Creating Cultural Monsters
Serial Murder in America
1st Edition
Published on 6. June 2011
Book
Hardback
244 pages
978-1-4398-5154-8 (ISBN)
Description
Serial murderers generate an abundance of public interest, media coverage, and law enforcement attention, yet after decades of studies, serial murder researchers have been unable to answer the most important question: Why? Providing a unique and comprehensive exploration, Creating Cultural Monsters: Serial Murder in America explains connections between American culture and the incidence of serial murder, including reasons why most identified serial murderers are white, male Americans. It describes the omnipresence of serial murder in American media and investigates what it would take to decrease its occurrence.
Presenting empirically supported arguments that have the potential to revolutionize how serial murder is understood, studied, and investigated, this volume:
Places the serial murder phenomenon in a cultural context, promoting qualitative understanding and the potential for reducing its frequency
Includes an illustrated model that explains how people utilize cultural values to construct lines of action according to their cultural competencies
Demonstrates how the American cultural milieu fosters serial murder and the creation of white male serial murderers
Provides a critique of the American mass media's role in the development and notoriety of serial murder
Describes the framework on which the majority of definitions of serial murder are based
Drawn from years of dedicated research of Dr. Julie B. Wiest, this volume presents a new approach to the study of U.S. serial murder, offers important implications for law enforcement and mass media, and forms a basis for future research on serial murder, murder, and violence in the U.S. and in other nations.
Presenting empirically supported arguments that have the potential to revolutionize how serial murder is understood, studied, and investigated, this volume:
Places the serial murder phenomenon in a cultural context, promoting qualitative understanding and the potential for reducing its frequency
Includes an illustrated model that explains how people utilize cultural values to construct lines of action according to their cultural competencies
Demonstrates how the American cultural milieu fosters serial murder and the creation of white male serial murderers
Provides a critique of the American mass media's role in the development and notoriety of serial murder
Describes the framework on which the majority of definitions of serial murder are based
Drawn from years of dedicated research of Dr. Julie B. Wiest, this volume presents a new approach to the study of U.S. serial murder, offers important implications for law enforcement and mass media, and forms a basis for future research on serial murder, murder, and violence in the U.S. and in other nations.
Reviews / Votes
" ... well thought out and scholarly ...."-Heith Copes, University of Alabama at Birmingham
"Using an interdisciplinary framework that takes into account culture, gender, and race, the book provides a critical analysis of serial murders in the United States and makes an important contribution to knowledge in culture, gender, race/ethnicity and criminology."
-Hoan N. Bui, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
"I will be adopting this book as a primary source for additional insight and information for teaching an upper division course on Serial Killers ... . The author's sociocultural approach to understanding serial murder is a much needed theoretical conceptualization"
-Jacquelyn L. Sandifer, Campbellsville University, Kentucky, USA
"The author has written a fascinating, creative, and enlightening examination of our cultural monsters. Anyone who seeks to understand this horrific phenomenon will want to read Wiest's excellent work."
-Jack Levin, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts and author of Serial Killers and Sadistic Murderers: Up Close and Personal. " ... well thought out and scholarly ...."
-Heith Copes, University of Alabama at Birmingham
"Using an interdisciplinary framework that takes into account culture, gender, and race, the book provides a critical analysis of serial murders in the United States and makes an important contribution to knowledge in culture, gender, race/ethnicity and criminology."
-Hoan N. Bui, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
"I will be adopting this book as a primary source for additional insight and information for teaching an upper division course on Serial Killers ... . The author's sociocultural approach to understanding serial murder is a much needed theoretical conceptualization"
-Jacquelyn L. Sandifer, Campbellsville University, Kentucky, USA
"The author has written a fascinating, creative, and enlightening examination of our cultural monsters. Anyone who seeks to understand this horrific phenomenon will want to read Wiest's excellent work."
-Jack Levin, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts and author of Serial Killers and Sadistic Murderers: Up Close and Personal.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Inc
Target group
College/higher education
Criminal justice professors, students studying serial violence and murder, law enforcement investigators, sociologists, and criminal profilers.
Illustrations
31 s/w Abbildungen, 12 farbige Abbildungen, 7 s/w Tabellen
7 Tables, black and white; 12 Illustrations, color; 31 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
534 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4398-5154-8 (9781439851548)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
09/2020
1st Edition
Routledge
€54.20
Shipment within 15-20 days
E-Book
06/2011
1st Edition
Routledge
€47.49
Available for download
E-Book
06/2011
1st Edition
Routledge
€47.49
Available for download
Person
Dr. Julie B. Wiest is an assistant professor of communication and sociology at High Point University in High Point, North Carolina. She earned a doctorate in sociology from the University of Tennessee and a master's degree in journalism and mass communication from the University of Georgia. Wiest also has nearly a decade of experience in print and electronic journalism and published a book in 2006 titled We Were There, a compilation of the World War II narratives of 30 veterans.
Content
Introduction. Part I: What We (Think We) Know about Serial Murder. Fundamentals of Serial Murder. The "Typical" Serial Murderer. Existing Explanations for Serial Murder. Part II: A Sociocultural Approach to Understanding Serial Murder. Cultural Context of Serial Murder. Applying the Model of American Culture. Implications. Appendix: Methodology. References. Index. Author.