I mapped the life story of the most notorious serial killer in South Korea. I chose this topic because it is related to my major, criminal justice and criminology and because the serial killer in South Korea is a new world that is very unfamiliar to people in the US.
For me, which tool I would use to map this topic was another matter. Actually, since I had little background knowledge about mapping, I had a fear of mapping and thought a lot about which tool I should choose. Among the several tools on the syllabus, I found that ArcGIS StoryMaps would be the most attractive and appropriate. In particular, looking at the voyage of Captain James Cook on the ArcGIS StoryMaps website, I thought it would be best for mapping a person’s life or longitudinal life course.
What I learned from various materials such as web documents, media reports, and academic articles for this mapping assignment was that his life was a series of misfortune except for murders and other crimes. He was abused in childhood, suffered from poverty, failed to adjust to school, and was divorced. Like the findings of the life-course criminological theory, negative experiences in life were associated with antisocial behavior or crime. Surely, his criminal behavior, especially his serial killings, will never be justified. I think that he was just a monstrous criminal in which the combination of his negative life experiences and his violent personalities were expressed as the extreme form of serial murders.
The mapping itself was an interesting experience. I think the mapping tool has strength in storytelling. Usually, when we talk about serial killers, like my topic, it is more likely to focus only on criminal behavior and its cruelty. In other words, it is more likely to ignore why one became a cruel criminal. However, mapping and other visual materials allowed us to see one’s life or context from a broader perspective. I personally believe that the mapping tools can more effectively reveal the immediate cause and underlying cause of a phenomenon like a historical context.
The link to my mapping assignment : https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/cf84fa2b5fe3425cbdb5a557a20392dd
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