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Serial killers target victims from areas where more divorced people, single parents and unemployed live, a study shows.
A study of 151 male serial killers by academics, including Jane Prochnow from Massey University's College of Education, explored variations in rates of serial killings in states in US.
"The incidence of male serial killers varies widely among the US states. But little effort has been devote to attempting to explain the reasons for state difference," the Male Serial Homicide study said.
The study found some explanations of variations in the incidence of serial killings but said more work needed to be done to understand if the culture and social structure of an area created serial killers.
Most research has focused on medical and psychological factors in producing serial killers, many of whom are sexual sadists.
The theory that subcultures can facilitate the transition from violent sexual urges to elaborated fantasies and finally violent behaviour has been around since the 1960s. And a routine activity theory has suggested that if the percentage of motivated offenders were the same in all areas the local the frequency of serial murders would still vary.
This study's findings support the argument that cultural and social structural factors partially explain state variations in serial killing.
Serial killers most often killed in urban areas and areas where there were more divorced people, more single parents and more unemployed, the study found.
Dr Prochnow said this was partly explained by the increased vulnerability of divorced people, those in one-person households, and the unemployed.
The study was led by University of Connecticut Emeritus Sociology Professor James DeFronzo, working with researchers from Northeastern University in Boston and Villanova University in Pennsylvania, and Dr Prochnow.
In the US people in western states are more likely to become victims than people in the north east, and people in California are almost three times more likely to become victims.
- NZPA
