Exploring the Link Between Mental Illness and Homicidal Behaviors

ENGL 102 Professor Outline THESIS: Despite increasing mental health awareness, mental illness remains a powerful force that drives and fosters many homicidal behaviors among other stigmas as the victims lack proper self-control which leads them to poor decisions in life. Paragraph 1: The stigmatization of mental illness makes it a controversial issue or problem that stirs hot debates globally. “Distinguishing between homicide types is essential for applying justice because penalties vary according to the circumstances of the act and the killer’s intentions and behaviors.” (Vars et al. 1) “Violence is often referred to as being behavior involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something” “Examples of lawful homicide would be the killing of a human being during war combat or the implementation of a lawfully ordered death penalty.” (Brookman et al, 2017). “The FBI have revisited the definition of the term however, arguing that serial homicide is the unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender in separate events.” (FBI 2008) “Multiple homicide offenders (MHOs), defined as criminal defendants who murder more than one person during a criminal episode, occupy a peculiar place in criminology.” (Delisi and Scherer 367) “Genocide is directed against the national group as an entity, and the actions involved are directed against individuals, not in their individual capacity, but as members of the national group” (Lemkin 2008) Paragraph 2: Childhood trauma, history of abuse, and environmental influences can contribute to homicidal behaviors. “Childhood trauma, more specifically physical abuse, has been associated with violence risk in healthy popula