The Influence Of Jack The Ripper

Serial killers are not a revolutionary concept as they have been around for as long as there has been man. Jack the Ripper is perhaps the most notorious killer due to the nature of the crimes as well as his anonymity. Preying on the East End of London, Jack the Ripper created a persona for himself which would go down in the history books as a terror of England. Although he is often overlooked in relation to impact on today, there is no doubt that he had a major influence on the social climate, journalism, and forensics system. Between August and November of 1888, Whitechapel London was shaken by some of the most brutal murders to-date. With five confirmed victims, the killer, nicknamed “Jack the Ripper”, did not fall short of causing a widespread
Local journalists and newspapers made Jack into a terrifying media figure and resulted in some investigation hindrances. There was numerous killings that paralleled Jack’s confirmed kills but were not entirely the same. Police forces did not have too much trouble in identifying his victims as the nature in which they were committed was so unique. Each of the victims was subjected to mutilation, but it increased as the killings progressed. It would have been easy for a “copycat” killer to imitate Jack’s style since the details of the case were made so public. The imitation killings did slow down the police in their efforts to secure an arrest as they had to weed out the true murders from the fake. The identity of Jack the Ripper is still unknown today but there was a lengthy list of suspects that the police had compiled. The list was comprised of over 100 names and they all fell into two categories; the fascinating and the ridiculous. Theories were spun that interested and could have possibly been the truth which would define the fascinating suspects. There was also a large amount of far-fetched ideas that were desperate attempts to pin down a murder. Forensic experts venture that Jack may have been a doctor or a butcher due to the evidence of weapons and the obvious knowledge of human anatomy, which would have been required in the
Press reports and newspaper articles provided investigators with insight into the values, fears, and beliefs of the targeted audience. All of which the killer used to his advantage when carrying out his “reign of terror”. Journalism was taking-flight during the Victorian era and played a vital role in including the citizens in the on-going investigation. The changes in economy, industry, and technology allowed a wider circulation of information as well as more news-sharing. The reporting of the murders did not show sympathy for the fate of the butchered women, but rather sympathized with the horrid living conditions they had to endure prior to their murders. There was, however, an oversharing in information pertaining to the case. Explicit details of the killings and the processes which the police were using was often published in papers which gave everyone access to the same amount of information that the police knew. This provided to be an issue later on as copycats were easily able to claim to be the Ripper. They had the means to commit murders in a similar fashion which in turn threw the police off the right track. The amount of information now allowed to be known by the outside public is subject to numerous regulations in order to prevent a similar