Jeffery Dahmer: Serial Killer

Born on May 21, 1960 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Jeffery Dahmer became front-page news on July 22, 1991, after the local police linked him with the murders of seventeen young boys. Growing up Jeffery lived with his parents Lionel and Joyce Dahmer. He was a happy child always laughing and very active, until he turned four. Jeffery underwent surgery for a double hernia and began to feel subconscious after seeing the doctors examine his body, since he did not know what was going on. When Jeffery turned ten things got worse, he began to lose interest in hobbies and social interaction with other people.
As Dahmer headed to high school he found new interests that including dead animals and heavy drinking. Following high school his drinking created a problem for him, so his dad enlisted him into the army. But long after he was kicked out for alcoholism. He was then forced to live with his grandma, that’s when his behavior became increasingly strange. His fascination with dead animals continued, dissecting and dissolving animals in his grandma basement. In the summer of 1978 Dahmer committed his first murder and from there things got worse. He began to dismember his victims and engage in sexual intercourse after they were dead. In the summer of 1988

due to his strange behavior his grandma asked him to leave.
On the day of his arrest he attempted to lure Tracy Edwards into his apartment.

Dahmer forced Edwards into the bathroom with a butcher knife, with a struggle Edwards was able to escape and contact police. When they arrived to Jeffery’s apartment they found multiple pictures of dead bodies and dismembered limb, with that evidence they arrested him. With further investigation they found severed heads in a refrigerator, human hearts, and other human remains. It was later stated that aside from practicing necrophilia on his victims he also engaged in cannibalism. In 1992 Jeffery Dahmer was convicted on all seventeen murders and was sentenced to fifteen life terms. But during his time in prison Dahmer was killed in 1994 by an

inmate.
With most crimes there are multiple theories behind why a person might have committed a crime. In the case of Jeffery Dahmer the Social Control Theory is just one theory that explains why he committed such a horrifying act. The Social Control Theory states that everyone has the potential to become a criminal, but most people are controlled by their bonds to society (Siegel, 2008). The Theory suggests that a crime usually occurs when the bind people have with society is weakened or broken.
The role of social influence plays a big part of our lives and with the social control theory it allows people to understand just how important it is for individuals to be involved with the social world around them. Social control theory originates from the theory of learning, developed from social circles and family circle. When the social influences are absent it creates a pathway for people to become deviate from the moral norms. Usually this occurs to individuals who are not attached to their parents socially.
Dahmer actions are a great example of the social control theory.