Hunting Serial Predators: A Multivariate Classification Approach to Profiling Violent Behavior

Written by a leading expert on the subject, Hunting Serial Predators describes the empirical process used to analyze serial murderers' crime scene actions, making it possible to form logical decisions about how to detect and apprehend serial killers. This new edition provides behavior models of American serial murderers; an overview of related scientific knowledge, and accounts of the process of profiling the serial murderer.

The majority of the available published accounts of serial murderers are not in scholarly or technical publications. Indeed, even such few academic reviews as do exist typically commence withreference to fictional accounts, such as the X Files or Millennium. It is therefore not surprising that a robust profile of the serial murderer as described in current serial murder books is far from clear or precise.Therefore, what makes this book unique, is the fact that it does not cloud the topic with fictional and semi-autobiographical accounts based on particularexperiences or hunches of the writer. Each chapter is clearly written explaining in detail how to research and interpret, psychologically, the crime scene actions of serial killers. The thrust of the book is to provide the reader an empirical facet model of the crime scene actions of American serial murderers based on information available to a police inquiry. Serial murder is a controversial subject, full of potent myth, and the object of thisbook is to provide an empirical overview of the related scientific knowledge, introducing a new method to classify the serial predator, as well as accounts of the process and difficulties of profiling the serial murderer. It will be useful and interesting to most scientists and professionals in the field of criminology, psychology, criminal justice and police studies. It is the applied side of the book which will make it a standard reference book for many years to come for detectives and police officers.

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Presents a facet classification of serial murderer and their crime scene actions based on empirical and repeatable studies, and argues that such an empirical process to analyzing their behavior is necessary to make logical decisions on how to detect and apprehend them. Introduces an approach which encompasses all applications of psychology that have the objective of improving the investigation of serial murder, and crime in general. Draws on data from crime scene actions of 107 US serial killers, and provides a real-life case study. The author is affiliated with Vermont College of Norwich University. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)