Race and Psychopathy: A Case Study of Serial Killer George Russell

¹ Racial differences, indeed the whole idea of race, is socially constructed (see Smedley & Smedley, Citation2005, for a full discussion). There is a distinct lack of scientific evidence to support the notion of racial types as genetically discrete. Despite robust disclaimers razing the validity of racial classifications, the social construct of race remains a highly relevant feature of society (Alexander, Citation2020; Bonilla-Silva, Citation2015; Stanfield, Citation2011; Zuberi & Bonilla-Silva, Citation2008). We are not only socialized to view self and others in terms of race, but profound social and economic disparities on the distinct basis of race exist. Thus, in a society in which racial disparities abound, such distinctions cannot be disregarded and must instead be acknowledged so that real racial disparities may be recognized and remedied.

² The ethnocentric conception of serial murderers as predominately White was conceived by the FBI when they established serial murder as a novel phenomenon with a set of characteristics that could be utilized in criminal profiling (Jenkins, Citation2002). As pioneers of criminal profiling, they created an explicit racial stereotype of serial killers as White and lent legitimacy thereto in widely-published material that lacked sound scientific methodology. This harmful and pervasive stereotype, coupled with a notable absence of Black serial killers in popular culture (despite overwhelming empirical evidence to the contrary), has been reinforced by film and mass media (Branson, Citation2013; Coston & Kuhns, Citation2004; Jenkins, Citation1993; A. Walsh, Citation2005). Consequently, contemporary ideation of serial killers evokes images of White men à la Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer. Thus, overrepresentation of the White serial killer archetype coupled with the reductive portrayal of the inferior Black street criminal has cultivated a false and pervasive misconception that Black serial killers are rare or nonexistent.

³ Many who have poor attachment experiences in infancy and childhood will never develop psychopathy.

⁴ It would have been optimal to conduct an in-person interview of Russell. However, despite obtaining approval from Seattle University’s Institutional Review Board (IRB), the author was restricted from advancing to the Washington State IRB as their submission fee was cost-prohibitive, which rendered this option inaccessible.

⁵ Blacks may attribute race-based rejection to other Blacks (intraracially), as well as to Whites (interracially) (Goodwin et al., Citation2010).