The case of Edmund Kemper, a notorious serial killer responsible for the gruesome murders of 8 individuals, presents a horrifying narrative of extreme brutality and psychological complexity (Paoletti, 2023). Kemper's story explores deeply into the depths of human depravity and criminal behaviour. His crimes serve as an unsettling demonstration of the brutal actions that a serial killer can commit, highlighting the nature of his horrific journey. This paper contends that by utilizing the social bonds theory and the general theory of crime, a more in-depth understanding of Kemper's deviant behaviour can be attained. The social bonds theory provides insight into the factors that influenced Kemper's deviant behaviour, specifically delving into …show more content…
The exploration of deficiencies in social bonds, Kemper's childhood environment, and the efficiency and limitations of both theories will provide valuable insight into intricate social dynamics. Edmund Kemper, also known as the "Co-Ed Killer," committed the terrifying act of killing his grandparents at the age of 15, followed by the murders of eight women spanning from May 1972 to April 1973 (Paoletti, 2023). Starting at an early age, Edumund presented troubling behaviour as his mother, Clarnell Kemper, was possibly suffering from borderline personality disorder and was also an alcoholic (Paoletti, 2023). Living in a turbulent environment, Kemper began to develop dark fantasies, with his first disturbing act decapitating his sister's dolls. On August 27, 1964, Kemper got into an argument with his grandparents, this would soon lead to their demise as Kemper shot both of his grandparents. Afterwards, Kemper was diagnosed …show more content…
It consists of 4 elements: (1) attachment, (2) commitment, (3) involvement, and (4) belief (Tatham, 2024). Attachment refers to the emotional connection with family, friends, and the community. Commitment refers to the investment of time and energy in conventional goals and activities, such as future goals. Involvement consists of active participation in social interactions such as education and sports. Finally, belief involves the incorporation of societal norms and values, forming an individual's understanding of right and wrong (Sun, 2023). These elements create a sense of responsibility and connection to society, encouraging individuals to adhere to societal norms and values. The theory underscores the significance of shaping an individual's behaviour in preventing deviance and deterring criminal
The two theories that are being analyzed in this paper are Ronald Akers’ Social Learning Theory and Travis Hirschi’s Social Bonding Theory. Hirschi's social bonding theory is one of many control theories which all take on the task of explaining the core cause of crime; however, this particular theory seems to be the most popular and able to stand the test of time. The Social Bond theory contains four elements that explain what criminals lack that causes them to be more prone to illegal activity, these elements are attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief. On the other end of the spectrum is Akers’ Social Learning Theory, which attempts to explain the correlation between and individual's social environment and their behavior depending on what is praised or punished in an individual's specific social organization. (Walsh & Hemmens)
Edmund Kemper III, also referred to as the Co-Ed Killer or the Co-Ed Butcher, is an American serial killer that has ten confirmed victims. His killing spree lasted from 1964 to 1973, killing three of his own family members, six high school and college students, and his last victim was his mother’s best friend. Edmund Kemper weighing in at six feet, nine inches, over 250 pounds was arrested in 1973.
Edmund Emil Kemper III was born on December 13, 1948 in Burbank, CA. He was born to the union of Edmund E. Kemper Jr. and Clarnell Strandberg. After his parents divorced, Clarnell took Kemper along with his two sisters to live by her very high standards and abusive ways. She berated Kemper mentally by having him sleep in a windowless basement because she feared of the harm he may cause to his sisters. In turn, this caused the hatred that he had for her to fester and turn into hatred against all women. On many occasions Kemper would break off the heads and hands of his sister’s dolls and also have them play the game he called “The gas chamber” in which he was the victim to be executed (Fisher, 2003a).
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).
People who value commitment would not risk it by giving in to crime. Children commit to doing things that they don’t like to do because they want their parent’s approval. So, attachment is an important basis for an individual to succeed and commit to a noncriminal life. Involvement is the third element and it is a direct result of commitment. This is the concrete time spent in noncriminal activities.
