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Criminal behaviour biological and psychological
Criminal behaviour biological and psychological
Criminal behaviour biological and psychological
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In the film Copycat, the main focus is on Peter Foley, the copycat serial killer. While Daryll Lee Cullum is the original serial killer, and provides some of Foley’s motive, Foley takes his killings to another degree. There are various motives for Foley’s killings. The main motives that he demonstrated include power and control, the hedonistic subtype of thrill, and lastly fame. While fame is not an official motive, it was a driving force in Foley’s actions and originated from his other motives. First, Foley’s motive of power and control is evident through the way he acts towards his victims. The motive of power and control is defined by the main objective of the killer desiring to gain and exert power over their victim. Killers who possess …show more content…
Although it is not a previously defined motive, fame was central to why Foley committed his various murders. The motive of fame consists of key components from other motives such as viewing people as expendable and killing for the thrill of it. Foley was ultimately trying to become famous through copying other serial killers and ending with the murder of Dr. Helen Hudson, which was supposed to replicate the previous attempt on her life. While preparing to torture Hudson in the final scenes, Foley says to her that he wants to make her the world’s most famous victim which would ultimately make him the world’s most famous killer. He reaches this conclusion based upon the fact that he is going to video her murder and that more books were written about Jack the Ripper than Abraham Lincoln. Foley wanted to be famous, to be remembered for his atrocious actions as the copycat killer and the murderer of Dr. Helen Hudson. Killing Dr. Hudson would make him famous because, as she states in the movie, she is the pin up girl for the serial killers of that time since she assisted in their convictions. Foley portrayed his motive of fame through the way he stated it to Dr. Hudson, the way he copied the most atrocious crimes of serial killers that she stated in her lecture, and the way that he did not try to hide his
Knight, Zelda G. "Sexually Motivated Serial Killers And The Psychology Of Aggression And "Evil" Within A Contemporary Psychoanalytical Perspective." Journal Of Sexual Aggression 13.1 (2007): 21-35. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. Web. 1 May 2014.
Have you ever wondered why some people love art and music, and some love science and math? These individuals love math or art because they get a sense of relaxation and excitement from these activities. Serial killers are the same way they love to kill people and have lots of different motives for why they kill them. A serial killer is a person who kills repeatedly. The one motive that drove Dennis Rader, to kill his victims was to gain power and control over them.
Jack the Ripper, John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, the Boston Strangler, Jeffrey Dahmer. Despite the years of history that separate these names, they remain indelibly preserved within our collective societal consciousness because of the massively violent and calculated nature of their crimes. Serial killers, both men and women, represent social monstrosities of the most terrifying variety. They are human predators, cannibals in a figurative and, often, literal sense, and are therefore uniquely subversive to society's carefully constructed behavioral tenets. They frighten because they are human in form but without the social conscience that, for many, defines humanity. They capture the public eye because they terrify, but also because they elicit a sort of gruesome curiosity about the human potential for evil; as Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde alleges, wickedness lies within each heart, waiting only for the proper time and impetus to break free.
To even begin to understand these serial killers’ infatuation with Salinger’s novel, one must learn a bit about the serial killers themselves. Let’s start off with Mark
There are many motivations involved in serial killings such as the fear of rejection, power, and perfection. Most serial killer tend to be intensely afraid of rejection and are very insecure. They try not to cultivate a relationship with their intended victim so as to avoid the possibility of being abandoned, humiliated, or exposed. There are many serial killers who engage in intercourse - the ultimate form of intimacy - with their victims, and many times also with the corpse. In doing this there is no risk of rejection. Serial killers also find satisfaction in prolonging the suffering of their victims, giving them the feeling of power over the victim. In doing this the get to decide if and how the victim will either live or die.
“Having secured a pair of women’s panties or drawers, he would take it to his basement or home, put it on, experience excitement and sexual completion” (Kennedy, Hoffman, Haines). This is said about William Heirens, a serial killer from Chicago. People that are insane should not be punished for what they cannot control. They should be helped. William did not receive the help he should’ve when he was younger, and that is why he was able to kill without mercy. William Heirens was destined to become a monster; evidence of this is shown in his early life as a child, the many influences he had throughout his life, and the inevitable capture of the man.
Freud (1940) was the first to do the link between sexual abuses during the childhood and adult abnormal behavior. As a result of that serial killer uses sex as a way to let out his or her anger and aggression. The sexually acts of the serial killer is not only about sex, but it is about revenge, power, and control. “Serial killers are unconsciously trying to kill off their repressed sexual pain and powerlessness. Every stab into the victim’s flesh is a stab against their own childhood sexual terror and pain, and the rage that accompanies it is a rage against those who tormented and terrorized” (Knight, 2006, p. 1199-1200).
