Serial killers and their crimes are a topic and type of person whom many experience a fascination with. In dictionary terms, a celebrity is a person who receives widespread recognition due to media attention. This attention can be both negative and positive, therefore within these terms we are able to define serial killers as ‘dark celebrities’, in which they often receive huge amounts of media attention and public reaction, due to the prolific nature of their activities. One such example of this is Peter Sutcliffe, better known as ‘The Yorkshire Ripper’. A serial killer and ‘dark celebrity’ who’s crime is well known across the world even decades on from his arrest. His crimes, and their impact on society and the media attention he received, …show more content…
This allowed speculation and rumour to rule people’s minds. Something the media used to their advantage. Many of the ways in which the media portrayed Peter Sutcliffe differed greatly from reality. For example, many of the ways in which the media reported his motivations and profiled his victims were false and contained many sexist and classist judgements against the victims. As outlined in the documentary ‘The Ripper’ there was a huge emphasis on the media drawing connections between Peter Sutcliffe and his crimes and ‘Jack the Ripper’ an infamous and popularised persona of a serial killer, well known for murdering five to six sex workers in 1888. Nini, 621-622. Because a few of the women murdered by Peter Sutcliffe happened to be sex workers, the media reported that he was trying to follow in ‘Jack the Ripper’s’ influence and target sex workers due to a disapproval of their lifestyle. This connection was harder to keep up with as more and more women with no connection to sex work were killed. The media’s comparison’s to Jack the Ripper, combined with some false information that had been given to the police, actually, created a persona for the Ripper that was far from the truth. Weist suggests that the “fantastic monster” persona solidifies the serial killer as a modern form of celebrity. 337-338. The. This false persona shaped many of the investigations and police evidence that was used. For example, the voice tape that had been sent in by a member of the public happened to be someone who had a very locally specific ‘Geordie’ accent, however many of the surviving victims claimed that the man who had attacked them had a Manchester accent. The accent, and the inaccurate grouping of his victims as reported by the media, created a public persona for the ‘Yorkshire Ripper’ that was somewhat more fantastical and value
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. ...
There are many sociopaths that are famous for just being a sociopath. But not too many people know about them. Most people know people like John Wayne Gacy. Gacy was one of the most unexpected people to turn out to be such a disgusting person. Everyone in town loved Gacy. He performed at children’s birthday parties as “Pogo the Clown”. He was very well known. What people did not know was that he was a sociopath because he hid it so skillfully, and he just so happens to be one of the most famous sociopaths to every walk the earth. In the 1970’s he killed and raped over thirty young men and boys. He hid most of them in the crawl space under his house. Ted Bundy is another notorious serial killer. He was an attractive, charming, intelligent young man who lived in Seattle in the 70’s. He would lure women in using his charm, and then he would rape then beat them to death. He was also known as a necrophiliac. He admitted to slaying 36 women, but experts believe that the final count was around one hundred. There is also Jeffrey Dahmer who is also very well known. There have been many books and movies about him and based off the story. Dahmer murdered seventeen males between 1978 and 1991. Over the course of more than thirteen years, Dahmer sought out men at bars, malls, etc. and then lured them home with promises of money or sex, and gave them alcohol laced with drugs before strangling them to death. He would then engage in sex acts with the bodies before dismembering them, disposing of them, and sometimes eating them. He often keeped their skulls or genitals as souvenirs. He frequently took photos of his victims at various stages of the murder process, so he could recollect each act afterward and relive the experience. Dahmer was captured in 1991 after one of his potential victims
According to federal law, the term ‘serial killings’ means a series of three or more killings, not less than one of which was committed within the United States, having common characteristics such as to suggest the reasonable possibility that the crimes were committed by the same actor or actors. Throughout history, serial killers have always been a fascination among many individuals. On numerous occasions, law enforcement has tried to dive into the psyche of these killers to determine why they kill. There have also been numerous stereotypes placed on serial killers. Typical stereotypes are serial killers are all white males, loners, and that their crimes are driven by sex.
