure it out, will help capture him or her.
We are given statistic charts, graphs, and tables in regards to the study. The audience that this
study was written for would be most likely would be scholars in law and criminal justice. This
article noted that not all violent behavior is the same, and throughout years of collecting data
showed us that the extreme cases of violent behavior was caused by the predatory group. With
this given information, we can see that the skillset to know the difference in the behavior of these
two groups would be not only crucial to the apprehension of the killer, but would let law

enforcement know what they are walking into beforehand. Saving lives and stopping criminals
with less risk to the officers is a great thing that is obtained by the works of behavioral sciences
and criminal psychology.