Join Dr Bethan Loftus is a Reader in Criminology and Criminal Justice for this FREE online Taster Session
Are serial killers born? Or are they created by their environments and the societies in which they live? Perhaps the answer lies at the midway point between nature and nurture. Researchers in the field currently explain the behaviour of violent sociopaths by referring to that third option - serial killers are born with the propensity to kill but are only ‘activated’ by a catalytic event. Yet, there is another driver that some experts believe is capable of triggering serial murder - war. This talk examines the idea that the peak of serial killing in 1980s America can be traced to the Vietnam War. It explores the relationship between a militarised American society and the attendant rise in serial killers - from Arthur Shawcross to Joseph D’Angelo - the role of human trophy collecting during war, the ‘killology’ of soldiers and the lack of support for war-traumatised men who returned from the battlefields.
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This session will be delivered through the medium of English.
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