Richard M. Hough - American Homicide

Second Edition

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Second Edition

What we are shown through Hollywood and the media is a carnival mirror reflection of realitydistorted and out of proportion. Hollywood dramatizations of criminal homicide may entertain, but they are not intended to inform. The impression one might get is that serial killers are everywhere and that no one is safe from this increasing danger. This is obviously far from accurate, and it often falls to college and university professors to present the balanced picture of homicide, supported by current research, to make sense of what we learn. We are often asked by our students how we explain the rising homicide or violence rates. We endeavor in this book to address this inaccurate perception of increasing homicide rates and other myths about the justice system.

Over many years of teaching courses on homicide, we were never quite satisfied with the few available texts. They did not, in our view, provide either the right balance or emphasis. While there were some early high-quality books devoted to the study of homicide, these were not as useful or relevant to the current student of homicide. We continually found that we had to supplement them with extensive readings. The result was this book, which we believe will be useful to faculty everywhere who take on the task of explaining to students why and how people kill and what society does about it. This book provides any instructor the ability to credibly approach the subject of homicide and present to students something more than a criminology text with limited discussion of practical issues or a book of sensationalized news accounts with the occasional empirical observation thrown in.

The text examines homicides and suspicious deaths in the United States. Several introductory chapters include definitions of homicide, measurement, trends in homicide, and theories of why people commit homicide. The book addresses all types of homicide and gives additional attention to the more prevalent types of homicide in the United States. Therefore, we include full chapters on confrontational homicide, intimate partner homicide, and family homicide. As Daly and Wilson (1988) noted, Most killers turn out to be ordinary folks (p. ix). We also cover extraordinary homicide, which includes more rare and sensational types of homicide. The investigations chapter is a hallmark of the book. Contemporary students are very interested in homicide investigations, even if they do not plan or hope to become investigators. The chapter addresses the structure and function of homicide units and the interactions that investigators have with various other players, including media, medical examiners (MEs), crime scene technicians, prosecutors, and more. We also examine in depth in one full chapter the process of a criminal homicide case through the courts, an area of great interest and importance. The final chapter discusses key contemporary issues about those impacted by homicide and what society can do about those impacts.

We recognize that criminology is the foundation for criminal justice. As such, we are in an era that tries harder than ever to use intelligence-led and evidence-based strategies and research to guide policymakers and practitioners. We provide and comment on suggested interventions that reflect this fact. The increasing role of the social sciences in the construction of policies and programs is key to any comprehensive discussion of violence and murder in society. We did not want to set considerations of policy as a stand-alone chapter, and so, where appropriate, policy impacts are noted. It is our hope that instructors might incorporate some level of discussion at every available opportunity to frame the practical context of theories and known or observed facts. We like to ask students to bring to class current news articles related to homicide crime that might serve as discussion points as we apply the theoretical constructs in the textbook. We hope current users of the book will do this.