Criminology

Today I’m going to focus on criminology and history.   

In the dark depths of a criminal’s mind there lurks a human being capable of very great and very horrible things.  Every time you write your villain, it’s important to make sure you get it right!  How many times have you read a story in which the hero makes several assumptions with NO CONNECTION or EXPLANATION and you’re left scratching your head in confusion.  Or worse yet, you have a hero in 1795 who deduces who the murderer was based on blood splatter.  What???  <recently read that one *shudder*…went to the author’s site and read up on how they did research…CSI.  Not helpful in 1795 PEOPLE!!!  And if you’re writing a contemporary mystery, expecting your CSI female staff to strut around in cha-cha heels is almost impossible.  Ask my wife, she laments it.>

In history, the theology of criminal motive have taken an amazing ride of theories.  From  motives based on demonic possession (5000 BC-1692 AD), Phrenology (measurement of bumps on the head (1770-1875 AD), to a current theory of family dysfunction (feeding off the neorisis of the family unit: a father who’s an abuser will have a son that abuses), its important to track your villains using the resources available to you in that time period. 

While the internet world of research is full of more holes than swiss cheese, it should be noted that there are several, fantastic places to scope out Criminology history. 

The Criminology Mega-Site from North Carolina’s Wesleyan College

The Crime Library is packed full of articles on the criminal mind and the psychology that makes them tick. 

Wikipedia is another realm of interesting possibilities, if for no other reason than their research links. 

Remember, the villain isn’t always the guy in black.  And the hero doesn’t always wear white. 

Live to Write, Write to Live 

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