The Application of Learning Theory to Serial Murderor “You Too Can Learn to be a Serial Killer”

Popular ideas concerning serial murder see these killings as an act committed by a deranged or irrational individual. This article contends that this is not the case, but that the killer is behaving in a manner which makes sense and is logical to the killer and is a response to some perceived wrong. The process through which this reponse occurs is detailed. The conclusion suggests that if serial murder is indeed a learned response then this response can be “unlearned” and the serial murderer can be restored to again function within society.     

Applying social learning theory to childhood and adolescent firesetting: can it lead to serial murder?

Despite the fact that serial murder has existed for centuries, it has been given little academic attention in the social science literature. Existing studies have primarily examined the motivational factors involved in the commission of serial murder. However, research examining the childhood and adolescent backgrounds of serial murderers is scant. Based on three case studies of serial murderers, this study contributes to the existing literature by exploring the possible link between childhood and/or adolescent fire setting and adult serial murder by applying social learning theory.     

Frequency of serial sexual homicide victimization in Virginia for a ten-year period

The frequency of serial sexual murder has been widely discussed, and estimates of the number of victims in the United States range from 500 to 6000 per year. This study attempted to quantify the number of serial sexual murder victims in Virginia for a ten-year period. Multiple sources of data were utilized, including Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) case files, FBI's Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (ViCAP) reports, Virginia State Police ViCAP reports, Virginia Homicide Investigators Association, and the Virginia Division of Forensic Science DNA database, to effectively cull out all the known serial sexual murder victims for the given time period. Review of these records revealed a total of 28 victims of serial sexual murder, compared with a total of 5183 murder victims for the same ten-year period. The frequency of serial sexual victimization was 0.5% of all homicides for the given period. These results highlight the unusual frequency of serial sexual murder.     

A methodological model

Clues derived from the locations connected to violent repeat criminal offenders, such as serial murderers, rapists, and arsonists, can be of significant assistance to law enforcement. Such information allows police departments to focus their activities, geographically prioritize suspects, and to concentrate saturation or directed patrolling efforts in those zones where the criminal predator is most likely to be active. By examining spatial data connected to a series of crime sites, this methodological model generates a choropleth probability map that indicates the areas most likely to be associated to the offender—home, work site, or travel routes. Based on the Brantingham theoretical structure and the routine activities approach, the model goes beyond simple cluster or centroid analysis by employing specific serial murder research, overlapping modified Pareto functions, and Manhattan distances. The methodology is also sensitive to the target/victim opportunity backcloth, landscape issues, and problems of spatial “outliers.”     

From animal cruelty to serial murder: applying the graduation hypothesis

Although serial murder has been recorded for centuries, limited academic attention has been given to this important topic. Scholars have attempted to examine the causality and motivations behind the rare phenomenon of serial murder. However, scant research exists which delves into the childhood characteristics of serial murderers. Using social learning theory, some of these studies present supporting evidence for a link between childhood animal cruelty and adult aggression toward humans. Based on five case studies of serial murderers, we contribute to the existing literature by exploring the possible link between childhood cruelty toward animals and serial murder with the application of the graduation hypothesis.     

African-Americans and serial homicide

African-Americans are usually over-represented among offenders arrested in “normal” homicide cases, making up a considerably larger proportion than would be expected from the Black presence in the population at large. Among serial murderers, however, African-Americans are much less in evidence—perhaps one-fifth or less of known American serial killers are Black. It may be that African-Americans are in fact less involved in serial murder activity than are Anglo Whites or Hispanics; but it must also be asked whether this is simply an impression gained from the ways in which serial murder activity is identified and investigated. For a number of reasons, law enforcement agencies might be less likely to seek or find evidence of serial murder activity where the victims are Black. As homicide is primarily an intra-racial crime, this would then mean that Black serial killers would be far more likely to escape detection.     

Serial killers with military experience: applying learning theory to serial murder

Scholars have endeavored to study the motivation and causality behind serial murder by researching biological, psychological, and sociological variables. Some of these studies have provided support for the relationship between these variables and serial murder. However, the study of serial murder continues to be an exploratory rather than explanatory research topic. This article examines the possible link between serial killers and military service. Citing previous research using social learning theory for the study of murder, this article explores how potential serial killers learn to reinforce violence, aggression, and murder in military boot camps. As with other variables considered in serial killer research, military experience alone cannot account for all cases of serial murder. Future research should continue to examine this possible link.     

