Mass Murder

The Relative Neglect of Mass Murder

In striking contrast to the expanding scholarly interest in serial murders, mass murders have received relatively little attention (Levin and Fox 1985; Leyton 1986; Dietz 1986; Holmes and Holmes 1994; Fox and Levin 1994a). A number of factors seem to be responsible for this uneven interest to one form of multiple homicide over another. First, unlike serial murders, mass murders do not pose much of a challenge to law enforcement authorities. Whereas serial murderers are often difficult to identify and apprehend (Egger 1984), mass murderers are typically found at the crime scene—slain by their own hand, shot by police, or alive and ready to surrender. Frequently, perpetrators welcome their arrest or suicide, having achieved their mission through murder. In some exceptional cases, however, an execution-style mass murder is designed to cover up some other criminal activity. For example, seven people were murdered in a suburban Chicago restaurant in 1993. Although the case remains unsolved, robbery is strongly believed to have been the motive (Fox and Levin 1994a).

Second, in contrast to serial murders, mass murders do not tend to generate the same level of public fear and anxiety. Until a serial murderer is caught, he or she may be on the loose for weeks, months, or years. Citizens are terrified; they want to protect themselves from becoming the next victim. Each newly discovered murder reenergizes the community's state of alarm. However, a mass murder, although catastrophic, is a single event. By the time the public is informed, the event is over. There may be widespread horror, but little anxiety or panic.

Third, there is a limited availability of primary data for research. Many mass murderers do not survive their crimes. Although they may leave diaries or notes to help us understand their motivation, questions concerning motivation and state of mind often remain. Although the typical serial murderer may twist the truth if interviewed, he or she nevertheless yields significantly more information than we have on mass murderers.

Finally, perhaps the most prominent reason for the relative neglect of mass murder as a form of multiple homicide is that it cannot compete with the sensational character of serial murder. The public, the press, and researchers alike appear to be drawn to the sexual and sadistic proclivities of such predators as Theodore Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer (Dietz 1996). As further evidence that sensationalism plays a critical role in the level of interest, serial murders that do not contain elements of sex and sadism (e.g., slayings in hospitals and nursing homes or serial murder for profit) are all but ignored by some researchers (Holmes and DeBurger 1988).

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