Have you ever wondered why some people love art and music, and some love science and math? These individuals love math or art because they get a sense of relaxation and excitement from these activities. Serial killers are the same way they love to kill people and have lots of different motives for why they kill them. A serial killer is a person who kills repeatedly. The one motive that drove Dennis Rader, to kill his victims was to gain power and control over them. 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. Dennis Rader was one normal avaergae citizen untill he shocked the public to when he was caught as a serial kiiler who caused tragedy in their town. A article stated “either in his genes or in his childhood or perhaps a grim combination of both created a hole in the spot most of us call a soul”(Klepper). Dennis rader was the oldest of four sons. He grew In Wichita Kansas. As a child dennis was known to kill and hang stray cats.( article 3) Peopl... ... middle of paper ... ...05, Mar 06). Suspect in 10 kansas murders lived an intensely ordinary life. New York Times. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/433020415?accountid=10244 O'Driscoll, P. (2005, Jun 28). 'BTK' calmly gives horrific details ; serial killer who stalked wichita enters guilty plea. USA TODAY. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/408976968?accountid=10244 Help prevent children from growing up into monsters. (2006, Jan 23). Redlands Daily Facts. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/379956373?accountid=10244 Megan, K., & Courant, S. W. (2005, Mar 10). THE KILLERS (AND LIARS) IN OUR MIDST ; HOW DOES A SERIAL MURDERER LIVE UNDETECTED AMONG `NORMAL PEOPLE'? BY BEING A SOCIOPATH -- A PERSON WITHOUT A CONSCIENCE, WITHOUT THE ABILITY TO LOVE. Hartford Courant. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/256830354?accountid=10244
Dennis Lynn Rader also known as the “BTK” killer; Blind, Torture, Kill. He is an American serial killer that murdered ten people in Sedgwick County, Kansas, USA in the year 1974 to 1991. Rader was born on March 9, 1945 in a place near Kansas, USA, and the oldest of four children. Rader grew up in Wichita, Kansas with an average family. His father was a former US Marine who then later worked for an electric company. He went to Riverview Elementary School. In an early age, Rader admitted that he have had developed sexual pleasures from killing. When Rader was a child, reports from Los Angeles Times stated that he used to do hanging of stray cats. Dennis Rader got married to her wife Paula in 1971 and had two kids. On January 15 of 1974, Rader committed his first murder; killing four members of the Ortero family in their own home which he says that these are his “projects”. After murdering and slaying numerous people, Rader would steal items as his reward or his souvenir. He also would leave semen at the scene due to having sexual pleasure from killing. The fifteen year old son of Joseph and Julie Ortero, Charlie, came home that day and shockingly discovered the bodies of his family. After a couple of months, in April 4, the next victim was Kathryn Bright. Rader murdered Kathryn by stabbing and strangling her. He also had tried killing her brother Kevin. Kevin was shot twice but survived the incident.
The most obvious perspective is the perspective of a serial killer as a psychopath. Serial killers often kill due to things they themselves cannot acquire. Fourteen percent of serial killings are caused from greed. Most cases are for wants of life insurance or fortune from relatives and wealthy citizens (Newton 17). Killers will begin to first kill for money off relatives. When they receive the “rush” they obtain from taking a human life they intend to continue on. The first kill is out of greed and jealousy, but the rest of the killings are out of a rush. In Truman Capote’s novel In Cold Blood, he talks about the people on death row and their reasons. Two of those men were Ronnie York and James Latham. They went on a killing spree because of one opinion- “the world was hateful, and everybody in it would be better off dead” (Capote 322-323). Killers like these two men are great examples of psychopaths. They have a poor motive to kill and their brains clearly aren’t working properly. Most people experience depression and self-hatred at points in their life, but most don’t deal with their problems by killing innocent people on a pointless motive. Revenge is another motive that serial killers use to gain a rush. One percent of all serial killings are inspired by revenge. Most consist when losing jobs or relationships (Newton 17). Everyone will experience lows in their lives and deal with them in different ways. Serial killers are just psychopaths because they deal with these problems very poorly. When losing a partner or spouse, killing them is not the answer, but serial killers think this is the only way to even out. They harvest this feeling of taking a human life and begin to go on a rampage and continue this horrible addiction. While many think serial killers are just evil or insane psychopaths, people sometimes rarely believe they are adults with mental
A serial killer is traditionally defined as the separate killings of three or more people by an individual over a certain period of time, usually with breaks between the murders. (Angela Pilson, p. 2, 2011) This definition has been accepted by both the police and academics and therefore provides a useful frame of reference (Kevin Haggerty, p.1, 2009). The paper will seek to provide the readers with an explanation of how serial killers came to be and how they are portrayed in the media. Several serial killers have a definitive and common personality profile.
