Impact of Mass Media on Serial Killers: Analytical Essay

The Media’s Role in Glorifying Serial Killers

Ted Bundy, one of the more infamous and prolific serial killers in history, was said to have killed 36 people, but what leads one to commit such heinous acts? Serial killers are all influenced by similar social experiences throughout life and learn from the environments around them to become serial killers. A sociological perspective explains how the media’s portrayal of serial killers motivates serial killers to start or continue killing. Anthropology provides insight on how similar cultural conditions impact the rise of serial killers in a given culture. Lastly, psychology develops the idea that serial killers are a product of nurture.

The rise of mass media creates conditions for the rise of serial murder in the modern world. The media’s portrayal of serial killers often glorifies and gives serial killers the attention or fame they may seek. About 0.5% of all serial killers kill for attention and a majority of serial killers remain in constant contact with the global press (FGCU). For decades now, serial killers have taken center stage in the news and entertainment media, allowing serial killers to achieve celebrity status. Our society has produced a celebrity culture in which individuals are recognized for their bad acts, and in the public’s condemnation of them, a reverence for them emerges. Rather than being shamed by their actions, serial killers often revel in their celebrity status and actively seek out media attention (Bonn). In condemning them publicly, the media eulogizes the murderers by giving them what they crave—recognition (Kass-Gergi).

Selective Media Coverage and Its Consequences

Secondly, the rise of serial killer is a product of biased and selective media coverage. Black people account for 13.3 percent of the US population but are victims to 24 percent of all serial killers (FGCU). Female sex workers are 18 times more likely to be killed by a serial killer than someone who does not participate in sex work and those who kill primarily prostitutes, kill for slightly longer periods of time. (Reid and Lee). FBI data shows that there is a marked under-representation of African American children in media reports relative to non-African American children and a subsequent study found that girls from minority groups were the most underrepresented in these missing-children news reports by a very large margin (Min and Feaster). An increase in media coverage leads to the increased interest of the general public which pushes the police to find the killer faster and stop the killings. However, lower-class or marginalized victims do not receive as much attention in the media or in society which provides opportunities for serial killers to get away with targeting vulnerable populations.

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The Copycat Effect: Media’s Influence on Criminal Behavior

Lastly, media outlets play a key role in the proliferation of modern copycat serial killers. The copycat effect is the tendency of sensational publicity about violent murders to result in more of the same through imitation.The term was first coined around 1916 due to the crimes that were inspired by Jack the Ripper, a notorious killer at the time, who received extensive newspaper coverage. Media coverage plays a role in inspiring other criminals to commit crimes in a similar fashion, and even for non-criminals to begin committing crimes when they otherwise might not have done so (Coleman). About one out of four juveniles report having attempted a copycat crime and are significantly more likely to credit the media as both a general and personal influence (Surrette). By providing lurid details, posting step-by-step ​recaps, media provides instructional models to predisposed individuals and shapes the stylistic form the crime takes on. The media attention allows people to learn about new violent acts and methods, and as society becomes a more mediated, celebrity-focused, social media-dominated culture, copycats and serial killers, in general, will continue to increase.