Identification of serial homicide victims in the "Green River Murder" investigation

The Green River Murder Investigation in King County, Washington, is currently the longest and most active serial murder investigation in U.S. history. To date, little information has been reported on methods used in identification of serial murder victims. In this paper, various methods used in victim identification are reviewed and difficulties encountered during the course of the investigation are described. The experience of the authors is presented in order to acquaint other agencies with problems of victim identification associated with these serial murder victims and to provide key methods that may be useful in other such investigations.     

The Sociologist as Story Teller: The Broken Foster Care System Used as Mitigation at Criminal Trial

This paper describes the role a sociologist in a capital murder case involving a defendant who was in foster care and adoption for most of his youth. The author of this paper worked as a sociologist/ mitigation expert in this case. The circumstances of his tragic life leading up to and in the foster care system is presented as mitigation. A literature review on the issues surrounding foster care, presented here, was developed and given to all experts and attorneys working on this case. These issues were to be presented whenever appropriate in their testimony or questioning, during both the guilt and penalty phase. The jury found him guilty of two counts of first degree murder; but voted for life during the sentencing phase. The utility of sociology in criminal cases in general is discussed.     

Legal Responses and Sentencing in Murder Cases – A Comparison of Law and Judicial Reactions in India and Germany

While there are huge cultural, social and socio-legal differences between India and Germany, the sentencing laws of the two countries show a couple of similarities. In India and Germany alike, the substantive law makes only little specifications for the sentencing process. There are no sub-statutory sentencing guidelines, within the range provided by the penal codes the courts have a wide discretion in the sentencing process. It is, however, interesting to see that the courts exercise their discretion in similar ways which can specifically be observed in murder cases. The article describes the legal framework which is applicable in murder cases in India and Germany and compares the judicial decisions in selected cases: hold-up murder, sexually motivated murder, domestic violence killings and honor killings. The comparison gives evidence of the communicative function of punishment. After a serious crime like murder the public – typically well informed by the media, agitated and highly troubled – will in both countries only be settled by a judgment considered as fair, just and proportionate. Peace under the law and internal security, however, do not seem to be dependent on specific forms of punishment. Capital punishment and life imprisonment appear as penalties which may be necessary reactions to murder in a given cultural context, but which are not indispensable to a criminal justice system.     

Dismemberment and Mutilation: A Data-Driven Exploration of Patterns,Motives, and Styles

Classification of violent behavior, including dismemberment and mutilation, has become increasingly more significant. This study uses a data-driven classification system based upon knowledge drawn from the pertinent literature, and examination of cases of offenders who have dismembered or mutilated their victims. The latter were extracted from the Serial Killer Database, as well as media sources, and assessed for characteristics of the perpetrators and victim(s). An informational form was developed and used to establish quantitative parameters and objectively extract pertinent information that could be used for comparison and pattern analysis. Motives and styles, as well as the organized/disorganized dichotomy for murder and dismemberment/mutilation, were examined for each case. The majority of cases demonstrated defensive styles (60%), with the second most common being offensive styles (26%), which differs from previous studies that do not exclude older cases. Additionally, 68% of cases reflected organized patterns for both murder and the acts of dismemberment or mutilation. The results support a data-driven classification system that may serve as a foundational model for the investigation of specific motives of this type of deviant behavior in future research.     

Defining serial murder: A call for a return to the originalLustmörd

This paper revisits the important task of defining serial murder. A review of the history of the term reveals the use of arbitrary and inconsistent criteria by various researchers, raising serious questions as to their validity and reliability. The need to identify specific elements that distinguish serial homicide from other forms of multiple is underscored. Problems associated with the failure to apply consistent criteria are discussed. It is a contention of this work that there exists an aspect of serial murder—as most researchers intend the term—that is inherently distinctive. A definition of serial murder based upon the primary—and intrinsic—motivation of this kind of offender is offered for consideration.     

