This paper will provide an introduction of Jeffrey Dahmer a horrific serial killer from the early 1980’s. A background of Jeffrey Dahmer will be supplied as well as information regarding the legal issues he encountered during his crime spree. The author will provide methods of data collection used which mostly include interviews of the serial killer. A diagnosis of mental disorders suffered by Jeffrey Dahmer will be assessed in detail. This paper will discuss all related psychosocial and family issues associated with this killer as well as any vocational or career issues that were present for Dahmer. A proposed treatment will be presented with options for interventions and continuing assessment with follow-up. Lastly, any potential legal and/or ethical issues that were present in this case will be reviewed. …show more content…
Descriptions of him as a child indicate he had a normal childhood and was energetic and happy. At age six Dahmer’s brother David was born and at age eight the Dahmer family moved from Milwaukee to Bath, Ohio. Reports indicate Jeffrey Dahmer was sexually assaulted after moving to Ohio by a neighborhood boy (citation). By this time, Dahmer was inhibited and withdrawn, he showed a lack of interest in hobbies and social interaction between the ages of 10 and 15-years old. He began to drink excessively in high school and his interests converted to dead animals collecting their bones and skeletons (Biography, 2017). Jeffrey Dahmer presented abnormal behavior throughout his high school years and his alcoholism added to his negative behavior
Dahmer was fascinated and did not hesitate to touch or pick them up. According to Lionel Dahmer, he was "oddly thrilled by the sound they made. His small hands dug deep into the pile of bones.” At the age of six, it was discovered that he needed surgery to fix a double hernia. Following his surgery, which coincided with the birth of his brother,there was a drastic change in the once happy, bubbly, outgoing child. Lionel Dahmer states "he seemed smaller, somehow more vulnerable... he grew more inward, sitting quietly for long periods, hardly stirring, his face oddly
were also very hard for the Dahmer family to deal with. To many it was
Lionel and Joyce Dahmer gave birth to their first born, Jeffrey Dahmer, on May 21, 1960 in Milwaukee. Despite Joyce experiencing a difficult pregnancy, Dahmer was a healthy child who was wanted and adored by both his parents. However, his mother did start to become distant to him as she refused to breast feed him and started demonstrating unstable behavior along with substance abuse. Meanwhile, his father was pursuing his doctoral for chemistry in Iowa which limited the time Lionel had with his family. At age five, Dahmer’s little brother was born and that was when the feeling of neglect set in him. For the first time, the little attention provided from his parents had to be shared with his brother David. Dahmer began displaying extreme shyness but also severe tantrums. During the ages of six and seven, Dahmer “was regarded by other children as odd and bizarre (Martens, 2005).” Even though he did not show any interest in developing genuine social relations, Dahmer did demonstrate a fascination with bug and animal dissections. When Dahmer was six he had “undergone hernia surgery, when he woke up from the anesthesia he was worried someone could have cut his genitals, the pain lasted for one week and after a long recovery period his parents remember he turned to be very loner (Giannetakis, n.d.).” It is believed that at age eight Dahmer had been sexually abused by a boy in his neighborhood (Hickey, 2013). If this event did occur, it could explain why he developed destructive sexual fantasies at the young age of twelve. Despite him being aloof, it has been reported that he would seek attention by faking epileptic seizures at school and local shops. By his adolescent years, he developed compulsive masturbation which would eventually lead to legal trouble (Silva, 2002). At the age of fourteen, Dahmer turned to alcohol abuse in order to overcome his feeling of despair and compulsive thoughts of sexual violent acts.
Jeffrey Dahmer was born in Milwaukee on May 21, 1960, to Lionel and Joyce Dahmer. Despite the difficulties of Joyce's pregnancy, he was wanted and adored as a child. By all accounts, Dahmer displayed traits of a happy, bubbly youngster. However, several events from his childhood indicated that the young boy was becoming more and more disturbed. When Jeff was four, his father swept out the remains of some small animals from under the house. As his father gathered the tiny animal bones, Jeff seemed strangely entertained by the sound they made (Bardsley Ch. 13). At the young age of six, Dahmer suffered a double hernia and needed surgery to correct the problem. After the operation, he was never the same socially. Adding insult to injury, the family then moved from Iowa to Ohio where it became apparent Dahmer had grown distant, shy, and nearly uncommunicative (Bardsley Ch. 13).
