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Essays on the psychology of serial killers
Crime and socioeconomics
Essays on the psychology of serial killers
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ndsey Bradburn
Informative Outline
Topic: Serial Murderers
General Purpose: To Inform
Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about serial murderers.
Thesis: Serial killers have clear characteristics and patterns
A. Introduction
A. Attention Getter: Each person in this room will walk past a serial killer 36 times in your lifetime.
B. Reason to Listen: The world around us is uncontrollable and full of predatory human beings such as serial killers. So, knowing this information could be extremely helpful.
C. Thesis Statement: Serial killers have clear characteristics and patterns.
D. Credibility Statement:
1. I have been consistently researching serial killers since watching the movie “Helter Skelter”
2. I’ve watched numerous documentaries and have done multiple presentations on serial killers.
E. Preview of Main Points:
1.
…show more content…
First, I will discuss what it takes to be defined as a serial killer. 2. Second, I will discuss the differences between male and female serial killers. 3. Finally, I will discuss the motives behind a serial killer’s actions. B. Serial killers have clear characteristics and patterns. A.
A serial killer is defined as the killing of 2 or more people in separate events with a cooling off period
1. Serial Killers are often separated into two groups, organized and disorganized.
a) Organized serial killers are highly intelligent with an IQ of 105-120 and well organized to the point of being meticulous. They plan their murder’s and think about every detail which is why they normally don’t leave a trace. These killers are found to be very social and manipulate people to get there way.
b) Whereas, disorganized serial killers typically have low IQ’s and are extremely antisocial. Pick their victims at random whenever the opportunity crosses. They find themselves compelled to perform rituals with every victim. It’s also known that some of these killers suffer with a history of mental illness.
2. Now, speaking of mental illness there are three disorders associated with serial killers.
a. The first being antisocial personality, people with this disorder are not able to recognize right or wrong. Individuals with this disorder do not care for anyone and will do anything to reach their desired outcome. They feel no
remorse. b. The second disorder is multiple personality disorder, meaning this person has alter personality that controls your behavior. Alternate personality behavior occurs spontaneously and function individually from one another, No two personalities thoughts are connected. They all think for themselves, so no other personality knows what the others done. c. And lastly, bipolar disorder which causes serious shifts in mood, energy, thinking, and their behavior. Bipolar disorders have extremely high highs and very low lows. Bipolar mood swings are unlike any other mood swing because they interfere with their ability to function. This inability to function causes instability and may result in murder if frustrated enough. Transition: Now, that I’ve shown you what it takes to be a serial killer, I will now discuss the differences between male and female serial killers. B. The differences between male and female serial killers are vast. 1. Female serial killers have a drastically different approach than males. a. A female serial killers primary weapon is poison, and they normally kill people they know, sometimes even family. Whereas, a male’s victims are normally clueless towards their murderer. b. Most male serial killers kill for sex whereas, females kill more for money or power. Women kill for resources. c. Females used gender roles to their advantage. Most used their looks to keep suspicion at bay. d. Women use feminine jobs such nursing and teaching which gave them access to vulnerable victims. Transition: So, since we have learned the differences between male and female serial killers we will now talk about the motives behind these serial murders and causes behind a serial killer. C. There are many reasons why violent killing behaviors develop. 1. Repeated psychological trauma during the early stages of growing up cause children to seek relief through violence, like killing small animals. a. Some of the psychological traumas that can occur are domestic violence, moving, neglect, abuse, etc. b. Another reason behind violent behaviors is feeling rejected and being unable to control it as a child. c. Killing as a child is usually associated with dead animals but, it also shows the like to have full control over the corpses. 2. The motive behind serial killers vary between each serial killer but, here are five. a. A visionary murderer has a false perception of reality, thinking they are killing fir someone such as god or the devil. b. Missionary killers justify their kills by trying to make the world a better place essentially by killing a certain group of people like prostitutes or homosexuals. c. Lust a killer finds a sexual thrill in killing. d. Power is another popular motive behind murder. The offender feels empowered when he kills. e. Criminal Enterprise are killers who benefit in ‘status’ by committing that is drug, gang or organized crime related. C. Conclusion a. Review of Main Points: 1. Today, I discussed what it takes to be defined as a serial killer. 2. Second, I discussed the differences between male and female serial killer 3. Finally, I discussed the motives behind a serial murder. B. Restate Thesis: Serial killers have clear characteristics and patterns. C. Closure: So whenever you’re walking home late by yourself, or even just walking around the mall remember think that this could be one of the thirty-six times you will walk past a serial killer in your life.
