03/27/2024
By Karen Mullins

The School of Criminology and Justice Studies is proud to announce a Dissertation Defense by Angela Callahan entitled "Sticks and Stone: A Exploration of the Neutralizations of Multiple Homicide Offenders."

Wednesday, April 10
11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
HSSB Room 431

Committee:

  • Neil Shortland, Committee Chair, Professor, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Melissa Morabito, Professor, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Jason Rydberg, Associate Professor, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Emily Greene-Colozzi, Assistant Professor, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Abstract

The topic of multiple homicide (“multicide”) – mass shootings, serial murder, and lone actor terrorism – continues to attract public and academic attention. Despite the uniform outcomes of these behaviors (i.e., mass harm to and murder of members of the public), theoretical explanations of the behavior have often occurred in vacuums, viewing each as a manifestation of unique psychological processes. However, recent research is beginning to question if these groups are more similar, than different, and if our understanding of each form of violence is bolstered by analyzing these offenders together. Across all offender forms, one area that has received little attention is that of the neutralizations used by such offenders, and the degree to which this can inform us about the nature of implicit, or explicit, justifications associated with the acts of violence. The concept of neutralizations advanced by Sykes and Matza (1957) involves techniques that allow offenders to rationalize their actions and crimes, as well as to protect them from self-blame and the blame of others. At their core, neutralizations are the cognitive pathway through which offenders can justify their harmful actions against others, and thus a key motivator of their harmful behavior. To further our understanding of neutralizations, and the potential similarities across this range of multiple homicide offenders, this study will use a series of quantitative approaches to identify the form and function of neutralizations in multiple homicide offenders, and the degree to which neutralization techniques are similar across these three offender groups. Using a newly collected dataset of offender neutralizations, this study identified three predominant linguistic themes and explored the between-group differences in the use of these themes by multiple homicide offenders. Taken together, these analyses provide unique insight into the psychological processes underpinning multicide, and the relationship between thoughts and action. Beyond furthering our understanding of the use of neutralizations, this study also supports ongoing investigations in the field of multiple homicide research as to the degree to which various forms of multiple homicide offenders are unique, versus similar and driven by universal processes that are required for someone to commit murder against many individuals.