What is the Motive?

Imagine a world where you could isolate yourself from the crime we see in the media today, feel less heavy and drained, and no longer dread waking up and opening your phone. Hoping you won’t see another news story of a heinous act committed, yet also bracing yourself because you know this is quite an impossible thought. Unfortunately, this is not reality, so how can man come to terms with continuous acts of extreme modification and still live a fulfilling, peaceful-minded life. Unfortunately, this is not something that is easy to cope with as processing and trying to understand why these perpetrators commit these acts we see in the media every day will never fully make sense to those who are not in the mind of the beholder. We, as consumers of crime media, are constantly asking the question of why did this happen, who could commit an act like this, and what was their motive? Another question that can be proposed is how can rhetoric be employed in everyday policing tactics to help prevent crimes like this from happening in the future.

While yes we deal with a huge amount of disinformation and propaganda on a daily basis, and media literacy helps to advance the skills we need to to be able to understand and decode the content viewed: critical thinking and communications skills and gaining knowledge of this may have value in advancing instructor competencies (Hobbs, Steager 2022). I believe that another way training could be altered is by using rhetoric through Kenneth Burke’s dramatistic theory, As well as using John Douglas’s work in crime scene profiling to help police officers try and understand the motive behind the perpetrator. As difficult as the understanding of a motive can be, especially when it entails involvement of crime, I also believe that taking a rhetorical approach using dramatistic theory can help people try and understand the motives behind human action and behavior when it comes to extreme acts of mortification.

Burke is a literary theorist who is known for his analyses on the nature of knowledge and rhetorical approach of symbolic action. Dramatism is an analysis approach aimed to analyze human relationships and actions through the use of language. Throughout Burke’s work, he puts emphasis on different movements that can help one to understand the justification of a motive. John Douglas is an American retired special agent, and unit chief in the United States federal bureau of Investigation (FBI) is known for his work catching serial killers as well as understanding what leads these people to commit such acts. He uses Kenneth Burke’s work in his investigations and studies as Douglas explains, “everything we see at a crime scene tells us something about the unknown subject… who committed the crime.’ These clues, when carefully analyzed by an experienced profiler, can therefore be ‘used to draw a … portrait of the likely suspect. (MacLennan 2005).” Douglas then goes on to describe that “profiling as a form of applied psychology and likens it to medical diagnoses. However, the subtle process of ‘reading’ the crime scene is actually more akin to rhetorical criticism, in that both are concerned with studying and interpreting the symbolic products of human action (MacLennan 2005).”

As this is one way that man can start and try to come to terms and understand one’s motive, it is important to acknowledge you do not have to fully agree with one’s actions is more of the idea of getting in the brain and trying to analyze why the act occurred to acquire more clarity on a matter. Douglas observes, ‘in the case of every horrible crime since the beginning of civilization, there is always this searing, fundamental question: what kind of person could have done such a thing? (MacLennan 2005). To support my argument, talk about the analysis of a crime case from The Anatomy of Motive, a book written by Douglas. As a retired FBI agent, he still helps crack numerous amounts of crimes and what the sole purpose or the motive was of said crime. Again Douglas’ work is solely based on the question of why and what is the social explanation for the act that so and so humans did. I will be taking a deeper dive into the Tylenol posing murders (TYMUS ) case as, in my opinion, this is such an obscure case, and the minute I read it, I could not stop asking myself why and what could motivate an individual to perform such an act.

Before I get into the case, it is important to note some of Burke’s theory regarding a hierarchical system and how this can motivate one to perform certain acts. A hierarchical system stems from what society has made from it, although how much does this “hierarchical” really mean in the eyes of many? For some can view it as being on the ‘top’ means you are the ‘best,’ as others can view it as being on the ‘top’ deemed for the worst. Although this system can be seen like colors, as my blue is not the same as the next person’s blue, and this can be said for systems, my system of reign is not the same as a murders system or reign nor a nobles men system of reign. To understand this view, we have to put ourselves in the minds of many and others and try to view the reasons for which they do and believe. As Kenneth Burke states in motive two of his seven motives of dramatism, “Because they desire Order (the reign of reason and justice), men build cooperative systems, or orders. All such orders are of necessity hierarchical, involving division, “a ladder of authority that extends from ‘lower’ to ‘higher,’ while its official functions tend toward a corresponding set of social ratings,’ a set of ‘different classes’ (or ‘principles,’ or ‘kinds of beings’)” (Griffin n.d.). The ladder of authority we have today stems from the system of moral code created by the government. These rules tell us what makes someone criminal or not, what makes a crime, or what doesn’t. It helps us find criminals, which helps us to then understand the human mind and the motive as to why the crime was committed. Without this Order, it would leave us with rules to break hence leaving us with no mysteries to solve. “For mystery arises at that point where different kinds of beings are in communication” (Griffin n.d.).

