Serial and Mass Murder: Differences and Similarities

This article explores the differences and similarities between serial and mass murder, their typologies, and motivations. It discusses the purposes served by establishing the typology that applies to a mass murderer and whether the same purposes apply to a serial killer. The article also examines the possibility of a serial murderer becoming a mass murderer and vice versa. Finally, it applies the typologies to the cases of Andrea Yates and Gacy.

Criminal Law

Similarities and differences between the definitions for serial and mass murder
Serial murder and mass murder are two very different types of crimes wherein the motivations
and goals of a committer vary largely. The main difference between serial killer and mass
murderer is that, serial killer commits many murders with certain time intervals between each
murder while mass murderer commits many murders all at the same time. As per the U.S.
Bureau of Justice Statistics, mass murder refers to a single incident at the sameplace. On the
other hand, serial killers murder people in a series of events. The serial killers always have a
‘cooling off’ period between murders during which, they live normal life as normal people.
While the definitions of both the types of murders share common elements, the difference lies in
the context of certain factors such as the number of murders, types of motivation and
chronological features of murders (Bonn, 2015). Serial murder is classified by the number of
murders varying from two to ten and requires a pause or a period of time which distinguishes it
from mass murder, which is one-time event. On the other hand, the FBI demarcated mass murder
as killing of more than four people without any cooling-off period between the murders.
Purposes served by establishing the typology that apply to a mass murderer
In mass murders, the murderers select their victims either on random basis or victims are targeted
for specific reason, which is sensible only to the committer. The individual purpose behind mass
murder varies significantly and the most common among them is retaliation or revenge. Other
motivations include magnificence and the need for fame or attention. In some cases, the
murderer might be extremely troubled due to which, they might take such an offensive step
(Edelstein, 2014). From the socio-psychological viewpoint, mass murder is a retaliation act
against society by a distressed and stoical person.

Are the same purposes served by establishing the typology of a serial killer?
The purpose of serial murderers is almost similar, but they do not prefer to disclose their identity
sooner and take revenge by killing people in a certain specific pattern so that they could become
successful in creating terror(Lundrigan & Canter, 2001). During their ‘cooling-off’ period, they
resume their apparently normal routine life. They remain in disguise for a long period of duration
in this manner.
Could a serial murderer ever become a mass murderer and vice versa?
It is possible but not likely, as both of them typically have different personality traits and driving
forces. Serial killers often wear a “mask of sanity” to hide their real psychopathic tendencies and
remain normal and fascinating in public while mass murderers show psychopathic tendencies by
their cruel, manipulative, and uncompassionate behaviour.
Considering the cases described above, which typologies apply to each killer?
Andrea Yates comes in the category of a mass murderer as she killed her five children all at the
same time, due to her mentally unstable condition. On the other hand, Gacy is a serial killer, as
he devised a plan before killing his victims and picked some from bar and some for interviews.
He buried the victims and maintained his innocence throughout the trial. During his cooling-off
period, he used to be considered as an outstanding member of his community. All these
characteristics belong to a serial killer and so, Gacy is a serial killer.
References

Bonn, S. A. (2015). How Mass Murder and Serial Murder Differ. Retrieved from
psychologytoday.com: https://www.https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/wicked-
deeds/201502/how-mass-murder-and-serial-murder-differ/us/blog/wicked-deeds/
201502/how-mass-murder-and-serial-murder-differ
Edelstein, A. (2014). Re-Thinking Typologies of Multiple Murders: The Missing Category of
Serial-Mass Murder and its Theoretical and Practical Implications. International Journal
of Emergency Mental Health and Human Resilience, 16(2), 122-125.
Lundrigan, S., & Canter, D. (2001). A multivariate analysis of serial murderers' disposal site
location choice.Journal of Environmental Psychology, 21(4), 423-432.