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Abstract

The study of serial killing has been dominated by an individualized focus on the aetiology and biography of particular offenders. As such, it has tended to downplay the broader social, historical and cultural context of such acts. This article addresses this lacuna by arguing that serial killers are distinctively modern. It highlights six modern phenomena related to serial killing: (a) the mass media and the attendant rise of a celebrity culture; (b) a society of strangers; (c) a type of mean/ends rationality that is largely divorced from value considerations; (d) cultural frameworks of denigration which tend to implicitly single out some groups for greater predation; (e) particular opportunity structures for victimization; and finally (f) the notion that society can be engineered. Combined, these factors help to pattern serial killing in modernity's own self-image, with modernity setting the parameters of what it means to be a serial killer, and establishing the preconditions for serial murder to emerge in its distinctive contemporary guise.
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... Assessing the Canadian MAID system against such features allows us to determine the adequacy of its safeguards to protect patients from clinicians who may share motivations with SKs and HSKs (Haggerty, 2009). First, it is helpful to outline some relevant and well-known cases of convicted healthcare serial murderers (Wettlaufer, Cullen, Shipman, and Letby) and unprosecuted killings or misused end-oflife care (Gosport War Memorial Hospital, Liverpool Care Pathway) that showcase key HSK features (Menshawey & Menshawey, 2022;Miller, 2014aMiller, , 2014bTang, 2020;Tilley et al., 2019;Yardley & Wilson, 2016;Yorker et al., 2006). ...
... Unlike the high risk two-way nature of idealized military and police lethality, SK occurs in one-way situations where killers minimize risks to themselves and maximize the risk of death to victims for their gratification (Haggerty, 2009). MAiD achieves this through low-risk, legally protected homicide, from which some providers gain significant pleasure (Beuthin & Bruce, 2023;Green, 2022a). ...
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The Canadian approach to assisted dying, Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD), as of early 2024, is assessed for its ability to protect patients from criminal healthcare serial killing (HSK) to evaluate the strength of its safeguards. MAiD occurs through euthanasia or self-administered assisted suicide (EAS) and is legal or considered in many countries and jurisdictions. Clinicians involved in HSK typically target patients with the same clinical features as MAiD-eligible patients. They may draw on similar rationales, e.g., to end perceived patient suffering and provide pleasure for the clinician. HSK can remain undetected or unconfirmed for considerable periods owing to a lack of staff background checks, poor surveillance and oversight, and a failure by authorities to act on concerns from colleagues, patients, or witnesses. The Canadian MAiD system, effectively euthanasia-based, has similar features with added opportunities for killing afforded by clinicians’ exemption from criminal culpability for homicide and assisted suicide offences amid broad patient eligibility criteria. An assessment of the Canadian model offers insights for enhancing safeguards and detecting abuses in there and other jurisdictions with or considering legal EAS. Short of an unlikely recriminalization of EAS, better clinical safeguarding measures, standards, vetting and training of those involved in MAiD, and a radical restructuring of its oversight and delivery can help mitigate the possibility of abuses in a system mandated to accommodate homicidal clinicians.
... Abandoning the field when data has become more widely available has obstructed progress in discerning the phenomenon's intricacies. As Haggerty (2009) argues, there is a need for research because the concept came into existence under modern rationalizations and opportunity structures which gave shape to its classification. Therefore, its study should not be dominated by biographies of particular offenders. ...
... As DeLisi (2023) states, tension exists between academic theories, data, and applied experiences. But how many critical criminologists have answered Haggerty's (2009) call to consider serial murder in a social, historical, and cultural context? Until then, the old guard's GASM profile will be the standard, a mainstay on television programs featuring self-proclaimed experts. ...
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This chapter examines a phenomenon that has become a cultural feature and source of entertainment – serial murder. Discussed within are promising avenues for research alongside shortcomings in the field. The chapter highlights tensions between academic theories, data, and applied experiences. The trite, old guard serial murder profile remains a mainstay on television programs and podcasts featuring self-proclaimed experts despite important innovations and research initiatives. It is appropriate to ask if our responsibility is to operationalize our beliefs about serial murder no matter the cost or repercussions of promulgating false statements. When our overarching goal is advancing ourselves, we place potential victims at a disadvantage. Serial murder researchers must reverse course and hold ourselves accountable by creating and adhering to an ethical code of conduct when dealing with such a sensitive topic.
