Sexual homicide: a review of the main theoretical models

Most studies on sexual homicide that have been published over the years since the mid-1980s are either mainly descriptive in nature or were intended to develop different offender profiles based on different offending patterns. Therefore, little is known about the underlying theoretical models of the etiology of sexual homicide that would advance the knowledge in this field. To date, only five theoretical models of sexual homicide have been proffered: (a) the motivational model; (b) the trauma-control model; (c) the paraphilic model; (d) the criminal event perspective model; and (e) the social learning–routine activity integrated model. In this chapter, these five theoretical models are reviewed, with the aim of advancing the theoretical understanding of sexual homicide and the offenders who commit this offense.