Serial murder, which is defined as “the unlawful killing of two or more victims, by the same offenders, in separate events”(Lubaszka & Shon, 2013, p. 1), is a term that American society has become quite familiar with. At a ripe age, parents begin teaching their children not to talk to strangers in hopes of shielding them from the potential evil our world has to offer, but what if I told you the serial killer may not always be the scary man driving a van and offering candy? Our society, like it does most things, has placed a stigma upon serial killers. Although not all implied labels are untrue, this stigma makes us vulnerable to the hidden deviance lurking behind us, dressed in sheep’s clothing. Over the course of this analysis, I will discuss and elaborate on Christine Lubaszka and Phillip Shon’s work, “The notion of victim selection, risk, and offender behavior in healthcare serial murders”. My evaluation will consists of a thorough description of Lubaszka and Shon’s article, followed by a brief critic explaining how their work relates to other forms of deviance, social control, and the material studied in this course, as well as stating a few of the drawbacks and benefits of the authors’ work and suggestions for future researchers.
Nurses, doctors, and other healthcare professionals symbolize people whom we seek in time of need, but in the article, “Reconceptualizing the notion of victim selection, risk, and offender behavior in healthcare serial murders”, we are introduced to a new type of monster. Lubaszka and Shon define healthcare serial killers as, “any healthcare professional or worker who intentionally kills two or more patients in a care-giving environment for reasons not related to mercy, euthanasia, or physician ass...
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...cal theories learned this semester, such as, the labeling theory and social control theory, finding limitations within previous works is made possible. Although the conflicting forms of murder have similarities, it becomes clear, healthcare serial killers have gone undetected as a result of their misconstrued categorization. To resolve this problem, Lubaszka and Shon suggest future researchers assess healthcare serial killers with their recently developed findings in mind.
Works Cited
Goode, E. (2011). Constructionist Perspectives of Deviance. Deviant Behavior (Ninth Edition ed., ). Upper Saddle River, NJ : Prentice Hall, Inc..
Lubaszka, C. K., & Shon, P. C. (2013). Reconceptualizing the notion of victim selection, risk, and offender behavior in healthcare serial murders. Journal of Criminal Psychology, 3(1), 65-78. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/20093821311307776
An analysis of the most famous murderers and serial killers in the Chicago area shows varying degrees of psychopathy or mental illnesses, which ultimately contribute to homicidal conduct. Analysis also shows that the paths of serial killers have a tendency to converge.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Hickey (1997), in his trauma control model of the serial killer, argues that various factors can contribute to criminality and in particular to serial homicide. These factors can be biological, developmental, demographic or familial, including childhood trauma (Hickey, 1997, as cited in Miller, 2014, p17). Hickey’s model includes 8 elements – Predispositional factors, Traumatic events, Low self-esteem and fantasies, Increasingly violent fantasies, Trauma reinforces, Facilitators, Dissociation and Homicidal behaviour (Hickey, 2016, p149).
The present paper intent to enquire into a female serial killer. It shall describe and analyze the theories behind the occurrences and sequent offer explanations. The studies of criminology theories it is important to recognize why humans decide on living a life cycle of crime. Wikipedia.org defines serial killer as, “a person who murders three or more people, usually in service of abnormal psychological gratification, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant break (a “cooling off period”) between them.” Precisely of this, humans who tend to be a serial killer are prone to developmental and physical characteristics. Several of these trends could fit into a model standard of a crime. A good example of analyzing the life and crimes of Aileen Wuornos, an American female serial killer who killed
Adler, Patricia A., and Adler Peter. Constructions of Deviance: Social Power, Context, and Interaction. 6th ed. Belmont: Thomas/Wadsworth, 2009.
Each of a serial killer’s killings temporary gratifies whatever provokes the killer’s actions, and each subsequent killing terminates a separate sequence of behaviors. They are all motivated to for different reasons; some kill to gain or exert power over the victims, entertainment or mission. Some kill because they believe they have the responsibility to they society to do so (Julietta Leung N.D.) Frequently, homosexuals, prostitutes, and the homeless are viewed by serial killers because they might believe they are devalued in society or they view as being beneath humanity. They believe those kind of p...
Introduction: On the spectrum of criminal activity, serial killers are rather rare. Rarer still is a serial killer like Ted Bundy. Bundy confessed to killing 28 women in the 1970s in ghastly fashion and some believe he may have killed far more. It is hard to imagine what could cause any person to cross the mental boundary into such macabre behavior as Bundy perpetrated. Nevertheless, it is important to try to understand that behavior because only though such an understanding would society be able to identify and deter mass murderers in order to save lives.
