Extreme Killing

James Alan Fox is the Lipman Family Professor of Criminology, Law, and Public Policy at Northeastern University. He has published 18 books, dozens of journal and magazine articles, as well as hundreds of freelance columns in newspapers around the country, primarily in the areas of multiple murder, youth crime, school and campus violence, workplace violence, and capital punishment. As a member of its Board of Contributors, his opinion column appears frequently in USAToday. Fox led the investigation of Seattle’s Capitol Hill mass shooting and was part of the task force investigating the serial murder of college students in Gainesville, Florida. He also served on President Clinton’s advisory committee on school shootings, and a Department of Education Expert Panel on Safe, Disciplined and Drug-Free Schools. In addition, he has been retained as an expert witness/consultant in several mass shooting cases, including the recent massacres at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas, and the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Fox is one of the principals in maintaining the Associated Press/USA Today/Northeastern University Mass Killing Database. Finally, he has received several awards and honors for his work, including the Hugo Adam Bedau Award for excellence in capital punishment scholarship.  Jack Levin is the Brudnick Professor Emeritus in the Department of Sociology at Northeastern University, where he codirects its Center on Violence and Conflict. He has authored or coauthored more than 30 books, most recently The Violence of Hate: Understanding Harmful Forms of Bias and Bigotry and The Allure of Premeditated Murder: Why Some People Plan to Kill. Levin has also published more than 250 articles and columns in professional journals, books, magazines, and newspapers, such as The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Dallas Morning News, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Christian Science Monitor, The Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, and USA Today.  Levin was honored by the Massachusetts Council for Advancement and Support of Education as its “Professor of the Year” and by the American Sociological Association for his contributions to the public understanding of sociology. He has also received awards from the Eastern Sociological Society, New England Sociological Association, Association of Clinical and Applied Sociology, and Society for the Study of Social Problems. Moreover, he has spoken to a wide variety of community, academic, and professional groups, including the White House Conference on Hate Crimes, the Department of Justice, OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (a membership of 59 countries), and the International Association of Chiefs of Police.Emma E. Fridel is an assistant professor in the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida State University. She primarily studies the intersection of lethal violence and community context, focusing specifically on homicide, homicide-suicide, gun violence, serial and mass murder, intimate partner violence, and police use of lethal force. Her work has recently been published in Criminology, Social Forces, the Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Justice Quarterly, the Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, Homicide Studies, Criminal Justice and Behavior, and Significance Magazine.

• Part I Multiple MurderChapter 1: America’s Fascination with Multiple MurderThe Gein LegacyMultiple Murder in Popular CultureThe Selling of Multiple MurderCraving AttentionKiller CommunicationKiller GroupiesMass Media and Mass MurderJust the FactsSensitize, Not SanitizeChapter 2: Defining Multiple MurderMass, Serial, and SpreeMass ConfusionCounting Victims of Serial MurderTypologies of Multiple MurderChapter 3: Theories of Multiple HomicideBiological TheoriesSociological TheoriesPsychological TheoriesPart II Serial MurderChapter 4: An Anatomy of Serial MurderPrevalence of Serial MurderA Profile of the Serial KillerExtraordinarily OrdinaryCompartmentalizationRehumanizing the VictimsChapter 5: With Deliberation and PurposeWhen Killing Is ThrillingOn a Deadly Mission of Terror or RevengeMaking a KillingFor Love and LoyaltyVictims of ChoiceChapter 6: Partners in MurderInsanity in the RelationshipPartners for ProfitPartnerships of Men and WomenAll in the FamilyChapter 7: Killing for CompanyPlacing the BlameKilling for CompanionshipThe Functions of CannibalismDesire for Total Control and OwnershipChapter 8: FantasylandKeeping SouvenirsNormal and Abnormal FantasiesThe Impact of PornographySex and Violence in the MediaChapter 9: The Making of a Serial KillerChildhood SufferingTestimony Under HypnosisParental RejectionAnimal CrueltyChallenges of Predicting Serial MurderChapter 10: Nonsexual ControlPower Over PatientsFemale Serial KillersMunchausen Syndrome by ProxyChapter 11: Killing CultsKilling for a CauseThe Appeal of Dangerous CultsSuicide or Homicide?Satanism and Serial MurderChapter 12: Catching Serial KillersAvoiding Notice and ArrestCatching the Serial KillerPart III Mass MurderChapter 13: Mass Murder FactsTaking NoticeTrends in Mass KillingIncreasing SeverityCharacteristics of Incidents, Offenders, and VictimsFear, Hysteria, and OverresponseChapter 14: For Love, Money or RevengeWhen Love KillsSweet RevengeProfiting From Mass MurderExplaining Mass MurderDomestic Violence and Mass MurderWarning Signs of Mental DisturbanceContributing FactorsChapter 15: Family AnnihilationA Profile of the Family AnnihilatorImpact of UnemploymentMurdering MomsThe Defiant SonChapter 16: Firing BackProfile of the Workplace AvengerMixed MotivesWorkplace Murder by ProxyRomantic ObsessionExternalizing ResponsibilitySocial IsolationScreening Out Problem WorkersGoing PostalChapter 17: Well-Schooled in Mass MurderDisgruntled StudentsThe Worst-Laid PlansUnique Risk FactorsThe Role of Violent Video GamesThe Copycat EffectOn to CollegeAddressing the RiskChapter 18: Fighting City HallAttacking the SystemLegal BattlesFiling a GrievanceClose CallIncreasing AlienationChapter 19: Hate-Motivated Mass MurderA Life of FrustrationBlaming WomenRejection and Involuntary CelibacyThe Killer as VictimThe Growth of Defensive Hate AttacksMultiple Murder to Eliminate Multiple ThreatsReplacement Theory and ViolenceMinority Against Majority—Retaliatory HateHate Crime LawsTargets Not Included in Hate Crime LegislationPrevention and ResponseChapter 20: Terror as TacticHate Crime or Terrorist Attack?Trends in TerrorismTerror From Both ExtremesGlobal TerrorismVehicular TerrorismCombating TerrorismChapter 21: Going BerserkParanoid ThinkingConfused State of MindLong-Standing Mental IllnessCivilian BattlefieldsBrain AbnormalitiesWarning Signs of DisturbanceCan they be Stopped?Chapter 22: Weapons of Mass (Murder) DestructionMass Shootings and Gun LegislationUniversal Background ChecksBans on Assault Weapons and Large-Capacity MagazinesConcealed CarryRed Flag LawsLessons from AbroadA Final ShotPart IV AftermathChapter 23: Coping with TragedySurviving VictimsPlacing BlameConspiracy TheoriesLitigating ResponsibilityChapter 24: Postscript