The character I choose to do my clinical diagnosis is Dr. Hannibal Lecter, from the movie The Silences of the Lambs, which is played by Anthony Hopkins. Dr. Hannibal is a psychopath serial killer who uses charm, manipulation, intimidation, and violence to control his victims and others to satisfy his own selfish needs. Because he lacks a conscience and feelings for others, he cold-bloodily takes what he wants and does what he pleases, violating social norms and expectations without the slightest sin of remorse, guilt, or regret. Also Dr. Lecter suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which explains some of his other actions as psychopath serial killer.
One of the biggest traits of psychopath serial killer is their inability to empathize with human feelings. There is no generic profile for psychopath serial killer. Serial killers differ in many ways, including their motivations for killing and their behavior at the crime scene. They will use people for excitement, to build self-esteem. In the movie the behavioral science doctor mentions that Dr. Lecter ate a nurse’s tongue and during the ordeal his pulse rate never raised above eighty-five, which is usually a pulse pate of a regular person that is resting. The calmness he displays is a shallow emotional response, as well as lacking empathy or remorse.
Psychopathic serial killers are, almost without exception, males who are driven by a sexual or aggressive drive to exert power and control by killing another living, breathing thing. The answer is no. Serial killers are the most extreme form of psychopaths, but are not crazy or insane in any sense of those words. Over ninety percent of serial killers are white males, who have IQ’s in the normal to bright range. Even...
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...others who live transient lifestyles. Typical psychopathic serial killers are not as intelligent as Hannibal himself. He had an unusual gift; he used his senses to be able to remember scents, sights, and details. He also had the ability to break a person down to their weakness, which is how he was able to get them off guard. He dehumanized his victim’s, flattened them to worthless objects in his mind.
Shock treatments do not work and drugs have not proven to be successful in treatment or psychotherapy, which requires trust and a relationship with the therapist, is defiantly not going to happen. A psychopathic serial killer is incapable of feeling emotion and opening up to others, they don’t want to change. Five percent of people associated with psychopathic tendency also have a personality disorder as well. (What We Need To Know About Psychopaths)
As years go on so will the research on serial killers and hopefully we as a society will fully understand them and one day be able to cure whatever inside that makes them have the urge to kill. Works Cited The Electronic Journal of Sociology, published by the University of Guelph, Ontario. http://www.scribd.com/doc/167086215/How-Serial-Killers-Work. According to the article “10 Most Common Traits of Potential Serial Killers By Hestie Barnard Gerber. According to Comrade Chikatilo: The Psychopathology of Russia's Notorious Serial Killer.
A serial killer is defined in Webster's Dictionary as someone who murders more than three victims one at a time in a relatively short period of time. There is no one generic profile to identify a serial killer. They usually are people seeking for a sensation, a lack of guilt or remorse, a need for control, impulsivity, and predatory behavior. These traits make up a psychopathic personality disorder. Psychopathy is a disorder manifested in people who use a mixture of charm, manipulation, manipulation, and occasional violence to control others, in order to satisfy their own wants and needs. There are four main types of serial killers; thrill seekers, mission-oriented, visionary serial killers, and power and control killers. There may be other
Some psychologist believe that if a serial killer displays or kills his victims in such a way then it qualifies as fulfilling as sexual desire. These killers are usually diagnosed with a mental disorder referred to as sexual sadism. Psychologists refer to serial killers who kill in this manner as sexual sadist. A sexual sadist enjoys the ‘suffering or embarrassment of others to the point of arousal’ (Serial Killers and Sexual Sadism). Sociologists believe that a serial killer needs to “fulfil a sexual desire by turning a fantasy into a controllable reality” (Serial Killers: Nature vs. Nurture). Sadist crave the dominance and control over their victims because they feel as if they cannot control other aspects of their life. Another biological factor derives within the DNA of the person. Many killers have the “MAO-A gene (monoamine oxidase A). This gene, which has been the target of considerable research, is also known as the "warrior gene" because it regulates serotonin in the brain. Serotonin affects your mood — think Prozac — and many scientists believe that if you have a certain version of the warrior gene, your brain won't respond to the calming effects of serotonin (A Neuroscientist Uncovers a Dark Secret).” With this gene psychologist and scientist alike believe that this can foretell a serial killer before he becomes a serial
"Hannibal," a thriller starring Sir Anthony Hopkins in a long-awaited follow-up to the 1991 hit "The Silence of the Lambs," grossed a record-breaking $58 million in its first three days of release in the United States and Canada, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday.
Organized serial killers are highly intelligent with an IQ of 105-120 and well organized to the point of being meticulous. They plan their murder’s and think about every detail which is why they normally don’t leave a trace. These killers are found to be very social and manipulate people to get there way.
