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Title:
The killers among us : an examination of serial murder and its investigation / Steven A. Egger.
Author:
Egger, Steven A.
Publication Information:
Upper Saddle River, N.J. : Prentice Hall, c2002.
Call Number:
HV6515 .E34 2002
Edition:
2nd ed.
ISBN:
9780130179159
Physical Description:
xviii, 348 p. ; 24 cm.
Contents:
Preface -- Acknowledgments -- About the author -- Future prey / Steven A. Egger -- pt. I. The serial murder phenomenon -- 1. Serial murder -- Introduction -- Defining serial murder -- Why do they kill and kill again? -- Who are these serial killers? -- Solo predators -- Team killers -- Serial murder victims -- Investigation of serial murder -- The myths of serial murder -- 2. Why do they kill and kill and kill? -- Serial killers on the couch : explanations -- Sources of serial murder theories and explanations -- Common characteristics of serial killers -- Empirical works -- A multidisciplinary theory -- Case studies -- The case study -- Other studies -- Psychopaths or sociopaths? -- Inadequate socialization -- Sex as a motive -- Nature and nurture? -- Variations on power and control -- Similarities to rape -- Biological predisposition -- Anthropological viewpoint -- Are they simply evil? -- Problems with explanations -- 3. They are all around us -- We are strangers to one another -- Who are they? -- Appearances can be deceiving -- What do they look like? -- They may be your neighbors -- Some are very quiet and hard to spot -- Some take years to catch -- A number of serial killers have not been caught -- Female serial killers -- Categories and types of serial killers -- How many are there in the United States? -- FBI and CNN disagree on the numbers -- A new phenomenon? -- An increase in serial killers? -- International : a global phenomenon -- Colombia -- Ecuador, Colombia, and Peru -- Russia -- India, Turkey, Thailand, and Nepal -- South Africa -- Singapore -- Australia -- United Kingdom -- Italy -- France -- Serial killers outside the United States who have not been caught -- Europe, identified but not caught -- United Kingdom -- Canada -- Mexico -- Poland -- Sweden -- Becoming an international phenomenon -- Essay by the author : Serial killing of the lambs in our dreams : concept of the "less-dead" -- 4. Victims : the "less-dead" / Kim A. Egger -- Serial murder victims -- Society's throwaways : a low priority for law enforcement -- Who are the "less-dead"? -- The killing fields : where do serial killers hunt? -- Investigative value of victim information quickly dismissed -- 5. Serial murder as a growth industry : a brief analysis -- Serial killers in the arts and music -- Serial killers in news reporting -- "Mutants from hell" -- The profile that isn't -- Sound-bite answers -- The FBI and serial murder mythology -- A violent culture --

pt. II. Case studies of serial killers -- 6. John Wayne Gacy : a case study -- Social environment -- Family background -- Peer group associations and personal relationships -- Contact with defining agencies -- Offense behavior -- Self-concept -- Attitudes -- Recall of events -- The demise of John Wayne Gacy -- 7. Henry Lee Lucas : a case study -- Social environment -- Family background -- Peer group associations and personal relationships -- Contact with defining agencies -- Offense behavior -- Self-concept -- Attitudes -- Recall of events -- The aftermath and the Lucas controversy -- Lucas's last words -- 8. Kenneth Bianchi : a case study -- Social environment -- Family background -- Peer group associations and personal relationships -- Contact with defining agencies -- Offense behavior -- Self-concept -- Attitudes -- Recall of events -- Afterword -- 9.Theodore Robert Bundy : a case study -- Social environment -- Family background -- Peer group associations and personal relationships -- Contact with defining agencies -- Offense behavior -- Self-concept -- Attitudes -- Recall of events -- Bundy's last con -- 10. Jerry Marcus : a case study / Linda Lou Kreuger -- Social environment -- Family background -- Peer group associations and personal relationships -- Contact with defining agencies -- Offense behavior -- Self-concept -- Attitudes -- Recall of events -- A concluding statement -- 11. Joseph Miller : a case study / Donald W. Larson -- Social environment -- Family background -- Peer group associations and personal relationships -- Contact with defining agencies -- Offense behavior -- Self-concept -- Attitudes -- Recall of events -- The possibilities for closure -- Acknowledgments -- 12. Jeffrey Dahmer : a case study -- Social environment -- Family background -- Peer group associations and personal relationships -- Contact with defining agencies -- Offense behavior -- The victims : the forgotten ones -- Self-concept -- Attitudes : from Jeffrey Dahmer's 179-page confession -- Recall of events -- Dahmer's demise -- 13. Cross-case analysis : similarities of seven serial killers -- Social environment -- Family background -- Peer group associations and personal relationships -- Contact with defining agencies -- Offense behavior -- Self-concept -- Attitudes -- Recall of events -- Missing persons problem --

pt. III. The investigation of serial murder -- 14. Problems in investigating serial murder -- Defining the problem -- Seven major problems of a serial murder investigation -- Linkage blindness -- Lack of commitment -- Coordinating investigative functions and actions -- Managing large amounts of investigative information -- Public pressure and mass media pressure for information -- The less-dead : low priority leads to low clearance rate -- Lack of knowledge of others' experiences with serial murder investigation : documenting the problem -- Linkage blindness : an analysis -- 15. Different police strategies for investigating serial murder -- Conferences -- Information clearinghouse -- Task force -- Central coordination without forming a task force -- Psychological profiling (investigative profiling) -- FBI model -- Canter model -- Geographic profiling -- Investigative consultants -- Forensic consultants -- Major incident room procedures -- Solicitation from the public -- Computerized analysis system -- Centralized investigative network -- Interpol -- FBI's Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (VICAP) -- New York State's Homicide Assessment and Lead Tracking System -- Examples of other computerized analysis systems -- Psychics -- Offender rewards -- Specialized response team -- All investigative response strategies share a common focus --

pt. IV. The future -- 16. Future of the phenomenon -- A research agenda for serial murder -- Victimology -- Serial murderers -- Policy -- Criminal justice failure : an example -- 17. Future investigation of serial murder -- Beyond the Dahmers of the 1990s -- Author's final comments -- References -- Appendix. Case study source material -- Index.
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