Serial killers are everywhere! Well, perhaps not in our neighborhood, but on our television screens, at the movie theaters, and in rows and rows of books at our local Borders or Barnes and Nobles Booksellers” (Brown). When people think of serial killers, names such as Dahmer, Gacy, Bundy, and Gein are cited. During the time Jack the Ripper was executing his victims in London, Holmes began his gruesome career in Chicago (America’s Serial Killers). “Despite being America’s first serial killer, Holmes is hardly a familiar name and until now we haven’t had any popular visual record of his crimes: (Spikol). Why is it that people only think of the more popular killers with higher known profiles? They are all very similar to one another because they share characteristics. H.H. Holmes was a successful serial killer because he was well educated, cunning and charming. Those are just a few traits Holmes ...
In reference to the media’s role, they have been highlighted for playing a part in maintaining these views by portraying victims in a certain way according to the newsworthiness of each story and their selectiveness (Greer, 2007). Furthermore, there has been an increase in both fictional crime programmes and crime documentaries, with Crimewatch particularly becoming a regular part of British viewing. In the modern context, crime has continued to represent a large proportion of news reporting and with the aid of social networking sites and self-publicity via the internet, journalists are now more able to dig even deeper into the lives of people on whom they wish to report. Newspapers continue to keep the public informed with the latest headlines and the internet has also provided opportunities for members of the public to have their input in blogs.
Hickey, Eric W. Serial Murderers and Their Victims. Belmont, California: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, 1991. Print.
Taking the life of another person is one of the worst infractions of the law to commit. The Bureau of Justice defines serial killing as “[involving] the killing of several victims in three or more separate events” (“Michigan” 1). Serial killers often commit extremely violent crimes; they usually become infamous for these crimes. The first recorded serial killers are probably Jack the Ripper in 1888 and Fritz Haarmann in 1924 (“Michigan” 1). Jack the Ripper is also one of the most well-known criminals, almost everyone knows who he is or has at least heard of him. Most people know what he is famous for and associate him with being a bad person. Serial killers are typically sadistic and sociopathic, meaning that they are unable to feel empathy for people who are suffering (“Michigan” 1). Whimsical sociopaths who have sadistic tendencies are very dangerous. They inflict pain because they do not care that someone else is suffering, they only care that it makes t...
White, R., and Perrone, S. (2009) Crime, Criminality and Criminal Justice. Melbourne: Oxford University [Chapter 2 ‘Crime and the Media’]
Serial murder, which is defined as “the unlawful killing of two or more victims, by the same offenders, in separate events”(Lubaszka & Shon, 2013, p. 1), is a term that American society has become quite familiar with. At a ripe age, parents begin teaching their children not to talk to strangers in hopes of shielding them from the potential evil our world has to offer, but what if I told you the serial killer may not always be the scary man driving a van and offering candy? Our society, like it does most things, has placed a stigma upon serial killers. Although not all implied labels are untrue, this stigma makes us vulnerable to the hidden deviance lurking behind us, dressed in sheep’s clothing. Over the course of this analysis, I will discuss and elaborate on Christine Lubaszka and Phillip Shon’s work, “The notion of victim selection, risk, and offender behavior in healthcare serial murders”. My evaluation will consists of a thorough description of Lubaszka and Shon’s article, followed by a brief critic explaining how their work relates to other forms of deviance, social control, and the material studied in this course, as well as stating a few of the drawbacks and benefits of the authors’ work and suggestions for future researchers.
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.
To society, serial killers seem quite normal. Many are just seen as quiet people at the office or shy neighbors. However, wh...
'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...
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.
The media today is often taken for granted; as people don’t realize the dominance the media source holds in the modern world. Through media sources such as newspaper, TV and social media crime could be easily spread through out the world within seconds. As a result of this, humans understanding of crime and crime control are largely relied upon the media as evidently most people will not be in those serious criminal situations. The media however takes advantage of this situation by exaggerating crime scenes and focusing on particular crimes to make the public fear. Particular groups in the media are stereotyped to an extent where the public foresees then as ‘dangerous’. As a consequence, a change in the public’s perception of crime has forced
In the 1970’s, Robert Ressler, who was the previous director of Violent Criminal Apprehension Program with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), coined the term “serial killer”. He did so because when he was a child, the police in England used to refer to murders such as this as “crimes in a...