Psychological and mechanical profiles of incarcerated male murderers in Malaysia
Murder is an unlawful act with the intention of killing a person. The increasingly violent murder incidents, incomplete characterisation of murder in Malaysia, inadequate Malaysian criminological studies on murder and murderers, and impacts and consequences of murder were pivotal in the desire to...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2015
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| Online Access: | http://eprints.usm.my/62785/ http://eprints.usm.my/62785/1/MOHAMMAD%20RAHIM%20BIN%20KAMALUDDIN%20-%20e.pdf |
| Summary: | Murder is an unlawful act with the intention of killing a person. The increasingly
violent murder incidents, incomplete characterisation of murder in Malaysia,
inadequate Malaysian criminological studies on murder and murderers, and impacts
and consequences of murder were pivotal in the desire to conduct this study on
Malaysian male murderers. The present study is the pioneer national study that is
conducted on murder by focusing on a sample of incarcerated Malaysian male
murderers within Peninsular Malaysia. The main aim of the present study was to
investigate their psychological and mechanical profiles. Nine specific objectives were formulated. The study commenced with a series of 11 year trend analyses to establish the trends and patterns of murder and murder victimology in Malaysia. Prior to the main study, a validation study was carried out to validate three psychometric instruments for the quantitative phase and the results were found
acceptable and satisfactory. Following these, the main study employed explanatory
mixed method research design using quantitative and qualitative approaches. In the
quantitative phase, an observational cross-sectional design using a guided self administered questionnaire was applied for data collection. The sampling frame
consisted of 71 Malaysian male murderers from 11 prisons who were selected using
purposive sampling method with predetermined selection criteria. The questionnaire
consisted of socio-demographic variables, mechanical variables of murder, and four
Malay validated psychometric instruments: Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality
Questionnaire-40-Cross-Culture, Self-control scale, Aggression Questionnaire and “How I Think” Questionnaire. The present study also compares murderers and a control group (n = 300). Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive and
inferential statistics. The descriptive findings successfully identified prevalent psychological and mechanical traits of male murderers. The regression analyses indicated that several personality traits have significant relationships and are predictive of other psychological variables. The correlation analyses highlighted
several significant associations among the psychological variables. Findings
revealed some significant mean and median differences of psychological variables score with the types of mechanical aspects committed by the murderers. The findings also indicated that there are several significant psychological traits differences between murderers and control group. In the qualitative phase, nine male
murderers voluntarily participated in semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed
using thematic analysis. Six main themes: violence and criminal history, substance
abuse history, murder victimisation, murder victim concealment, psychological
profiles, and preventive factors; were explored and several new themes emerged.
The results were discussed in relation to murder, theories that underpin the present
research, contexts of criminology and victimology. |
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