The study is a psychobiographical study, aiming to explore and describe the life of John Wayne Gacy. He was a well-respected man in his community, entertaining the neighbourhood as Pogo the clown. But there was a dark side to his nature that he tried to keep hidden; yet glimpses of it appeared throughout his life. This dark side was exposed to the public when the police found twenty-seven dead bodies ranging from boys of nine to young men twenty years of age hidden in his basement. The study utilises the Erikson’s psychosocial developmental theory in order to examine Gacy’s life and attempt to establish unique character traits. The study utilises a qualitative single case study approach, and the subject was selected through purposive sampling based on interest value. Archival data was collected from secondary sources to enhance validity. Data was analysed by first organising and reducing information obtained; and then displaying it for discussion of Gacy’s life. Gacy’s life was reconstructed from birth, through adolescence and adulthood and his death. The findings suggest that the theoretical approach considered the biopsychosocial as well as cultural and historical influences of situations and experiences in Gacy’s personality development throughout his lifespan. The main themes of discussion centre around the abuse he experienced and the influence this had on his development, the lack of crisis resolution and thus achievement of virtues, Gacy’s lack of difficulty in establishing attachment and the resulting narcissism and lack of self-abandon, as well his homosexuality, sadism and the murders he ultimately committed. The study highlighted the importance of psychobiographical studies and the value of Erikson’s theory in understanding development. Recommendations for future research in this field was made in the hope of further uncovering and understanding the personality and its development.

Analyzing the crimes of women murderers and how they fared in the criminal justice system demonstrates that though perceptions of gender evolved, resistance to sentencing women to death often persisted. The nature of homicides committed by women in Oregon set them apart from their male counterparts. Women were, and are, more likely to commit domestic homicides -- murders that involve a family member or partner. These crimes are typically not equated with crimes that warrant capital punishment. As a result, no woman has been subjected to the death penalty in the state. This thesis analyzes the twenty-five women who were convicted of homicide in Oregon between 1854 and 1950. During these years the majority faced all-male court and penal systems. As such, they were handled differently in accordance with various social, cultural, and legislative shifts relating to women's roles as citizens. Through an examination of contemporary newspaper articles, inmate case files, and other Oregon State Penitentiary records, this thesis studies three distinct periods relating to these shifts: 1854-1900, 1901-1935 and 1936-1950. The assumption that it was impossible for a woman to commit murder linked claims of insanity with criminality. The six women defendants between 1854 and 1900 were either deemed insane and transferred to the asylum or quickly released from prison to avoid potential controversy or additional expense. The twelve women convicted of homicide between 1901 and 1935 all received manslaughter convictions, an occurrence unique to this era. Following the Progressive Era, sentimental juries felt more comfortable convicting women of manslaughter. Many received indeterminate sentences of one to fifteen years and were released on parole. The initial first-degree murder charges between 1936 and 1950 signaled a new period in the treatment of women charged with homicide. After gaining the right to vote and serve on juries, women began to be viewed more equally in the eyes of the law. During these years there was a more even distribution of manslaughter, second-degree murder, and first-degree murder convictions for the seven women defendants. This is due in part to women's growing presence in the public sphere. In conclusion, the idea that women were submissive creatures that required the authority and protection of men in the courtroom began to fade by 1950. Each period of study demonstrates how the contemporary perception of women and their roles as citizens affected trial outcomes. However, even when women were charged with first-degree murder they were not sentenced to the death penalty -- likely due to the domestic nature of their crimes.

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This study examines the coverage of serial killers David Berkowitz, Richard Ramirez, and Dennis Lynn Rader in the Chicago Tribune and the Washington Post. The 30-day period following the arrest of each killer was studied using a content analysis to identify whether the coverage focused on crime prevention, as suggested by the public health model. The study also sought to identify whether the themes of coverage changed over time. The content analysis indicated that there was a change in the themes of coverage over time, and that more attention was paid to the history of the case than to crime prevention. / Department of Journalism

Zugl.: Bielefeld, Universiẗat, Diss.

