Edelstein Arnon
Kaye College, Israel.
Int J Emerg Ment Health. 2014;16(2):350-3.
The concept of multiple murders (mm) is as old as humanity itself but it has only become prevalent in academic thought within the last three decades. Over this period scholars have introduced two main attitudes regarding multiple murders. Some argue that multiple murders are, theoretically and empirically, one concept that includes different sub-types: mass murder, spree murder, and serial murder. Other scholars claim that those "sub categories", are a whole different phenomenon, which are worthy and needed a separate examination and discussion because its uniqueness. To my opinion, this argument is more a semantic one than a fundamental one, as long as we consider each type of these murders as a unique phenomenon, with its own and unique characteristics. In addition both parties agree that the concept of multiple murders is differentiated into the same three main sub-categories. My argument is that a fourth sub-category of mm exists which goes unrecognized by most scholars. This sub-category, named "serial-mass murder," will help to differentiate the sub-categories more accurately and will more clearly define each of the remaining sub-categories.
多起谋杀案（MM）的概念与人类本身一样古老，但在过去三十年里才在学术思想中变得普遍。在此期间，学者们对多起谋杀案提出了两种主要态度。一些人认为，从理论和实证角度来看，多起谋杀案是一个包含不同子类型的概念：大规模谋杀、狂欢谋杀和连环谋杀。其他学者则声称，这些“子类别”是完全不同的现象，因其独特性而值得并需要单独进行审视和讨论。在我看来，只要我们将这些谋杀案的每一种类型都视为具有自身独特特征的独特现象，那么这种争论更多的是语义上的而非根本性的。此外，双方都同意多起谋杀案的概念可细分为相同的三个主要子类别。我的观点是，存在一个大多数学者未认识到的MM第四子类别。这个子类别名为“连环大规模谋杀”，将有助于更准确地区分子类别，并更清晰地界定其余每个子类别。
