NCJ Number
179148
Date Published
1998
Length
225 pages
Annotation
This book examines America’s fascination with murder and violence.
Abstract
The book attempts to determine why there are so many serial killers in the United States; why violence and cruelty permeates American culture; why Jekyll and Hyde and the werewolf myth have such appeal in North American culture; and whether the global dissemination of American culture could increase murderous instincts in other cultures. It demonstrates that the representation of on-screen violence reflects America’s deep-seated belief that society is only a fragile rampart holding at bay the beast latent in us all. In addition, the book argues that cultures that do not share this fear of hidden barbarity will remain unaffected by American-style violence. However, if people do come to believe in the primacy of those primitive instincts, their children will have good reason to emulate what they see on screen. Notes, index