Explaining Paraphilias and Lust Murder: Toward an Integrated Model

Abstract

The literature on sexual homicide and serial murder has offered mostly descriptive or anecdotal accounts. What seems to underscore these crimes is a series of paraphilias (i.e., sexually deviant behaviors) that give rise to violent conduct. The motivational model of Burgess et al. and the trauma-control model of Hickey indicate as much in their respective sexual homicide and serial murder typologies. However, neither model offers a detailed conceptual account of the etiology and process of paraphilias, especially in relationship to lust murder, or erotophonophilia. This article attempts to fill this gap in the research. The authors demonstrate how the motivational and trauma-control typologies are assimilable, making possible an integrated theoretical paraphilic schema. The authors explain how paraphilias as a system of behavior function as motive in the sexually sadistic act of lust murder. They conclude by exploring the implications of their conceptual synthesis for clinical forensic treatment and law enforcement practice.