People say that Asperger’s disorder causes people to do things that are deemed unnormal and immoral in society and they apply this logic to serial killers too, such as Jeffrey Dahmer’s case where he murdered and dismembered seventeen innocent victims during the 1980’s to the 1990’s. Asperger’s disorder is a common theme that serial killers have, but it’s not a cause as to why they committed the act(s) they did. Most times, people need something to blame or explain why an individual that seems normal does such heinous acts and then those disorders are further misinterpreted and misrepresented by other people who continue to emphasize that blame. Dahmer suffered from many disorders and without knowing exactly what they all meant, people couldn’t get an accurate representation of him and thus thought that they were the cause of his disturbed mind. Those misinterpretations led to our culture now where people may deem an individual with a disorder, more specifically Asperger’s disorder or another disorder within the Autism Spectrum Disorders.
When taking a look at the information regarding Dahmer and Asperger’s, people need to keep in mind that it is only a possible diagnosis and not a true diagnosis. Asperger’s wasn’t discussed as a possible diagnosis until after his death. It’s only a possible diagnosis because psychologists and psychiatrist weren’t able to study Dahmer extensively when he was alive. Several sources discuss the views of people and why they also believe that he had Asperger’s disorder. One forum had several people discuss how Asperger’s was connected with many criminals who have committed heinous acts, such as school shootings, mass murders, psychopaths, and serial killers (Brother Percy 1). Many people share the sam...
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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 comportment. Analysis also shows that...
The present paper intent to enquire into a female serial killer. It shall describe and analyze the theories behind the occurrences and sequent offer explanations. The studies of criminology theories it is important to recognize why humans decide on living a life cycle of crime. Wikipedia.org defines serial killer as, “a person who murders three or more people, usually in service of abnormal psychological gratification, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant break (a “cooling off period”) between them.” Precisely of this, humans who tend to be a serial killer are prone to developmental and physical characteristics. Several of these trends could fit into a model standard of a crime. A good example of analyzing the life and crimes of Aileen Wuornos, an American female serial killer who killed
The article Serial killers: II. Development, dynamics, and forensics by Lawrence Miller dives in into the many aspects that encompass the psychological, neurological, and sociocultural elements that underline the average serial murderer. The elements involve childhood upbringing, types of aggression, typical neurochemistry, and subcultural theories. The article manages to include descriptions of the statistical patterns that involve the demographics, and motives that follow serial killers. It also discusses the validity and rationality of the insanity defense in prosecuting these extraordinarily vicious offenders.
Where does the name Asperger's Syndrome come from? Over fifty years ago, a Viennese pediatrician,...
Most serial murderers have been deprived of any control over their home, their body, and their entire life. “Psychokillers take their fantasies and make them a reality living their dreams” (Serial Killers: Nature vs. Nurture 2). Both physical and especially emotional abuse is the consistent, reoccurring factor among a majority of serial killers. Traumatic abuse in childhood has long been viewed as a primary cause of violent behavior in adulthood (Dolan 24). Abusive parents do not generally vent their anger equally on all their children. Such parents tend to unleash the anger and negative emotions on their more difficult children; this potential aggression and physical and emotional abuse of the child shapes the future criminal. “Most serial murders are not classified as psychotics, but rather as psychopaths- their perception of reality is clear except that they feel no social or moral obligations” () Killers are taking control of their own lives through their fantasies in the only way they know fit, through
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
Beasley, James. 2004. “Serial Murder in America: Case Studies of Seven Offenders.” Behavioral Sciences and the Law 22: 395-414
Many people encounter tragedies, trauma, abuse, and psychological damage in their life, but those who have said problems frequently, most likely evolve into serial killers later on in life. Statistics show that forty percent of people who withstand abuse in childhood develop into excessively abusive, violent, and sadistic criminals because they are burdened by problems for the rest of their existence (Nurturing). Generally, serial killers are violent and want to torture their victims. Those who were abused in their childhood rarely had any control over anything; as a result, in the future they want to dominate and inflict the same pain to their victim that they encountered in their youth; the dominance serial killers hunger for is usually presented through sexual abuse (Nurturing). In childhood, if one has abusive, manipulative, or irresponsible parents that neglect him or her at home, a part of his or her brain, which contro...
Miller, Laurence. "The predator's brain: Neuropsychodynamics of serial killers."Serial offenders: Current thought, recent findings, unusual syndromes (2000): 135-166.
Schechter, H. and Everitt, D. The A-Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers. Pocket Books. N.Y. 1996
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.
Dahmer was an American serial killer who killed 17 boys and men over the course of 13 years and he suffered from Sociopathy/ ASPD after a medical procedure to correct a double hernia. “He was described as an energetic and happy child until the age of 4, when surgery to correct a double hernia seemed to effect a change in the boy. Noticeably subdued, he became increasingly withdrawn following the birth of his younger brother and the family's frequent moves. By his early teens, he was disengaged, tense and largely friendless.” (“Biography of Jeffrey Dahmer,” 2017) Before the procedure Dahmer was a normal and happy kid. He was social and enjoyed life, but something happened and the surgery and he was a new child and was not the same happy kid. He was antisocial and did not have many friends if any. These are signs of Sociopathy. The interesting part is that Dahmer was not born with this condition, but it was brought on by a mistake in a