The TYMUS case took place in the 1980s in Chicago. When these murders took place in Chicago, the only thing linking them together was a bottle of Tylenol. Between September 29 and October 1, 1982, seven people in Chicago died mysteriously, and the victims all died within hours of each other. It is also important to note that it is not typical for the killer to be found in cases involving tampered drugs, and through rhetoric tactics, Douglas was able to help solve this mystery. It was found that the one common factor was all victims had used Tylenol, and as we know, the packaging was different back then for products like Tylenol, making it easier to contaminate the pills as the killer did to commit these murders. This case was so hard to crack at first until Douglas was flown out to Chicago to look at the case firsthand. Once Douglas surveyed the reports, he stated that “his first question that comes to mind, the one issue I know we have to be able to answer if we’re going to have a shot at catching this creep, is, “What the

hell is the motive? (Douglas 2001). Douglas noted that this case was especially interesting because it is unlike most as it did not technically have one specific ‘crime scene,’ which makes it harder to gain details about the perpetrator. He deemed through analysis of behavior that the set up of this crime was cowardly and had to be done by someone who would be emotionally distraught and did not want his personality to be known. Through developmental models, Douglas put together that the motive aside, the killer would be driven by anger, has severe depression, and feel inadequate, helpless, hopeless, and impotent. While also, at the same time, being convinced that they were always being unfairly maligned by people around them and society in general (Douglas 2001). Through analysis, he also made assumptions that the killer would not be high up in the company and that the motive behind this case has to be rage and resentment around society due to the fact that there was no grudge against one person that was to be assumed. He also stated that the media always plays a role in this type of case and urged the media to print the whole truth because, with the knowledge he has on the potential killer, he thought this tactic could pull out a sense of guilt or remorse in the victim. As Burke states, “guilt needs redemption (for who could not be cleansed) Order through guilt to victimage. (Griffin n.d).” It was soon found that John Lewis was the perpetrator and his motive was revenge. Lewis was so angered at life he felt as though he needed a patho release causing this anger to be one of the motives behind the case. One of the biggest leads to catching the killer was his ransom letter to Johnston and Johnston demanding a million dollars into an anonymous Chicago bank account, mailing a letter saying if they didn’t pay him, the poisonings would continue to happen. Lewis would switch out the Tylenol bottles with the poisonous ones. He dabbled in chemicals which is how he was able to use potassium cyanide. He wasn’t charged with anything, while Lewis was only charged for fraud letters and extortion, not specifically the murders. Lewis, mentally unstable, was convinced that one of the victims was singled out for murder and the others were killed to make it look like a random act. Doulas states that “whatever the full explanation, however, the motive for such violent acts seems to be part of a larger pattern of social estrangement, profound psychological division, and the desire for symbolic transcendence.” (MacLennan 2005) It is seen here that by using Burke’s theory of dramatism, Douglas was able to help understand and analyze how to map out a killer that was once deemed impossible to find.

After seeing how Douglas’s background of Burke’s dramatistic theory helped to uncover a case that was once sought impossible, it is seen that this type of knowledge can help people to understand a motive and how that motive may then cause an outlandish act of crime. Due to this, I think incorporating education of rhetoric on crime scene profiling (RCSP) could potentially push the boundaries of modern policing and help shift police officers’ mentality towards crime and criminals. RCSP education can potentially reduce implicit bias and adjust policing with an approach of trying to understand individuals’ ulterior motives through symbolic action and behavior rather than relying on reaction tactics. As “The explanation for symbolic acts can be found in the intersection of attitude, form, and scene: Thus not only does the crime scene offer an image of the offender, but the offender, in turn, offers an image of his social context” (MacLennan, 2005). For example, during potential mental health calls, rather than utilizing force or aggressive tactics right away, a police officer could use Douglas’s tactics of a dramatistic nature of crime scene profiling to analyze that individual and follow up by a post-call analysis to proactively prevent future incidents. Douglas states that the ability to read attitudes of predictors can help end specific acts of victimage while also placing emphasis that “Such understanding can help us learn how to prevent the production of others so socially estranged that they turn to voice for social fulfillment (MacLennan, 2005). Though Burke’s work is not a common one of study unless seeking out a major in communication, physiology, and or philosophy through university, if it is studied more on a wide scale, the potential to lessen crime and gain an understanding of heinous acts could grow exponentially.

Douglas, J. E., & Olshaker, M. (2001). Four: Name Your Poison. In The anatomy of motive: The FBI’s legendary Mindhunter explores the key to understanding and catching violent criminals. essay, Pocket.

Griffin , L. M. (n.d.). A Dramatistic Theory of the Rhetoric of Movements.

KB Journal. A Rhetorical Journey into Darkness: Crime-Scene Profiling as Burkean Analysis | KB Journal. (2005, September 20). Retrieved December 15, 2022, from https://www.kbjournal.org/maclennan