ABSTRACT
This chapter will provide an overview of the dominant theories explaining homicide, briefly outlining biological, psychological, and sociological theories attempting to explain this phenomenon. This will also include the examination of homicide using a gendered lens, exploring the gendered nature of homicide and how gender theory may be used to explain this crime. The chapter will also explore homicide in relation to a relatively new perspective within the field: Gothic criminology. Using this critical perspective, the medial impact on homicide, and how homicide is constructed in our media landscape, is explored. This includes exploring the reciprocal relationship between academic and aesthetic constructions of homicide and how our understanding of this crime is reflected in modern day media. To exemplify this perspective, this chapter will examine the Gothic discourses of one specific type of homicide; serial killing. Overall, this chapter will provide the theoretical foundations for the following analysis as well as the theoretical development explored in subsequent chapters.
