Chapter 4

Social Construction of Serial Murder

CHAPTER OUTLINE:

I. Introduction to the Social Construction of Serial Murder

II. Social Structure Theory

A. Socioeconomic Standing

III. Social Class Theory

A. Connection Between Violence and Social Class

IV. Social Process Theory

A. Socialization Process
B. Correlation of Emotional Neglect and Abuse with Delinquency
C. Coercive Cycle
D. Total Institutions

V. Neutralization Theory
A. Rationalization and Neutralization
B. Attribution of Blame
C. Dehumanization

VI. Social Control Theory

A. The Role of Punishment
B. Containments
C. Four Elements of Social Bonds

VII. Labeling Theory

A. Stigma
B. Graduation of Deviance

VIII. The MacDonald Triad

A. Family Dynamics
1. Portraits of Frustration and Intrapersonal Conflict in Childhood
2. The Influence of Parental Deprivation
B. Animal Cruelty
1. Motivations
C. Enuresis
D. Fire-Setting
1. Psychological and Behavioral Problems
2. Profile of a Serial Arsonist and Pyromaniac

IX. Etiology of Serial Killing

 A. Common Beliefs of Contributing Factors
1. Alcohol and Drugs
2. Pornography
3. Insanity

X. Trauma-Control Model of the Serial Killer

A. Multitude of Factors
1. Predispositional Factors
2. Multiple Traumatizations as Exponential Influences
B. Studies of Serial Killers
1. Common Characteristics
2. Effort to Regain Psychological Equilibrium Through Control
3. The Label of Psychopath
4. Ego-Dystonic Homicide
C. Introspections of Male Serial Murderer
D. Facilitators
A. Alcohol and Drugs
B. Pornography
C. The Occult
D. Four-Factor Syndrome
E. Profile of Jeffrey Dahmer

XI. Cyclical Nature of Serial Killing

A. Pursuit of Control

CHAPTER SUMMARY:

Social structure theories focus on individuals’ socioeconomic standing, suggesting that

poor people commit more crimes because they are stifled in their quest for financial or
social success. Specifically, offenders are blocked in various ways from achieving the
“American dream” through legitimate means as a result of their racial, ethnic, or
subcultural standing. Structural theories offer cogent explanations for many types of
crimes, but not serial murder. Approximately 75% of serial killers do not belong to a
racial or ethnic minority and do not appear to be particularly motivated by social or
financial gain, although there are exceptions. Certainly, serial offenders who rob their
victims exist, but even then the financial reward is peripheral to the attraction of
controlling and killing another human being.

Social process theories contend that criminal behavior is a function of a socialization

process. Offenders may turn to crime as a result of peer-group pressure, family
problems, poor school performance, legal entanglements, and other situations that
gradually steer them to criminal behavior. Sykes and Matza (1957) and Matza (1964)
view the process of delinquent youths becoming criminals as a matter of neutralizing
their personal values and attitudes as they drift between conventional behavior and
illegitimate behavior. Classical control theorists would argue that people do not commit
crimes such as murder because of their fear of punishment. Punishment, they believe,
can serve as a deterrent to committing crimes. Hirschi found that youths who appeared
to be closely attached to their parents were less likely to commit crimes. In comparison,
most serial killers do not appear to have close relationships with their families.

Labeling theory views abnormal behavior as a process by which a person graduates

from primary deviance to secondary deviance (Lemert, 1951). According to labeling
theorists, the original deviant act, of which the origins vary significantly, is called primary
deviance. In turn, by being labeled a deviant, the offender is carried along in a societal
process of negative social sanctions that inevitably engender hostility and resentment in
the offender. Then the offender reacts negatively to the label by acting against society,
and so concludes the process by affirming the negative label or deviant status. Labeling
theory, then, is not concerned with the origins of serial killers’ behavior but with the
formation of the killers’ perceived status as a result of experiencing traumatic events
during their formative years.

Serial killers have been linked to childhood maladaptive behaviors, known as the
MacDonald Triad, such as torturing animals; enuresis, or chronic bed-wetting; and fire-
setting. A correlation exists between youth with such behaviors, and they do appear
more often among the serial-killer population than among nonoffenders. Among serial
killers, there may exist one or more predispositional factors that influence their behavior.
Hickey’s trauma-control model assists in understanding the process by which
individuals become involved in serial murder. Many children who later become serial
killers have experienced some form of childhood trauma that was not or could not be
effectively countered by therapeutic strategies. At some point in the trauma-control
process, the offender may begin to immerse him- or herself in facilitators. Facilitators
may include alcohol and other drugs, pornography, and on rare occasions, books on the
occult. The trauma-control model of violent behavior describes, in effect, the cyclical
experience of serial offenders. Fantasies, possibly fueled by pornography or alcohol,
reinforced by “routine” traumatizations of day-to-day living, keep the serial killer caught
up in a self-perpetuating cycle of fantasies, stalking, and violence.

KEY TERMS:

SOCIAL STRUCTURE THEORY: Theory that focuses on individuals’ socioeconomic

standing, suggesting that poor people commit more crimes because they are stifled in
their quest for financial or social success. (p. 87)

SOCIAL CLASS THEORY: Theory that focuses on status aspirations to explain

criminal behavior. (p. 89)
SOCIAL PROCESS THEORY: Theory that focuses on the socialization process which
includes a host of sociopsychological interactions by the offender with institutions and
social organizations. (p. 89)

NEUTRALIZATION THEORY: Theory that focuses on the neutralization of personal

values and attitudes as an offender drifts between conventional behavior and
illegitimate behavior. (p. 91)

ATTRIBUTION OF BLAME: A process whereby victims are faulted for bringing

maltreatment on themselves, or extraordinary circumstances are invoked as justification
for questionable conduct. (p. 92)

DEHUMANIZATION: A process of ridding the other of the benefit of humanity leading

to the ultimate step of removing the other person’s opportunity to live. (p. 92)

CONTAINMENTS: Characteristics such as a positive self-image; ego strength; high

frustration tolerance; goal orientation; a sense of belongingness; consistent moral front;
reinforcement of norms, goals, and values; effective supervision; discipline, and a
meaningful social role that provide isolation or insulation from criminal influences. (p.
94)

PRIMARY DEVIANCE: In Labeling Theory, the original deviant act in the

developmental process of criminality. (p. 95)

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE: In Labeling Theory, a state in which a person feels the

stress and anxiety of being labeled, and thus feels the need to right the wrongs and
restore balance. (p. 96)

MACDONALD TRIAD: A triad of maladaptive behaviors that include animal cruelty,

fire-setting, and enuresis. (p. 96)

ATTRIBUTIONAL BIAS: Interpreting ambiguous or neutral peer actions as being

hostile and aggressive. (p. 100)

TRAUMATIZATIONS: In the Trauma-Control Model, destabilizing events that occur in

the lives of serial offenders. (p. 107)

EGO-DYSTONIC HOMICIDE: An altered state of consciousness whereby the

individual is faced with a psychologically unresolvable conflict, which then results in a
split between the psychic structure of the personality and the rest of the personality.
(p. 109)

MEPHISTO SYNDROME: A syndrome found in those who exhibit a combination of

dissociation and psychopathy. (p. 109)