Serial Murderers and their Victims, 5th ed. - Brainshare Public ...

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Introduction
The Phenomenon of
Serial Murder
Multiple homicide is undoubtedly one of the most terrifying and fascinating
phenomena of modern-day crime. It is also one of the most sensationalized
areas of research within the fields of criminology, psychology, and sociology.
Getting down to the “real facts” of a case rather than getting caught up in the inevitable
media barrage has become a task difficult for even the most stringent, reputable
researchers. The problems are many and interrelated. Philip Jenkins (1994), in his
book Using Murder: The Social Construction of Serial Homicide, provides a scholarly examination
of how serial killing has been dealt with by the media, law enforcement
personnel, and the public. Indeed, much of what we know, or claim to know,
about serial murder is based on misinformation and myth construction. One of the
primary confounding myths of serial murder is that they are all, by definition, sexual.
Schlesinger (2004) in his seminal work, Sexual Murder, notes that many seemingly
sexual murders are not sexually motivated and that many sexual homicides are not
overtly sexual (pp. 2–6). As a result of the sensational nature of this form of murder,
the aura surrounding it has assumed a life of its own as it filters throughout both the
public and private sectors of society.
SERIAL MURDER: FACT AND FICTION
In the summer of 1981 in Atlanta, Georgia, Wayne Williams, a young African
American male, was arrested for his involvement in multiple homicides of young
African American males. He was believed, at that time, to be one of the nation’s
more prolific serial killers. This case brought increased focus on serial murder and
the fact that not all serial killers are white, nor are the victims, and even children
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