Linguistic Links in Murder Manifestos

Abstract

The focus of this research was not to determine why the criminal committed the crime, but to find connections between the texts of the criminals. Connections between the manifestos could reveal certain linguistic characteristics which would lead to a better understanding of the inner voice of these dangerous people. This study is important because it has the potential to identify manifestos that contain language patterns that could lead to threatening of harmful acts. The assessment of these, combined with work from other disciplines such as Criminology, Psychology, and Sociology, might allow us to better recognize, understand, and deter such acts.