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Essays on serial killers
Nature of a serial killer
Essays on serial killers
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Analysis of Serial Killers Serial killers are one of the most fascinating and morbid groups of people to study. A serial killer as defined by Brian and Wilfred Gregg in The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers is someone who kills 3 or more people with sufficient time intervals between each known as a cooling off period. The style and motivation of the killings can vary greatly. I choose serial killers for this project because the idea of someone killing another human being on numerous occasions seemed so out there, so fringe, it just had to be studied. Listen to this letter from one of this centuries most infamous serial killers David Berkowitz (1976-1977) AKA "Son of Sam." "I am deeply hurt by your calling me a weman-hater. I am not. But I am a monster. I am the "son of Sam". I am a little brat. When father Sam gets drunk he gets mean. He beats our family. Sometimes he ties me up to the back of the house. Other times he locks me in the garage. Sam loves to drink blood. "Go out and kills" commands father Sam. Behind our house some rest. Mostly young - raped and slaughtered - their blood drained - just bones now. Pap Sam keeps me locked in the attic too. I can't get out but I look out the attick window and watch the world go by. I feel like an outsider. I am on a different wavelength then everybody else - programmed to kill...... Mr. Borelli, sir, I don't want to kill any more. No sur, no more but I must, "honour thy father". I want to make love to the world. I love people. I don't belong on earth. Return me to yahoos. To the people of Queens, I love you. And I want to wish all of you a happy Easter. May God bless you in this life and in the next. And for now I say goodbye and goodnight. Police: Let me haunt... ... middle of paper ... ... Park: Sage. 1988. Langevin, Ron. "The Serial Killer." In Ann Wolber Burgess (Ed.), Rape and Sexual Assault III: A Research Handbook, New York: Garland. 1991. Ressler, Robert. Sexual Homicide. Lexington: DC Heath & Company. 1988. Sexual Abuse Sources: Dubner, Steven J. "Portrait of a Serial Killer." New York. 1992. Orford, Jim. Excessive Appetites: A Psychological View of Addictions. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 1985. Ressler, Robert. Sexual Homicide. Lexington: DC Heath & Company. 1988. Worthington, Peter. "The Journalist and the Killer." 1993. Fantasy Sources: Drukteinis, Albert M. "Contemporary Psychiatry: Serial Murder--The Heart of Darkness." 1992. Ressler, Robert. Sexual Homicide. Lexington: DC Heath & Company. 1988. Conclusion Sources: Holmes, Ronald M. & De Burger, James. Serial Murder. Newbury Park: Sage. 1988.
own dance. He then remembers the blood on the dance floor and leaves soon after. In the wake
Serial killers are everywhere! Well, perhaps not in our neighborhood, but on our television screens, at the movie theaters, and in rows and rows of books at our local Borders or Barnes and Nobles Booksellers” (Brown). When people think of serial killers, names such as Dahmer, Gacy, Bundy, and Gein are cited. During the time Jack the Ripper was executing his victims in London, Holmes began his gruesome career in Chicago (America’s Serial Killers). “Despite being America’s first serial killer, Holmes is hardly a familiar name and until now we haven’t had any popular visual record of his crimes: (Spikol). Why is it that people only think of the more popular killers with higher known profiles? They are all very similar to one another because they share characteristics. H.H. Holmes was a successful serial killer because he was well educated, cunning and charming. Those are just a few traits Holmes ...
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.
Serial killers are typically known to fantasize as to how they intend to kill their victims. Additionally, they develop a well laid out plan as to how this will occur and in doing so leave little evidence at the scene for investigators to follow up with. Serial killers also tend to target persons that may not be missed for some time such as prostitutes or run-aways. As a result a long period of time will pass before the victim is ever found and an investigation is started. This becomes an ongoing challenge to
A serial killer is a person who murders three or more people over a period of more than 30 days, with a "cooling off" period between each murder, and whose motivation for killing is largely based on psychological gratification. Most people do not understand what can make a person want to kill multiple people for no reason other than own satisfactional gain. In actuality serial killers have been studied for over hundreds of years, and the information that has been documented continues to grow. The research that I have gathered about serial killers focuses on their childhood development, the differences and similarities between men and female serial kills, and finally general information on how their brains operate and their motives for committing such harmful acts.
Transition: This moves us onto the topic of what the motives are that drive a serial killer.
I choose this topic because I believe it is important to know why serial killers have been around for hundreds of years. If there were more studies on them then I believe we may be more able to prevent their vicious killings. If there are several things in common between several different serial killers then it would be safe to say that those things can be predictors of what is to come. If for example, I researched all of the serial killers in the last twenty years and they were all beaten as children and had alcoholic parents, then it would seem that beating children and having alcoholic parents is certainly a common factor and may predict their future. So in my paper I will come up with a detailed profile and common themes between the serial killers in the last twenty years.
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.
Schechter, H. and Everitt, D. The A-Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers. Pocket Books. N.Y. 1996
For example, a common trend between serial killers of all kinds, is that most, on average, were born in the month of November.2 Blame it on astrology or the alignment of the stars, but November is a common month for the birth of these monsters we associate the title of “serial killers” with. Carl Eugene Watts, for instance, was a serial killer who murdered a suspected 80 people, mainly women. He was born on the seventh of November.3 Further in interest, however, H. H. Holmes was born in May, one of the least common months for the birth of serial killers-and he was one of the worst. Not only did he murder his victims, but tortured them for the sake of quenching his curiosity of human anatomy and dissection. Following in the footsteps of Holmes were the first serial killers to arise in American history on record. Serial Killers differ from typical murderers because they leave a string of deaths in their wake, rather than just one. Many of these monsters had similar childhoods, and a reputation for strangeness. Their peers and family often later refer to them as outcasts growing up. This, however, is another thing that makes Holmes so remarkably
Just as insight into the mind of the artist may be gained by examining and comparing the progression of his work, so knowledge of the mind of the serial killer can be ascertained by an examination of his canvas: The murder scene. Forensic profiling is the attempt to do just that. An investigator tries to discern information about the killer based on the information at the crime scene, deducing information about the cause from the effect. This is not an exact science, and has been often likened to an art. It is the goal of this work to provide the reader with a basic understanding of the function and application of forensic psychology, as well as an explication of some of its strengths and weaknesses.
Serial killers have been around for decades but According To Jack Levin, 'seven of the ten largest mass killings in American history have taken place in the last decade (Douglas, p. 137). One of the most popular and well-known serial killers in history was Ted Bundy. He was convicted of killing three women but is suspected of killing thirty-six other women (Douglas, p. 137).
Serial killing is the rarest form of homicide; serial homicide is when an individual kills three or more people who are not known to them usually with a cooling off period in-between murders. Criminologists are constantly trying to figure out why serial killers exist and what shapes their behavior in the first place. Media shapes serial murders into celebrities, making society idolize them. Because there is so much adoration for them society has “become an inescapable point of reference in movies, television, novels, true cime books and video games” (social study article) making their influence a dominant cultural category. Serial killers can’t be controlled because of society factors that enable them to exist, not even strict punishments can derail them from committing. Although society has no control over their existence, patterns of how they came to exist are very clear. Serial murders are a complex stereotype that society has no control over but still we continue to shape society to enable them.
Serial killers are masterminds of disguise, hiding behind “normal” identities with a burning desire deep down to kill. These horrific killers send a shockwave of fear through society, due to a series of unfortunate events; entering one’s life and killing them without passion or emotion.
his back yard. His back yard is small, fenced in, and unable to bear a