Examining Offending Specialization in a Sample of Male Multiple Homicide Offenders

Abstract

The American public's fascination with multiple homicide offenders—individuals who seemingly transcend the heinousness of “regular” homicide offenders because of their multiple victims—has grown during the past few decades. Such growth has not, however, been matched by a proportional increase in serious scholarly attention concerning whether those who kill repeatedly are, or are not, “generally” deviant. As a way of moving beyond this problem, the current analysis builds on recent work concerning multiple homicide offenders to investigate the degree to which such offenders are, in fact, more specialized in their offending careers than are other homicide offenders. The implications for continued theoretical development and empirical research are discussed.