... Tentunya, perbedaan budaya dan lingkungan pada setiap benua, bahkan negara dapat membentuk sebuah persepsi tentang kejahatan, khususnya bagaimana pelaku merancang kejahatannya (Miller, 2012). Haggerty (2009) menjelaskan bahwa seiring dengan perkembangan zaman dan waktu, teknik pembunuhan berantai tentunya juga mengalami modernisasi. Beberapa aspek yang menjadi fokus pada modernisasi pembunuhan berantai adalah anonimitas dan rasionalitas. ...
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Serial homicide began to become a concern for researchers and law enforcement officials when the number soared very high in the United States and in several countries on the European continent, such as: Germany and Russia. Eventhough , there are differences in the characteristics of serial homicide cases, researchers found that there are similar characteristics. These similarities were found in terms of the perpetrator’s personality construct. The perpetrators in serial homicide cases had the same behavioral patterns. In several countries, where serial homicide cases have been reported, they are countries that are classified as economically developed. However, serial homicide are also reported to occur in quite significant numbers in Indonesia. The aim of this research is to describe the personality profile of serial homicide. This research uses a qualitative approach with a case study method on two serial homicide cases in Indonesia involving six subjects as research participant. Data collection techniques were carried out through interviews and observations using an interview guide based on the dark tetrad traits theory. The result is that the dominant traits are different for the subjects based on their respective roles, namely: mastermind, executor, and assistant. Subjects who are mastermind have dominant psychopathic traits. In executors and assistants, Machiavellianism was found to be the dominant trait. The personality dynamics found that the perpetrators have a tendency anti-social behavior which was strengthened by situational opportunities and perceived gain. The both of cases belong to the comfort-oriented serial killers-machiavelianism traits and the perpetrators accordance to the couple serial killers-psychopathy mastermind type.
... However, within this context, there have been journalists from different generations who have shown resistance to these established norms and have strived to challenge the prevailing narratives. The resistance posed by different generations of journalists in general may be understood as a reflection of their unique experiences and perspectives, shaped by their time's social, cultural, and political dynamics (Haggerty, 2009;Jiwani and Young, 2006). For instance, the older generation of journalists (Generation X) may have witnessed the rigid enforcement of traditional gender roles and the marginalization of women in both the media industry and society. ...
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This study examines how media professionals interpret homicides committed in Turkey and depict murder suspects. The article aims to analyse how journalists from different generations respond to, negotiate and resist the editorial ideology that frames gender-based violence from an anti-feminist perspective. The study includes in-depth interviews with nine media professionals from X, Y, and Z generations and forms conclusions about the helplessness of women, the necessity of murder, involving the female suspect. The study reveals that media professionals reproduce gender roles by employing masculine language, and their commitment to “so-called” objective journalism restricts the critical examination and analysis of facts from a feminist perspective. The study demonstrates that journalists, whether consciously or unconsciously, contribute to the dissemination of manipulated messages by reproducing them without conducting thorough analysis. The perspectives of Gen X, Y, and Z Turkish media professionals on gender and murder provide valuable insights into evolving societal attitudes and media representation. It is crucial for journalists and media professionals to critically analyse their biases and strive for fair, inclusive, and responsible reporting that promotes gender equality and challenges harmful stereotypes.
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In this paper, the serial killing system is analyzed to construct a scheme for a fractional-order mathematical model having five compartments: Sh,Wh,Ch,GhS_h, W_h, C_h, G_h and JhJ_h. The fractional-order serial killing model is investigated with the fractal fractional technique. For feasibility and mathematical study, we derive the results for boundedness with the Lipschitz condition, positivity, unique solution, and zone for a feasible solution by using Banach space and fixed point theory results. Furthermore, the continuity of the solution and Lyapunov’s first and second derivatives are used to verify the global stability of the proposed system. According to the equilibrium point, which supports the logical and experiential support of the proposed model, Solutions are derived using a Lagrange polynomial with two steps in the extended form of the Mittag Leffler kernel to analyze the influence of the fractional order and fractal dimension impact through simulations. Different effects of serial killing on the system are presented to specify the dynamical nature of the system, corresponding to different fractional derivatives and parameters. Simulations are derived for the proposed scheme to check the effectiveness of the results and to understand the effects of serial killing in society.
