Posted February 27, Reviewed by Tyler Woods. Serial murder has received sustained interest and fascination from the general public for close to fifty years. The topic is regularly covered in all forms of the media including film, print, and television. And there is no shortage of experts offering opinions on the various characteristics of serial killers --their personalities, motivations, methods of operation, and crime -scene behaviors.
But are any of these theories and opinions based on science, or are they mostly science-fiction? Serial murder, which literally means killing people one after another, is committed by many types of individuals in various ways. Serial sexual murderers are the type of serial killer we know the most about. Other individuals such as Dr. Harold Shipman commit serial killings in healthcare settings. What do we actually know, based on scientific research, about these different types of serial killers?
The answer is less than we think. Notwithstanding the popularization of serial sexual homicide, we have little scientific research about those who commit this form of murder. As a frame of reference, other highly popularized mental disorders--such as bipolar disorder , PTSD , eating disorders, and sex offenses--have been extensively studied.
A recent Medline Complete computer search found that these disorders have been the subject of 39, and 72, research articles published in peer-reviewed scientific journals over the past 20 years, a sizeable knowledge base from which we can draw credible conclusions.
However, during the same year period, only 22 articles on serial sexual homicide have been published in peer-reviewed journals. Not surprisingly, the popularized portrayal of the serial killer is based more on science-fiction than an actual science. Films like The Silence of the Lambs portray serial killers as having unique signatures, such as placing a butterfly or a moth in the mouth of all victims.
