There is a range of homicidal thoughts which spans from vague ideas of revenge to detailed and fully formulated plans without the act itself.
50–91% of people surveyed on university grounds in various places in the United States admit to having had a homicidal fantasy.
[2] Homicidal ideation is common, accounting for 10–17% of patient presentations to psychiatric facilities in the United States.
There are many associated risk factors which include: history of violence and any thoughts of committing harm, poor impulse control and an inability to delay gratification, impairment or loss of reality testing, especially with delusional beliefs or command hallucinations, the feeling of being controlled by an outside force, the belief that other people wish to harm them, the perception of rejection or humiliation at the hands of others,[1] being under the influence of substances or a history of antisocial personality disorder, frontal lobe dysfunction or head injury.
When triggering factors are sought regarding homicidal fantasies the majority seem to be linked in some way to the disruption of a couple relationship.
Either jealousy or revenge, greed/lust or even fear and self-defense prompt homicidal thoughts and actions in the majority of cases.
We come up with the idea as a possible answer to our problem position (threat to ourselves, our mate or our resources) and include a range of thought processes regarding killer and victim (degree of relatedness, relative status, gender, reproductive values, size and strength of families, allies and resources) and the potential costs of making use of such a high penalty strategy as homicide.
Particularly extreme expressions of this may occur leading to homicide where in the normal state the perpetrator would not behave in this manner.
In Western countries, the management of such people lies within the realms of the police force and the health system.