Serial crime is an element of society that continues to disturb and fascinate scholars. There is thus a need to understand the uniqueness of serial murderers and their psychological development. The field of psychobiography is a qualitative approach to uncover the story of an individual life through greater understanding of psychological concepts. Psychobiographical research is invaluable in the application of theory to the finished lives of exemplary or enigmatic individuals to develop and test theories of human development. Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer (1960 – 1994), a cannibalistic serial killer who killed 17 young men, served as the single psychobiographical subject in this study. Dahmer was selected based on interest value, his uniqueness and the lack of a specifically academic and psychologically focused case study on his life. A qualitative psychobiographical research method was utilized in this study. The primary aim of the research was to explore and describe Jeffrey Dahmer’s personality development across his lifespan. This was achieved by applying Erikson’s (1950) psychosocial theory of staged developmental crises to the lifespan developmental process and Adler’s (1929) dynamic individual psychology to provide a more comprehensive idiographic interpretation of Dahmer as an individual. Jeffrey Dahmer’s life history was uncovered in this psychobiographical case study research through the systematic and consistent collection, analysis and interpretation of life history materials, which highlighted five significant historical periods: (a) Childhood of Fantasy, (b) The Quiet Loner, (c) Hiatus – or Build-up, (d) Seeking a Compliant Partner and (e) Arrest, Trial and Death. The two theoretical frameworks were used to discern, transform and reconstruct his life into a coherent and illuminating narrative of his psychological movement through life. Alexander’s (1988) model of identifying salient themes was used to analyze data for analytical generalization (Yin, 1994). A conceptual framework derived from the two theoretical perspectives was constructed to organize and integrate data and to guide the presentation and discussion of the findings of the study in an integrative and comprehensive manner. The findings suggested that both theoretical perspectives considered the biopsychosocial as well as cultural and historical influences of situations and experiences in Dahmer’s personality development throughout the lifespan. Adlerian theory indicated that Dahmer held a socially useless lifestyle whose movement was guided purposively towards a fictional goal xxii of godlikeness through creative, concrete expressions of personal superiority. Eriksonian theory held that Dahmer remained in role confusion, which was viewed as a functional, fragmented identity to survive in society and achieve a fantasy. Thus, both theories indicated, despite their different conceptualizations, that Dahmer’s personality development was ultimately not socially beneficial. The study of Dahmer’s personality development has provided a positive demonstration of the value of both Erikson (1950) and Adler’s (1929) theories to understand the processes of personality development in an individual life. It has further highlighted the uniqueness of individual responses to life tasks and consequently unlocked the possibility of perceiving people and their actions differently. Recommendations were made for future research undertakings that utilize a psychobiographical research design and methodology to uncover, illuminate and reconstruct the lives of enigmatic personalities.

