The Will to Kill: Making Sense of Senseless Murder

Author: James Alan Fox,Jack Levin,Kenna Quinet
Publisher: SAGE Publications Inc
Category: True Crime Biographies, True Crime Books, Crime & Criminology
Book Format: Paperback

Authored by renowned experts, this book reviews homicide laws, introduces theories purporting to explain murder, and presents up-to-date statistical data identifying homicide patterns and trends. It covers topics ranging from domestic and workplace homicide to cult and hate killings; murder committed by juveniles to serial slayings. Finally, it examines criminal justice responses to homicide, including the strategies and tactics employed to apprehend, prosecute, and punish killers. This edition also reflects recent legislative changes and Supreme Court decisions, includes new case examples, and contains extensively expanded discussions of family and school homicide.

Table Of Contents
About the Authors

Preface

CHAPTER 1: The Lure and the Law of Homicide

Fascination with Murder

Selling Evil

Homicide Law

Murder

First-Degree Murder

Second-Degree Murder

Manslaughter

Defenses to Criminal Homicide

Justifiable Homicides by Police and Citizens

Excuses for Homicide and Diminished Capacity

Homicide Law in Practice

CHAPTER 2: The Killers and Their Victims

Race Differences

Gender Differences

Age Differences

Differences by Location

The Role of Firearms

Changing Patterns in Homicide

Chicken Little and the Ferguson Defect

Breaking the Mold

CHAPTER 3: Explaining the Will to Kill

The Devil Made Me do it

Back to the Classics

Using Science to Explain Violence

Early Biological Explanations of Criminal Behavior

Modern Biosocial Theory and Neurocriminology

The Human Brain

This Is Your Brain on Drugs

Genetics

Killer Instincts?

The Future of Biological Explanations of Homicidal Behavior

Psychological Explanations

Psychosis

Sociopaths, Psychopaths, and Personality Disorders

Freud and Psychoanalysis

Evolutionary Psychology

Personality Traits

Paraphilias

IQ and Crime

The Social Sources of Murder

Social Disorganization

Strain, Frustration, and Murder

Cultural Deviance

Learning to Kill

Self-Control, Social Control, and Murder

Labeling Theory

Integrated Theories

A Word of Caution About Cause

CHAPTER 4: Intimate and Family Murder

Killing for Profit and Practicality

Obsession and Jealousy

Power, Control, and Abuse

Family Annihilation

Murder for Love

Murder-Suicide

Parricide

Filicide

Infanticide

Motherhood by Proxy

Prevention and Response

CHAPTER 5: The Young and the Ruthless

An "Epidemic" of Youth Homicide

Explaining the 1990s Decline

Principles of Prevention

Dial M for Media

Juveniles in the Adult System

Looking Ahead

CHAPTER 6: Well-Schooled in Murder

The Risk of School Homicide

Copycat Shootings

Adult School Shooters

Explaining School Massacres

Blaming Parents

Fear Factor

Threatening Words and Warning Signs

Responses to School Shootings

Overprotection

Healthy and Safe Schools

On to College

CHAPTER 7: Serial Killers

The Many Forms of Serial Killing

Deceiving Appearances

Prevalence and Trends

Characteristics of Serial Killers

Victims of Serial Murder

Killing Together

Beyond U.S. Borders

The Murdering Mind

Explanations for Serial Murder

Biological Factors

Childhood Factors

CHAPTER 8: Medical Murder and Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy

Counting Medical Murders

Healthcare Murders Globally

Motives and Types of Medical Murderers

Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy

Administrative Facilitators and Failures

Prevention and Intervention

Looking Ahead

CHAPTER 9: Rampage

Mass Murder

Methodical and Selective

The Role of Firearms

Indiscriminate Massacres

Targeting a Category of Victims

Getting Even Through Murder

Losses and Frustrations

Profile of the Workplace Avenger

Preventing Murders by Disgruntled Employees and Customers

CHAPTER 10: Hate Homicides

Characteristics of Hate Homicide

Types of Hate Homicide

Thrill Hate Crimes

Defensive Hate Crimes

Retaliatory Hate Crimes

Mission Hate Crimes

Organized Hate Groups

The Role of the Military

Current State of Hate Crime Laws

CHAPTER 11: Murderous Terror

Hate Homicide and Domestic Terrorism

International Terrorism

The Rise of the Islamic State (ISIS)

Terrorism in Europe

Homegrown Terrorism

American Muslims and Domestic Terrorism

Left-Wing vs. Right-Wing Terrorists

Single-Issue Terrorism

The Impact of Murderous Terror

Reducing Murderous Terrorism

CHAPTER 12: Cult Killings

Dangerous Cults

The Appeal of Cults

Charismatic Leaders and Their Followers

Needs Fulfilled by Cults

Normal People in Abnormal Situations

Suicide or Homicide?

CHAPTER 13: Catching Killers

Science of the Lambs

Forensic Applications of DNA

Technological Advances

Forensic Error

Clearance Rates

Investigating Challenging Homicide Cases

ViCAP

NamUs

Behavioral Profiling

Geographic Profiling

Sightings and Visions

Working a Homicide in the Media Spotlight

CHAPTER 14: Getting Away with Murder, or Not

The Insanity Defense

The Insanity Defense in Practice

Revelations Under Hypnosis

Capital Punishment

The Deterrence Debate

Race and the Death Penalty

Other Issues Surrounding the Death Penalty

Juvenile Injustice

Epilogue: Epidemic Thinking and Overresponse

Index
About James Alan Fox
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 USA TODAY. Fox often gives keynote talks and testimony before Congress and in criminal and civil court proceedings. He has briefed various leaders here and abroad, and has worked on criminal investigations surrounding serial and mass murder cases. He also served as a visiting fellow with the Bureau of Justice Statistics focusing on homicide patterns and trends. 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 co-directs its Center on Violence and Conflict. He has authored or co-authored more than 30 books, most recently The Violence of Hate and Hate Crime: A Global Perspective. Dr. Levin has also published more than 250 articles and columns in professional journals, books, magazines, and newspapers, such as The New York Times, London Sunday Times, Boston Globe, Dallas Morning News, Philadelphia Inquirer, Christian Science Monitor, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, and USA Today. Dr. 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.
Kenna Quinet is an associate professor of criminal justice in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). She is also a certified medico-legal death investigator and Deputy Coroner at the Marion County Coroner's Office. Her research interests include homicide, missing persons, causes of death, unidentified and unclaimed dead. Quinet teaches homicide courses as well as an animal rights course at IUPUI and she has won more than 15 teaching awards. Since 1992 she has worked closely with law enforcement, provided more than 80 media interviews, does cold case homicide consultations and serves as an Indiana representative for NamUs, the national missing and unidentified persons system.

(BK-9781506365961)

SKU BK-9781506365961
Barcode # 9781506365961
Brand SAGE Publications Inc
Artist / Author James Alan Fox, Jack Levin, Kenna Quinet
Shipping Weight 0.5000kg
Shipping Width 0.180m
Shipping Height 0.010m
Shipping Length 0.250m
Assembled Length 25.200m
Assembled Height 1.300m
Assembled Width 17.800m
Type Paperback

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