Of Monsters and Men: Exploring Serial Murderers’ Discourses of Neutralization

James, Veronyka; Gossett, Jennifer

doi:10.1080/01639625.2017.1409980

Cited by 21 publications

(30 citation statements)

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“…This has then been used to determine commonalities between offenders in order to aid law enforcement investigations [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. Few studies examine serial murder from a sociological or interactionist perspective [8,[10][11][12][13]. Additionally, inquiries into how serial murderers socially construct their identities, present "normal" selves in the course of regular social interaction, and mitigate the stigma of the "serial killer" label have not been adequately addressed [1,10,12,14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition to the lack of definition, there is also "no singular theory that explains the phenomenon" [1] (p. 1). Additionally, there is little known about how killers can manage their identities through discourse and thus present positive self-images and minimize stigma through impression management [1,12,14]. It is through social interaction and accounting for behavior, particularly the use of verbal aligning actions (i.e., neutralizations), which allow individuals to maintain specific (and often positive) identities and self-definitions [28].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Narratives, and the neutralizations therein, are ways that individuals make sense of the social world, manage impressions of self, and socially construct identities. In the same way, serial killers may use neutralizations to manage their impressions of self without arousing the suspicions of others [1,12,14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is possible that neutralizations are used by these offenders in the construction and management of their virtual social identities allowing them to remain part of normative society while committing murder (with their fractured identities) [11,43]. Neutralizations may be the way in which these offenders are able to present normative selves within social interaction, compartmentalize their lives, and allow them to keep their fractured identities (i.e., murderer) hidden [1,11,12,43].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Denying the Darkness: Exploring the Discourses of Neutralization of Bundy, Gacy, and Dahmer

James

2019

Societies

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This exploratory study analyzed how three serial killers (i.e., Bundy, Gacy, and Dahmer) potentially rationalized and justified their murders by applying techniques of neutralization. This paper discusses how the use of these neutralizations also functions as a form of stigma management assisting in the maintenance of a positive presentation of self, thus mitigating responsibility for their crimes. This study conducted a content analysis of data comprised from interviews and case histories of these three serial killers. Based on these analyses, the impression is conveyed that these killers used neutralizations to manage their identities (i.e., present “normal” selves), mitigate responsibility for their actions, and minimize the stigma associated with being labeled a serial killer.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Denying the Darkness: Exploring the Discourses of Neutralization of Bundy, Gacy, and Dahmer

James

2019

Societies

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“…Colvin and Pisoiu's (2018) examine the narratives of members of right-wing groups in Germany, finding that violence is neutralised through tropes such as pragmatic realpolitik (a way of "getting results") and the mythical race of Herrenmensch. Looking at a very different groupserial killers - James and Gossett (2018) show how even people who have committed the most heinous of crimes are able to narratively reconstruct themselves as people with high moral standards. Raitanen, Sandberg and Oksanen (2019) explore connections between the master narrative of school shootings and personal stories of being bullied.…”

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confidence: 99%

The Emerald Handbook of Narrative Criminology

Fleetwood¹

2019

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1962) The Book of Lamentations and Mario Vargas Llosas' (1981) The War of the End of the World tell epic stories of poor indigenous people fighting for their physical and spiritual lives. Both describe fictional characters, inhabiting the impoverished states of Chiapas in Mexico (Castellanos) and Bahia in Brazil (Llosas), inspired to revolt, by real people and events. As in these books, intertwined Catholic and local beliefs were important, narrative resources in actual indigenous revolts against ethnic, class and colonial hierarchies. Narratives can also legitimize conquest, and not just rebellion, as Keeton (2015) shows in his analysis of the link between Old Testament narratives and the colonization of the USA. Biblical stories move: carried and passed on by people, traversing continents and oceans. Narratives also travel in time, enduring thousands of years, continuously changing and intermingling with other stories.Narratives undergird power as well as resistance. They have inspired some of the darkest moments in human history; The Third Reich built its legitimacy on epic stories of valor and glory adapted from a mythical northern-European past. Narratives can also challenge harms; old tales of native people's resistance were crucial for the renowned Zapatista uprising of 1994. Recent developmentsNarrative criminology is, formally speaking, only 10 years old, but it is already moving in new directions, especially around a deepening understanding of human experience and meaning making. The field is still expanding, with novel research topics, analytical perspectives and methodological options. Indeed, the last year or two has seen a rapid proliferation of narrative perspectives across various criminological areas.

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A heuristic study of the similarities and differences in offender characteristics across potential and successful serial sexual homicide offenders

Yaksic¹,

Harrison

Konikoff

et al. 2021

Behavioral Sci & The Law

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This heuristic study examined potential serial sexual homicide offenders (SSHOs), an unacknowledged offender group comprised of aspiring and probable SSHOs, and compared them with successful SSHOs. Data were collected on six aspiring SSHOs who each failed a single homicide attempt, 16 probable SSHOs who committed 17 homicides in separate events, and 13 successful SSHOs who killed 90 victims in separate events. The study results indicate that while potential SSHOs share more in common with successful SSHOs than they do with single‐victim nonsexual homicide offenders, and that there is an overlap between potential SSHOs and successful SSHOs, there is currently insufficient evidence to suggest that there are discreet transitions among categories. While few potential SSHOs strive to become successful SSHOs, this may be due to weak or nonexistent emotional triggers. Being a potential SSHO does not appear to be a predictable first step on a pathway towards becoming a successful SSHO, as potential SSHOs cannot reliably be thought of as prospective SSHOs if all things were equal. The present study could not foresee all potential SSHOs becoming successful ones. An as yet unidentified number of factors still appear to separate potential SSHOs from successful SSHOs.

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Of Monsters and Men: Exploring Serial Murderers’ Discourses of Neutralization

Cited by 21 publications

References 85 publications

Denying the Darkness: Exploring the Discourses of Neutralization of Bundy, Gacy, and Dahmer

Denying the Darkness: Exploring the Discourses of Neutralization of Bundy, Gacy, and Dahmer

The Emerald Handbook of Narrative Criminology

A heuristic study of the similarities and differences in offender characteristics across potential and successful serial sexual homicide offenders

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