Murder is something that both horrifies and arouses interest in our society. The media is acontributing factor to the different portrayals of murderers, potentially affecting the public'sunderstanding of the crime and the perpetrators behind it. This study analyses the representation of female murderers in podcasts. The research questions are based on Norman Fairclough's three-dimensional model of critical discourse analysis. Thus, they aim to analyse how women are represented in podcasts, how the representations challenge or reproduce female stereotypes, andhow this can be seen problematic from a broader social context. This is done through a criticaldiscourse analytic perspective, where the aim is to understand how different linguistic choices andnarratives about female murderers can challenge or reproduce different discourses about women.To understand the deeper meaning of the text, we use a theoretical framework consisting offraming theory, gender theory, narratology and a theoretical understanding of stereotypes. The study is concluding that the female murderers included in the empirical material of the studyare portrayed as both emotionally driven as well as evil and vengeful. The former characteristic canbe linked to how the stereotypical woman is considered and the latter to the stereotypical femalemurderer. The consistent discourses that are interpreted from the empirical material are that thewoman is the weaker gender and that female murderers are the opposite of the stereotypicalwoman. The study is also concluding that this can be seen as problematic in a wider social context.This can influence the public's perception of the reality of female murderers and help to perpetuatethe discourses and stereotypes as well as gender roles in society. The study also finds that revengeis often portrayed as the motive for the murder even though there could be other underlying causes,such as women abuse and mental illness which were not discussed in the material. The conclusions of the study are that the empirical material reproduces the different stereotypesof what a woman is and is not. This can be further problematised by the fact that the work ofdissolving gender roles and stereotypes is halted or made more difficult. It is also possible tointerpret that those who benefit from this are the media who receive news with higher news value.The study is also concluding that there may be underlying motives for the murders that are hiddenin larger societal problems, such as the abuse of women and mental illness. Failure of the media toaddress such perspectives could be problematic for society and individuals by continuing to taboothese topics, which are currently major societal problems. / Mord är något som både förskräcker och framkallar intresse i vårt samhälle. Medier är enbidragande faktor till olika framställningar av mördare vilket potentiellt kan inverka påallmänhetens förståelse av brottet och gärningsmännen bakom det. Denna studie analyserarrepresentationen av kvinnliga mördare i podcasts. Frågeställningarna grundar sig i NormanFaircloughs tredimensionella modell av kritisk diskursanalys. De går således ut på att analysera hurkvinnorna framställs i podcasts, hur framställningarna utmanar eller reproducerar kvinnligastereotyper, samt hur detta kan ses problematiskt ur ett vidare socialt sammanhang. Detta görsgenom ett kritiskt diskursanalytiskt perspektiv, där syftet är att förstå hur olika lingvistiska val ochberättelser om kvinnliga mördare kan utmana eller reproducera olika diskurser om kvinnor. För attförstå textens djupare mening använder vi oss av ett teoretiskt ramverk bestående avgestaltningsteorin, genusteorin, narratologi samt en teoretisk förståelse av stereotyper. Studien visar att de kvinnliga mördare som inkluderas i studiens empiriska material framställs sombåde känslostyrda samt onda och hämndlystna. Den förstnämnda egenskapen kan kopplas sammanmed hur den stereotypa kvinnan anses vara och det sistnämnda med den stereotypiska kvinnligamördaren. De genomgående diskurserna som tolkas ur det empiriska materialet är att kvinnan ärdet svagare könet och att kvinnliga mördare är en motsats till den stereotypa kvinnan. Studien visaräven att detta kan ses problematiskt i en större social kontext. Detta då det kan influeraallmänhetens verklighetsuppfattning om kvinnliga mördare och bidra till att befästa diskursernaoch stereotyper samt genusroller i samhället. Studien visar till sist även att hämnd ofta porträtterassom motivet till mordet trots att det kan finnas andra bakomliggande orsaker somkvinnomisshandel eller psykisk ohälsa vilket inte diskuterades i materialet. Studiens slutsatser är att det empiriska materialet reproducerar de olika stereotyperna kring vad enkvinna är och inte. Detta kan vidare problematiseras genom att arbetet med att upplösa genusrolleroch stereotyper stannar upp eller försvåras. Det går även att tyda att de som gynnas av detta ärmedier som får nyheter med mer nyhetsvärde. Studiens slutsats är även att det kan finnasbakomliggande motiv till morden som döljer sig i större samhällsproblem som kvinnomisshandeloch psykisk sjukdom. Om medier inte tar upp sådana perspektiv kan det bli problematiskt församhälle och individer genom att fortsatt tabubelägga dessa ämnen som idag är storasamhällsproblem.

The extant South African literature base on male homicide is relatively small and reveals a paucity of qualitative studies. This study aimed to elicit discourses embedded within the narratives of men involved in homicidal encounters, and to analyse them from a social constructionist perspective. Semi-structured, individual interviews were conducted with 30 male prisoners who were convicted of murder. An analysis of narrative forms, followed by a critical discourse analysis of the narrative contents, was conducted and aimed to assess the social and ideological significance, functions and effects of these discourses. Participants' talk included masculine performances that allowed for positive self-presentation and ways of constructing meaning of their actions for themselves, the interviewer and an `invisible audience'. Narrative forms of stability/continuity, decline, and transformation/growth that relied on normalising, reifying, tipping point, propitiatory and rehabilitatory lexical registers were deployed as a means to position participants as reasonable, normal, rehabilitated, and as `successful' men. Within the narrative contents, participants constructed homicide through exculpatory and justificatory discourses to rationalise and minimise their agency, and drew on essentialist, moral and deterministic notions of male violence. Discourses of spectacular and instrumental violence were also evident. References to male honour, status and power; a defence against emasculation; the assertion of control over commodified female partners; the maintenance of referent familist and ageist discourses; and the normalisation of male violence as a utilitarian tool to access resources in unequal social contexts, underpinned these discourses. The homicidal acts thus represented adapted performances of hegemonic masculinity in a noxious context where this dominant form of masculinity is often unattainable. While participants' talk reproduced hegemonic constructions of masculinity within broader social contexts, it also contested hegemonic orders of moral discourses that govern the legitimacy or illegitimacy of violence. The findings reveal how contexts of discoursal production have a contradictory response to violence - denouncing it, but also simultaneously acting as a pernicious incubatory environment for male homicide. It concludes that the prevention of male homicide must involve the de-linking of masculinities and violence at material, structural and institutional levels, but also within systems of signification, if non-violent masculinities are to gain ascendancy. / Psychology / D.Litt. et Phil.(Psychology)

