NCJ Number
128565
Date Published
1990
Length
277 pages
Annotation
The study examines murder in Erie County, N.Y., over a period of 40 years under the assumption that it has a typical American urban murder history.
Abstract
The first three chapters and the statistical appendix focus on murder case histories, relationships between killers and their victims, and the conditions under which murder occurs in Erie County and by extrapolation in the United States as a whole. Two chapters examine multicide, the killing of many people either by one person or groups of persons. This type of homicide encompasses genocide, serial killings, and mass murder. Topics discussed in these chapters include the genocide of the Armenian Christians, the European Jews, and the Native Americans; serial killers such as Ted Bundy; and mass murderers such as Leslie Lowenfeld. Another chapter discusses assassination or the murder of another for either fame or gain. A chapter also discusses the death penalty as a form of murder, and the pros and cons of the death penalty are reviewed. Other chapters provide a sociological analysis of murder and discussions of family violence and emotional stress as a factor in causing murders. Chapter notes and a 174-item bibliography