“I started having obsessive thoughts of violence intermingled with sex and it just got worse and worse.” (biography.com) These are the words of one of the most notorious serial killers of the twentieth century; Jeffrey Dahmer. Jeffrey Dahmer committed crimes of murder, rape, necrophilia, dismemberment, and cannibalism. He committed seventeen murders over the course of thirteen years, which consisted of mostly young African American males. However, the people who knew Jeffrey Dahmer were entirely unaware of who he truly was. He fooled family, friends, and even law enforcement into thinking of him as just the guy next door. Attempting to understand Jeffrey Dahmer and the heinous crimes he committed involves understanding his childhood and developmental …show more content…
He was born at Evangelical Deaconess Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Blanco). During Joyce Dahmer’s pregnancy, she struggled with a series of health problems involving nervous seizures and extreme noise sensitivity. She took a medication by the name of Miltown to subside her symptoms. Although, that medication was thought to be a high risk for birth defects she took as many as twenty-six pills a day. This could have played a significant role in Jeffrey Dahmer’s mental health development during Joyce’s pregnancy and his early childhood years. Joyce also experienced postpartum depression after her pregnancy and on into Jeffery’s early childhood (stopspankingorg). Unfortunately, that resulted in her not being an adequate mother to Jeffrey as he was growing up. Jeffrey’s father was also not fully present during Jeffrey’s childhood because of his work (stopspankingorg). The Dahmer’s marriage suffered immensely due to Joyce’s health issues and Lionel’s absence due to work. The suffering in the Dahmer’s marriage may directly correlate to Jeffrey’s unruly …show more content…
Dahmer says he woke up in a hotel room only to find Steven W. Tuomi, twenty-four, dead (Blanco). He claimed to have no recollection of the murder. He then bought a suitcase to transport his body back to his grandmother’s house. He committed two more murders in 1988, James Doxtator, fourteen and Richard Guerrero, twenty-five. By the end of 1988 Dahmer got his own apartment and not long after was arrested for drugging and fondling a thirteen-year-old boy. He was sentenced to five years, but only served ten months with five years’ probation. In March 1989 he committed his fifth murder, Anthony Sears, twenty-six. This was the first murder, where he kept his victim’s skull (Blanco). Dahmer’s next victim, Ricky Beeks, thirty-three, was murdered in May of 1990. He had sex with this mans lifeless body before disposing of him. Edward W. Smith, twenty-eight, was killed in June of 1990. In September 1990, Ernest Miller, twenty-four, was murdered and Dahmer did something a bit different with his body. He dismembered the body as usual, but he put the biceps in the freezer for later and bleached the skeleton. David C. Thomas, twenty-three, was Dahmer’s last murder of 1990, bringing his murder count to nine men (Blanco). After that the murders became more and more frequent before he was finally stopped in the summer of
Dahmer was fascinated and did not hesitate to touch or pick them up. According to Lionel Dahmer, he was "oddly thrilled by the sound they made. His small hands dug deep into the pile of bones.” At the age of six, it was discovered that he needed surgery to fix a double hernia. Following his surgery, which coincided with the birth of his brother,there was a drastic change in the once happy, bubbly, outgoing child. Lionel Dahmer states "he seemed smaller, somehow more vulnerable... he grew more inward, sitting quietly for long periods, hardly stirring, his face oddly
Dahmer went as far as to dismember and store body parts throughout his apartment after killing them. He would sometimes even eat these dismembered body parts of the body. Some say he went so long without being caught. because he chose the ever shifting population such as drifters and prostitutes. who had no real identity.