Background. A number of commentators (Holloway 1996 Muijen 1996a; 1996b) have suggested that two events in the form of homicides carried out by mental health service users came to exert a disproportionate influence on English mental health policy over the period 1985-2000. In particular it has been suggested that the events formed the focus for a ‘moral panic’ caused by ‘irresponsible’ and ‘sensationalist’ reporting in UK newspapers (Neal 1998; Prins and Swan 1998). Aims. In the light of such claims this study critically explores the role played by the deaths of Jonathan Zito and Isabel Schwarz play in establishing violent assaults perpetrated by people experiencing mental illness as a ‘social problem’. It examines whether a shift in the discourse on mental illness took place in UK newspapers and explores how the deaths of Isabel Schwarz were and Jonathan Zito were framed in terms of causal responsibility. Finally it evaluates what influence, if any, the deaths in question had on the social policy agenda. Design. Case study / mixed design integrating quantitative and qualitative methods. Method. Content analysis consisting of a longitudinal analysis of the nature of the representation of mental illness changed over the period in two UK newspaper. Framing a sub-type of discourse analysis examined changes in the discourse of mental illness and the effects of the emergence of the community care tragedy as a ‘new’ narrative. It was also used to examine the potential influence on social policy on mental illness of changes in societal level frames particularly the emergence of the risk society. Results. The content analysis found that mental illness appeared increasingly in the context of a threat to public safety in newspapers over the period but that the overall representation was more balanced. The framing analysis identified and evidenced a competitive process in framing the issue of homicides committed by service users with mental health problems and demonstrated the potential influence of macro level social frames on the policy making proces

The extant South African literature base on male homicide is relatively small and reveals a paucity of qualitative studies. This study aimed to elicit discourses embedded within the narratives of men involved in homicidal encounters, and to analyse them from a social constructionist perspective. Semi-structured, individual interviews were conducted with 30 male prisoners who were convicted of murder. An analysis of narrative forms, followed by a critical discourse analysis of the narrative contents, was conducted and aimed to assess the social and ideological significance, functions and effects of these discourses. Participants' talk included masculine performances that allowed for positive self-presentation and ways of constructing meaning of their actions for themselves, the interviewer and an `invisible audience'. Narrative forms of stability/continuity, decline, and transformation/growth that relied on normalising, reifying, tipping point, propitiatory and rehabilitatory lexical registers were deployed as a means to position participants as reasonable, normal, rehabilitated, and as `successful' men. Within the narrative contents, participants constructed homicide through exculpatory and justificatory discourses to rationalise and minimise their agency, and drew on essentialist, moral and deterministic notions of male violence. Discourses of spectacular and instrumental violence were also evident. References to male honour, status and power; a defence against emasculation; the assertion of control over commodified female partners; the maintenance of referent familist and ageist discourses; and the normalisation of male violence as a utilitarian tool to access resources in unequal social contexts, underpinned these discourses. The homicidal acts thus represented adapted performances of hegemonic masculinity in a noxious context where this dominant form of masculinity is often unattainable. While participants' talk reproduced hegemonic constructions of masculinity within broader social contexts, it also contested hegemonic orders of moral discourses that govern the legitimacy or illegitimacy of violence. The findings reveal how contexts of discoursal production have a contradictory response to violence - denouncing it, but also simultaneously acting as a pernicious incubatory environment for male homicide. It concludes that the prevention of male homicide must involve the de-linking of masculinities and violence at material, structural and institutional levels, but also within systems of signification, if non-violent masculinities are to gain ascendancy. / Psychology / D.Litt. et Phil.(Psychology)