Using Murder: The Social Construction of Serial Homicide

by Philip Jenkins

In the last decade, serial murder has become a source of major concern for law enforcement agencies, while the serial killer has attracted widespread interest as a villain in popular culture. There is no doubt, however, that popular fears and stereotypes have vastly exaggerated the actual scale of multiple homicide activity. In assessing the concern and the interest, Jenkins has produced an innovative synthesis of approaches to social problem construction. It includes an historical and social-scientific estimate of the objective scale of serial murder; a rhetorical analysis of the construction of the phenomenon in public debate; and a cultural studies-oriented analysis of the portrayal of serial murder in contemporary literature, film, and the mass media.Using Murder suggests that a problem of this sort can only be understood in the context of its political and rhetorical dimension; that fears of crime and violence are valuable for particular constituencies and interest groups, which put them to their own uses. In part, these agendas are bureaucratic, in the sense that exaggerated concern about the offense generates support for criminal justice agencies. But other forces are at work in the culture at large, where serial murder has become an invaluable rhetorical weapon in public debates over issues like gender, race, and sexual orientation.Serial murder is worthy of study not so much for its intrinsic significance, but rather for what it suggests about the concerns, needs, and fears of the society that has come to portray it as an 'ultimate evil.' Using Murder is a highly original study of a powerful contemporary mythology by a criminologist and historian versed in the constructionist literature on the origins of 'moral panics.'

Genres: Nonfiction, Sociology, History

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

John Philip Jenkins was born in Wales in 1952. He was educated at Clare College, in the University of Cambridge, where he took a prestigious “Double First” degree—that is, Double First Class Honors. In 1978, he obtained his doctorate in history, also from Cambridge. Since 1980, he has taught at Penn State University, and currently holds the rank of Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of the Humanities. He is also a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Baylor University's Institute for Studies of Religion.

Though his original training was in early modern British history, he has since moved to studying a wide range of contemporary topics and issues, especially in the realm of religion.

Jenkins is a well-known commentator on religion, past and present. He has published 24 books, including The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South and God's Continent: Christianity, Islam and Europe's Religious Crisis (Oxford University Press). His latest books, published by HarperOne, are The Lost History of Christianity and Jesus Wars (2010).

His book The Next Christendom in particular won a number of honors. USA Today named it one of the top religion books of 2002; and Christianity Today described The Next Christendom as a “contemporary classic.” An essay based on this book appeared as a cover story in the Atlantic Monthly in October 2002, and this article was much reprinted in North America and around the world, appearing in German, Swiss, and Italian magazines.

His other books have also been consistently well received. Writing in Foreign Affairs in 2003, Sir Lawrence Freedman said Jenkins's Images of Terror was “a brilliant, uncomfortable book, its impact heightened by clear, restrained writing and a stunning range of examples.”

Jenkins has spoken frequently on these diverse themes. Since 2002, he has delivered approximately eighty public lectures just on the theme of global Christianity, and has given numerous presentations on other topics. He has published articles and op-ed pieces in many media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, New Republic, Foreign Policy, First Things, and Christian Century. In the European media, his work has appeared in the Guardian, Rheinischer Merkur, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Welt am Sonntag, and the Kommersant (Moscow). He is often quoted in news stories on religious issues, including global Christianity, as well as on the subject of conflicts within the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion, and controversies concerning cults and new religious movements. The Economist has called him “one of America's best scholars of religion.”

Over the last decade, Jenkins has participated in several hundred interviews with the mass media, newspapers, radio, and television. He has been interviewed on Fox's The Beltway Boys, and has appeared on a number of CNN documentaries and news specials covering a variety of topics, including the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, as well as serial murder and aspects of violent crime. The 2003 television documentary Battle for Souls (Discovery Times Channel) was largely inspired by his work on global Christianity. He also appeared on the History Channel special, Time Machine: 70s Fever (2009).

Jenkins is much heard on talk radio, including multiple appearances on NPR's All Things Considered, and on various BBC and RTE programs. In North America, he has been a guest on the widely syndicated radio programs of Diane Rehm, Michael Medved, and James Kennedy; he has appeared on NPR’s Fresh Air, as well as the nationally broadcast Canadian shows Tapestry and Ideas. His media appearances include newspapers and radio stations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Brazil, as well as in many different regions of the United States.

Because of its relevance to policy issues, Jenkins's work has attracted the attention of gove

Reviews

[Elizabeth Tangora · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid examination of the social aspects of mass murder; this book examines the myths American society tells about serial killers and why we tell these myths. The factual break downs that comprise most of the first half of the book are eye openers, and show just how skewed the image of mass-murder is from the reality. The rest deals with the 'why' of the construction of these myths, and what *all* groups (conservatives, feminists, gays, law enforcement, press) gain from propagating false or exaggerated ideas (however innocently they do it) about serial killers. Nobody is spared, but nobody is targeted, and the whole thing leaves you fascinated with how much our system is affected on behalf of a fringe group of dangerous people.

That said, it can be a long read. It stays on an academic straight-and-narrow, which means it can be dense. I took forever finishing it, because I would usually read it before bed, and only be able to last 10-15 pages a night. It's also non-sensationalistic, so it will reference a serial killer and only give the relevant basics of what s/he did, leaving the morbidly curious to google it themselves (this is both good and bad). The author shows an astonishing grasp of the impact both on and of pop culture, but doesn't dwell on it, just notes it and moves on. All of these features make for a very mature book on serial killers, which isn't always what you want (blood! gore! startling tales!) but is enlightening no matter where your interest in serial murder is coming from.

Downside: this book will hardcore ruin procedurals for you.

[Katie]

dissertation book

[R.J. Gilmour · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good analysis of serial homicide in Western culture. Jenkins looks not only at how serial crimes are constructed by policing agencies but also how it is reported in the media. He also pays attention to culture constructions in popular culture looking at both true crime books, fiction and film. It is careful in his use of language and ideas, balancing the panic over serial crime with other forms of moral panics. An important book for anyone seeking to understand how the "epidemic" of serial crime developed in the 1980s and 1990s

[Jordan E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good guide for beginners wanting to know about the Sociological impact of serial killing. Also a great side-by-side since it's cited in numerous other texts and articles.