Why were there more serial killers in the 70s/80s/90s than there are now or really even before that?

by LadyChelseaFaye

According to Wikipedia and the list for USA Serial Killers there have been:

  • 1700s: 2 caught serial killers
  • 1800s: 21 caught serial killers and 2 unknown serial killers
  • 1900s: 4 caught serial killers and 1 unknown serial killers
  • 1910s: 4 caught serial killers and 2 unknown serial killers
  • 1920s: 8 caught serial killers
  • 1930s: 21 caught serial killers and 1 unknown serial killers
  • 1940s: 7 caught serial killers and 1 unknown serial killers
  • 1950s: 12 caught serial killers
  • 1960s: 21 caught serial killers and 4 unknown serial killers
  • 1970s: 66 caught serial killers and 14 unknown serial killers
  • 1980s: 85 caught serial killers and 14 unknown serial killers
  • 1990s: 43 caught serial killers and 3 unknown serial killers
  • 2000s: 19 caught serial killers and 6 unknown serial killers
  • 2010s: 3 caught serial killers and 3 unknown serial killers

So maybe we could blame the world back then and maybe it may have been easier to get away with murder back in the 1700s-early 1900s.

Why the spike in serial killers starting in the 60s going reaching a peak in the 80s and going back to normal by the 2000s?

Please excuse my numbers. I have kids that don’t want to go to bed. It’s hard to make a tally chart with kids running around.

butareyoueatindoe

While not fully answering your question, this earlier answer about the seeming increase in serial killers in the 70s and onwards by /u/chickendance638 might help you understand some of the factors involved.

NobodyMinus

This is sort of a follow-on question that may be asking for a negation of the main question: How reliable would records of serial killers be in the 18th and 19th centuries?