Increase of Serial Killers and Murderers in the 1920s Through 1990s

793 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Introduction of the ted bundy

If you were to look closely at the population in The United States of America during the 1960s through 1990s, you would notice a significant rise and fall of the nation’s population. If you look even closer at those statistics you will notice the population of murderers, more importantly serial killers were at a prominent high. Serial killings were at an all time high during this quadruple decade period of time. In 1960 the number started to slowly inch from less than ten to forty. Even worse the number exploded to 120 in 1970. The number then rocketed to a whopping 200 in 1980. Fortunately the number dwindled to about 140. There seemed to be a sort of epidemic of serial killers. The murder rate in America rose terrifyingly high in 1960 to 1980 and slowly dribbled down in 1990. Homicide was averaged at 80%. There were 9,000 homicides recorded in 1960, 18,980 in 1985, and a horrifying average of 24,530 in 1992. These statistics show the phenomenon of the serial killer epidemic. The population of serial murderers increased quite dramatically towards the end of the 1960s. There are several theories as to why the number peaked so high. The population boomed in the 1960s, producing more people. When you have more people, you have higher populations of different types of people, therefore increasing the serial killer population. Crime investigation was not as advanced during the epidemic. Different towns and especially different states did not connect and share their records on arrests and reports of crime very often, prolonging the killing career of these murderers. There are several different reasons or theories as to why the population of serial killers started to dwindle down during the 1990s. The collection of records and other... ... middle of paper ... ...dy said to the executioner, “Id like to you to give my love to my family and friends.” Those were Bundy’s last words. After his death was announced, the same exact people who rioted before his death were heard cheering with excitement and joy outside the prison he was executed at. Theodore Robert Bundy became one of America’s most famous serial killers of all time. In the four decade of period time between 1960 and 1990, there was a significant rise in the serial killer population, creating, somewhat of a serial killer epidemic. This epidemic consisted of a few very significant serial killers, the ones you see in movies and heard about in the media, murderers such as Ted Bundy. As the population rose the population of serial killers increased greatly. As technology advanced the catching of these murderers went up, saving the lives of many innocent Americans.

Show More
Related

  • Murderers and Serial Killers in the Chicago Area

    1733 Words  | 4 Pages

    An analysis of the most famous murderers and serial killers in the Chicago area shows varying degrees of psychopathy or mental illnesses, which ultimately contribute to homicidal conduct. Analysis also shows that the paths of serial killers have a tendency to converge.... ... middle of paper ... ...

    Read More

  • Serial Killers: H. H. Holmes

    2489 Words  | 5 Pages

    Serial killers are everywhere! Well, perhaps not in our neighborhood, but on our television screens, at the movie theaters, and in rows and rows of books at our local Borders or Barnes and Nobles Booksellers” (Brown). When people think of serial killers, names such as Dahmer, Gacy, Bundy, and Gein are cited. During the time Jack the Ripper was executing his victims in London, Holmes began his gruesome career in Chicago (America’s Serial Killers). “Despite being America’s first serial killer, Holmes is hardly a familiar name and until now we haven’t had any popular visual record of his crimes: (Spikol). Why is it that people only think of the more popular killers with higher known profiles? They are all very similar to one another because they share characteristics. H.H. Holmes was a successful serial killer because he was well educated, cunning and charming. Those are just a few traits Holmes ...

