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Burgess et al. / SEXUAL HOMICIDE TABLE 1 Frequency of Reported Behavior Indicators in. Childhood, Adolescence, and Adulthood. for Sexual Murders Frequency Adolescence Adulthood Childhood (%) n (%) n (%) Behavior 27 81 27 81 28 82 Daydreaming 82 28 82 27 81 28 Compulsive m asturbation 26 77 26 73 28 71 Isolation 28 75 28 68 28 71 Chronic lying 20 60 20 15 22 68 Enuresis 25 84 25 72 27 67 Rebellious 22 68 21 52 24 67 Nightmares 26 62 23 35 26 58 Destroying property 25 52 25 28 25 56 Fire setting 56 27 81 25 56 27 Stealing 28 64 27 44 28 54 Cruelty to children 27 63 26 62 27 52 Poor body image 26 50 25 44 27 48 Temper tantrums 48 22 50 22 50 23 Sleep problems 38 25 84 28 86 Assaultive to adults 25 23 43 24 50 24 38 Phobias 36 26 46 26 11 28 Running away 26 46 25 36 28 36 Cruelty to animals 29 22 32 22 27 24 Accident prone 21 88 22 45 21 29 Headaches 23 98 23 35 25 28 Destroying possessions 25 36 26 98 26 27 Eating problems 24 21 23 13 26 19 Convulsions 24 21 25 32 26 19 Self-mutilation NOTE: n = number of subjects with data. and/or overstimulation in early childhood, our thesis is different. We hypoth- esize that these men are motivated to murder by their way of thinking. Over. time, their thinking patterns emerged from or were influenced by early life experiences. For example, a child abused by an adult caretaker begins to think about being hit every time an adult comes near him, dwelling on the hitting. He may imagine(fantasize) about someone coming to help him by beating up the adult. This thinking pattern may bring relief, because someone has protected him in his fantasy. In addition, while being abused the child may psychologically remove himself from the pain. He may pride himself on his control over pain in the face of abuse; for example, while being beaten he does. not flinch or blink. This thinking pattern gives the child a sense of contro! and, as a result, tension is relieved. The child can increase or decrease terror 45