Statistics

For this post I am not going to discuss the Zodiac, instead I shall discuss the statistics of serial killers within the U.S. and other countries. I will first discuss a chart found in a database compiled by Rad-ford University. The chart shows the number of serial killers per decade in the U. S. versus the rest of the world. The chart begins in 1900 and increases by increments of  10 years up to the year 2010. According to the chart the decade with the largest number of serial killers who began killing was 1980. The number of killers in the US during the 80's was 680. Compared to the rest of the world which had 192 killers begin killing in 1980, this number is quite freighting. There are several more charts and graphs in this database and the US is number one on each and every chart. This data scares me as it shows an enormous increase in killers over the century. While we have seen a slight decrease in the last decade, the numbers in the US are more than twice that of every country in the world. We need to change this. Another statistic that really grabbed my attention was the total number of serial killers in the last 100 years. The US has had 2,265 killers, naturally we are on the top of the list. The troubling thing is that the next country down on the list is England, with 142 in the last century.
Let's talk about why the US has had the most serial killers in the century. Many people believe that it is due to the fact that our country was not at all connected, during the 1970's and 80's you were basically on your own, there was no community or fellowship. This is changing slightly with the explosion of the internet, which helps people become more connected throughout the country. My personal theory about serial killers is that our country does not let our children express themselves, they are forced into servitude and their imagination is destroyed in school. In the 80's this schools were almost ten times worse than they are now, which can explain why the numbers have been steadily growing smaller. Overall, the data of serial killers within our country is quite alarming and I feel it needs more attention from the government or it will be out of control.

Source
Aamodt, M. G. (2014, September 6). Serial killer statistics. Retrieved (2015, February 16) from http://maamodt.asp.radford.edu/serial killer information center/project description.htm