The catathymic crisis: An explanation of the serial killer

Various explanations have been proposed to explain the motivation of serial killers. This article proposes that the theory of the Catathymic Crisis is an explanation that adds light to the “serial” nature of serial murder as well as an explanation of why and how a person can become a serial killer. The theory of Catathymic Crisis was presented in 1937 by Dr. Frederic Wertham as an explanation for some types violent and seemingly motivationless crimes. Dr. Wertham's theory describes a five stage process in which (1) a thinking disorder occurs within the mind of the criminal, (2) a plan is created to commit a violent criminal act, (3) internal emotional tension forces the commission of the criminal act, which leads to (4) a superficial calmness in which the need to commit the violent act is eliminated and normal activity can be conducted and (5) the mind adjusts itself and understands that the thinking process that caused the commission of the criminal act was flawed and the mind makes adjustments in order to prevent further criminal activity. The serial killer never reaches the fifth stage but returns to the second and operates in a cycle between stage two and four. This article advocates that the Catathymic Crisis explains why the serial killer needs to commit murder, why that need develops and why there is an escalating nature of the criminal activity by the serial killer.     

The end of the enlightenment and modernity; The irrational ironies of rationalization

Begun as a collaborative project with Joseph Bensman before his death, this essay is an expanded and more fully illustrated version of ideas originally outlined in draft form.     

The relative success of private funders and government funders in funding important science

Regression analysis is used to test the effects of funding source (and of various control variables) on the importance of the article, as measured by the number of citations that the article receives. Funding source is measured by the number of private and the number of government grants mentioned in the acknowledgements section. The importance of an article is measured by an “early” count (of citations through October 1992), and a “late” count (of citations through July 2002). Using either measure of article importance, the evidence suggests that private funders are more successful than the government at identifying important research. Jel classification D 780 . H 110 . O 310     

Public Administrative Science in Germany: Problems and Prospects of a Composite Discipline

German administrative science is composed of different disciplines which combine to form a multi- rather than an interdisciplinary science. Its roots can be traced back to the integrated policy-science ( Policey-Wissenschaft ) of the eighteenth century, which went through a process of differentiation during the nineteenth century. In German universities today, teaching and research is divided into different departments, a main problem being the disproportionate nature of this multidisciplinary structure. In German administrative science, a legalistic approach still predominates, although, in the 1960s and 1970s, political scientists played an important role in empirical research and theoretical discussions. Looking ahead, however, there is now an excellent chance that with the rise of the governance approach this asymmetric multidisciplinarity can be turned into a more balanced administrative science, even if it will remain a composite discipline.     

Curbside recycling: Waste resource or waste of resources?

In this paper, we address the often contentious debate over state and local recycling policy by carefully estimating the social net benefit of curbside recycling. Benefits are estimated using household survey data from over 4,000 households across 40 western U.S. cities. We calibrate household willingnesstopay for hypothetical bias using an innovative experimental design that contrasts stated and revealed preferences. Cost estimates are compiled from previous studies by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Institute for Local Self Reliance, and from indepth interviews with recycling coordinators in our sampled cities. Across our sample of cities, we find that the estimated mean social net benefit of curbside recycling is almost exactly zero. On a citybycity basis, however, our social netbenefit analysis often makes clear predictions about whether a curbside recycling program is an efficient use of resources. Surprisingly, several curbside recycling programs in our sample appear to be inefficient. © 2006 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.