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BehavioralSciencesandtheLaw
Behav.Sci.Law22:395-414(2004)
PublishedonlineinWileyInterScience(www.interscience.wiley.com).
SerialMurderinAmerica:
StudiesofSevenOffenders
JamesO.BeasleyII,B.S.,M.P.A.*
Thisarticlesummarizesandcompares
seveninterviewedserialkilersin
designedtostudysimilaritiesand
theseindividuals.Theaimofthis
ourcollectiveknowledgeofthedynamics
byexaminingtheperpetrators’backgrounds,
uniQuewaysinwhichtheyviewthemselves
aroundthem.Althoughqualitative
aloneisnotsufficienttofullyunderstand
itisusefulinmanv waS.Some
discussedbasedonthesevenoftenders
comparedwithbroaderepidemiological
strengthsandlimitationsofeach
discussed.Publishedin2004byJohn
TheinitialFBIstudyonsexualhomicideandcrimesceneanalysis,
interviewswith25serialmurderersbytheBehavioralScience
FBIAcademyinQuantico,Virginia,waspublishednearly20
WhoMurdered,1985).Sincethen,thephenomenonofserial
mythologizedinpopularculture,sensationalizedbythemedia,
scrutinizedbyacademia.Theresultshavebeenconfounding,
withfact,andassumptionsandguessesoftentreatedascertainty.
misperceptionsareassociatedwiththetechniqueofprofiling,
assessmentofcrimescenestoconstructasetofbehavioraltraits
inaparticularoffender.Eventodaythereisacommonbelief
almostmysticalexperience,andthatitisalwaysaccurateand
Databases Law Journal Library Behavioral Sciences & the Law 22 Behav. Sci. & L. (2004) LibGuide� � � �
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almostmysticalexperience,andthatitisalwaysaccurateand
violentcriminalbehaviorisextremelyvariable,makingprecise
matic.Someresearchershaveaddressedtheissueofpredictability,
Farrington(1982);Goldberg(2000);Gottfredsonand
Malmquist(1996).
Notwithstandingsomeacceptanceofthenotionofpastviolent
predictiveoffuturesuchbehaviors(Samenow,1998;Widom
thereexistsanabundanceofpsychologicaltheoriesabout
arevariedandsometimesconflicting(Hall,1999;Widom&
andLevin(2001)havewarned,”correlationdoesnotimply
*Correspondenceto:JamesO.BeasleyII,B.S.,M.P.A.,SupervisorySpecial
theAnalysisofViolentCrime,FBIAcademy,Quantico,VA22135,U.S.A.
ThisarticleisaU.S.Governmentworkandisinthepublicdomain
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