Psychosocial Causes of the Crime of Murder in Pakistan

The present research was conducted to investigate the psychosocial causes underlying the crime of murder in Pakistan. A total of 100 randomly selected convicts of murder were interviewed from the Central Jail Kot Lukhpat, Lahore. The typical personality profile of a murderer as shown by the data was a young. poor, unskilled, and uneducated man with no history of crime and imprisonment. The breakdown of psychosocial causes of the crime of murder into different categories showed that the greater number of murders were committed due to petty affairs, while old enmities and property disputes had also their major share among the causes. The findings revealed that most of the homicidal acts occur in interpersonal contexts. The use of guns as the most commonly employed weapon for killing others indicates that the license issuing authorities should be more vigilant in permitting the license. The involvement of otherwise normally functioning individuals in the heinous act of murder suggests that with proper education and counselling as well as social reforms many of the terrible acts may be avoided.