Cultural Influences and the Emergence of Serial Killers

Anthropology focuses on how serial killers may be a product of cultural conditions, as shared values, beliefs and norms influence the manner people learn, live, and behave. The invasion and colonization of Western culture leads to the rise of serial killers in non-Western cultures. In serial killing, the USA with a figure of 1,948 serial killers stays at the top position, and England with 109 serial killers is second globally and is followed by Japan, South Africa, and India (FGCU). Based on research, the majority of serial killers in non-Western culture was raised and committed murder in a time when their nations were already invaded by Western ideals. For example, Japan’s first serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki was born in 1962 and killed four girls between 1988 and 1989. The Western world began invading Japan long before then and already had many influences in the Asian culture during Miyazaki’s youth (Japan Today). Another serial killer who came out of a non-Western nation years after the Western cultural invasion is Jimmy Marketta, a man born around 1964 in South Africa and was found guilty of 16 counts of murder and 19 counts of rape (Dolley). South Africa was invaded by Britain in the 1800s, the Dutch in the 1600s, making the nation a blended mix of Western and non-Western ideals (Cobbing). Between 1492 and 1914, Europeans conquered 84 percent of the globe, establishing colonies and spreading their influence across every inhabited continent (Hoffman). Foreign societies tend to adopt changes in their own social systems relative to Western ideology and lifestyle, and due to the overwhelming rise of serial murders occurring in areas of Western culture, shifts in non-Western culture patterns can instigate the promotion of serial killers. Secondly, the phenomenon of the serial killer has arisen concordant with the rise of urbanization due to Westernization. The start of the Industrialized Revolution in Europe and the USA during the 1800s and 1900s led to a surge of urbanization, population, and economy (Pilson). Through Westernization, a process whereby societies come under or adopt the Western culture, industrialization spread to the rest of the world (Thong). Industrialization leads to urbanization by creating economic growth and job opportunities that draw people to cities (Investopedia). In South Africa, the British joined the Dutch and started increasing urbanization by bringing in new technologies and expanding the economy. From the 1870s, urbanization increased rapidly in Japan and Pakistan as well (Pilson). In pre-modern societies individuals knew one another by name, often having intimate knowledge of their neighbor. Strangers were rarely encountered and the average medieval citizen might have only met 100 strangers during the course of their entire life. The rise of industrialism and related processes of mass migration to urban centers resulted in individuals being immersed in a sea of strangers. This development proved to be a key precondition for the emergence of serial murder, given that a defining attribute of serial killers is that they prey on strangers. Thus, dense modern urban environments represent ideal settings for the routinized impersonal encounters that operate as a hallmark of serial killing (Haggerty and Ellerbrock). Lastly, serial killers are created due to Westernization increasing the inequalities between social classes. The Gini index, which measures income inequalities, shows that the economic inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa rose by 9% between 1993 and 2008, China’s score soared by 34% over twenty years, and few countries decreased the inequalities (W). Westernization is a key contributor to widening the gap between the rich and the poor. As Western countries industrialize poorer countries, they often employ skilled workers and pay high wages. A report from the OECD found that average wages paid by foreign multinationals are 40% higher than wages paid by a local firm. By contrast, unskilled workers, or poor ones in rural areas, tend not to have such opportunities, resulting in inequality (W). The UNODC (2011:30) reports that 'countries with large income disparities (Gini Index higher than 0.45) have a homicide rate almost four times higher than more equal societies' (Wilkinson and Pickett). Wide class differences and rigid social hierarchies might increase the ‘social distance’ between individuals, thereby reducing the levels of social cohesion and increased aggression and violence (Frank and Aitken). Therefore, the wider the income inequalities caused by Western influences, the more likely serial killers will increase.

Psychological Factors: The Nurture of a Serial Killer

In psychology, nurture is the influence of a person’s environment, family life, childhood, and social interactions from infancy to adulthood on his or her behaviors and thoughts. Childhood abuse is a huge factor in creating serial killers. In 2001, 3% of the general population was reported to have suffered sexual abuse, in contrast, 26% of serial killers have reported abuse (Mitchell and Aamodt). According to Sigmund Freud, the development of the unconscious personality early in childhood will influence behavior for the rest of one’s life. Childhood abuse contributes to feelings of inadequacy and worthlessness, and their crimes compensate for this by providing a sense of potency and often social revenge, by giving them a feeling of power (Arikan). Isolation from family and other children causes severe loneliness and increases the risk of serial killers. The FBI Behavioral Sciences Unit found that 71% of the murderers they profiled experienced a “sense of isolation in their childhood,”(Federal Bureau of Investigation). The danger with loneliness is that the incipient serial killer has the time and space to dwell on these homicidal fantasies of revenge, power and dominance and can find comfort in these thoughts. At some critical point in their life, either as children or adolescents, these individuals take their fantasies on a test run into the world of reality. An estimated range of 21% to 73% of serial killers abuses animals before killing. If the child finds the commission of the act satisfying or sexually exciting, it could be a matter of time before the test runs become full-blown acts of homicide (Vronsky). Adoption also plays a factor in generating serial killers. The FBI estimates that of the 500 serial killers in the US, most are American-born and adopted. This is alarming because only 2-3 % of the population (5-10 million) are adopted people (Federal Bureau of Investigation). The idea of infant bonding is imperative to personality development, and a common characteristic of serial killers is that they were adopted. For the adopted child the suffering is experiencing being left and abandoned while feeling the sense of being unwanted and unloved even if they are wanted and loved in their adoptive families (Carlis). This trauma may intensify and can manifest in depression, substance abuse, acting out, anger, and in a small number of cases, serial killings. Improper nurture can lead to aggressive behavior and violence later on as retaliation against a world that had treated them unfairly.

Conclusion: The Multifaceted Origins of Serial Killers

Factors related to the lifestyle and background an individual encounters, largely influence the creation of serial killers. Sociologically, the attention and spotlight around serial killers in media give incentive for serial killers. Anthropology states that the transmission of similar cultures has repercussions in breeding serial killers. Lastly, psychology demonstrates that the nurture a child receives influences serial killer behavior. During a child's development, there are important periods to learn about love, trust, empathy and basic rules about how to interact with other human beings. If these traits aren't imprinted upon the child during that period, it may impossible to learn them later in life. Therefore, the environment a child grows up in and the type of nurture they receive can significantly shape the life choices made, including becoming a serial killer. As a result, psychology offers the most reasonable rationale as to why serial killers do what they do.