A View of Jeffery Dahmer's Personality Why does a Jeffery Dahmer happen? How does a person become a serial killer, necrophiliac, cannibal and psychopath? There are probably very few convincing answers that come forth. Many of the theories would have you believe that the answers can always be found in childhood abuse, bad parenting, head trauma, fetal alcoholism and drug addiction. I don’t think Jeffery’s past paints a picture of these causes. However, no family is absolutely sterile and I guess there were some issues in the Dahmer family but where they enough to cause and individual to react as he did. There are definitely some factors that may have had a negative influence on Jeff’s life. His mother had various physical ailments and appeared to be high strung, coming from a background in which her father’s alcoholism deeply affected her life. His father stayed at work more often than he should to avoid turmoil on the home front. Eventually the marriage dissolved in divorce when Jeff was eighteen. Is this enough domestic discord to account for a serial murderer? Jeff was a child that was wanted and adored. He was a normal, healthy child whose birth was the occasion of joy. As a tot he was a happy bubbly youngster who loved stuffed bunnies and wooden blocks. He also had a dog named frisky, his much loved childhood pet. Jeff developed into a happy little boy. At the age of four, his father swept out from under their house the remains of some small animals that had been killed by crivets. Jeff seemed oddly thrilled by the sound they made. His small hands dug deep into the pile of bones. This can no longer be viewed simply as a childish episode, a passing fascination. This must of been the first sign of a ma... ... middle of paper ... ...t in neurotic symptoms of dreams—repressed sexual impulses and things lay dormant and dreams have true meaning. Jeff’s dreams had true meaning and they were carried out. All in all I have to say that all approaches seem to have a connection with each other and I think it is good to look at all theories and ideas when looking at a personality that was as disturbed as Jeff’s. The sad part is that I think there were signs of abnormality that went unrecognized and not treated with some type of therapy. There was something missing in Jeff and I think we call it a conscience. But where did it go or did he ever have one. Was it genetics or behaviorism or what that caused a personality such as the one that he developed. Bibliography: References The editors of Time Life Books (1993). Compulsion to Kill Crime library www.crimelibrary
One of the things that changes during Jeff's journey is his character. In the beginning of the
killed by Mark for wanting to do the right thing and tell the truth. Jeff is one of the guys who helps with the kidnapping, He does whatever Mark tells him to do. Jeff is also a poor student in Mr.
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
were also very hard for the Dahmer family to deal with. To many it was
When Jeff flunked out of college, a desperate Lionel took him to enlist in the army. The ever docile Jeffrey went along with his fathers wishes as if he had no opinion of his own.
Jeffrey Dahmer, the Serial Killer When we look back at some "crimes of the century" some of that should. Definitely come to mind are the gruesome murders of the late Jeffrey Dahmer. performed. The sym This mysterious serial killer, also known as the Milwaukee Cannibal. probably accounted for one of the most famous cases in history.
As children, our parents tell us that monsters do not exist. The truth is that they do exist and they live among us, masquerading as one of us. Two examples of these monsters are serial killers Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer. A serial killer is classified as a person who kills three or more people, in separate events, over a time frame of a month, with “cooling off” periods in between. While Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer both share a sick twisted mind and a penchant for killing, differences in their upbringing, personality, and preferences drastically set them apart.
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.
Although the behavioral patterns of serial killers have long been attributed to external (that is to say, social) causation, psychologists have recently begun to examine the biochemical circumstances underlying behavioral precursors of serial violence. A British philosopher, G.H. Lewes, noted that, " Murder, like talent, seems occasionally to run in families" (1,2). The observation, while loosely empirical in nature, has proven common enough to catalyze widespread research to identify a genetic factor resulting in a behavioral predisposition to violence. As yet, no single gene that unequivocally stimulates socially maladaptive aggression and violence has ...
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
Later that year Jeff was just getting ready to leave when he heard something fall when he turned he screamed so hard his face went red he backed up to the wall as the nightmarish Mr Barton and mark came closer Jeff pleaded for mercy butt what he didn’t know is that they planned to kill him and Cody who was in the next room who had grabbed his gun from his coat he burst through the door he went pale with horror as he saw what was Jeff's body that had been electrocuted by Mr Barton and Mark Cody thought that Jeff must have been struck by lighting or got shocked by the machinery.
“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.
Miller, Laurence. "The predator's brain: Neuropsychodynamics of serial killers."Serial offenders: Current thought, recent findings, unusual syndromes (2000): 135-166.
Serial killers differ from other types of murderers. The number of serial killers in the U.S. is staggering. Differences are clear between serial killing and conventional murders. Serial killing can be classified as either motive based or organizational and social based. The Holmes Typology helps to understand the motivations behind serial killing. Serial killers may be even motivated by fame as part of their motivation for killing. John Wayne Gacy could be seen as evil due to his repeated violent acts. Jeffrey Dahmer was also evil by committing his acts of serial murders. Both Gacy and Dahmer had police records prior to their arrests for serial murders. Serial killers are poor candidates for rehabilitation. Their acts are evil.
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.