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The motives and backgrounds of serial killers is a vexing topic. Not two people are the same, so therefore their motives differ. The different types of serial killers are: hedonistic, power seekers, gain, mission oriented, visionary, psychopathic, comfort, medical, organized, and disorganized. Motives of these murderers range from fear of being rejected, to “getting rid of what they deem bad,” or even to get sexual satisfaction from the suffering of their victims. Most serial killers have a background of neglect and abuse. They may suffer from a mental illness. Also, brain injuries may contribute to their psychopathic tendencies. One type of serial killer is the hedonistic serial killer. These killer kills for the thrill, or rush, that he receives. The act of killing may give them sexual satisfaction. They also kill for gain, such as a financial inheritance. Some of the common traits with these murderers are: fearlessness, impulsiveness, they connect violence and sex. The majority of them is men. They may be attracted to their victim, and they torture and mutilate them. …show more content…
An example to hedonistic serial killers is Jerry Brudos.
He was born in Webster, South Dakota, on January 31, 1939, with the name Jerome Henry Brudos. At age 17 he kidnapped a woman and beat her. He married and settled in Salem, Oregon after high school. He had a strange fetish with women’s clothing, which is how he targeted his victims. He murdered at least four women, and assaulted many more. He was sentenced three life sentences in Oregon State Penitentiary Infirmary, where he died on March 28th of 2006. Jerry is an example of a hedonistic killer because he received pleasure from beating his victims, as well as wearing their clothes. Some other hedonistic killers are: Jane Toppan, Theodore Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and Samuel Dietman with his partner Dale
Hausner. Another type of serial killer is the power and control serial killer. They are very similar to the hedonistic killer. Having complete control and bragging about their crimes gives them satisfaction. This killer is manipulative, fearless, a sociopath, and very good at hiding their true nature. They may appear to be an outstanding community member, someone you can trust and may even admire. They love gaining the trust of others, to them they are gaining power, a power they pitilessly abuse. An example of a power and control serial killer is Christine Falling
Throughout the semester I was taught about the many different types of serial killers and learning that all serial killer breaks down into four types of killers: Visionary, Mission Oriented, Hedonistic and Power/control oriented.
Serial killers are interesting yet unnerving to the likes of American society. Serial killers commonly lack empathy and show no sign of guilt or remorse after they have committed a horrible act or crime. These characteristics are an indication of psychopathic tendencies. Although it may seem like these people would be easy to spot, it is actually much more difficult than normally thought. These killers have a special way of putting on a mask of sanity. They can act very charming and very intelligent when needed. Their talent in becoming a normal person is part of their manipulative mentality, which they use to capture most of their victims. These individuals usually get a type of psychological thrill or pleasure from their acts, which cause
Many people have a lot of trouble trying to understand exactly why serial killers do what they do, but in the killers minds they have certain motives that make sense to them. Holmes and DeBurger were two men who characterized serial murderers based on their motives. They “explain that the reward for killing is generally psychological even though some killers may benefit materially from their crimes” (Hickey, 2002). The first type of serial killers they described were the visionary type. These killers would be motivated by the commands,voices, or visions of some type of good or evil force. These killers usually suffer from some type of psychosis. The second type is the mission-oriented type who think it is their mission to rid the society of certain groups of people. The third type is the hedonistic type. These are the killers that get some type of thrill from killing their victims. The last type that Holmes and DeBurger categorized is the power/control-oriented type. These killers don’t get pleasure sexually, but rather get pleasure over simply having control and power over the helpless victim. The FBI has also tried to categorize killers by using profiling into “organized” and “disorganized” killers. The organized killers are often highly intelligent, charismatic, lives with a partner, and has controlled emotions during the crime. Unlike the organized killers, disorganized killers are very often below-average intelligence, live alone, high school dropouts, and have high anxiety during crimes. Although there is many different ways to categorize serial killers, they have been categorized both in a psychological perspective and also profiled by the
Despite popular belief, serial killers are not always people that have that stereotypical “serial killer” look to them. Yes, most do not usually look happy and cheerful, but most of the time they just look like normal people. They are not always skinny, or have a long scraggly beard. There are some common myths about serial killers that many people believe to be true. For starters, most think that serial killers are male. The common belief is that the men are the aggressors, and women are always the victim; although that is found to mostly be the case, it is not one hundred percent true. “Approximately 17 percent of all serial homicides in the U.S. are committed by women”(Bonn). Another myth about serial killers is that they are always lonely,
Since the definition of a serial killer is the killing of two or more people within a stretch of time, gang murders, hit men, and many others are held in the category of serial killers. The categories of serial killers can be seen through the Deitz typology which is the earliest, main typology used in the research world. In the article Serial killers: I. Subtypes, patterns, and motives and Serial killers: II. Development, dynamics, and forensics by Laurence Miller explains this typology. The Deitz typology is split into five categories, and uses the organized/disorganized killing type to differentiate between the categories. Psychopathic sexual sadists kill for the pleasure of torturing or inflicting pain on their victims through a sexual way. Crime spree killers kill in association with another crime such as theft. Organized crime functionaries are
Serial killers have been around since ancient times. “Serial murder is the killing of three or more people over a period of 30 days, with a significant cooling-off period” (Knight 1190). People have many assumptions as to what could have caused these individuals to commit these crimes. Serial killers come in all different forms: male and female, young and old, rich and poor, mentally ill and mentally healthy. “The average serial killer profile is white, male, low-middle socioeconomic status, in his 20s or 30s, has a history of childhood abuse or neglect, is sociopathic/psychopathic, is a chameleon to his environment, and appears normal to others” (LaBrode 154). They are obsessed with power and dominance, usually killing or injuring animals
Serial killers have different things that drive them to kill. Some kill specific groups of people out of hatred, others kill because they are psychotic and derive pleasure from killing. And then there are those who
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.
