Criminologist R. Barri Flowers

Hey everyone, today we’re excited to have a GREAT special guest blogger, author and criminologist R. Barri Flowers. He’s published multiple books in the mystery and romance genres as well as bestselling true crime books. And he’s agreed to let the Killer Fiction readers pick his brain today, so I hope you all came loaded with lots of questions. Mr. Flowers, take it away…



Hello, all. My name's R. Barri Flowers, author of criminology books, true crime, and mystery novels (with some romance fiction under a pseudonym for good measure).

How nice of Gemma and the other gals at Killer Fiction to invite on as a guest blogger.

With the lion's share of my writings in the criminology field, I'm what's known as a literary criminologist. That is, I am one of those who writes the criminal justice and criminology textbooks used in colleges and universities by professors and students alike.

I take pride in making a contribution to higher education and hope that through my books and articles, graduates in the criminal justice/criminology/criminal law fields come out with more relevant knowledge than when they went in.

So what goes into criminology writing, you might ask? Well, lots of research, verification, studies, surveys, tables, graphs, notes, references, and information on crime, criminals, and criminal justice or lack thereof.

The fundamental questions in the study of criminality consist of: why are crimes committed, who commits them, what are the precursors, how are crimes solved, is their differential enforcement of the law, and can criminals really be rehabilitated?

With twenty-five such books covering the range of criminal behavior, I have written about virtually every type of popular perpetrator in crime fiction, including serial killers, psycho killers, female killers, mass killers, domestic-related killers, team killers, juvenile killers, terrorists, rapists, molesters, sadists, property offenders, drug-related criminals, and more.

Some general conclusions are as follows:

* Firearms are involved in two-thirds of the homicides in the U.S.

* Drug use is pervasive in our society and often a factor in the commission of other crimes, such as murder and sexual assaults.

* Crime is largely intraracial and not interracial in this country.

* Identity theft and cybercrime are two of the fastest growing crimes in the country.

* Two-thirds of all rapes and three-quarters of sexual assaults are committed by an intimate, acquaintance, or family member of victim.

* Males, not too surprisingly, constitute the higher percentage of violent, sexual, property, and drug offenders.

* When it comes to serial killers, a common theme in thrillers and romantic suspense, men rule the roost. However, more women have been serial killers throughout our history than one might imagine, such as black widows who kill their mates for financial gain.

* Females are slowly making inroads into traditionally male-dominated crimes, including homicide and property offenses.

* Men are predominantly the aggressors in domestic violence and women the passive victims. However, the actual incidence of verbal and physical abuse in relationships is more evenly divided by gender.

* Though we hear most often about men being arrested for child molestation, women may actually be just as involved in child sexual abuse but are more easily able to mask due to traditional female sex roles in society, such as child rearing and homemaker.

* Teens and young adults have the highest rate of involvement in violent crime.

* The laws are not always applied equally when it comes to arrests, conviction, and incarceration, often varying by offense, gender, race, ethnicity, and/or location.

My other main area of focus as a criminologist is on true crime. The genre was popularized by Truman Capote with his book, IN COLD BLOOD.

Though true crime books are nonfiction, they are separated from typical factual books by employing fiction techniques in combining a police procedural with mystery and suspense.

I wrote a bestselling true crime book, THE SEX SLAVE MURDERS (St. Martin's Press, 1996). It chronicles the sexual homicides of husband-wife serial killers, Gerald and Charlene Gallego.

The book is a basis of an upcoming episode of the popular Dateline like Canadian investigative crime TV series, Crime Stories, shown on A&E's Biography Channel.

Writing true crime differs from criminology books and a decidedly academic approach in that it involves reading transcripts, interviewing witnesses, law enforcement, and others in piecing together the time line of the crime, investigation, evidence gathering, apprehending the suspect, the trial, and outcome.

It certainly keeps me on my toes moving between these two branches of writing on criminality. Having a basic understanding of the dynamics of criminal behavior certainly helps the cause in doing true crime books.

Similarly, my expertise as a criminologist laid the perfect groundwork for a foray into crime fiction, with several novels, including the most recent, STATE'S EVIDENCE (Dorchester, 2006) and JUSTICE SERVED (Dorchester, 2005).

I enjoy the creative side of writing mystery fiction and using one's imagination and creative juices to blend with strong characterization and plotting in building to a dramatic climax.

Inspired by such crime novelists as James Patterson and John Grisham, along with male romance writers Robert Waller and Nicholas Sparks, I have also tried my hand at writing love stories.

Under the pseudonym, Devon Vaughn Archer, I have written four romance novels. The latest, CHRISTMAS HEAT (Kimani Romance, 2007), will be published in December by a Harlequin imprint.

Overall, I remain a criminology and true crime writer, first and foremost and am happy to lend my talents to the study of crime and criminals; along with trying to get a handle on how we can best deal with criminality in American society.

Feel free to ask me whatever suits your fancy and I will try my best to answer.

And visit my web site and pages on CrimeSpace and MySpace:

http://www.rbarriflowers.com

http://mysite.verizon.net/mysteryauthors/flowersr.html

http://crimespace.ning.com/profile/RBarri

http://www.myspace.com/devonvaughnarcher

Best,

R. Barri Flowers