“Homeless Killer”: An Analysis of the Media’s Portrayal of the Victims of a Serial Killer

Donley, Amy M.; Gualtieri, Marie C.

doi:10.1080/01639625.2016.1196976

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…In this way, conventional definitional parameters not only influence the putative scope of serial killing/ killers, as Jenkins (1994) demonstrates in the US context. They also reinforce popular myths about serial killers by overlooking Black killers, female killers, and those who kill members of marginalized populations (Branson, 2013;Donley and Gualtieri, 2017;Hickey, 2016).…”

Section: Serial Killing Media Framing and Cultural Representationmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…There is a small literature on the newsworthiness of serial killings that attributes the absence of celebrated media coverage to victims’ racial and socio-economic characteristics (e.g. Branson, 2013; Donley and Gualtieri, 2017). The case of Peter Woodcock, however, aligns with a different theoretical trajectory concerned with explaining why serial killers who are otherwise “made for primetime” fade into obscurity.…”

Section: Serial Killing Media Framing and Cultural Representationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Almost famous: Peter Woodcock, media framing, and obscurity in the cultural construction of a serial killer

Hier

2019

Crime, Media, Culture

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This article contributes to criminological research on cultural constructions of serial murderers by investigating the little-known Canadian case of Peter Woodcock. There is a tacit scholarly consensus that news media routinely sensationalize modern serial killers as celebrity monsters. The case of Woodcock aligns with a different theoretical trajectory geared toward explaining the relative obscurity of otherwise “made for primetime” serial murder events. Examining coverage in the local and national press, the article builds on the sparse literature concerned with absences in conventional explanations for how news media participate in the cultural construction of serial murderers. It does so by gleaning insights into the ways in which Woodcock was simultaneously framed as a sadistic sex maniac responsible for killing three young children in the 1950s and a victim of social circumstance owing to his troubled upbringing. Although Woodcock killed before the rise of the serial killer claims-making industry in the 1980s, the article concludes by reflecting on the curious absence of a retroactively reconstructed modern melodramatic storyline in light of the surreal characteristics of the investigation leading up to his arrest and the circumstances that enabled him to gruesomely kill again in 1991.

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Section: Serial Killing Media Framing and Cultural Representationmentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: Serial Killing Media Framing and Cultural Representationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Almost famous: Peter Woodcock, media framing, and obscurity in the cultural construction of a serial killer

Hier

2019

Crime, Media, Culture

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“…Therefore, while still high in relative terms when compared to the general population, the overall number of homicide deaths is low. It is worth noting, however, that there are no known national databases or data sets comprised of information on homeless victimization, including homicide rates within this population, and the possibility of underreporting exists in some countries—notably the United States—because police reports may not include information on housing status (Donley & Gaultieri, 2017).…”

Section: Missing Personsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Did Not Return in Time for Curfew”: A Descriptive Analysis of Homeless Missing Persons Cases

Huey

Ferguson

2020

International Criminal Justice Review

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Homeless communities have garnered recent public attention in Canada due to their high rates of violence, victimization, and being reported as missing. There have been several high-profile cases, investigations, and inquiries involving missing homeless persons, yet very little is known about what cases are reported to the police, under what circumstances they go missing, and the outcomes of those cases. As a result, the purpose of this study is to provide some insights into some of these unresolved issues by offering an exploratory, descriptive analysis of 291 closed missing person cases from the records of a municipal police service. What this analysis reveal is a somewhat more mundane picture. Specifically, results indicate that the majority of missing person reports are of those who are female and White, have a drug/alcohol addiction, are residing at homeless shelters/missions, and have a history of being reported as missing. As well, it was revealed that most people are reported as missing due to shelter/mission reporting issues with curfews and that all are located alive. This study extends the minimal existing scholarship on the missing homeless population by providing some preliminary insights on the vulnerabilities and factors that can impact these cases.

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“…Serial murder is no longer viewed as a shortcut to celebrity status, but it is still of interest around the world (Donley & Gualtieri, 2017). The unintentional byproduct of this attention pushes some maintaining homicidal ideation into behaviors such as a utilization of the underground sex trade and human trafficking networks, warehousing abductees (Conti, 2015), alteration of modus operandi, retiring early or adopting tactics associated with the spree murderer (Aamodt & Yaksic, 2015).…”

Section: Shifts In Offending Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

Detecting a Decline in Serial Homicide: Have We Banished the Devil from the Details?

Yaksic¹,

Allely²,

Silva³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Objectives: The likelihood that serial murderers are responsible for most unresolved homicides and missing persons was examined by investigating the accounting of the phenomenon in the context of a declining prevalence. Methods: A mixed methods approach was used, consisting of a review of a sample of unresolved homicides, a comparative analysis of the frequency of known serial homicide series and unresolved serial homicide series, and semi-structured interviews of experts.Results: The past decade contained almost half the cases (13%) that existed at the 1980s peak of serial homicide (27%). Only 282 (1.3%) strangled females made up the 22,444 unresolved homicides reviewed. Most expert respondents thought it unreasonable that any meaningful proportion of missing persons cases are victims of serial homicide. Conclusions: Technology, shifts in offending behavior, proactive law enforcement action, and vigilance of society have transformed serial killing and aids in viewing offenders as people impacted by societal shifts and cultural norms. The absence of narrative details inhibited some aspects of the review. An exhaustive list of known unresolved serial homicide series remained elusive as some missing persons are never reported. Future research should incorporate those intending to murder serially, but whose efforts were stalled by arrest, imprisonment, or death.

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“Homeless Killer”: An Analysis of the Media’s Portrayal of the Victims of a Serial Killer

Cited by 12 publications

References 19 publications

Almost famous: Peter Woodcock, media framing, and obscurity in the cultural construction of a serial killer

Almost famous: Peter Woodcock, media framing, and obscurity in the cultural construction of a serial killer

“Did Not Return in Time for Curfew”: A Descriptive Analysis of Homeless Missing Persons Cases

Detecting a Decline in Serial Homicide: Have We Banished the Devil from the Details?

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