NCJ Number
136788
Journal
Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice Volume: 7 Issue: 4 Dated: special issue (December 1991) Pages: 210-289
Editor(s)
R M Holmes
Date Published
1991
Length
80 pages
Annotation
Five articles consider various aspects of murder, murderers, and violent criminal behavior.
Abstract
The first article uses a long-term historical approach to challenge the perception that Great Britain was experiencing a novel and extensive problem of serial murder during the 1980's. The article notes that although this was a perception rather than a fact, the perception produced consequences for reactions to violent crime by both the police and the media. The second article, derived from a case study of a larger qualitative case study, describes a random abduction and murder that involved both sexual and aggressive components. The social-psychological and psychiatric history of the offender and the interactive effects associated with the murder are described. Another article discusses the history and typology of female serial killers, followed by an article that examines Kentucky murders between 1976 and 1986, with attention to the seriousness of the homicides and to the manner in which the homicides varied by victims' age. The concluding article reports on two studies that examine a range of dissociative phenomena that occur with violent offenders.