The Social Construction of a Serial Killer

Abstract

Much psychological research examining the serial killer has adopted an essentialist theoretical focus concentrating on the `nature' of the individual who commits the murder. This study, in contrast, aims to analyse the talk of a serial killer using principles taken from discursive psychology. A courtroom transcript concerning the confession to 10 murders by the serial killer, Dennis Rader, was analysed. The transcript was read and reread in order to examine how the killer drew upon popular understandings of serial killing, until eventually three main discourses were identified: perpetrator as `sympathetic', `serial killer' and `driven by sexual fantasy'. The analysis demonstrated that these discourses all served to reinforce the widely shared construction of the serial killer, i.e. being sexually motivated. Furthermore, the findings show how this construction served the functions of mitigating responsibility, justifying certain actions and obscuring violence. Possible implications of this construction and its discursive functions are discussed.