Techniques of neutralization  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

Revision as of 23:24, 4 February 2012; view current revision
←Older revision | Newer revision→
Jump to: navigation, search

Related e

Wikipedia
Wiktionary
Shop


Featured:

An angel of mercy or angel of death is a rare type of serial killer who is usually female and employed as a caretaker. The angel of mercy is often in a position of power and decides the victim would be better off if they no longer suffered. This person then uses their knowledge to manufacture the death of the victim. As time goes on, this behavior escalates to encapsulate the healthy and the easily treated.

One theory to explain this particular type of serial killer is the Neutralization theory. Developed by sociologists Gresham Sykes and David Matza, it explains that criminals understand right from wrong. In order to neutralize their actions, criminals will develop new perceptions to mitigate the circumstances of their crimes. In this case, the killer might claim that he or she was helping the victim by easing their pain.

In literature

The two spinster aunts in Joseph Kesselring's play Arsenic and Old Lace act as angels of mercy for lonely old men, poisoning them with elderberry wine laced with arsenic, strychine and cyanide.

The character Annie Wilkes in the Stephen King novel Misery seems to be a serial killer of this type. Additionally, "Angel of mercy" is mentioned in Agatha Christie's novel By the Pricking of My Thumbs. The novel The 5th Horseman in James Patterson's Women's Murder Club series features an "Angel of Mercy" serial killer. The term is also mentioned in a Fear Factory song "Demanufacture".

On television

In the television series Dexter, Dexter Morgan's first kill is his father's nurse, an angel of mercy, who worked in the fictional Angel of Mercy Hospital.




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Techniques of neutralization" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

Personal tools