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The Death of a Leader: Homicide as a Means of Group Disengagement
Janet Haines, Ph.D.
School of Psychology
University of Tasmania
Australia
Christopher L.
Williams, Ph.D.
School of Psychology
University of Tasmania
Australia
Ian Sale, FRANZCP
Discipline of
Psychiatry
University of Tasmania
Australia
Jodi Glading, B.S.,
John Davidson, Ph.D.
School of Psychology
University of Tasmania
Australia
Abstract
This paper presents a single case
study of a cult group member who murdered the group leader as a means of
escaping the group. The authors undertook an assessment to examine the
pre-homicide and peri-homicide factors that influenced the individual’s
homicidal behavior, in an endeavor to establish this man’s motive for ending the
group leader’s life. The authors administered psychological tests to assess the
individual’s intellectual functioning, psychological adjustment, and group
psychological abuse. In addition, they employed a personalized guided-imagery
methodology to recreate the homicidal act so that they could examine the
individual’s stage-by-stage psychophysiological and psychological responses to
the behavior. They then made a comparison of the individual’s responses to the
homicidal act with his responses to other control scenes to establish the
differential influences operating at the time of the homicide. The results of
the research highlight the influences of psychological manipulation and the
constriction of problem-solving options that can operate as a function of
cult-group membership.
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