Serial killers have long eluded law enforcement while simultaneously grabbing the attention of the public, and now more than ever, criminal psychologists are beginning to understand what makes a serial killer. In his true-crime documentary, In Cold Blood, Truman Capote depicts the horrifying murders of four members of the Clutter family and the search to find the criminals responsible for the deaths. Eventually, two killers are caught, one being Perry Smith, a detached and emotionless man. And although his carnage of the Clutters labeled him a mass murderer, many of Perry’s personality traits are characteristic of a serial killer. In fact, if detectives had not caught him, Perry could have easily become a serial killer.
Almost all people know who serial killers are, but what exactly defines a serial killer. The FBI defines serial murder as “a minimum of three to four victims with a ‘cooling off’ period between, the killer is usually a stranger to the victim, the murders reflect a need to sadistically dominate the victim, and the murder is rarely for profit.” (Vronsky, 2004, p.36) Serial killers are usually a white male from a lower-to-middle-class background typically in his twenties or thirties. Also, 85% of the world’s serial killers live in America, with at least twenty to fifty unidentified active serial killers plotting another one of their killings. On average, every person has seen or met at least 37 serial killers in their lifespan.
As years go on so will the research on serial killers and hopefully we as a society will fully understand them and one day be able to cure whatever inside that makes them have the urge to kill. Works Cited The Electronic Journal of Sociology, published by the University of Guelph, Ontario. http://www.scribd.com/doc/167086215/How-Serial-Killers-Work. According to the article “10 Most Common Traits of Potential Serial Killers By Hestie Barnard Gerber. According to Comrade Chikatilo: The Psychopathology of Russia's Notorious Serial Killer.
Johnson, Jason B. “ Slain Teen’s family: Cops eyeing 7-10 suspects.” Boston Herald. 7 ,April 1995
Dennis L. Rader was born on March 9, 1945, in Pittsburg, Kansas. He was the first of four sons born to William and Dorothea Rader. His father was a member of the US Marine Corps. The family moved to Wichita, Kansas, when Dennis was a young boy. The Rader’s settled into a modest but pleasant home at 4815 N. Seneca, Wichita, Kansas (Blanco, 2014).
Thomas, Michael. "Psychopaths, And How Not To Become A Serial Killer." Exposing The Truth. Exposing The Truth, 29 Sept. 2013. Web. 06 May 2014.
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.
A serial killer is defined in Webster's Dictionary as someone who murders more than three victims one at a time in a relatively short period of time. There is no one generic profile to identify a serial killer. They usually are people seeking for a sensation, a lack of guilt or remorse, a need for control, impulsivity, and predatory behavior. These traits make up a psychopathic personality disorder. Psychopathy is a disorder manifested in people who use a mixture of charm, manipulation, manipulation, and occasional violence to control others, in order to satisfy their own wants and needs. There are four main types of serial killers; thrill seekers, mission-oriented, visionary serial killers, and power and control killers. There may be other
According to Psychological Inquiry, “Strong evidence suggests that people who have become serial killers have typically suffered from sever over control, humiliation, neglect, or all of these from the individuals who should have cared for them at an early age”.
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).
Motives of serial killers can vary greatly by murderer. "The motives of serial killers are commonly placed into four categories: visionary, mission-oriented, hedonistic and power or control; however, the motives of any given killer may display considerable overlap among these categories" (Coulthard, 2011 para. 5). Hedonistic killers typically fall into a few subgroups according to their motivations. It can be difficult to determine a specific motivation since serial killers can fall into more than one classifications.
The FBI defines a serial killer has someone who has killed a minimum of three people with a cooling off period in-between each of the killings. What would drive someone to kill three or more people? A lot of it has to with their childhood, but there is not really a definitive answer. With that being said doctors, investigators, and others agree that serial killers are made because of their childhood. It stems from the unconscious mind, which is able to control behavior. Most serial killers had an abusive childhood that showed the child that they have no other value other than being a sex object or someone to hurt. This fear will build up the child’s mind and they start to fantasize about being all powerful and controlling. They aren’t shown how to love or care for others making them be a sociopath because they lack the ability to empathize.