The FBI calculates that there may be up to 500 serial killers at any given time in the United States and many them have drug addictions and or abuse alcohol. Interviews of three well-known serial killers, Ted Bundy, Jeffery Dahmer, and John Wayne Gacy yielded results that they often got drunk before they killed their victims to try and deal with their psychosis. Ted Bundy was an alcoholic and he admitted to journalists that he would drink before murdering his victims. According to some accounts, Bundy killed at least 30 women, but it is believed that he killed nearly three times that number. The most violent of his murders happened after Bundy left a bar in Florida. While at the bar, Bundy approached a girl and was rejected by her. In his intoxicated …show more content…
He was an alcoholic in his early teenage years, as he was known to consume large amounts of alcohol before school, and during the school day. Early warning signs of Dahmer’s alcoholism was linked to his struggle to deal with his sexuality which triggered feelings of socially awkwardness and loneliness causing him to isolate himself from society. After graduation Dahmer entered the U.S. Army and according to accounts from some of his peers, he expressed signs of alcoholism, violence and homicidal thoughts. He was discharged from the Army for drinking problems. During his killing spree, he would sit at a bar drinking until he met a man to take home. Most all of Dahmer’s victims were murdered when he was in a drunken state and sexual rage (Wilson, Tolputt, Howe, & Kemp, …show more content…
According to a 2003 study conducted over 202 serial killers conducted by Radford University, serial killers appear to have an IQ in the “bright normal range”. This study indicated the IQ of serial killers who raped their victims prior to killing them, their methods of killing their victims, their motives for killing their victims, and the type of serial killer they were, organized or disorganized. Most often, organized serial killers who are methodical in their approach has an average IQ of 113 while disorganized serial killers have and average IQ of 93 (Salfati,
The article Serial killers: II. Development, dynamics, and forensics by Lawrence Miller dives in into the many aspects that encompass the psychological, neurological, and sociocultural elements that underline the average serial murderer. The elements involve childhood upbringing, types of aggression, typical neurochemistry, and subcultural theories. The article manages to include descriptions of the statistical patterns that involve the demographics, and motives that follow serial killers. It also discusses the validity and rationality of the insanity defense in prosecuting these extraordinarily vicious offenders.
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.
Another serial killer that we discussed was Theodore “Ted” Bundy. Bundy was also an American serial killer who confessed to the murder of 36 young women. However, investigators believe that he killed up to 100 or more women. He grew up in a nice working family. He did really well in school but didn’t have very good social skills. As a teenager he began peering in others’ windows and stealing things from
In a Google search of “serial killer memorabilia”, approximately 135,000 results would appear. While the U.S. produces over eighty-five percent of the world’s serial killers (“Why do Americans Idolize Serial Killers?” 11), Americans still tend to treat these murderers as icons and celebrities. As defined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a serial killer is expressed as the unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender(s), in separate events. While it is no secret that serial killers have a different mindset than that of a normal person, do these murderers have genetically different minds? Although there is no exact answer as to what causes certain people to have the urge to kill, studies from the “Minnesota Study of Twins
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.
“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 drinking got so bad that he was known as a drunk within his first semester of college and was even discharged from the military because of it.
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.
Throughout history, America has been the home of serial killers, with more than 2,000 throughout history. In this country, America has encountered many different kinds of these sick people. One of the most infamous serial killers throughout American History was Theodore Robert Bundy, also known as Ted Bundy. On November 24, 1946, in Burlington, Vermont, Theodore Robert Bundy was born. When people think of serial killers, they usually see a dirty, insane looking person that would stand out from the average person. In Bundy’s case it was very different. Ted was a very smart individual who had attended 5 different colleges throughout the United States, studying law and eventually getting his degree in psychology at the University of Washington. Bundy was a very handsome and charming man, unlike most other serial killers. Looking helpless and using his good looks, Bundy was able to lure his victims and would knock them unconscious with an object such as a crowbar or a pipe, then would handcuff them inside his car. Once the victims were under his control he would then proceed in kidnapping, raping, sodomizing, and eventually killing them in very harsh ways. Throughout the 70’s, he raped and murdered young women all across the country. Bundy was said to be connected to at least 36 murders, and suspected to have committed one hundred or more.
...theorize that serial killers have brain damage or other biological abnormalities that contribute to their actions. Damage to areas like the frontal lobe, the hypothalamus and the limbic system can contribute to extreme aggression, loss of control, loss of judgment and violence. Henry Lee Lucas, who was convicted of 11 murders, was shown to have extreme brain damage in these areas, probably the result of childhood abuse, malnutrition and alcoholism. Arthur Shawcross, another 11-time serial killer, was found to have had several brain injuries, including two skull fractures. While in prison, he suffered from headaches and often blacked out. Bobby Joe Long, convicted of nine murders, stated at one point, "After I'm dead, they're going to open up my head and find that just like we've been saying a part of my brain is black and dry and dead" [source: Scott].
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
Serial killers have many frightening facets. The most frightening thing about them is that experts still do not know what makes a human become a serial killer. Many experts believe serial killers become what they are because they have a genetic disposition or brain abnormality while other experts believe that a serial killer is created by childhood abuse; and some other experts believe that it is a combination of both brain abnormalities and abusive childhood experiences that creates a serial killer. A murderer is considered a serial killer when they “murder three or more persons in at least three separate events with a “cooling off period” between kills” (Mitchell and Aamodt 40). When defining a serial killer, their background, genes, and brain are not mentioned; perhaps one day those aspects of the serial killer can be included.
Ted Bundy was one of the most vicious serial killers in American history. He confessed to 28 grotesque murders in the 1970’s but the actual number of his victims remains
Serial murder as defined by the FBI is, “[t]he unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender(s), in separate events" (Morton Robert J. Ed, & Hilts., Ed, 2005, p. 9). Numerous people disagree with the definition, this researcher included, since it lacks the cool- down period after they murder, which various people feel stands necessary for serial killer status. Serial killers remain a rare phenomenon. The FBI states, serial murder accounts for less than one percent of killings per year (Morton Robert J. Ed, & Hilts., Ed, 2005, p. 2). Nevertheless, throughout the years, countless people have researched serial killers since they commit such heinous crimes. Criminologists and researchers have been attempting to identify various
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.
There have been many serial killer cases that have attracted the attention of not only the media but of mental health experts as well. Many experts from a variety of different fields have come together to answer one question: Why did they do it? It is believed that most, if not all, serial killers have a mental illness, motives, and/or trauma during their lives that made them start killing. Serial killers are not only the effect of nurture but also nature. The environment of their country, the United States is our focus, can cause the number of serial killers to increase especially if the country itself is unstable.