Blood can be easily recognized in situations involving injury. However, very little is known about the ability of humans to identify blood without such context information. We investigated the blood detection capacity and associated electrocortical correlates (event-related potentials) in 20 women with blood phobia and 20 non-phobic females. The participants viewed images depicting droplets of pig blood, and water with pink or red food coloring. They were asked to decide, whether the pictures showed real blood or not. Blood provoked enhanced P100 amplitudes (90-140 ms) in blood phobics. Late positivity (P300: 340-500 ms) as well as classification accuracy did not differ between the groups. However, blood elicited a general P300 enhancement (relative to red and pink fluids) possibly reflecting elevated visual attention to blood as a general characteristic in humans. The P100 augmentation in blood phobics very likely reflects enhanced early selective attention. Patients with BII phobia showed prioritized visual processing of blood without having to rely on contextual information.

Mutilation is a rare and unusual act performed on a victim, especially in cases of homicide. Knowledge on mutilation homicide is scarce as the base rate of this type of homicide is very low. Moreover, previous studies examining this specific criminal behavior have been mainly descriptive, neglecting to look at other factors related to the act of mutilation. Furthermore, depending on the cultural context and country of origin, the infliction of mutilation pre-, per-, or post-homicide translates into different meanings. Therefore, it is important to examine mutilation homicide in the context of non-Western countries. Using crime and forensic examination reports subjected to forensic examination and convicted for a homicide between 1995 and 2011 (N = 1,200) in Korea, the rate of mutilation homicide was estimated. Based on the 65 cases (5.4%) identified, information on the offenses and offenders were described. Moreover, using a series of bivariate analyses, the current study compared cases of mutilation homicides in Korea with other countries. Findings revealed interesting differences and similarities between mutilation homicide cases from Korea and the other countries. For instance, offender-victim relationship, victim\'s gender, and criminal history were significantly different from the comparison groups. In addition, compared with Korea, mutilation homicide cases were significantly more likely to involve an accomplice in Finland, suggesting the need to carry the body over a long distance. Investigators and researchers need to understand the cultural context in which these acts are committed as the infliction of mutilation may serve different purposes across different countries.

The aim of this paper was to showcase the significant diagnostic value of hesitation wounds in terms of forensic, psychiatric, and medicolegal interest. A number of studies were reviewed to update and summarize the relevant literature on the incidence, distribution, character, and function of hesitation wounds as well as the sociodemographic variables and psychopathology of the inducers. This study also investigates their importance as a forensic criterion in the distinction between suicide and homicide as well as a psychiatric diagnostic tool in suicide prevention. In addition, the paper reports two new cases. Results conclude that there is equal incidence, but different distribution of hesitation wounds between genders. Furthermore, the low dispersion of hesitation wounds contrasts with the high dispersion of defense wounds. The inducers\' psychopathology lies principally in Axis I disorders. Finally, there is a comprehensive analysis of non-suicidal self-injury and the role of self-wounding in suicide prevention.