NCJ Number
169311
Date Published
1996
Length
16 pages
Annotation
In examining why some nations experience serial murder while others apparently do not, this study conducts a comparative analysis of serial murders in the United States, England, and Germany from 1900 through 1940.
Abstract
The analysis shows that serial murder is not just a modern phenomenon, as some criminologists have claimed; for example, in the United States there were at least 24 "extreme" killers operating during the period studied. Since this period predates modern offense tracking systems, it is possible that these numbers may be underestimated. Similarly records for extreme cases of serial homicide in Germany also show the prevalence of serial murder during this period. The data for England present a different picture. Although Jack the Ripper is a celebrated case, between 1900 and 1940 there were no known cases in which one killer can be linked with four or more homicides. The author analyzes the sociocultural features of English society compared with Germany and the United States to determine what may have caused these differences in serial murder. He cautiously locates the differences in political and economic features that cause social upheaval and differences in forms of policing, particularly in the decentralization of police forces and resources in the Germany and the United States. The study recommends that future research in this area focus on the cultural, social, political, and economic conditions that do and do not produce serial murderers. 2 tables, 3 notes, and 42 references