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
Jeffrey Dahmer was born on May 21, 1960 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was the first of two children born. His parents were Lionel and Joyce Dahmer. His parents didn’t have any notable mental history. He was said to have lived a normal childhood. He was never abused. When he was six years old his family moved to Doylestown, Ohio. His shyness disabled him from making friends at his new school. Later that year his brother was born. That is where thing seemed to change for Jeffrey. One of his teachers said he was feeling neglected. Most of the attention had to go to his new brother because they had to care for him more. That same year he had a hernia. He began to withdraw from social interactions after the surgery. He showed little interest in hobbies and
Jeffrey Dahmer was born on May 21, 1960. He was the first born out of two. Growing up he did not get a lot of attention for his mother was an attention hog always wanting his dad’s attention, she even attempted suicide to make his father pay more attention to her. They also did fight a lot. When he was four his dad dug out old bones and ever since then he has had a fascination for bones. He would get dead animals off the road and dismember them and would keep their body parts in jars. When asked why he said it was because he was curious of how they fit together. He even put a dog’s head on a steak and put it in his backyard.
An analysis of the most famous murderers and serial killers in the Chicago area shows varying degrees of psychopathy or mental illnesses, which ultimately contribute to homicidal conduct. Analysis also shows that the paths of serial killers have a tendency to converge.... ... middle of paper ... ...
In the meantime, his dad was seeking after his doctoral for science in Iowa which constrained the time Lionel had with his family. At age five, Dahmer 's younger sibling was conceived and that was the point at which the sentiment disregard set in him. Surprisingly, the little consideration gave from his guardians must be imparted to his sibling David. Dahmer started showing compelling timidity additionally extreme fits of rage. Amid the ages of six and seven, Dahmer "was viewed by other youngsters as odd and odd (Martens, 2005)." Even however he didn 't demonstrate any enthusiasm for creating honest to goodness social relations, Dahmer demonstrated an interest with bug and creature dismemberments. At the point when Dahmer was six he had "experienced hernia surgery, when he woke up from the anesthesia he was concerned somebody could have cut his privates, the agony went on for one week and after a long recuperation period his guardians recall that he swung to be extremely introvert (Giannetakis, n.d.)." It is believed that at age eight Dahmer had been sexually mistreated by a kid in his neighborhood (Hickey, 2013). On the off chance that this occasion
Data has been collecting reporting that “31% of people who had both a substance abuse disorder and a psychiatric disorder (a "dual diagnosis") committed at least one act of violence in a year, compared with 18% of people with a psychiatric disorder alone. This confirmed other research that substance abuse is a key contributor to violent behavior” (Harvard Health Publishing). This can be applied to Dahmer’s case. It is said that after getting hernia surgery when he was four, Dahmer was never the same. He went from a regular playful child to a distant anxious one. When becoming an adolescent, one will develop an interest in concepts and hobbies. For Dahmer it animal carcasses. He would find roadkill, “dissect and dismember them. He explained that he wanted to know how each animal "fitted together"(Cahill). This could come off as creepy and off-putting, but he was not hurting anyone. It is believed that his parents’ constant fighting and moving was the catalyst in making his obsession with carcasses into a dangerous one. “Children from broken homes are nine times more likely to commit crimes than those from stable families” (Bloxham). His drive to kill could quite possibly be linked to the fact that he simply linked to his familial issues. These problems in the family are definitely linked to his drinking problems as well. Dahmer’s
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.
Dahmer was always an outcast. In his early years, he seemed fascinated with death and dead animals. This carried on throughout his childhood. At puberty, not only was he a heavy alcoholic (first noted at age 14), but he was realizing he was gay. He had fantasies of a completely subservient partner whom he could totally control. These fantasies were
During Dahmer’s psychiatric evaluation, Dr. Wahlstrom concluded, “Jeffrey was suffering from a mental illness never cured for” (FBI 1992). This leads me to perceive that Dahmer must have been displaying psychotic traits that went unnoticed and undocumented during his early lifetime. I can only speculate that this uncured mental illness lead Dahmer to develop and refine his inability to empathize with society; which in turn, lead him to engage in cruelty without mentally comprehending the victim’s suffering. Although the causes for psychopathy are unclear, some suggest that psychogenic aspects can outline abnormalities which may be present in psychopaths (Schmalleger 2014). When looking at Dahmer’s distant relationship with his parents early on in his childhood, I became conscious of the fact the lack of affection from his parents which may have lead him to develop twisted views on how one should display affection to others, thus prompting him to show psychotic behavior later on in life (The profile of Jeffrey Dahmer 1996). Even though the letter of the law fails to describe Dahmer and even if he was not fit to stand trial, I believe the court would have declared him fit for trial due to the brutality of the
'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...
Jeffrey Dahmer was born May 21st, 1960, the first child for Lionel and Joyce Dahmer, after a difficult pregnancy that had Joyce on various prescription drugs.