Lionel and Joyce Dahmer gave birth to their first born, Jeffrey Dahmer, on May 21, 1960 in Milwaukee. Despite Joyce experiencing a difficult pregnancy, Dahmer was a healthy child who was wanted and adored by both his parents. However, his mother did start to become distant to him as she refused to breast feed him and started demonstrating unstable behavior along with substance abuse. Meanwhile, his father was pursuing his doctoral for chemistry in Iowa which limited the time Lionel had with his family. At age five, Dahmer’s little brother was born and that was when the feeling of neglect set in him. For the first time, the little attention provided from his parents had to be shared with his brother David. Dahmer began displaying extreme shyness but also severe tantrums. During the ages of six and seven, Dahmer “was regarded by other children as odd and bizarre (Martens, 2005).” Even though he did not show any interest in developing genuine social relations, Dahmer did demonstrate a fascination with bug and animal dissections. When Dahmer was six he had “undergone hernia surgery, when he woke up from the anesthesia he was worried someone could have cut his genitals, the pain lasted for one week and after a long recovery period his parents remember he turned to be very loner (Giannetakis, n.d.).” It is believed that at age eight Dahmer had been sexually abused by a boy in his neighborhood (Hickey, 2013). If this event did occur, it could explain why he developed destructive sexual fantasies at the young age of twelve. Despite him being aloof, it has been reported that he would seek attention by faking epileptic seizures at school and local shops. By his adolescent years, he developed compulsive masturbation which would eventually lead to legal trouble (Silva, 2002). At the age of fourteen, Dahmer turned to alcohol abuse in order to overcome his feeling of despair and compulsive thoughts of sexual violent acts.
In many cases, serial killers began their lives as remotely normal human beings. Most, however, have detectable characteristics of murderers before they hit puberty. Otis O’toole, for example, started a neighbourhood fire when he was six. George Adorno was even younger when he first displayed his pyromaniac tendencies by setting fire to his own sister when he was four. Along with pyromaniac behavior, other often-cited warning signs are enuresis (bed-wetting) and cruelty toward animals. Often, serial murderers are abused physically, psychologically, and sexually as children, sometimes from a stranger, but in most cases from a trusted family member or friend. Typically, they come from broken families, usually...
Countless serial killers have had an abnormal childhood; many people believe this is where the catalyst of events starts. It is proven, that more often than not, serial killers have either lived in an inhabitable home, had lackadaisical parents, or could have a different frame of mind. This being said, when one hears about mass murderers or serial killers, the first question that pops into a person’s head is, “What were they thinking?” For all a person knows, this could be the killer’s normalcy.
Beasley, James. 2004. “Serial Murder in America: Case Studies of Seven Offenders.” Behavioral Sciences and the Law 22: 395-414
Serial killers are the byproduct of many different things: trauma, death of loved ones, abuse, neglect, adoption, and even witnessing abuse (Are Serial). Serial killers have had to endure a massive amount of something such as trauma or abuse to an unimaginable extent to become what they are; the extent of the abuse, the trauma, the psychological damage they endure is incomprehensible to many. The destruction of one’s innocence can occur at any given time in his or her life, but he or she is more impressionable in his or her youth by the negativism of someone else’s actions (Scott, Shirley L. What Makes Serial Killers Tick ~ Childhood Event). People are susceptible to what they endure in their adolescence, and cruel upbringings, such as that of a serial killer’s, are possibly the determinant of their future.
