I Kill, Therefore I Am: The Expressive/Transformative Process of Violence Lee Mellor A Thesis In the Individualized Program Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Individualized Program) at Concordia University Montreal, Quebec, Canada July 2018 ©Lee Mellor, 2018 !"#!"$%&'()#&*+$,&-.( ,!/""0("1(2$'%)'-+(,-)%&+,! This is to certify that the thesis prepared By: Lee Mellor Entitled: I Kill, Therefore I Am: The Expressive Transformative Theory of Violence and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Individualized program (INDI)) complies with the regulations of the University and meets the accepted standards with respect to originality and quality. Signed by the final examining committee: "#$%&! '&(!"#$&)*+!,*%++! !-./*&0$)!-.$1%0*&! '&(!2$&%0$!34&45#%0+6%! !-./*&0$)!/4! 7&48&$1! '&(!9&*8!:%*)+*0! !-.$1%0*&! '&(!-&%5!;%56*<! !-.$1%0*&! '&(!=1<!3>%??*0! -.$1%0*&! !'&(!@%A*6!@*06$/*+#! B#*+%+!3CD*&A%+4&! '&(!E*$0F,45#!G$C&*05*! =DD&4A*H!I<! '&(!,$5#*)!J*&8*&K(9&$HC$/*!7&48&$1!'%&*5/4&! !'*5*1I*&!LK!MNOP! '&(!7$C)$!Q44HF=H$1+K!'*$0! !35#44)!4?!9&$HC$/*!3/CH%*+ Abstract I Kill, Therefore I Am: The Expressive/Transformative Process of Violence Lee Mellor, Ph.D. Concordia University, 2018 Before the late-Industrial age, a minority of murderers posed their victims’ corpses to convey a message. With the rise of mass media, such offenders also began sending verbal communications to journalists and the authorities. Unsurprisingly, the 21st century has seen alienated killers promote their violent actions and homicidal identities through online communications: from VLOGs to manifestos, even videos depicting murder and corpse mutilation. Though the decentralization of media has provided an easily-accessible platform for violent offenders, such communications also afford law enforcement the opportunity to better understand the make-up of such criminals. To this end, qualitative research was conducted on a sample of 10 such offenders. The results revealed that they suffer from a chronically volatile self-concept with resulting negative-emotionality owing to deficient childhood socialization and strains related to sexuality, gender, and vocation. As the psychologist, Higgins, and sociologist, Mead, have shown that our self-concept arises and is negotiated through communication, these homicidal expressions provide the killer with a tenable identity, temporarily or permanently eliminating their emotional turmoil. Far from mere attention-seeking, these killers are desperately striving for a self. Their malaise is exacerbated by our increasingly anomic and isolating society—the mid-stages of Baudrillard's 'hyperreality'—where the 'real' and 'unreal' are becoming indistinguishable. Together, these observations form the bedrock of the expressive/transformative process of violence (ETV). By highlighting the link between semiotics and psychology in the context of our media-saturated society, ETV provides a methodology for interpreting homicidal communications, allowing law enforcement and mental health professionals to strengthen criminal profiles, link crimes, aid in pre- and post-homicidal risk assessment, and devise clinical treatment strategies. iii Acknowledgements First and foremost, my thanks must go to Concordia University as an institution. Whether it was completing my undergraduate degree in History or this latest doctoral melange of psychology, sociology, criminology, semiotics, and anthropology, Concordia has always supported my efforts and treated me fairly. I Kill, Therefore I Am: The Expressive/Transformative Process of Violence would never have come into existence if Dr. Brad Nelson, former Chair of the INDI program, had not believed in my potential. The same can be said of my doctoral supervisor, Dr. Jean-Roch Laurence, who referred me to the program and graciously mentored me over the course of my studies. Dr. Laurence has been a wise and generous professor, allowing me the freedom to chart my own course in the study of atypical homicide while tactfully correcting me when I began steering toward the sandbanks. I am similarly thankful to Dr. Amy Swiffen for bombarding me with an abundance of readings in sociological theory, effectively teaching me the fundamentals of an entire academic discipline in only a few years. Dr. Swiffen was instrumental in recommending me for my first two teaching positions, actively encouraged me obtain a SSHRC grant, and sacrificed a great deal of her spare time to help me with developing the early and mid-stages of this dissertation. Her enthusiasm for my vision played a big part in making it a reality. As a global expert on the topic of multicide, sex crimes, and paraphilia, it was an incredible honour to work with Dr. Eric Hickey who keenly spotted my ability to dive to the