This criminal behavior psychological analysis paper is taking a look into the life of a serial killer, who is known as, John Wayne Gacy, Jr. He is best known for dressing up as a clown and committing violent killings of specific targets; the nickname he is known for is the “Killer Clown”. Moreover, Gacy is an important individual to study or analyze due to the many merciless anguish murders he committed and the factors that took place throughout his childhood to adulthood, which may have had influential elements of the actions he performed on his poor and vulnerable victims. Understanding Gacy’s actions and mindset can be quite complex to society as well as how he became one of the most prolific and notorious murders in the United States. The importance I find to be relevant, which played a major role in John Wayne Gacy’s numerous murders in Chicago, Illinois, are the social dysfunctional structures followed as: his father-son relationship, being antisocial in school, and environment. Future professionals in criminology can better understand and go into depth about the psychological theories found in most murderers in correlation to Gacy’s horrendous proceedings as some theorists have already been revealing theories of their own that relate to how Gacy grew up to be a murderer. For example, “Theorists consider moral behavior to be self-regulated through mechanisms of self-evaluation where one can approve or disapprove irresponsible or inhumane behavior. It is clear that Gacy showed a lack of moral behavior and hence, in the act was not able to disapprove his behavior adequately to avoid it completely” (“John Wayne Gacy Jr. | Criminology”, n.d.). The professionals can grasp the insight that there is value perhaps in keeping this...
Simon, Robert I. "Serial Killers, Evil, And Us." National Forum 80.4 (2000): 23. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.
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.
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.
Later, he would be found guilty of first degree murder not for one victim but eight of them. It was found that the guy everyone thought was nice would actually be the famous murderer the police spent years looking for, The CO-ED killer or also known as The CO-ED Butcherer. Kemper believed that he should have been tortured to death for his crimes but instead was sentenced to multiple long sentences which would leave him in prison for the rest of his life. Edmund would later say that the reason behind murdering his own mother, the woman who birthed and raised him, was due to the toxic and unhealthy relationship they had. Since the age of as young as 8-years-old, he always wanted to kill her until he finally broke and ended up doing so.
This paper explores three criminological theories as to why Jeffrey Dahmer committed his crimes. Although these approaches vary in terms of defining the cause of crime, one thing is certain, there is no single cause of crime; the crime is rooted in a diversity of causes and takes a variety of forms depending on the situation in which the crimes occur. However, the published articles vary in their definitions and uses of Criminological Theory. Rawlins (2005) suggest that the criminal phenomenon is too complex to be explained by a single theory. Other theories suggest differently and; therefore, have varying explanations. This paper examines the Psychological, Biochemical, and Social Process theories to slightly explain Jeffrey Dahmer’s actions.
'Serial murder'; has long been a term used to describe those human beings that repeatedly commit heinous crimes. It is rare that the average person probes the mind of a serial killer without bias. However, what lies behind the eyes of a serial killer deserves more than the cold hard look that society so often gives (Aaronson, Inter...
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.
The importance of integrated theory relies on these social institutions to create a theory of the causes criminal behavior in the sense that it links to the family who is bonded to the offender in which he learn most of his behaviors from due to lack of guidance or support of his or her goals while growing up. This is where he attaches himself to peers to seek the sense of feeling important within society; this is where the child feels valued by doing crazy things with his friends who value him, but don’t have his best interest in mind. This type of social control illustrates that the individual takes into account the opinion of others to help guide his or her decision in life, which could be right or wrong therefore, it is important to enhance this individual with positive guidance with support by their
The four bonds are imperative in determining a person’s conformity or deviance to society. When bonds are weak, Hirschi saw that a person becomes “free” to engage in delinquency (Williams & McShane, 2010). The first bond, which is attachment, deals with the relationship one has with parents, friends or school and clubs. Attachment is the most important bond because a strong tie to parents or institutions will help prevent deviance. Attachment is also important because the other bonds are thought to build on attachment.