Respect, Defense, and Self-identity ― Profiling Parricide in Nineteenth-century America, 1852-1899

Why forgo more comprehensive and readily available data to study parricide in nineteenth-century America? Shon maintains here that studying an earlier period enables one to sidestep the prevalent current belief that it arises from parental abuse, with the resulting study focused on the psychology of the offenders. It also lets one go beyond the current prevalence of both handguns and mass-media coverage. Shon also notes that most of the current coverage focuses on adolescent murder of parents rather than the more common killings performed by adult children. In preparing this work, Shon made use of archival records of the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune, from 1851 to 1899. He identified and analyzed 231 cases. He first examines the weapons used, which included guns, but also a higher incidence of the use of knives and other edged instruments than today, as well as simple battery. He then attempts to reconcile theories of crime and parricides and goes on to examine the incidence of murder-suicide and mass murder in their context. The work also dips heavily into the realms of existentialism, Freudian theory and the tale of Oedipus Rex. Shon closes with a comparison of 19th and 20th century parricides. Portions of the first six chapters were already published in academic journals. Annotation c2014 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

Phillip Chong Ho Shon is Associate Professor of Criminology at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. He received his PhD in criminal justice in 2003 from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Shon has authored several articles and books, including How to Read Journal Articles in the Social Sciences and Language and Demeanor in Police-Citizen Encounters. His research interests include police behavior, police-citizen encounters, law and society, sociology of law, criminology, and homicide studies.