    Read More

  • Travis Hirschi's Social Bond Theory

    2547 Words  | 6 Pages

    In 2012, there were an estimated 14,827 murders and non-negligent manslaughter crimes reported by all agencies in the United States according to the Uniform Crime Report at the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Murder and non-negligent manslaughter are defined “as the willful (nonnegligent) killing of one human being by another.” A 1.1 percent increase occurred from 2011 to 2012. But it should be noted, this is a 9.9 percent drop from the figure for 2008 and a 10.3 percent decrease from the number of murders recorded in 2003. Of the murders that occurred in 2012, it is estimated that 43.6 percent were reported in the south, 21.0 percent were from the Midwest, 21.0 percent were accounted from the west, and 14.2 percent were from the northeast of the United States. There were 4.7 murders for every 100,000 people in 2012. The murder rate went up 0.4 percent from 2011 to 2012. It went down in 2008 by 12.8 percent and dropped 16.9 percent from 2003. The majority of offenders were over the age of eighteen and they accounted for 9,096 of offenders in 2012. According to the Uniform Crime Report, the number of offenders who murdered in 2012 totaled 14,581. The majority of these offenders were male, totaling 9,425. Female offenders totaled 1,098, and 4,058 were unknown offenders. Black males topped the list as far as race was concerned with 5,531 committing murder. White males followed with 4,582 offenders. There were 4,228 classified as race unknown regarding offenders who murdered in 2012. The victim data reported was 9,917 male victims and 2,834 female victims. Of those victims, 11,549 were over the age of eighteen.

    Read More

  • How Serial Killers came to be

    1910 Words  | 4 Pages

    A serial killer is traditionally defined as the separate killings of three or more people by an individual over a certain period of time, usually with breaks between the murders. (Angela Pilson, p. 2, 2011) This definition has been accepted by both the police and academics and therefore provides a useful frame of reference (Kevin Haggerty, p.1, 2009). The paper will seek to provide the readers with an explanation of how serial killers came to be and how they are portrayed in the media. Several serial killers have a definitive and common personality profile.

    Read More

  • Ted Bundy Criminology Theory

    1059 Words  | 3 Pages

    Introduction: On the spectrum of criminal activity, serial killers are rather rare. Rarer still is a serial killer like Ted Bundy. Bundy confessed to killing 28 women in the 1970s in ghastly fashion and some believe he may have killed far more. It is hard to imagine what could cause any person to cross the mental boundary into such macabre behavior as Bundy perpetrated. Nevertheless, it is important to try to understand that behavior because only though such an understanding would society be able to identify and deter mass murderers in order to save lives.

    Read More

  • Perry Smith: A Passion to Kill

    1346 Words  | 3 Pages

    2011. “Serial Killers and Mass Murderers.” American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Vol. 9:

    Read More

  • The Zodiac Killer

    831 Words  | 2 Pages

    A serial killer is a person who has killed three or more people over a month apart. Their motivation for killing is usually based on psychological issue.(Sanmartín,2001) In the U.S, the most reported serial killers are lower middle class white males, usually in their late twenties to early thirties (Skrapec,2001). Serial killers, often, are liars. They have no sense of remorse or guilt. Most of the time they are not in serious relationship or have any emotional obsession to any one person, besides their victims. Most of the well-known serial killers are: Robert Pickton, Charles Manson, Anthony Sowell, Ted Bundy, The Zodiac Killer, The Green River Killer, and The BTK murderer. (Sanmartín,2001). Often, women were never seen as even a suspect

    Read More

  • Gender and Serial Killers

    2475 Words  | 5 Pages

    The stereotype that exists for individuals who commit serial murder is one that mainly includes males of a specific race. However, it is now known that white males are not the only individuals who commit serial murder. Men and women from all racial and ethnic backgrounds and socio-economic statuses have been found to be serial murderers. Although this information has been presented to society, the cultural schema of the white male serial killer is still prevalent. The assumptions that involve serial murderers often include two aspects, the serial murderer is male and the serial murder is a type of “lust murder”, often involving sexual crimes committed by a sadist (Keeney and Heide, 1995).

    Read More

  • Comparing Beam And Maxine Hong Kingston

    567 Words  | 2 Pages

    increased, the prominence of the killers themselves has not. The fascination with serial killers has increased drastically due to the absence of the real-life killers. “Serial killers just aren’t the sensation they used to be.” (Beam 2). Beam is suggesting that the decline in serial killers is due to better law enforcement and the increased incarceration rate. “...the decline in serial murders tracks with a dramatic drop in overall violent crime since the ‘80s.” (Beam 6).

