Adequate (Non)Provocation and Heat of Passion as Excuse Not Justification

For a number of reasons, including the complicated psychological makeup of reactive homicide, the heat of passion defense has remained subject to various points of confusion. One persistent issue of disagreement has been the justificatory versus excusatory nature of the defense. In this Article, I highlight and categorize a series of varied American homicide cases in which the applicability of heat of passion was supported although adequate provocation (or significant provocation by the victim) was absent. The cases are organized to illustrate how common law heat of passion may apply in instances in which there is no actual provocation or the source of provocation is the victim. The rationale is that the emotional disturbance that interferes with one\u27s rationality and self-control arises as an effect of the genuine belief that one has been seriously wronged, a perspective that can only be characterized as an excuse. In addition, I discuss how the rationale that this defense is a partial justification fails even in most situations in which the killer has really been seriously provoked by the victim. Finally, I clarify discrete psychological components of heat of passion homicide, and discuss how scholarly and judicial blurring of these forms of mental functioning may contribute to the longstanding confusion as to the nature of the defense. In sum, this Article contributes further evidence as to why it is correct to view heat of passion as a partial excuse

On Passion\u27s Potential to Undermine Rationality: A Reply

This Reply is organized into several sections. Following the Introduction, I respond to my six distinguished commentators. In Section II, I consider Professor Chin\u27s concern that the distinction between justification and excuse bears no practical relevance for the criminal law. In Section III, I respond to Professor Baron\u27s argument that reasonable mistake of fact is consistent with justification-a view, she observes, that is generally reflected in the criminal law. Building on the discussion of whether mistake and justification are compatible, Section IV addresses Professor Pillsbury\u27s treatment of heat of passion as a hybrid defense that uniquely incorporates components of both justification and excuse, including whether such a characterization is analytically valid. In Section V, I respond to Professor Westen\u27s various criticisms of my arguments that heat of passion is a partial excuse. Next, in Section VI, I attend to Professor Morse\u27s claim that the issue of the nature of heat of passion is irreducibly normative, and, therefore, necessarily entirely non-analytical. In Section VII, I consider Professor Weisberg\u27s extension of my earlier arguments that an understanding of the interdisciplinarity of psychology, philosophy, and law may be useful to the analysis of structural and functional issues of second-degree murder and personality disorders (or psychopathy)

The role of irritability in the relation between job stressors, emotional reactivity, and counterproductive work behaviour

Researchers have stressed the importance of assessing individual differences in personality as an approach to understanding aggressive and deviant conduct across different contexts. This study investigated the moderation role of irritability, a specific aggression-related disposition, in the process of work stressors that are conducive to counterproductive work behaviour (CWB) within the stressor–emotion model. From a total sample of 1147 Italian workers (53.5% women), high- and low-irritability groups were identified. Then, using a multigroup structural equations model, we simultaneously examined all the relations in both high- and low-irritability groups, and investigated whether these relations were different between them. Results showed that job stressors elicited negative emotions that, in turn, lead to CWB. Moreover, some job stressors influenced CWB directly only in the high-irritability group. Overall, irritability moderated the relation among job stressors and CWB but not the relation among job stressors and negative emotions, with the sole exception of role conflict. As well, irritability did not moderate the relation between emotion and CWB. Thus, high-irritability employees may be more prone to react aggressively to job stressors via multiple functioning paths. The principal differences between low- and high-irritability individuals could be how they manage the impact of perceived stressors on emotions and behaviour

An Integrative Approach to Understanding Counterproductive Work Behavior: The Roles of Stressors, Negative Emotions, and Moral Disengagement

Several scholars have highlighted the importance of examining moral disengagement (MD) in understanding aggression and deviant conduct across different contexts. The present study investigates the role of MD as a specific social-cognitive construct that, in the organizational context, may intervene in the process leading from stressors to counterproductive work behavior (CWB). Assuming the theoretical framework of the stressor-emotion model of CWB, we hypothesized that MD mediates, at least partially, the relation between negative emotions in reaction to perceived stressors and CWB by promoting or justifying aggressive responses to frustrating situations or events. In a sample of 1,147 Italian workers, we tested a structural equations model. The results support our hypothesis: the more workers experienced negative emotions in response to stressors, the more they morally disengaged and, in turn, enacted CW

Multi-messenger observations of a binary neutron star merger

On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ~1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of 40+8-8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 Mo. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ~40 Mpc) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One- Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ~10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position ~9 and ~16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta

On Passion\u27s Potential to Undermine Rationality: A Reply

This Reply is organized into several sections. Following the Introduction, I respond to my six distinguished commentators. In Section II, I consider Professor Chin\u27s concern that the distinction between justification and excuse bears no practical relevance for the criminal law. In Section III, I respond to Professor Baron\u27s argument that reasonable mistake of fact is consistent with justification-a view, she observes, that is generally reflected in the criminal law. Building on the discussion of whether mistake and justification are compatible, Section IV addresses Professor Pillsbury\u27s treatment of heat of passion as a hybrid defense that uniquely incorporates components of both justification and excuse, including whether such a characterization is analytically valid. In Section V, I respond to Professor Westen\u27s various criticisms of my arguments that heat of passion is a partial excuse. Next, in Section VI, I attend to Professor Morse\u27s claim that the issue of the nature of heat of passion is irreducibly normative, and, therefore, necessarily entirely non-analytical. In Section VII, I consider Professor Weisberg\u27s extension of my earlier arguments that an understanding of the interdisciplinarity of psychology, philosophy, and law may be useful to the analysis of structural and functional issues of second-degree murder and personality disorders (or psychopathy)

Adequate (Non)Provocation and Heat of Passion as Excuse Not Justification

For a number of reasons, including the complicated psychological makeup of reactive homicide, the heat of passion defense has remained subject to various points of confusion. One persistent issue of disagreement has been the justificatory versus excusatory nature of the defense. In this Article, I highlight and categorize a series of varied American homicide cases in which the applicability of heat of passion was supported although adequate provocation (or significant provocation by the victim) was absent. The cases are organized to illustrate how common law heat of passion may apply in instances in which there is no actual provocation or the source of provocation is the victim. The rationale is that the emotional disturbance that interferes with one\u27s rationality and self-control arises as an effect of the genuine belief that one has been seriously wronged, a perspective that can only be characterized as an excuse. In addition, I discuss how the rationale that this defense is a partial justification fails even in most situations in which the killer has really been seriously provoked by the victim. Finally, I clarify discrete psychological components of heat of passion homicide, and discuss how scholarly and judicial blurring of these forms of mental functioning may contribute to the longstanding confusion as to the nature of the defense. In sum, this Article contributes further evidence as to why it is correct to view heat of passion as a partial excuse

Applying systems principles to models of social information processing and aggressive behavior in youth

Abstract Systems perspectives view development as the product of hierarchically-organized levels of varied life processes that are continually changing and interacting as time passes. This theoretical approach may be of considerable importance to developing research programs in child social cognition, particularly since multilevel, multiprocess models of social information processing and aggressive behavior in youth are still in relatively formative stages. This paper proposes that key systems principles can be conceptually applied to social information-processing models in ways that are critical to furthering future research in social-cognitive foundations of aggressive behavior. Examples of initial applications to current social informationprocessing models of aggression in childhood are presented. Implications of this theoretical approach for substantive empirical research (e.g., modes of processing) are discussed and directions for methodological design (e.g., computer simulation) are proposed.