And what caused it to triple from the 1960s to the 1970s?

Psych meds, video games, and the internet

Unleaded gas?

Yeah, security cameras, cell phones, Netflix.

Legal abortion. Unwanted babies grow up to be damaged humans.

Fascinating

Could it be related to TV as a mass media? The curve seems the same.

I find a lot of the theories put forward here very interesting, now here's another one - advent of cable and the VCR, and later the internet. Home access to (deviant) pornography has probably prevented many potential serials from turning to crime to get their rocks off.

The 1970s were the golden age of serial killers. Was it disco? Possibly.

Indubitably so! youtu.be/BZ4GZ3gwtf4?...

BTW, I love this song.

DNA, and cameras work I guess...or they are better at hiding evidence & changing their m.o. after decades of how to's on network tv. I do not believe it has actually declined, people are still sickos.

If you look at the source for this news.northeastern.edu/2023/04/26/s... the author, Prof Fox of Northeastern, seems to make some very questionable assertins so I would take this witha grain of salt

The Boomer serial killers were in their prime years. Plus, the decline of lead paint helped a bit

But school shootings have gone way up. Serial killing is delayed gratification. The MTV generation lost that trait and it's only gotten worse with YouTube then TikTok.

Historic reduction in the availability of polyester pants.

This is reversely proportional to the growing trend of ruthless billionaire-oligarchs in the last 30 years. . .

does it include mass shooting?

DNA testing and fingerprint database.

I wonder if less lead exposure is the reason for fewer serial killers.

When did Forensic Files come out

legalized abortion and unleaded gas, perhaps?

Security cameras?

I would say that and advances in DNA identification.

Boomers

Population adjusted, even more severe.

With only this graph as evidence, I assume leaded gasoline is the culprite.

I think so too. Leaded gasoline was around earlier, but number of cars per household increased sharply starting in the mid-40s. We can’t completely discount access to birth control & abortion. If more women can choose not to have kids in messed up situations, you may get fewer violent sociopaths.

I do wonder if that would change once another decade or two might reveal more in the present who have yet to be identified because not enough time has passed

Perhaps correlated to environmental lead exposure?

DNA evidence??

How does that correlate to lead in the air (from leaded gasoline)?

Good question. I found that leaded” gas was in use since the 1920s and was phased out in the 1970s, which suggests little/no correlation.

Yet another historic American tradition killed by millennials.

Snort-laughing over here.

It’s a lot harder to make people “disappear,” which…I guess is a positive side effect of mass surveillance and schools tracking kids’ attendance? There are a gazillion true crime stories involving teen runaways from the 1950s-1980s, it’s always kind of astounding to read.

Easier to catch through DNA?