bottom of the proverbial abyss and admonished me to explore its darkest depths. Dr. Hickey also generously collaborated with me on my first academic publication Understanding Necrophilia: A Global Multidisciplinary Approach, which was completed in addition to my doctoral studies, and provided me with an outlet to articulate my observations on sexual homicide. In doing so, not only was I able to lay some foundational theories regarding necrophilia-spectrum behavior and mutilation, but also to discover uncharted territory which was unaccounted for by paraphilic acts—namely, the topic of this dissertation. Finally, Dr. Vivek Venkatesh was instrumental in introducing me to the field of semiotics, which is an indispensable component of I Kill, Therefore I Am. I would like to thank Dr. Venkatesh for collaborating with me on the academic chapter ‘Killing For Slenderman: The Emergence of a Digital Gospel’, as many of the insights I gained during that meditation on delusion and myth resurfaced here. Whether it was Dr. Laurence, Dr. Swiffen, Dr. Hickey, or Dr. Venkatesh, each iv member of my committee was proactive in encouraging and reassuring me that bright things awaited at the end of this process. This helped keep my spirits up immeasurably and was something I did not openly seek. During the five years I spent at Concordia, Darlene Dubiel, the INDI program coordinator, was unfailingly pleasant and helpful, from admissions through grant applications to these final stages of my dissertation. Darlene, you made this experience a thoroughly positive one, guiding me through the bureaucratic labyrinth like a smiling Daedalus. I also extend my thanks to the various INDI program directors after Dr. Nelson— Dr. Ketra Schmitt, Dr. Charles Reiss, and Dr. Sandra Chang-Kredl—all of whom assisted me in one way or another, and aided in securing funding for my work. Fortunately, I received indispensable guidance from a number of academics outside of my doctoral committee including Dr. Marcel Danesi who introduced me to the field of forensic semiotics, Dr. Marc LaFrance who provided literature on gender theories of masculinity, and my long-time friend Dr. Michael A. Arntfield with whom I have collaborated endlessly and whose theory of literary criminology compliments my own work. Thanks also to the author and criminal profiler Anthony Meoli, whose frank and honest recollections of the Rolling crime scenes were priceless in establishing how maximized abjection can affect even hardened investigators; along with Detective Superintendent Albert Patrick for taking the time to speak to me about his encounters with Colin Ireland, and Detective Cloyd Steiger of Seattle Homicide for assuring me that my investigative recommendations in the Ireland case were pragmatically and financially realistic. Finally, those who consistently loved and supported me through the dark, darker, and not so dark times are most worthy of acknowledgement; of those, my parents, Phil and Lynn Mellor, are true titans. I hope this doctorate makes you proud (and the dissertation doesn’t put you to sleep). To conclude, I would be remiss not to highlight the earthy wisdom of my aunt Dot, who gave me a kick in the backside and told me to stop sulking and find a way to publish my first book Cold North Killers. There is a direct link from that much-needed splash of psychological ice-water in 2011 and the theory I proudly present to the world today. In one way or another and to different degrees, you’ve all brought me here, and for that I have pure gratitude. v Table of Contents List of Tables…………………………………………………………………………….viii List of Figures……………………………………………………………………………ix Introduction………………………………………………………………………………1 1. Theory and Method…………………………………………………………………....15 1.0 Introduction………………………………………………………………......15 1.1 Why Symbolic Interactionism?........................................................................18 1.2 The Development of the Self Through Communication..................................23 1.3 Self-Discrepancy Theory..................................................................................29 1.4 General Strain Theory and the Self..................................................................35 1.5 Face-Work and the Communication Theory of Identity...................................39 1.6 Communication Dysfunction and Mental Illness.............................................43 1.7 Conclusion........................................................................................................46 Endnotes………………………………………………………………………….47 2. Media, Masculinity, Cultural Goals, and Talismans......................................................51 2.0 Introduction......................................................................................................51