Creating cultural monsters: A critical analysis of the representation of serial murderers in America

Serial murder and serial murderers have been the subject of considerable attention in fictional crime shows (e.g, the various versions of "Law and Order" and "CSI") and movies (e.g., "The Silence of the Lambs"), as well as in the print media, since the term and profile for "serial killer" were developed by the FBI in the 1970s. White, American men are frequently identified as being over-represented as serial murderers, but no adequate sociological explanation has yet been developed for this. Biological and psychological explanations are deficient, and the cultural context generally has been ignored in previous studies. Informed by a framework drawn from cultural sociology and gender studies, this study employs a qualitative content analysis of biographical narratives, newspaper articles, and legal documents regarding 15 serial murderers --nine who appear to characterize the "typical" serial murderer and six who each represent a variation of one of the prototypical characteristics -- to identify the ways in which the American cultural milieu fosters serial murder and the creation of white, male serial murderers. A model is offered to illustrate the workings of culture and help explain the development of serial murderers in the United States. People utilize cultural values to construct lines of action according to their cultural competencies. American cultural values -- especially as they emphasize competition and individual achievement; white, male privilege; and hegemonic masculinity --along with the emotional appeal of crime commission appear to contribute to the development of serial murderers by making serial murder an available and desirable line of action for some men. There appears to be more diversity in characteristics of serial murderers than popular profiles suggest, and implications of the exaggerated and apparently inaccurate representations of serial murder by the media and FBI are considered. In addition, commonly employed definitions appear to describe characteristics most associated with white, male serial murderers in the United States and exclude other cases of multiple murder and serial offending. Representations of serial murder reinforce and perpetuate the power structure in American society and related values, which sustains an environment for extreme violence and creates a cultural blindness to some perpetrators.