The Lust Murderer: Asocial vs. Nonsocial

The FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) was formerly called the Behavioral Science Unit. The first generation of BSU profilers did the initial groundwork for what would eventually become a computer database for extreme offenses like rape and murder.

When I was working on a master’s degree in forensic psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, the professor who was teaching criminal profiling assigned an article, “The Lust Murderer,” by BSU members John Douglas and Robert R. Hazelwood (published in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin).

Coincidentally, I’d just interviewed Hazelwood for Court TV’s Crime Library, and he told me some background for this piece:

“John Douglas and I wrote an article in 1980, ‘The Lust Murderer,’” he said, “in which we first set forth the distinction between organized and disorganized homicides. I had noticed that in a number of cases, there were some that seemed to be well thought out and others that were highly spontaneous. I went to John and told him my ideas. So we sat down and came up with the characteristics of each type.

“But the members of the Behavioral Science Unit told us it would never fly because it was too simple. But what happened? You go anywhere in the world in law enforcement, and among criminologists and mental health workers, and you'll hear that there are two broad categories of killers: organized and disorganized. So it did stick.”

They didn’t invent “lust murderer” as a category. That’s been in criminology circles for well over a century. But they did add behavioral nuances that they hoped would assist investigators.

The division between ‘organized’ and ‘disorganized’ is indeed still used today, although investigators realize that there are no pure types. Some offenders line up closer to one pole of this behavioral continuum than the other, but most are mixed types. Thus, this distinction has lost the impact it initially promised. Now, it’s just a starting point, a basic guideline, but still useful for some aspects of crime scene interpretation.

The 1980 article is a classic.

It begins with a murder in South Carolina in 1975. The body of a woman was horribly mutilated and partially cannibalized. “It is the authors’ contention,” Douglas and Hazelwood wrote, “that the lust murder is unique and is distinguished from the sadistic homicide by the involvement of a mutilating attack or displacement of the breasts, rectum or genitals.” They then define the two ends of the spectrum:

“Organized nonsocial” offenders tend to be educated, intelligent, aware of law enforcement, narcissistic, controlled, and prepared. They have no regard for social norms. They’re indifferent, irresponsible, and self-centered, although they can seem amiable when necessary. They generally leave a clean crime scene, but might take a trophy to relive the pleasure. They feel no remorse, and they pay close attention to any media reports about their crimes. They’re “methodical and cunning” and are aware that what they’re doing is criminal. In fact, this actually pleases them.

The “disorganized asocial” offenders tend to suffer from a mental illness – especially psychosis – or to be criminally inexperienced. They use a weapon found at the scene, rather than bringing one with them, and tend to leave evidence behind. They’re impulsive. With murder, they use a blitz attack and often mutilate a body post-mortem. They might feel badly about the crime later. They don’t pay much attention to media coverage or investigative methods. They are “socially aversive,” i.e., loners. They often feel rejected. The crimes are often close to where they live or work.

Both types indulge in rehearsal fantasies. They obsess over what they want to do. The organized type plans better and is more secretive. “Typically, the asocial type leaves the body at the scene of death, and while the location is not open to the casual observer, there has been no attempt to conceal the body.” The nonsocial type tends to hide the body until it can be transported to another location. This offender wants it to be discovered because he enjoys the subsequent publicity. He pays attention.

The victim is generally killed in a sadistic manner, and then mutilated post-mortem. Evidence of torture indicates a nonsocial vs. asocial type.

During the decades since this article was published, agents and criminologists alike have layered the categories with more detail and sophistication. The point of this blog, however, is focus on this brief, four-page article that got the ball rolling.