Data has been collecting reporting that “31% of people who had both a substance abuse disorder and a psychiatric disorder (a "dual diagnosis") committed at least one act of violence in a year, compared with 18% of people with a psychiatric disorder alone. This confirmed other research that substance abuse is a key contributor to violent behavior” (Harvard Health Publishing). This can be applied to Dahmer’s case. It is said that after getting hernia surgery when he was four, Dahmer was never the same. He went from a regular playful child to a distant anxious one. When becoming an adolescent, one will develop an interest in concepts and hobbies. For Dahmer it animal carcasses. He would find roadkill, “dissect and dismember them. He explained that he wanted to know how each animal "fitted together"(Cahill). This could come off as creepy and off-putting, but he was not hurting anyone. It is believed that his parents’ constant fighting and moving was the catalyst in making his obsession with carcasses into a dangerous one. “Children from broken homes are nine times more likely to commit crimes than those from stable families” (Bloxham). His drive to kill could quite possibly be linked to the fact that he simply linked to his familial issues. These problems in the family are definitely linked to his drinking problems as well. Dahmer’s
Serial killing is rampant in the U.S. According to estimates in a recent study conducted by the FBI, there have been about 400 serial killers in the U.S. in the last century, with the total number of murder victims ranging from 2,525 to 3,860 . Various experts in the field have suggested that there may be anywhere from 50 to as many as 300 serial killers active at the same time, although there is no clear evidence supporting this . Certainly, an estimate of 300 active serial killers seems at odds with the FBI’s estimate of 400 over the entire previous century. But an estimated 80% of the serial killers in the past century have emerged since 1950. For whatever reason, serial killing is clearly on the rise, with the term itself coined only since the mid-1970’s, so perhaps 300 active serial killers at one time could be unfortunately possible. The number of serial killing in the U.S. is staggering.
Dahmer was always an outcast. In his early years, he seemed fascinated with death and dead animals. This carried on throughout his childhood. At puberty, not only was he a heavy alcoholic (first noted at age 14), but he was realizing he was gay. He had fantasies of a completely subservient partner whom he could totally control. These fantasies were
During Dahmer’s psychiatric evaluation, Dr. Wahlstrom concluded, “Jeffrey was suffering from a mental illness never cured for” (FBI 1992). This leads me to perceive that Dahmer must have been displaying psychotic traits that went unnoticed and undocumented during his early lifetime. I can only speculate that this uncured mental illness lead Dahmer to develop and refine his inability to empathize with society; which in turn, lead him to engage in cruelty without mentally comprehending the victim’s suffering. Although the causes for psychopathy are unclear, some suggest that psychogenic aspects can outline abnormalities which may be present in psychopaths (Schmalleger 2014). When looking at Dahmer’s distant relationship with his parents early on in his childhood, I became conscious of the fact the lack of affection from his parents which may have lead him to develop twisted views on how one should display affection to others, thus prompting him to show psychotic behavior later on in life (The profile of Jeffrey Dahmer 1996). Even though the letter of the law fails to describe Dahmer and even if he was not fit to stand trial, I believe the court would have declared him fit for trial due to the brutality of the
Jeffrey Dahmer was born May 21st, 1960, the first child for Lionel and Joyce Dahmer, after a difficult pregnancy that had Joyce on various prescription drugs.
The question of whether or not man is predetermined at birth to lead a life of crime is a question that has been debated for decades. Serial killers are made not born; it has been demonstrated that a man 's initial years are the most vital years. A youngster 's initial couple of years is a period of experimentation, a period to make sense of things for themselves, a period to set up the bits of the riddle. Like a newborn child, the mental health is reliant on its environment. A youthful youngster 's mind resembles a wipe; it gathers data through perception. The surroundings of a serial killer as a little child can enormously impact the way he or she will go about his or her life and his or her style of murdering. Certain experience, for example, youngster misuse, divorce, liquor misuse, tyke disregard, as well as medication misuse, can be negative to the advancement of a little child. Numerous serial killers were illegitimate kids. Due to their childhood and early backgrounds, serial killers swing to crazy murdering frenzies.
The biographies of most serial killers reveal significant psychological trauma at an early age, but that is no excuse due to similar biographies of successful people as well. Whenever the case of an infamous serial killer is examined, we invariably search for clues in the childhood that might explain his or her seemingly senseless murders.
“Jeffrey Dahmer, also known as the Milwaukee Cannibal, raped, killed and dismembered 17 boys and men from 1978 to 1991” (IPood1). On July 22, 1991, he was arrested in his apartment located within Oxford Apartments (Nichols244). “In his putrid, one-bedroom apartment in Milwaukee, he saved painted skulls and severed heads, including one stashed in the fridge next