Hunting Humans: The Rise of the Modern Multiple Murderer (Paperback)

by Elliott Leyton (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Originally published in 1984, Leyton's pioneering work on the psychology of mass murderers has been updated and revised for this second edition. Clearly written, thoroughly readable and deliberately free of sociological jargon, it is an important contribution to its field and to the public at large, for whom it clarifies a dark and nightmarish phenomenon of our time. Analyzing case histories from Bundy to Berkowitz, Leyton demystifies the mass murderer. He begins with a brilliant description of the foremost serial killer of fiction, Hannibal Lecter, and demonstrates how little he resembles his real-life counterparts. To begin with, there has not been an aristocratic serial killer in centuries; most, says Leyton, are from the working classes. Nor are they diabolical geniuses; rather, they tend to be surprisingly dull-witted. Leyton's contention is that serial killers are not insane, but a product of their environment. They have been with us for centuries, he argues, and tend to come and go cyclically. (Recent research claims that 15% of them are female.) According Leyton, the serial killer sees his act as a form of revenge upon a specific social class that has denied him the social acceptance that he craves. The elements of sadism and sexual pervasion are his means of punishing his supposed persecutors. A professor of anthropology at Memorial University in St. Johns, Newfoundland, Leyton has written a number of books on psychology, and this volume in particular is a most enlightening work.
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Review
'In the past 15 years, Leyton has become probably the world's most widely consulted expert on serial killing.' - Sunday Telegraph 'Still the best book in it's field' - Time Out --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Running Press; Revised edition (November 5, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786712287
• ISBN-13: 978-0786712281
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #318,408 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unusual angle on serial killers, December 26, 2006

By	Karen Franklin "Forensic Psychologist" (El Cerrito, CA, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Leyton is an anthropologist, and this study of serial killers focuses on sociocultural factors rather than individual pathology as a cause of multiple murder. Specifically, Leyton examines how class conflict has contributed to serial killings in different epochs. In the Middle Ages, royalty killed serfs; in the Industrial Age of the 19th century, the nouveau middle class killed prostitutes and other individuals from the lower rungs, and in the modern era serial killers target those who are just one rung up from them in the social ladder.

Leyton argues that modern multiple murderers are class-conscious and socially conservative men who are obsessed with status, class, and power. Emboldened by our cultural glorification of violence and serial killers, and trapped in alienating lives that do not match their class strivings, they kill the objects of their desire. And they keep killing until they feel that they have accomplished the mission that they set out on. It's a very interesting analysis, although I think Leyton selected case studies that fit his thesis and ignored others that did not. (He profiles Ted Bundy, Edmund Kemper, David Berkowitz, and four other cases, including the D.C. snipers in his new edition, but he ignores - for example - Jeffrey Dahmer, whose predilection for young Cambodian boys goes against his thesis.) Also, the fact that documented serial killers in the Middle Ages were royalty may be due to documentation issues; maybe serfs who killed serfs never made the history books (a possibility Leyton doesn't mention).

But these are minor limitations. The book is well researched and well written, and it is certainly refreshing to see a treatment of this topic that does not ignore the macro perspective of class, race, and culture. In my own forensic psychology practice, I have found it helpful to keep Leyton's perspective in mind, while still not ignoring the developmental wrong-turns and individual pathologies that also contribute to multiple murder. Overall, this book is well worth reading for anyone interested in the etiology of serial murder.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Amazing Work, October 18, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Hunting Humans (Paperback)

Whether you are an anthropologist, sociologist, or just plain interested in the serial killer phenomenon, this book is a fascinating analysis. Through examinations of specific cases (Ted Bundy, Charles Starkweather, Albert DeSalvo ("The Boston Strangler"), Leyton provides insight via anthropolgoical theory and psychological profiles. A must for any true crime lover!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ted Bundy - Driven by Psychopathology or Class Struggle?, February 29, 2004

By	world class wreckin cru "dallasite" (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

Leyton has written a classic study on the rise and motives of serial killers and mass murderers. The new edition of this book originally published in the early 80's includes a discussion of the DC sniper attacks and case studies of various killers including Ted Bundy, the Boston Strangler Albert DeSalvo, David Berkowitz aka the Son of Sam, and Mark Essex. Leyton lays out a very convincing argument about the motives behind the killings of multiple murderers. He casts asides psychopathology as the primary reason for their crimes and instead contends that an inability to cope with social position and class consciousness drives these killers.

Leyton views multiple murderers from a sociological rather than a psychiatric standpoint. The evidence underlying his arguments is solid. His main conclusion is that multiple murderers seek to destroy members of a social class secure in its position in the social hierarchy that have excluded him (sometimes her) from their ranks. Bundy, DeSalvo, and the rest belonged to the lower or lower middle classes and despite being superficially accepted by the social hierarchy above them, they were acutely aware of their humble origins and hypersensitive to rejection. In fact, all of the murderers that Leyton discusses in detail spoke greatly at length about wanting to punish the people they felt had rejected them. Though it is hard to imagine that multiple murderers are not psychotic, it appears that not only are they sane for the most part, they have a conscious or subconscious agenda to destroy the people they feel will never accept them.

The case that best exemplifies Leyton's thesis, in my opinion, is the case of Mark Essex. Essex was killed on the roof of a hotel in early January of 1975 after a killing spree that left over 10 people dead. Essex was not a raving madman, but a black man who suffered the devastating consequences of racism during his years in the Navy. He was insulated from the consequences of his skin color as a youth but soon realized that he was not considered an equal even by his country's own military. His experiences left him deeply disillusioned, and several years after his discharge, he took revenge on the people that held him down. In his mind, this included all white people. No one who knew Essex portrayed him as a psychotic. Rather, he was described as an intelligent and diligent worker who felt rejected by the social class above him and that he was not willing to accept his permanent social position beneath white people just because of his skin color.

Each of Leyton's case studies are meticulously researched, and his sociological arguments are solid. The last chapter of his book "A Historical Overview" ties all of his ideas together neatly. He mentions several cases of multiple murderers dating back several hundred years, and all of them represent struggles between a member of a class whose members are facing uncertainty or alienation against a class that is secure in its social standing. This chapter really represents what is best about this book. Leyton's convincing arguments don't just explain what drives people to kill so many of their fellow human beings in modern times but they also provide a framework to discuss multiple murderers from the past.

For the people that are comforted by the idea that multiple murderers are psychotic maniacs who have an unrestrained lust for killing people, this book will change your mind.