THE NARRATIVES OF OFFENDER PROFILING AND SERIAL MURDER

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SERIAL MURDER AS A PHENOMENON

Serial murder is a site of competing narratives, and each narrative brings competing definitions of the phenomenon and so defining serial murder remains difficult (Del Fabbro, 2006). Mostly simply, serial murder can be defined as a form of multiple murder (Holmes & Holmes, 1998, 2001) where a person acting alone or with another commits two or more separate acts of murder (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2005; Geberth, 1996; Egger, 1990).
This definition avoids much of the confusion of categorisation and description noted in the study of serial murder, along with some of the conceptual, practical, and moral shortcomings of the label ‘serial murderer’ (Ferguson, White, Cherry, Lorenz & Bhimani, 2003). These will be explored in the chapters to come.
Serial murder appears to have become increasingly prevalent in the latter half of the twentieth century (Hickey, 2002). This trend is mirrored in the developing world, including South Africa (Gorby, 2000; Hodgskiss, 2004; Labuschagne, 2001). Serial murder is thus a popular topic for research enquiry, and authors in this field have proposed a number of competing narratives of cause, motivation, and classification.
Amidst the competing narratives some consensus appears to have emerged. This consensus finds that serial murder is characterised by structured variations in behaviour; is dynamic; and is underpinned by cognitions and meaning structures (Arndt, Hietpas & Kim, 2004; Burgess, Hartman, Ressler, Douglas & McCormack, 1986 ; Canter, 1994; Canter, Alison, Alison, & Wentink, 2004; Canter & Wentink, 2004; Hickey, 2002; Hodge, 2000; Hodgskiss, 2001; Holmes & DeBurger, 1988; Labuschagne, 2001; Pakhomou, 2004; Ressler, Burgess, Douglas, Hartman & D’Agostino, 1986; Wright, Pratt & DeLisi, 2008).
Despite this apparent consensus, some of the basic questions that research into serial murder sets out to answer remain unanswered, particularly those that ask what the nature of the links between motivation and development are, and how these are expressed in offender behaviours. As will be explored in more depth in the following chapters, answering some of these basic questions will help not only the investigation of serial murder, but will highlight directions that research in this field could productively follow.

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 SERIAL MURDER AS A PHENOMENON
1.2. MOTIVATION FOR RESEARCH
1.2.1 The particular applicability of narrative psychology to serial murder
1.2.2 The need for research on offending that uses the narratives of the offenders themselves
1.2.3 The need for research on serial murder and offender profiling in South Africa
1.2.4 The competing narratives of serial murder and offender profiling
1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
1.4 NARRATIVE INQUIRY AND DESIGN
1.4.1 Research design
1.5 NOTE ON THE NARRATIVES PRESENTED
1.6 RESEARCH OUTLINE
1.7 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 2 THE NARRATIVES OF OFFENDER PROFILING AND SERIAL MURDER
2.1 THE ENTWINED NARRATIVES OF SERIAL MURDER AND OFFENDER PROFILING
2.2 INTRODUCING AND DEFINING SERIAL MURDER
2.3 CAUSES OF SERIAL MURDER
2.4 MOTIVATIONAL MODELS OF SERIAL MURDER
2.5 TYPOLOGIES OF SERIAL MURDER
2.6 THEMATIC MODELS OF SERIAL MURDER
2.7 RESEARCH ON SERIAL MURDER IN SOUTH AFRICA
2.8 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 3 EXPLORING NARRATIVE PSYCHOLOGY’S APPLICATION TO RESEARCH INTO CRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR
3.1 INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS NARRATIVE PSYCHOLOGY?
3.1.1 Approaches to the study of self
3.1.2 The narrative approach to the study of the self.
3.1.3 Research from the perspective of narrative psychology
3.2 NARRATIVE AND CRIME
3.3 IMAGOES
3.4 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 4 A NARRATIVE INQUIRY
4.1 AIM OF THE RESEARCH
4.2 METHODOLOGY
4.3 RESEARCH DESIGN
4.4 SAMPLING
4.5 DATA COLLECTION
4.6 PROCEDURE
4.7 DATA ANALYSIS
4.8 DATA PRESENTATION
CHAPTER 5 IMAGO ANALYSES AND DISCUSSION OF CASE STUDIES
CHAPTER 6 DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 
CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSIONS, CRITIQUE AND RECOMMENDATIONS 

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