~ Faculty Musings ~

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Crime and Society Faculty

This page is dedicated to our sociologists who primarily teach
our Crime and Society courses.

Stop it! You're Killing Us!
Serial Murderers
by Gayle Rhineberger

Editor's Note: Dr. Rhineberger has introduced several new criminology courses since joining the department's faculty in 2002. Among those courses is a very popular one entitled "Serial Murderers in Society." I asked her to write about her studies on that topic for this issue of the newsletter.

As a sociologist, my interest in serial murder is focused on its overall patterns, rather than each of the 399 serial murderers who have operated in the U.S. between 1800 and 1995.

Serial murder can be defined as occurring when one or more individuals kills three or more people over a period of weeks, months, or years. These murders generally occur at three or more different times and in separate locations.  Additionally, there is an “emotional cooling-off period” between homicides. Some of our most famous serial killers include Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, Ed Gein, and David Berkowitz ("Son-of-Sam"). However, these men do not represent the “typical” serial murderer. 

While I am addicted to television and movie crime dramas (Law and Order, CSI, Silence of the Lambs, Seven, etc.), the influx of these shows/movies has only increased the public’s misperceptions about serial murders. Contrary to popular opinion, serial murderers do not resemble monsters or sex-starved beasts who are driven to kill. Many are charismatic and hold stable and respectable jobs/positions in the community. Similarly, all serial murders do not have abusive or terrible childhoods, and most of them do not have an unusual relationship with their mothers. A good portion of them do, but not nearly as many as popular media would lead us to believe.

Most serial killers do not have genius-level IQs: most are of average intelligence.  Additionally, the FBI does not investigate all serial murders, as they rarely cross state lines. There is not an epidemic of serial murders in the U.S. Serial killers are responsible for the death of at most 150 people (Fox and Levin, 2001), out of the approximately 16,000 people murdered each year in the U.S.

 Other interesting facts:

* Approximately 84% of identified serial murderers are men.

* Male serial killers are more likely to kill female strangers.

* Female serial killers are more likely to kill family members or acquaintances.

* Female serial killers are more likely to poison victims; males are more likely to strangle, suffocate, or stab victims. 

* Aileen Wuornos is the only female serial killer to be executed in the U.S. 

* California has the highest number of serial murder cases (over 50); New York the second highest (31 cases).

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Wassup, Homie?
from Dr. Mike Carlie

In 1998 Dr. Carlie was granted a one-semester-long sabbatical in order to study the gang phenomenon in St. Louis, Kansas City, and in Springfield, His research also included a review of the literature on gangs. Little did he realize that the sabbatical would lead to nearly four years of research conducted in the USA, the Netherlands (that's me on the right, sitting in front of The Waag in the Heart of Amsterdam while taking a break from riding with the Amsterdam police gang unit), England, and in several cities in Canada.

The end product of the research is his new (2002) and free online book in which he discusses over 80 different gang-related topics. Included in the book are selected portions of his field notes from over 150 interviews, quotes from hundreds of professional articles, and links to literally thousands of websites on the Internet that expand upon the topics addressed in the book. The book is updated several times each year with new findings from research as reported in various professional publications. Unlike other books, Into the Abyss is a living document. Evidence of this are the continuing additions to the book and a real-time posting of current gang-related news.

Into the Abyss: A Personal Journey into the World of Street Gangs is 1,083 pages long and has been adopted by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (Canada) and the New York Police Department as training material for their respective gang units. Other police departments, as well as state departments of corrections and many community-based treatment programs, now use Into the Abyss as a valued resource. Various chapters in the book have been published including two articles in the new (November 2004) edition of Opposing Viewpoints: Gangs, published by Thomson/Gale.

Since the publication of Into the Abyss, and as a result of its presence on the web, Dr. Carlie was invited to provide the Keynote Address for the Annual Meeting of the Rocky Mountain Information Network (RMIN) in Las Vegas in July of 2004. The Rocky Mountain Information Network is a collective of eight states from the Canadian to the Mexican borders representing federal, state, county, and municipal law enforcement agencies. RMIN is one of six regional law enforcement networks covering the United States under the U.S. Department of Justice. In March of 2005, Dr. Carlie will travel to Rochester, NY, to address the New York Governor's Annual Conference on Law Enforcement Leadership on the topic of gangs.

It was a good year for Dr. Carlie. In 2004 he was awarded the Missouri Governor's Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Missouri State Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence (see picture above with Governor Holden on the far right and Missouri State Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Bruno Schmidt on the far left), the Missouri State Award for Excellence in Academic Advising, and a national award for his academic advising bestowed by the National Academic Advising Association. Students interested in the field of criminal justice are encouraged to visit Dr. Carlie's AdviseNet website - a site for which, in part, he won the Missouri State- and national advising awards.

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Hey, Who's Running This Place?
What Deans Do
from Dean Lorene Stone

I frequently am asked by students, alumni, and even my mother, “Exactly what do you do as a dean?” There is no simple answer to this question, since my job responsibilities change from one day to the next. 

In general terms, I am the chief administrator of the College of Humanities and Public Affairs. (The CHPA is one of six academic colleges at Missouri State.) As the dean, I am responsible for the day-to-day operations of the College. Specifically, I oversee eight departments (with undergraduate and graduate programs), three research centers, and 101 faculty members and 21 staff; I develop and monitor college budgets in excess of $7.5 million; I hire and evaluate faculty and attempt to facilitate the development of successful academic careers for our faculty; I update and implement a technology plan as well as a long-range plan for the CHPA; I deal with student and faculty problems and complaints; I engage in fund-raising to support the quality educational programs in the College; and I attend a lot of meetings and represent the College at many campus and community functions.

Unfortunately, as a full-time administrator I have little time in the classroom, even though I try to teach a class in juvenile delinquency (CAS 330) as often as possible.  Although I miss teaching and interacting with students on a more regular basis, my work as Dean of the CHPA is very rewarding and challenging. It is exciting to guide the College towards its goals and to fulfill our public affairs mission. I encourage your ideas and insights and hope that you will stop by my office (Strong 251) or e-mail me at lhs301f@missouristate.edu.

Dr. Stone is the Dean of the College serving the Department of Sociology and Anthropology (and home of the Crime and Society Program), among others.

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