Serial Murderers and their Victims (The Wadsworth Contemporary Issues in Crime and Justice Series)
By:
Eric W. Hickey
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Average Customer Rating: 5.0 out of 5
Description:
This text provides an in-depth, scholarly, and broad-based examination of serial murderers and their victims. The coverage is supported by extensive data and research, and it profiles some of the most prominent murderers of our time. Author Eric Hickey examines the lives of over 400 serial murderers, analyzing the cultural, historical, and religious factors that influence our myths and stereotypes of these individuals. He then describes the biological, psychological, and sociological reasons for serial murder, offering his own Trauma-Control model for explaining serial murder behavior.
Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing
Customer Review: 5 out of 5
Great book - My teacher had us use this book for my class Murder in America. I really don't like to read, especially textbooks, but I had no problem reading this. It is a great book. I usually sell all my textbooks after class to get money for new textbooks but I kept this for my personal library (of what little there is). I is good reading. Eric Hickey has been on many documentaries about his work and is a professor at CSU Fresno. He also is the director of the largest forensics studies program in United States. He definitely knows his stuff and loves it. I actually wrote him an email to tell him how much I loved this book and he wrote me back in less than 24 hours. He is very nice too. He said that he loves what he does. I think he is a great author and I want to buy more of his books.
Customer Review: 5 out of 5
The gem in the field. - Of the many, many books I have read on this topic (which is one of my areas of interests) this is book is by far the best one I have read. This would be, in my opinion the most complete, informative and unbiased work on the subject.
The book covers just about everything most readers would like covered on Serial Murder. It covers fact, fiction, history, definitions, in fact everything you could imagine. I could not believe just how much is packed into the 380 odd pages.
Not only is the book a wealth of knowledge on the subject (and many related areas eg Stalking, Insanity Defences) but is also loaded with 'Profiles' of many individuals (and teams) to illustrate the area under discussion. Many tables also provide interesting reading.
The book also looks at the phenomina of Serial Murder in countries other than the USA.
Another thing I really like is the way Hickey presents various aspects and theories. Hickey discusses all the theories, views etc along with their apparent strenghts and weaknesses. For example, other authors I have read flatly dump the FBI Psychological Profiling Model. Hickly presents all the pros and cons on the topic in a very unbiased manner.
This book is not just a good book, it is a great book. It is a 'must have' in your collection, if this is your area of interest or you really want to learn about it. If someone asked me for just one book to read on Serial Murder, this would be the one. It covers so many topics within a topic, yet it is concise and very readable. The average person with no knowledge on this topic would walk away with a good 'working knowledge'.
I have read the book twice and have now been drawn back to a third read.
I will now be searching for other works by this author and congratulate him on a 'classic'.
Customer Review: 5 out of 5
Know what you are looking at - I am a graduate student of Dr. Hickey's at California State University, Fresno. I came to this institution specifically as a matter of curricula, and I must say that after a review of the literature both broad and exhaustive Dr. Hickey's book is the closest thing we have to the reality of our special killers' doctrine. What is most compelling about this piece of literature is the open mentality that is greatly lacking in nearly every other book out there. We have relied to a great extent on the works of the FBI and, in a much more aniquated way, the works of Freud and the general positivists.
This text is certainly a sociological treatise, but even more so it underlines the issues inherent in both criminology and a general study of human nature. What should be garnered from this read is what we DON'T know as compared to what we do. One must applaud Dr. Hickey for his ability to admit that the evaporative quality of this field of study is prevalent and must be dealt with.
Of particular interest is the discussion of the mythology surrounding "serial killers" and the true affect with which they operate. Take these things for what they are worth and you are left with many questions. I have no doubt in my mind that this was the objective of Dr. Hickey, and is ideally the objective of any social scientist. Those who wish to comprehend the nature of serial killers will not find all their answers here, but they may find some questions that our humanity dearly needs to be addressed; the most important part.
Customer Review: 5 out of 5
Excellent book, but I really like the CD-ROM - This is an excellent reference book, but what really makes it stand out is the "Mind of a Killer" CD-ROM included with it.
The videos and searchable information on the CD-ROM really bring the subject vividly to life. There documentaries on about a dozen famous cases with footage I'd never seen before including confessions made to police, interviews and courtroom scenes.
I was also impressed with the mapping system that plots the locations of different cases or types of cases with all kinds of search options.
Customer Review: 4 out of 5
!Warning! - After reviewing and studying the material within this cover, you will see life in a different way. We all want to see the good in people; As any physical realm, there is the duality from good to evil. What exactly happens when what we see the destructive nature of man? What makes the destructive destructive? Who are they? What do they think? Where do they come from? and What will they do next?
This book helped me to breeze through my serial and mass murder class ... AND actually lock onto possible perpetrators in real world scenarios.
After reading this book and studying the nature of homocide, you'll be analyzing everything through rational choice. When you walk down the street, youll look at everyone as you notice their demeanor and watch their subtle actions. You'll look at the small and obscure nuacnes in nature as you enhance your deductive reasoning. Most of all, you will build a base in whch to combat becoming a victim.
I highly recommend the first piece you read in this book to be (pg 278) "An Interview with a Male Serial Murderer". This passage will restrain you to read and study this work to its end if not for learning, but to possibly stop a tragedy such as this from happening to someone you love.
You should supplement this book with TV: A&E, Biography, and History Channels will suffice.
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