Theorising the puzzle that is Harold Shipman

Abstract

Despite a lengthy inquiry, why the serial killer, Harold Shipman, committed his crimes remains a puzzle. However, the issue still needs to be confronted. This article tries to move beyond the usual individualistic explanations of serial killing towards a wider analysis that embraces a more structural approach whereby we can begin to understand the meaning of serial killing at a societal level. Sadly, we argue that the actions of serial killers can be used to identify social breakdowns.

Keywords:

• Serial killing
• structural explanations
• homicidal protest
• Harold Shipman
• general practice
• Dame Janet Smith
• patriarchy
• elderly people

Notes

1 In fact, even his name is a puzzle. The website dedicated to the inquiry conducted by Dame Janet Smith considers his middle name to be ‘Fredrick’, but most, including Google, the BBC, and The Lancet, spell it as ‘Frederick’. Entering the words ‘Harold Frederick Shipman’ on Google produces around 143,000 responses, while entering ‘Harold Fredrick Shipman’ produces 19,900 responses with the query ‘Did you mean: Harold Frederick Shipman?’ We are reluctant to argue with the majority of Google and so that's the spelling we have used.

2 We are using the increasingly accepted criminological definition of a serial killer as someone who kills at least three people, in separate incidents, in a period of greater than 30 days (Holmes & de Burger, 1988).

3 All quotes from Dame Janet's reports are taken from the website www.the-shipman-inquiry.org.uk

4 In another puzzle, Inside Time – the prison newspaper produced by the charity New Bridge – claims that Shipman was in fact murdered and draws attention to the unexplained bruises on his body and the inordinate time that staff took to find his body (Inside Time, November 2004, pp. 1, 18).