In terms of its impact on the victim, the victim’s family and friends, and the financial resources
devoted to its investigation, homicide is the most severe form of antisocial behavior. Studies on
voluntary homicides have focused on the experience of perpetrators and their relationship with
victims, the personality of the protagonists, the motivations of the crimes, the associated risk
factors, the instruments used, the locations, periods of the day and year in which the crimes are
perpetrated. The characteristics and profiles of the perpetrators have also been the object of
study, for which it was essential to know their personal, criminal, professional, clinical and
psychological backgrounds, as well as their personality, including impulsiveness and impulse
control. Thus, this review sought to explore the complex relationship between voluntary
homicides and forethought/premeditation. The studies were obtained from multiple EBSCOhost
databases, including Academic Search Ultimate, CINAHL Plus with Full Text, Criminal Justice
Abstracts, Education Source, ERIC, Humanities Abstracts, Medline, Medline with Full Text,
PsycARTICLES, PsycINFO, Sociology Source Ultimate. Evidence of premeditation in homicide
is important to the investigation of psychological processes relating to homicide, because it
necessarily indicates that the perpetrator thought of committing the murder prior to the behavior