You’d be hard pressed to find one in a crowd. The average serial killer generally blends in with everyone else (Directory Journal, 2010). In fact, most are soft-spoken and even polite. Their monstrous nature only comes through when you dig deeper into their personalities, actions, and habits. Most seem to have come from dysfunctional family settings and were emotionally, sexually, or even verbally abused as children (Directory Journal, 2010). It is almost as if this background activates some psychological trigger that increases their feelings of inadequacy or worthlessness that led them to seek out their own heinous form of release.
Most serial killers have a background of neglect and abuse. They may suffer from a mental illness. Also, brain injuries may contribute to their psychopathic tendencies.
Serial killers are a type person who commits a series of murders, often with no apparent motive and typically following a characteristic, predictable behavior pattern. Most of the time something triggers them and then they go on their serial rampage. Some things that can be part of a serial killer's profile is they are normally white males, late 20’s early 30’s, kills with in own race, method of murder is hands on, and their victims are selected because they share specific characteristics. The types of serial killers are disorganized asocial and organized nonsocial. The different types of serial killers are: missionary killers, power seeking, lust killing, visionary killer, thrill killing. The profiling of a serial killer's changes upon the
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.
Several serial killers have a definitive and common personality profile. Almost every major social, biological, psychological behavioural influence that has been seriously suggested as playing a role in causing crime has been thoroughly thought as potentially contributing to the behavior of serial killers (Levin, 2008). The time period and amount of killings fluctuate depending on the individual committing the crimes. Usually, the murders happen in different geographical areas. A mass murder has a separate definition than a serial killer, because a serial killer has a “cooling off” period, where mass murders kill several individual in a single event.
A serial killer is a person who has killed three or more people over a month apart. Their motivation for killing is usually based on psychological issues. (Sanmartn,2001) In the U.S, the most reported serial killers are lower middle class white males, usually in their late twenties to early thirties (Skrapec,2001). Serial killers, often, are liars.
A serial killer is a person who murders three or more people over a period of more than 30 days, with a "cooling off" period between each murder, and whose motivation for killing is largely based on psychological gratification. Most people do not understand what can make a person want to kill multiple people for no reason other than their own satisfaction gain. In actuality, serial killers have been studied for over hundreds of years, and the information that has been documented continues to grow. The research that I have gathered about serial killers focuses on their childhood development, the differences and similarities between male and female serial killers, and finally general information on how their brains operate and their motives for committing such harmful acts. There have been many theories over the years about how a person becomes a serial killer, and how having an unstable childhood affects a person.
Serial killers have many frightening facets. The most frightening thing about them is that experts still do not know what makes a human become a serial killer. Many experts believe serial killers become what they are because they have a genetic disposition or brain abnormality while other experts believe that a serial killer is created by childhood abuse; and some other experts believe that it is a combination of both brain abnormalities and abusive childhood experiences that creates a serial killer. A murderer is considered a serial killer when they “murder three or more persons in at least three separate events with a “cooling off period” between kills” (Mitchell and Aamodt 40). When defining a serial killer, their background, genes, and brain are not mentioned; perhaps one day those aspects of the serial killer can be included.
A serial killer is defined in Webster's Dictionary as someone who murders more than three victims one at a time in a relatively short period of time. There is no one generic profile to identify a serial killer. They usually are people seeking for a sensation, a lack of guilt or remorse, a need for control, impulsivity, and predatory behavior. These traits make up a psychopathic personality disorder. Psychopathy is a disorder manifested in people who use a mixture of charm, manipulation, manipulation, and occasional violence to control others, in order to satisfy their own wants and needs. There are four main types of serial killers; thrill seekers, mission-oriented, visionary serial killers, and power and control killers. There may be other
'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...
In contrast, unorganized killers have a more advanced form of psychosis. They typically lack impulse control, do not plan their kills ahead of time, and use whatever is available to kill their victims. They also have no mode of transportation because they are not capable of keeping a job for an extended length of time (Warf and Waddell 329).
They are usually of low intelligence, and have poor social skills. They tend to not have many close family or friends. Their murders are not planned out beforehand, rather, they are done on impulse. The victims are chosen at random, whenever the killer sees an opportunity (Crime Museum). After committing a crime, he will often leave the scene very sloppy. He might leave the body or the murder weapon behind for law enforcement to find (Marshall). He also might leave DNA evidence behind which could be used to determine his identity and lead to his capture. Disorganized killers may also show signs of mental illness or have been physically or sexually abused during their childhood
Serial killers have been a major problem in the United States for a long time. We don’t know why they kill human beings, but many people are trying to figure out why. A serial killer is a person that has murdered three or more people over a period of a month. There is also a period of time between the murders know as the “cooling off period”. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, there have been approximately four hundred serial killers in the United States within the past century. The number of these murderers have increased over the past thirty years, with around eighty percent of them emerging since 1950.
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).
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...