Murder American Style

A part of the Wadsworth Contemporary Issues in Crime and Justice Series, this book is one of a few to exclusively address the core issues that relate to criminal homicide in the United States. MURDER AMERICAN STYLE provides an interdisciplinary theoretical approach to understand the patterns and trends of lethal American violence.

Foreword

vii

Acknowledgments

x

Through the Looking Glass

1

(22)

Reporting on Murder in the Media

1

(7)

Fear of Crime and Public Policy

8

(3)

Defining Murder

11

(5)

Measuring Murder

16

(3)

Organization of the Book

19

(1)

Notes

20

(3)

A Murderous Society

23

(32)

Introduction

23

(2)

Historic Overview of Violence

25

(5)

Murder Trends in the Twentieth Century

30

(3)

Regional Differences

33

(2)

The Characteristics of Murder in the United States

35

(4)

Recent Trends in Murder

39

(5)

Victim-Offender Relationships in Murder

44

(3)

International Comparisons

47

(3)

Summary

50

(1)

Notes

50

(5)

Why we Kill

55

(23)

Introduction

55

(1)

Explanations of Homicide Offending

56

(17)

Summary

73

(1)

Notes

74

(4)

Deadly Interactions

78

(17)

Introduction

78

(2)

Homicide Events

80

(3)

Murderous Interactions

83

(4)

A Comment on Homicide Offenders

87

(2)

Robbery Homicides

89

(3)

Summary

92

(1)

Notes

92

(3)

Dangerous Relations

95

(22)

Introduction

95

(2)

Intimate Partner Homicide

97

(8)

Parents Who Kill Their Children

105

(3)

Children Who Kill Their Parents

108

(1)

Other Family Homicides

109

(2)

Explanations of Family and Intimate Partner Homicide

111

(2)

Summary

113

(1)

Notes

113

(4)

When there are Multiple Victims

117

(25)

Introduction

117

(2)

Mass Murder

119

(7)

Spree Murder

126

(2)

Serial Murder

128

(10)

Summary

138

(1)

Notes

138

(4)

Tools of Death

142

(22)

Introduction

142

(1)

Firearms

143

(7)

Alcohol

150

(3)

Illicit Drugs

153

(6)

Summary

159

(1)

Notes

160

(4)

Capital Punishment

164

(21)

Introduction

164

(1)

The Death Penalty in the United States

165

(4)

The Death Penalty Internationally

169

(2)

Death Penalty Justifications

171

(4)

Problems in Administering the Death Penalty

175

(6)

Summary

181

(1)

Notes

182

(3)

Where do we go From Here?

185

(22)

The Hidden Victims

186

(6)

In Guns we Trust

192

(5)

Poverty and Inequality

197

(2)

Recent Developments in Capital Punishment

199

(5)

Summary

204

(1)

Notes

204

(3)

Index

207

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Murder American Style

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials