Explaining paraphilias and lust murder: Toward an integrated model

The literature on sexual homicide and serial murder has offered mostly desc riptive or anecdotal accounts. What seems to underscore these crimes is a s eries of paraphilias (i.e., sexually deviant behaviors) that give rise to v iolent conduct. The motivational model of Burgess et al. and the trauma-con trol model of Hickey indicate as much in their respective sexual homicide a nd serial murder typologies. However neither model offers a detailed concep tual account of the etiology and process of paraphilias, especially in rela tionship to lust murder; or erotophonophilia. This article attempts to fill this gap in the research. The authors demonstrate how the motivational and trauma-control typologies are assimilable, making possible an integrated t heoretical paraphilic schema. The authors explain how paraphilias as a syst em of behavior function as motive in the sexually sadistic act of lust murd er They conclude by exploring the implications of their conceptual synthesi s for clinical forensic treatment and law enforcement practice.