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Psychological and biological factors that influence crime serial killers
Psychological and biological factors that influence crime serial killers
Psychological and biological factors that influence crime serial killers
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“A serial murderer’s compulsion to kill may be linked to an addiction, not only to the crime itself” explains the research of psychologist Joel Norris and other experts. This is conspicuous in the “Landlady” by Roald Dahl, a short story in which the landlady acts in mysterious ways. She owns a “Bed and Breakfast”. She has extremely low prices to attract guests. She kills all her guests and stuffs them. Clearly, the habits of the landlady are similar to those of serial killers such as searching for a certain type of victim. To begin, serial killers are very specific as to the characteristics of their victims. They “search for the type of victim” they are “looking for” (Dolan 52). Similarly, the landlady wants to open the door and see “someone
What would cause an individual to behave in this rather heinous and macabre manner? Using Robert Pickton as a case study, this paper will explore the phenomenon of serial murder and apply research literature to help explain his behaviour and examine issues such as psychopathy, mental disorder, and substance abuse relevant to the Pickton case. In addition, the paper will explore the sexually sadistic nature of Pickton’s murders. Finally, the paper will explore the reasoning behind Pickton’s selection of drug addicted prostitutes as victims that enabled him to conduct his murders in relative anonymity. ...
The motives and backgrounds of serial killers is a vexing topic. Not two people are the same, so therefore their motives differ. The different types of serial killers are: hedonistic, power seekers, gain, mission oriented, visionary, psychopathic, comfort, medical, organized, and disorganized. Motives of these murderers range from fear of being rejected, to “getting rid of what they deem bad,” or even to get sexual satisfaction from the suffering of their victims.
Mainly we have talked about male, but now let’s talk about female serial killers. When people think of a psychopathic killer, typically a male comes to mind and we have no sense of what a females capabilities are. After studies in this article, they categorized female serial killers into 7 different categories. Those categories would be black widow, angel of death, revenge killer, murder for profit or crime, killer whose sanity is in question, team killer, and sexual predator. So you see, female serial killers may not be common but often are in low profile and quite dangerous when put into play. When looking for a psychopath, there is a unique check list that they have talked about using in this article. First and for most they tend to be quiet and unsociable, but at the same time come off charming. They are very manipulative in getting what they want, this goes back to the “Sadomasochistic Serial Killer Protagonist in the Killer Inside of me” article. This article is a great representation of my topic because it focuses on how to know when someone is a psychopath aka “Serial Killer”. It directly answers my question on what makes a serial killer by identifying the personality traits of
In many cases, serial killers began their lives as remotely normal human beings. Most, however, have detectable characteristics of murderers before they hit puberty. Otis O’toole, for example, started a neighbourhood fire when he was six. George Adorno was even younger when he first displayed his pyromaniac tendencies by setting fire to his own sister when he was four. Along with pyromaniac behavior, other often-cited warning signs are enuresis (bed-wetting) and cruelty toward animals. Often, serial murderers are abused physically, psychologically, and sexually as children, sometimes from a stranger, but in most cases from a trusted family member or friend. Typically, they come from broken families, usually...
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.
Ramsland, Katherin M. Inside the Minds of Mass Murderers: Why they Kill. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2005. Print.
Due to crime-inspired shows that air on television, fascination with serial killers presents itself more and more. People want to learn what makes a person break to the point of taking another’s life. Some suggest that killing releases a sexual desire, while others suggest that revenge may be the motive. A serial killer has the stereotypical look of a white male who tends to act socially awkward, not easily approachable, and possesses a mental illness. While the accuracy of this look tends to be true occasionally, the majority of the time a serial killer looks no different than anyone else and appears rather social. Some experts believe that a serial killer has codes in his DNA which causes him to kill; nonetheless, other experts believe environmental
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.
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.
me show her as a typical wife waiting for her husband to come home and
'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...
Serial killers commonly attack a single target at a time one on one. There also tends to be no or very little relation between the person being killed and the killer (murder 1). “The nature of this drive has been heavily debated, but there is a consensus on some points (Anderson 1).” Many researchers have noted sexual behavior in the murder.
Serial killers are only motivated by sex; this is a misconception because not all serial murders are sexually-based. There are many other motivations for serial murders, including anger, thrill, financial gain, and attention seeking. For instance, a former U.S. Army Staff Sergeant and Lee Boyd Malvo killed primarily for anger and thrill motivations (“Serial Murder”). In addition, serial killers are all the same is also a misassumption. There are different type of serial murders including motives, visionary, mission-oriented, power/control, and hedonistic. Each has their own motivations and reasons to kill, but hedonists murdered for lust/sexual, thrill/rush, comfort/profit, or all three categories. First and foremost, a serial killer is defined
Serial killers are usually young, white males who are quite intelligent and often come from broken homes. They may have been abused either physically or sexually during childhood and they have serious personality defects, such as low self-esteem and a lifelong sense of loneliness. Although no two serial killers are alike, they all fit this description somewhat. In the sixth edition of Crime and Criminality by Sue Titus Reid, a serial killer is defined as a person who commits more than one murder but at different times (Reid, p. 134).
Many serial killers were sexually abused as children and this left them with a twisted viewpoint on how sex is supposed to be so they end up committing rapes. Often children who were verbally abused or neglected as children commit crimes when they are older because of the brain chemistry that was warped when they were young. Sometimes serial killers before they commit their first crime seem like normal, healthy people but there are subtle clues that lead up to the killer they are about to become. For example, Ted Bundy who murdered at least 36 women was using pornography heavily where he became numb to it and needed to act out his fantasies to feel any excitement. Before that many people reported him being a relatively normal and friendly guy. Jeffrey Dahmer who grow up in a healthy household was a loner and had a strange interest in dissecting roadkill as a child, eventually he murdered 17 people and dissected them, storing organs in his freezer. Some people simply have serial killer tendencies and have always been aggressive in nature with an obsession with death. But something comes along that triggers them to act out these abnormal tendencies with the motives stated above. Criminologists use the nature of the crimes to develop a profile on the serial killer, they look