Hedonistic serial killers branches into three subcategories: Lust, thrill, and comfort killers. They all feel great pleasure in killing no matter what the purpose. Lust killers kill based on fulfilling a fantasy that they have conjured in their minds and enjoy dismembering and torturing their victims. Thrill killers thrive from the thought of being caught and try to create the perfect murder. They live for the adrenaline that courses through them when they kill and when they know that they are being chased by police authorities. Comfort killers kill to benefit from something. They are usually hired my mobsters or gangs. A known example of a comfort killer would be a
Serial killers commit their crimes on at least three separate occasions in various places and with one victim at a time. “Each murder is strategically planned and obsessed over.” (Knoll, J. 2006). They are not insane at the moment but instead coolly detached. They have planned over every detail and their every thought is on their victim and the crime that is about to happen. Often, investigators have deduced this is because of their early formative years. “Investigators with significant experience interviewing serial murderers have speculated that the behavior may result from a deadly convergence of: 1) early childhood attachment disruptions; 2) psychopathy; and 3) early traumatogenic abuse.” (Knoll, J. (2006). After the killing is over they find a dump spot and depending on how fast they want it to be discovered leave the body. Often, they will take a trophy with them so they can relive what they have done. “Once caught serial killers thrill over telling the authorities every detail of their crime.” (Harper, D. 2006). Mass murderers, much like serial killers, have planned in their minds everything they are about to do. They are un-compassionate, cruel and manipulative. While the crimes are different and planned in diverse ways the two at the core remain the same with their sociopathic behaviors and
The general profile for a serial killer is an intelligent white male in their mid to late 20’s and 30’s. Many serial killers begin their life with an unstable childhood. The lack of loving and nurturing relationships plays a large role in this. Physical and emotional abuse during childhood is a common trend for children who grow up to be serial killers. Abusing animals, bedwetting into a late age, and exposure to alcohol/substance abuse are also common in a serial killer’s childhood. Not all serial killers are the same, one type of serial killer is a visionary killer. These people are psychotic (schizophrenia and paranoia) and believe they are being told to kill by a greater force such as God. Mission oriented killers believe they are doing
Did you know a study by Heather Mitchell and Michael G.Aamodt at Radford University states that there are various types of childhood abuse such as physical,sexual,psychological,and neglect? These different types of abuse occur at a higher percentage within serial killers than the general population.Many professionals ranging from FBI agents to psychologist believe that all serial killers have been abused as children.Although ,other professionals such as a sociologist argue that childhood abuse does not contribute 100% to the forming of the serial killer.
Serial killers murdered because they are insane or evil geniuses. In fact, this is another misassumption about serial killers. Maybe they have been neglected or abused in their childhood? Well, it could be. According to Freeman, most serial killers have similar patterns of childhood neglect. Serial killers tend to grow up without a sense of empathy and love toward other people either because they were often physically or sexually abused as children. At the same time, however, many neglected and abused children do not become serial killers. Researchers have been working for many years to figure out what causes a person to become a serial killer or a psychopath, but they find no answer. Serial killers, in fact, are always psychopath, but not all psychopaths are serial killers. All psychopaths are not insane, and they tend to have many common traits. These traits involve family history, or genetics, as well as environment and experience (Freeman). Most research can show that there is no one cause for violent behavior. Although serial killers and other psychopaths may have brain abnormalities or dysfunctions, personal experience and environment also play a large role in how they become serial
So what makes a serial killer? Levin points out that contrary to popular belief, serial killers don't just 'snap'; or 'go crazy'; (Douglas, p. 137). Many of the serial killers have been the victims of childhood abuse. Jack Levin stated 'Research shows many serial killers suffered abuse, incest or neglect as children and develop poor self images'; (Douglas, p. 137). Serial killers often have a childhood marked by the absence of any nurturing relationship. 'They often come from families where the parents were absent or ineffective, where authority was not defined, and where they could engage in destructive behavior undeterred-violent play, cruelty to animals, and incidents of arson being some of the childhood behavior patterns noted among many serial killers'; (Clark, p. 206).
A majority of serial killers are known as “mentally disturbed” meaning they suffer from mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, and depression. “It is easy to condemn serial killers as monsters, however it is important to explore beyond the stereotypes and consider what we learn about women and men who kill repetitively.” Myra Hindley stated in her research article about serial homicide.