2011. “Serial Killers and Mass Murderers.” American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Vol. 9:
Ricard, Suzanne, Thompson, Jennie. “Women’s Role in Serial Killing Teams: Reconstructing a Radical Feminist Perspective.” Critical Criminology 17(4): 261-275
“What types of people commit homicide?” This question is asked by psychologists and regular people alike. Could gender play a role? Does the age of a person affect their tendency to kill? How does someone’s financial stability effect whether or not they are a murderer? These thought provoking questions could lead to the answers that people want, but there is a problem which is brought up by forensic psychiatrist Douglas Mosman. “People exhibit different kinds of behavior or thinking patterns that could possibly lead to a violent act…But the problem is that there are hundreds of individuals who display these same patterns, who don’t go on to act violent” (qtd. in Heits 77). Many factors can push an individual to kill. Abuse, mental illness, relationship problems, and more may result in cases of homicide. So, what makes murderers different from those with the same problems?
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.
Mass Murderers and Serial Killers are nothing new to today’s society. These vicious killers are all violent, brutal monsters and have an abnormal urge to kill. What gives people these urges to kill? What motivates them to keep killing? Do these killers get satisfaction from killing? Is there a difference between mass murderers and serial killers or are they the same. How do they choose their victims and what are some of their characteristics? These questions and many more are reasons why I was eager to write my paper on mass murderers and serial killers. However, the most interesting and sought after questions are the ones that have always been controversial. One example is; what goes on inside the mind of a killer? In this paper I will try to develop a better understanding of these driven killers and their motives.
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
Serial murder is one of the most baffling crimes that occur in the U.S. and all over the world. Knight (2006) defines serial murder as the killing of three or more people over a period of more than 30 days, with a significant cooling-off period. The cooling off period may be weeks, months or even years long. Researchers have proposed various psychological, biological and sociological theories that offer a partial understanding of the nature of serial murder. Some propose that the basis for criminal behavior is a predisposition to violence as well as a mix between environment, personality traits and biological factors. Serial killers are predominantly male. Only 3 percent of serial murders are committed by women (U.S. News and World Report, 1994) Knight (2006) describes some different personality types of serial killers: the psychopathic personality type, narcissistic, paranoid or anti-social, or as having temporal lobe epilepsy, schizoid personality and dissociative disorder. Psychotic serial killers are extremely rare. Most serial killers know right from wrong and are not considered insane. Even Jeffery Dahmer who dismembered his victims and ate their flesh was deemed sane by Dr. Park Elliot Dietz. (Frank, 2000) (Dr. Dietz also deemed Andrea Yates as sane.) People who murder for money or to escape detection such as gang-bangers or the mafias are not considered serial killers. I’m going to focus this paper on the majority (2/3) of serial killers who have been clinically in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual as suffering from Personality Disorder Cluster Type B which is classified as anti-social (psycho/sociopathic), histrionic or narcissistic behavior. The remaining 30 percent of serial killers has one or more other psychosis s...
Envision a mental picture of a serial killer, what image comes to mind? Presumably one of a relatively young, fairly attractive, and intelligent middle-class white man. Why is this? It is not plausible that every serial killer fits this category, so why do a majority of American citizens immediately picture serial killers as all displaying these characteristics? By the conclusion of this paper, I wish to identify some key disparities between differing groups of serial killers. Is there a certain quality that drastically separates ethnic serial killers from the rest, or a specific trait that differentiates female serial killers from the males? I believe there is an entire spectrum of these murderers who are both alike and unique from one another
The term serial killing is hard to define, not because of the killing itself but rather the killer. Samuel Adjorlolo touches on the idea that there is no true definition of a serial killer. “Over the years, researchers and law enforcement professionals have tried to achieve uniformity in the use of the term “serial murder,” but such efforts have rather proven futile” (Adjorlolo 1). Adjorlolo goes into great detail on how the definition has changed over the years and even provides a table of the definitions. While similar, each definition has a slight variation of its predecessor. In his report, he settles with the general definition, “The murders are committed as discrete event(s) by the same person(s) over a period of time” (9). While agreeing with Adjorlolo, Laurence Miller takes a different approach to define the term. Miller looks at the different types of serial killers and attempts to define the killer rather than the killing. Miller’s article covers almost every topic of serial killers. In the article he identifies patterns, motives, and even the typical everyday attitude of serial killers. He states that serial killers are not limited by gender, IQ, or even their skill.. Miller defines three different skill levels, amateur, semi-professional, and professional. With this he breaks down how efficient each of the serial killers are