They need to be broken down into the categories of sociopaths and psychopaths before that is determined. The research provided explains that in the case of sociopaths, they are more likely to be made into serial killers based on the types of environments they are around as they grow up. In the case of psychopaths, they are more likely to be born serial killers rather than made due to abnormalities found in their genetic makeup. But because such a difficult question cannot be answered with both choices there must be one answer that overpowers the other. In this case, the answer that is more logically sound is that serial killers are made. Although the sociopath category of serial killers are more likely to be born, it has been proven that the environment a person is raised up in influences how they grow up to be as an adult. “Combine this faulty wiring with inconsistent, too harsh, or even downright abusive parenting that confuses the child as to what the rules are and why one should obey them, and you quickly have an out-of-control child” (Lamb, Kassandra). Either way, the actions of a serial killer, whether sociopath or psychopath, should never be simply okayed or go
Without thought, Dr. Hannibal Lecter displays the general three P’s of personality disorders: persistent, pervasive and pathological. Specifically, Lecter appears to consistently exhibit the symptoms of Antisocial Personality Disorder, which is found in Cluster B of personali...
These symptoms were evident in the portrayal of both of the killers in Silence of the Lambs. Buffalo Bill felt no regret for murdering and skinning several young women for his own personal gain, a suit made out of human skin, or for violating basic social norms by kidnapping girls and keeping them in a hole for extended periods of time. This blatant indifference towards the wellbeing and feelings of others is one of the key indicators of ASPD (Meloy). He also demonstrated aggressive behavior towards his kidnapped victim, Catherine, by spraying her with a hose when she would not comply with his demands. Hannibal Lector also demonstrated several characteristics of antisocial personality disorder. One of the first and most obvious indications is that he feels no regret for murdering and eating multiple people and continues to do so at every chance he gets. Another reason is that he is insensitive to the feelings of others (National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health). When talking to Catherine’s mother while he is being transferred to a new facility, he makes several sexual comments while discussing her daughter’s disappearance. Most people would respect an anxious and devastated mother’s feelings and tread lightly on most subjects, but Lector did not feel the need to, nor did he see anything wrong with his actions. Hannibal Lector also is extremely deceitful and manipulative, almost to the point where he seems amused by his own cleverness. These characteristics indicate the presence of antisocial
Several serial killers have a definitive and common personality profile. Almost every major social, biological, psychological behavioural influence that has been seriously suggested as playing a role in causing crime has been thoroughly thought as potentially contributing to the behavior of serial killers (Levin, 2008). The time period and amount of killings fluctuate depending on the individual committing the crimes. Usually, the murders happen in different geographical areas. A mass murder has a separate definition than a serial killer, because a serial killer has a “cooling off” period, where mass murders kill several individual in a single event.
Miller, Laurence. "The predator's brain: Neuropsychodynamics of serial killers."Serial offenders: Current thought, recent findings, unusual syndromes (2000): 135-166.
...e to murder over a period of time frequently show sociopath tendencies. Serial killer's have little self-esteem and a sociopath's inability to feel other people's pain or sorrow for any wrongful acts that they have committed (Casey, p. 80).
In order to identify serial killers before they kill repeatedly, a person needs to study the characteristics that makes up this type of criminals. Most serial killers have been abandoned, by one or both parents, they are emotionally, physically, and even sexually abused by a family member, or relatives from unstable families who have criminal, psychiatric and alcoholic histories, or tend to have hate for their parents and people in general which makes them have antisocial personality disorder. They have conflicted pain or tortured animals at a young age and most are highly interested in gaining control over things. Even though not every serial killers posses these characteristics, but most share these characteristics the same way they share the psychological need to have complete control and power over people.
Hannibal, a Carthaginian general and one of the greatest generals that ever lived was renown for his strategies and courageousness, such as crossing the Alps and using the "bottleneck strategy" at Lake Trasemene. He used strategies that a lot of generals at this time, especially Roman generals, would never think of and in doing this he almost destroyed the Roman republic.
Hannibal Lecter was born in Lithuania in 1933 to a family of artistocrats. His younger sister, Mischa, lived with Hannibal in their mother and father’s castle. The family appeared to be well adjusted, loving, nurturing. It becomes apparent very early on how dearly he cares about his sister, Mischa. When World War II broke out, Lithuania became a battle ground for warring Soviets and Germans. Hannibal’s family fled to a cottage in the woods in attempts to avoid being caught in the cross-fire. Their attempts to stay safe would prove unsuccessful. Hannibal’s mother and father die in a battle between the Soviets and Germans. Hannibal and little Mischa witnessed both the deaths of the parents, in addition to plane/foot battles between soldiers. At this point, Hannibal assumes responsibility to care for himself and his little sister. Soon after, a group of Russian soldiers invades the cottage, taking Hannibal and Mischa captive. The soldiers searched the house for food, but were unsuccessful in their search. Famine began to take over the group of soldiers, at which point they realize Mischa has pneumonia and will likely die soon. The men suggest to kill and eat the girl. The soldiers drug his little sister outside, where they slaughtered and devoured her. Hannibal managed to escape, and was placed in an orphanage until his teenage years.