NCJ Number
151247
Date Published
1994
Length
271 pages
Annotation
This book contains a synthesis of approaches to social problem construction that includes an historical and social-scientific estimate of the objective scale of serial murder; a rhetorical analysis of the construction of the phenomenon in public debate; and a cultural studies-oriented analysis of the portrayal of serial murder in contemporary media.
Abstract
The book presents information in the following chapters: (1) The Construction of Problems and Panics; (2) The Reality of Serial Murder; (3) The Role of the Justice Department; (4) Popular Culture: Images of the Serial Killer; (5) Serial Murder As Modern Mythology; (6) The Social Critique: The Kind of Society We Have Now; (7) Everyman: Serial Murder As Femicide; (8) The Racial Dimension: Serial Murder As Bias Crime; (9) A Homosexual Who Could Strike Again; (10) Darker Than We Imagine: Cults and Conspiracies; and (11) Conclusions: Making and Establishing Claims. Tables, references, index