“Sorting Things out”: A Scoping Review of Sexual Homicide Typologies

• Published in: Behavioral sciences & the law Vol. 43; no. 4; pp. 419 - 435
• Main Authors: Beauregard, Eric, Chopin, Julien
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.08.2025; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Canada; classification; Crime; Crime Victims; Criminals - psychology; Homicide; Homicide - classification; Homicide - psychology; Humans; Machine learning; Murders & murder attempts; Prevention programs; Profiles; Sadistic personality disorder; scoping review; Sex Offenses - classification; Sex Offenses - psychology; sexual homicide; typologies; Canada; typologies; sexual homicide; classification; scoping review
• ISSN: 0735-3936; 1099-0798; 1099-0798
• DOI: 10.1002/bsl.2722

ABSTRACT Sexual homicides are complex crimes that have been the focus of numerous classification systems aimed at aiding investigations, understanding offender behavior, and informing treatment plans. Over the past 25 years, a variety of typologies have been developed to categorize these offenses. This scoping review examines these typologies, exploring their evolution and the key offender, victim, and crime characteristics used to define them. The review identifies 19 empirical typologies from Canada, France, the UK, South Africa, and other regions, most of which are based on police and offender data. Typologies typically include categories such as “sadistic” and “anger‐driven” homicides, though the number of types varies across studies. Moreover, the review highlights gaps in current research, such as limited sample sizes and the need for more diverse cultural perspectives. Recommendations are made for developing a more comprehensive and validated typology that incorporates broader data sources and modern methodologies, such as machine learning techniques, to enhance profiling, investigation, and prevention efforts.