By BitcoDavid

Several years ago, I did a paper on the differences between the 3 major types of mass murderers. Serial Killers, Spree Killers and Thrill Killers. The terms are not interchangeable – the three types have succinctly different motivations, methodologies and pathologies. Research for that piece came from the DSM-IV, and from the DOJ. Recently, I found this PDF document on the Web. It’s a long read, but is the bleeding edge of law enforcement research into the phenomenon.

It is worth noting that none of the terms apply to politically or religiously motivated killers, although in some cases, both the Serials and the Spree types have reported religion as a motive. Generally speaking, that is viewed as a common symptom of these illnesses, but the feeling is that a pathological murderer would kill regardless of religion.

Both this report and the information in the DSM – my previous paper, for that matter, as well – did not therefore, deal with the issue of terrorism. So, although the outcomes may be the same, there is a significant difference between – for example – Harris and Klebold, and the Tsarnaev brothers.

BitcoDavid is a blogger and a blog site consultant. In former lives, he was an audio engineer, a videographer, a teacher – even a cab driver. He is an avid health and fitness enthusiast and a Pro/Am boxer. He has spent years working with diet and exercise to combat obesity and obesity related illness.

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