We can all agree that serial killers are unpredictable scary people but when it comes to why they kill, everyone has a different view. In my research paper I will get into the mind of a serial killer and try to figure out what exactly sets them into uncontrollable rage.
Ted Bundy was wanted for multiple counts of murder, kidnappings, and escaping police custody. Bundy was placed on The FBI’s most wanted list. “He was also a cannibal, necrophiliac, charismatic sociopath and the man whose name came to define the term ‘serial killer’ for the 20th century” (Blanco). Ted was a very smart person that took the wrong path of life.
One theory that may fit the Gary Ridgway case would be the rational choice theory of criminology. The rational choice theory is based on the concept of hedonistic calculus. Hedonistic calculus is essentially “doing math around the idea of seeking pleasure and avoiding pain,” (Boyd, 2016). This means that people weigh the pros and cons of their actions to avoid punishment. I think this could potentially fit and explain Ridgway’s modus operandi in the sense that it was worth raping them for his own sexual pleasure but he thought that if he let them live he would get punished, therefore being the reason he killed them and disposed of their bodies in the river and surrounding areas of town. Another theory of criminology could be the psychodynamic theory. This theory is founded on the id, ego, and superego. The easiest way to explain the id is that it is the pleasure center that is part of the unconscious mind, (McLeod, 2016). The ego tries to please the id’s demands but in a realistic manner, whereas the superego tries to please the id and ego by abiding by one’s morals and values, (McLeod, 2016). This applies to Ridgway’s case in the sense that maybe his ego and superego were suppressed so much that all his mind was focusing on was the sexual demands of the id. Another theory could be the strain theory that explains increased possibilities of criminal behavior when certain stressors are present in one’s
The earliest warning signs of serial killers can be traced back to their childhood. It is believed that the mind of a murderer is charged with a turbulence of emotions stored from early childhood (Abrahamsen 18). When these often repressed emotions are activated, the mind, particularly when aroused or frustrated, becomes violent, and so it is that a person who may appear quite normal and well adjusted on the surface, becomes possessed by a mind that murders (Abrahamsen 18). The study of 36 incarcerated killers by Robert Ressler, Ann Burgess, and John Douglas, which can be found in their book Sexual Homicide Patterns and Motives, found many common behavior indicators in their childhoods. These behaviors include daydreaming, compulsive masturbation, isolation, chronic lying, bed wetting, rebelliousness, nightmares, destroying property, fire setting stealing, cruelty to children, poor body image, temper tantrums, sleep problems, display assault toward adults, phobias, running away, cruelty to animals, accident prone, headaches, destroying possessions, eating problems, convulsions, and...
Serial killers differ from other types of murderers. The number of serial killers in the U.S. is staggering. Differences are clear between serial killing and conventional murders. Serial killing can be classified as either motive based or organizational and social based. The Holmes Typology helps to understand the motivations behind serial killing. Serial killers may be even motivated by fame as part of their motivation for killing. John Wayne Gacy could be seen as evil due to his repeated violent acts. Jeffrey Dahmer was also evil by committing his acts of serial murders. Both Gacy and Dahmer had police records prior to their arrests for serial murders. Serial killers are poor candidates for rehabilitation. Their acts are evil.
Could the male serial killer commit these murders for more personal reasons, than just an urge? In some male serial killers there is a non-violent tendency that can prove that they are killing based on a motive rather than the need to kill. Although countless serial killers that have been in the news and are widely known have been killing based on urge, there are a series of men who kill due to the fact that they have no choice. Whether it 's their reputation on the line, a relationship, or a job. They have the motive to kill based on their life and the circumstances. After all the FBI does consider a person who has made three consecutive kills a serial killer. So throughout this essay I will show that there is furthermore to the male serial
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.
Ted Bundy is one of the most infamous, sadistic serial killers known to man. During his tenure as a killer, Bundy confessed to the murders of 30 women, though the official number of kills is unknown to this day. Bundy’s sadistic habits began at an early age due to his rough upbringing and abusive parents. His tactical methods of killing left miniscule amounts of evidence, which remained undetectable by the “still rudimentary forensics techniques of the 1970s” (Crime Museum). Bundy also managed to uphold an impressive “clean-cut appearance” and portrayed characteristics of an “upstanding character” (Crime Museum). Ted Bundy, through the course of a troubled childhood and keen wit, managed to successfully become known as one of the most infamous