Contributions of Psychiatric Consultation in the Investigation of Serial Murder

Abstract

This article focusses on enhancing communication between investigative officers assigned to serial murder cases and their psychiatric consultants. In view of the interdisciplinary interest in this topic, it must be pointed out that my purpose in presenting this article is not for the validation of psychiatric diagnosis of psychodynamic formulations. For those who are primarily interested in the validity of psychiatric formulations as applied to violent crime and predictions of dangerousness, standard texts are recommended where metapsychological issues are thoroughly discussed, and the very important issues of the validity of psychiatry. The reader, if not already acquainted with the literature of "Antipsychiatry", of Laing (1967), and the literature of Szasz (1961) can read these authors concerning the issues of validity in the field of psychiatric consultation to the criminal justice system. A well-known dilemma in clinical psychiatry is the retrograde reconstruction of clinical material, both fantasy and behavior, to presumed etiological antecedents. A definitive, unitary psychological model for serial murder does not exist today. Hence, this is an attempt to assist in communications between law enforcement personnel with the duty of investigating serial murder and their psychiatric consultants. The article is divided into three sections: 1) Overview, 2) Psychological Formulation of Serial Murder, 3) Profiling.