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This article explores Russian young adults’s motives for consuming media content related to serial killers. Based on a sociological perspective of consumption, the research integrates concepts such as consumerism and “new hedonism” postulated by Campbell with Giddens’s structuration theory and Goffman’s stigma theory. We argue that consumerists’ motivations and images of serial killers are products of modernity. A total of 26 semi-structured online interviews were conducted with young adults aged 18–35 years from 14 cities in Russia. We then performed a thematic qualitative analysis using the AtlasTI software. Our findings show that consumers of media content about serial killers have two main categories of motives: cognitive and emotional. Cognitive motives could be viewed through the lens of the need for ontological security, an attempt to study a potential threat. Emotional motives were associated with satisfying the consumerist need for constant emotional stimulation and pleasure. Future studies may focus on classifying audiences based on their motives for consuming serial-killer media content and examining correlations with consumption practices as well as the supply-side motives of producing this type of content.
Chapter
The present volume is a collection of select papers presented at Captivating Criminality 8: Crime Fiction, Femininities and Masculinities (Bamberg, July 2022), the eighth annual conference of the International Crime Fiction Association. As gender and crime fiction is a popular topic with researchers from all areas of (world) crime fiction and the contributions ranging from the highly popularised Victorian Jack the Ripper case to contemporary domestic noir novels written by authors such as Gillian Flynn, this book covers crime fiction studies from a broad variety of angles. The chapters in this book cover texts from all over the world in a joint effort to show that crime fiction (studies) is omnipresent, diverse, and – above all – topical and that gender is one of the mainstays of the genre and a determinant of its topicality and diversity.
Article
The portrayal of offenders and crime is often viewed through the framing of news stories in traditional media. This shaping of crime to fit preconstructed perspectives can result in the spread of fear-based ideals. This study assesses use of fear-based media framing in serial homicide news articles. Taking a mixed methods approach, results suggest prolific use of fear-based framing methods, with six dominant fear-based themes identified. Fear-based frames of provoking, dehumanizing, magnifying, validating, and sensationalizing fear were found and a new frame, sanctifying fear, was identified. Variability among use of frames by offender characteristics were also assessed.
Book
The Axman of New Orleans specialized in killing grocers of Italian descent in the 1910s, apparently to promote jazz music. Dorothea Puente was a little old landlady who murdered her tenants, but kept cashing their government checks. The Manson Family terrorized California in the 1960s, as did the Hillside Stranglers a decade later. Twelve serial murder cases, occurring in eight decades between the 1890s and 1990s, had one thing in common: significant presence of the mass media. This book examines these specific cases of serial murder, and the way the media became involved in the investigations and trials of each. Gibson argues that the American media plays a multidimensional and integral role in serial killings and their investigation—and that this role is not generally a positive one. Serial murder cases motivate the media in unfortunate ways, and the result is that even typically respectable media organizations can be involved in such things as document theft, or in interfering with the capture of serial murderers on the run. This link between multiple murderers and mass communication is not accidental or coincidental; rather, the relationship between the press and serial killers is one of extraordinary importance to both parties. Gibson examines the role of the media in serial murder cases; the body of knowledge on serial murder as seen through the lens of mass communication; the effectiveness of law enforcement responses to serial murderers and how they might be improved if the mass communication influence was better understood; the magnitude of the serial murder problem; and the interaction between the media, the killers, and serial murder investigations. Specific examples and numerous quotes are provided throughout to illustrate this strange and detrimental relationship between media and serial murderers.
Book
In this book, criminologist Stephen Giannangelo offers an original theory of the origins and development of the serial murderer. The author constructs a two-part model of the serial murderer's development. The first part outlines biological factors and concomitant psychological anomalies that can predispose individuals toward homicidal behavior. Then, in developing the second part of his model, Giannangelo describes how a traumatic environmental stressor may trigger a cyclical pattern of violent behavior in those persons predisposed to kill. Having constructed his archetype of the serial killer, the author concludes by suggesting how diagnostic tools could be constructed and employed by psychologists, criminologists, and law enforcement officials to recognize the serial killer and to arrest the cycle of violence.