NCJ Number
29630
Date Published
1972
Length
266 pages
Annotation
THE AUTHOR EXPLORES THE PSYCHOLOGICAL MOTIVATIONS OF THOSE WHO KILL FOR NO APPARENT REASON.
Abstract
WILSON LABELS SUCH KILLERS ASSASSINS AND THEIR CRIMES, HE SAYS, ARE NOT WITHOUT MOTIVE. FOR THEM, MURDER IS NOT ONLY AN ULTIMATE PURPOSE, BUT ALSO A CREATIVE MEANS OF SELF-FULFILLMENT. THE AUTHOR SUGGESTS THAT THE INCREASING INCIDENCE OF MEANINGLESS VIOLENCE IS THE RESULT OF BOREDOM AND FRUSTRATION INDUCED BY A REPRESSIVE SOCIETY. HE PRESENTS HIS THEORY OF THE 'PASSIVE FALLACY' WHICH STATES THAT MAN, COMFORTABLE AND WITHOUT CHALLENGE, SOON SINKS INTO TORPOR AND, EVENTUALLY, PSYCHOLOGICAL SUFFOCATION. HIS REACTION IS OFTEN TO STRIKE OUT AGAINST THE PERCEIVED SOURCE OF HIS FRUSTRATION - SOCIETY. VIOLENCE, EVEN SEXUALLY DIRECTED, IS A PROCLAMATION THAT HE IS NOT BOUND BY SOCIETAL RESTRAINTS. THE MORE CREATIVE THE INDIVIDUAL, THE MORE LIKELY HE IS TO BE DRIVEN TO VIOLENCE FOR LACK OF A LEGITIMATE VEHICLE FOR SELF EXPRESSION. INCIDENTS OF SUCH VIOLENT REACTIONS ARE NOT NEW, BUT ARE INCREASINGLY FREQUENT DUE TO THE INCREASINGLY RESTRICTIVE NATURE OF SOCIETY. WILSON PRESENTS EVIDENCE FOR HIS THESIS, DRAWING FROM NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURY PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORY, LITERATURE, AND NUMEROUS, DETAILED CASE STUDIES.