Providing a comprehensive exploration, this volume explains connections between American culture and the incidence of serial murder, including reasons why most identified serial murderers are white, male Americans. Presenting empirically supported arguments that have the potential to revolutionize how serial murder is understood, this volume includes an illustrated model that explains how people utilize cultural values to construct lines of action according to their cultural competencies. It demonstrates how the American cultural milieu fosters serial murder and the creation of white male serial murderers and provides a critique of the American mass media's role in the notoriety of serial murder.

Dr. Julie B. Wiest is an assistant professor of communication and sociology at High Point University in High Point, North Carolina. She earned a doctorate in sociology from the University of Tennessee and a master's degree in journalism and mass communication from the University of Georgia. Wiest also has nearly a decade of experience in print and electronic journalism and published a book in 2006 titled We Were There, a compilation of the World War II narratives of 30 veterans.