Signature murders: a report of the 1984 Cranbrook, British Columbia cases

Two females, Denean Worms and Brenda Hughes, were murdered in separate events in Cranbrook, British Columbia in 1984 within three months of each other. Terrence Wayne Burlingham was found guilty of both murders and he appealed. The Supreme Court of Canada granted Burlingham a new trial in the Worms case, but no evidence from Burlingham's confession nor the murder weapon could be used. The Crown counsel requested an evaluation of the two murders to determine if they were committed by the same person. The analyses of those murders revealed that they were linked by a personal "signature" of the killer. The murder cases reported here demonstrate a control-oriented signature. The killer used a .410 shotgun as his method of control and death, engaged in overkill of each victim by shooting them twice in the head, and left the victims in sexually degrading positions. Another signature feature was the absence of typical wounds to the victims which would be expected from a serial sex offender. All of these characteristics, in combination, accounted for this killer's personal expression.     

系列杀人案件的成因、特点及侦查对策

发生系列杀人案件的原因取决于作案人的犯罪心理,谋财害命、报复杀人、滥杀无辜和杀人灭口是导致系列杀人案件的主要成因。系列杀人案件的特点体现在作案人的行为特征、作案人的个性特征和犯罪现场的痕迹物证三个方面。在侦查过程中,应引进利用“软件”串并案件的理念以拓展串并案途径,过细勘查犯罪现场,建立失踪人口管理机制以及时发现和串并系列杀人隐案,严格遵循公安部“侦破系列杀人案件工作机制”的要求规范侦查工作,引入和加强犯罪心理画像、犯罪现场重建和辩证侦查思维等现代侦查和取证方法。     

Defining and classifying serial murder in the context of perpetrator motivation

The last several decades have seen increased research attention to the subject of serial murder. Unfortunately, an empirical understanding of serial homicide continues to be impeded by difficulties in establishing a working definition for serial murder. Current definitions for serial homicide tend to focus on frequency and timing of homicide behaviors, and thus leave some confusion as to which groups of individuals should be included under the heading of serial murders. This article suggests alterations to the definition of serial murder, which focus not only on frequency and timing of homicide behaviors, but also on the motivation and context of those behaviors.     

Assessing evidence and testing appropriate hypotheses

It is crucial to identify the most appropriate hypotheses if one is to apply probabilistic reasoning to evaluate and properly understand the impact of evidence. Subtle changes to the choice of a prosecution hypothesis can result in drastically different posterior probabilities to a defence hypothesis from the same evidence. To illustrate the problem we consider a real case in which probabilistic arguments assumed that the prosecution hypothesis “both babies were murdered” was the appropriate alternative to the defence hypothesis “both babies died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)”. Since it would have been sufficient for the prosecution to establish just one murder, a more appropriate alternative hypothesis was “at least one baby was murdered”. Based on the same assumptions used by one of the probability experts who examined the case, the prior odds in favour of the defence hypothesis over the double murder hypothesis are 30 to 1. However, the prior odds in favour of the defence hypothesis over the alternative ‘at least one murder’ hypothesis are only 5 to 2. Assuming that the medical and other evidence has a likelihood ratio of 5 in favour of the prosecution hypothesis results in very different conclusions about the posterior probability of the defence hypothesis.     

Effects of psychopathy and violence risk testimony on mock juror perceptions of dangerousness in a capital murder trial

The recent introduction of the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) into the sentencing phase of capital murder trials has heightened concerns about the potentially prejudicial impact of such information on jurors, who might give disproportionate weight to this diagnosis when determining whether a defendant is a “continuing threat to society”. To investigate this issue, 238 undergraduates read a case summary based on US v. Barnette ( ), in which prosecution testimony was presented regarding the presence of a mental disorder (psychopathy, psychosis, or no disorder). Compared to the “no disorder” condition, participants rated psychopathic defendants as more likely to be violent in the future, even though testimony related to level of risk (high or low) was held constant. The difference in perceived dangerousness across the psychopathy and no disorder groups was particularly pronounced when the experts described the defendant as being at low risk. A similar pattern of effects was noted for the psychosis condition, suggesting that the impact of mental disorder testimony on perceptions of dangerousness may not necessarily be specific to the PCL-R.     

Attempted Serial Neonaticides: Case Report and a Brief Review of the Literature

Neonaticide is an infant murder occurring on the day of birth. The case reports found in the literature are often focused on the mother as the agent in the context of pregnancy denial, dissociative symptoms, or psychosis. However, this report describes a rare case of attempted serial neonaticides, in which the acts were committed by a nurse at the nursery of a referral hospital in Brazil. The authors describe a forensic psychiatric evaluation for criminal responsibility and correlate the information from this particular case with relevant forensic themes, namely neonaticide, Munchausen by proxy syndrome, and serial healthcare killers.