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Homicide Studies, Vol. 10, No. 4,
320-335 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/1088767906292645
Review Essay: The Murderer Next Door: Why the Mind is Designed to Kill
Johan M. G. van der Dennen
University of Groningen, the Netherlands
Buss postulates that the human mind has developed adaptations for killing (killing or homicide modules), that murder is qualitatively different from all other forms of violence, and that homicidal ideation (fantasies) almost invariably precedes carried-out kills, and he claims that Daly & Wilson’s slip-up argument fails because premeditated mate (spouse, partner) killing cannot result from the mere slip-ups central to the by-product (of ever more desperate strategies of mate guarding) hypothesis. In this review a number of alternative interpretations are presented: Normal distribution and coincidental status striving theory, special taxon of substrate dysfunctions, phylogenetic regression theory, and overcontrol theory. Finally, the problematic mate-killing module (as allegedly "superior" to the by-product theory) and the obscure role of homicidal ideation are critically assessed.
Key Words: evolutionary psychology • killing module • mate killings • slip-up or by-product theory • adaptations to kill
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