    Read More

  • Studies on The Childhood of Serial Killers

    1453 Words  | 3 Pages

    As years go on so will the research on serial killers and hopefully we as a society will fully understand them and one day be able to cure whatever inside that makes them have the urge to kill. Works Cited The Electronic Journal of Sociology, published by the University of Guelph, Ontario. http://www.scribd.com/doc/167086215/How-Serial-Killers-Work. According to the article “10 Most Common Traits of Potential Serial Killers By Hestie Barnard Gerber. According to Comrade Chikatilo: The Psychopathology of Russia's Notorious Serial Killer.

    Read More

  • The Mind of Serial Killers

    722 Words  | 2 Pages

    I choose this topic because I believe it is important to know why serial killers have been around for hundreds of years. If there were more studies on them then I believe we may be more able to prevent their vicious killings. If there are several things in common between several different serial killers then it would be safe to say that those things can be predictors of what is to come. If for example, I researched all of the serial killers in the last twenty years and they were all beaten as children and had alcoholic parents, then it would seem that beating children and having alcoholic parents is certainly a common factor and may predict their future. So in my paper I will come up with a detailed profile and common themes between the serial killers in the last twenty years.

    Read More

  • Is a Serial Killer Born or Created?

    1033 Words  | 3 Pages

    Serial killers have many frightening facets. The most frightening thing about them is that experts still do not know what makes a human become a serial killer. Many experts believe serial killers become what they are because they have a genetic disposition or brain abnormality while other experts believe that a serial killer is created by childhood abuse; and some other experts believe that it is a combination of both brain abnormalities and abusive childhood experiences that creates a serial killer. A murderer is considered a serial killer when they “murder three or more persons in at least three separate events with a “cooling off period” between kills” (Mitchell and Aamodt 40). When defining a serial killer, their background, genes, and brain are not mentioned; perhaps one day those aspects of the serial killer can be included.

    Read More

  • Serial Killers: Is Pure Evil Born or Made?

    1552 Words  | 4 Pages

    By 1978, roughly thirty women were dead and mutilated by the same man with little explanation as to why. Ted Bundy, one of the most infamous serial killers in history brutally took the lives of numerous women for seemingly no reason at all. His justification for these murders was simply that he felt like committing them. A serial killer is defined as someone who has killed more than three people over a period of a month or more for seemingly no reason at all. Most serial killers have no real motive for killing; for them it is an urge that they must satisfy. Was Ted Bundy and others like him always a violent psychopath or did certain events cause him to behave this way? One common belief is that abusive childhoods and other environmental factors are the main reason serial killers develop the way they do. The other belief is that serial killers are born with an innate desire to kill. The answer to this question lies within both arguments and there is no secret serial killer formula. Serial Killers are neither born nor made; instead many factors, both biological and psychological, contribute to the making of these destructive monsters.

    Read More

  • Why Do Serial Killers Kill?

    1282 Words  | 3 Pages

    There have been many serial killer cases that have attracted the attention of not only the media but of mental health experts as well. Many experts from a variety of different fields have come together to answer one question: Why did they do it? It is believed that most, if not all, serial killers have a mental illness, motives, and/or trauma during their lives that made them start killing. Serial killers are not only the effect of nurture but also nature. The environment of their country, the United States is our focus, can cause the number of serial killers to increase especially if the country itself is unstable.

    Read More

  • Serial Killers

    2361 Words  | 5 Pages

    Serial killers have been around for decades but According To Jack Levin, 'seven of the ten largest mass killings in American history have taken place in the last decade (Douglas, p. 137). One of the most popular and well-known serial killers in history was Ted Bundy. He was convicted of killing three women but is suspected of killing thirty-six other women (Douglas, p. 137).

    Read More

More about Increase of Serial Killers and Murderers in the 1920s Through 1990s

Open Document