Serial Killers: What They Are and How They Came to Be “At least seventeen persons[sic], mostly gay and black men, were known to have been murdered by Jeffrey Dahmer from 1988 to 1991. Dahmer cannibalized his victims, had sex with their corpses, and then dissolved them in a fifty-five-gallon vat of acid in his Milwaukee, Wisconsin, home” (“Serial Killers” par. 2). Dahmer committed such heinous and brutal killings that can hardly categorize him as human. Unfortunately, he is not alone; there have been by far more hideous murders over the past century. Serial killers like Dahmer are becoming more common in that they could be considered an epidemic. Many have questioned how these individuals become serial killers, some say they are a result …show more content…
Asocial killers are considered the shy loners. They are disorganized in the planning and carrying out of their killings. Many consider asocial serial killers cowardly in the fact that they will knock their victims unconscious first. Non-social killers are the opposite. They are organized, plan ahead, seemingly normal, and more imaginative and creative in the actual killing. The non-social serial killer will go for the slow sadistic kill and taunt police investigators (Whittington-Egan 326). There are said to be “seven phases of serial killer activity: Aura – day dreams and fantasies. Trolling – cruising and contact. Wooing – luring into clutches. Capture. Murder. Totem – collection of trophies, souvenirs. Depression – post-homicidal deflation” (Whittington-Egan 327). Michael H. Stone said in his book The Anatomy of Evil, there is a scale of one to six in the development of killers, and serial killers fall to five and six: the most horrific and evil cases (Stone 33). This is one of the reasons there is a debate between whether a serial killer is nature or …show more content…
These killers are referred to as psychotic. “Psychotic – the clinical term for a broad spectrum of deep mental illnesses including schizophrenia and paranoia” (CULLEN 31). In other words, these serial killers are genuinely insane. However, not all those with mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, paranoia, and depression, become serial killers. Unfortunately, drugs like LSD, cocaine, meth, etc., can change that. “Some people who start out with a psychotic condition also abuse some of those drugs, ending up with aggravated psychosis: their original inborn illness is now made considerably worse by drug abuse” (Stone 204). It is very likely that aggravated psychosis due to drugs will turn a person into a serial killer. With a psychotic serial killer their motives to kill would be something along the line of killing to extinguish their own torment. One case of a psychotic serial killer was Richard Chase. As a child, Chase would set fires and torture animals. He began using drugs in his teens. Chase would have various incidents involving delusions before he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Chase started to believe his problems were caused by a lack of blood, so he would kill animals to drink their blood and eat their entrails raw. Later on, he began doing the same thing with humans. Richard Chase was eventually caught in 1978 (Stone 205).
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.
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 interesting yet unnerving to the likes of American society. Serial killers commonly lack empathy and show no sign of guilt or remorse after they have committed a horrible act or crime. These characteristics are an indication of psychopathic tendencies. Although it may seem like these people would be easy to spot, it is actually much more difficult than normally thought. These killers have a special way of putting on a mask of sanity. They can act very charming and very intelligent when needed. Their talent in becoming a normal person is part of their manipulative mentality, which they use to capture most of their victims. These individuals usually get a type of psychological thrill or pleasure from their acts, which cause
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. Serial murderers are an atypical occurrence in the criminal justice system. The uncommon and horrific nature of these crimes are
There are many different relationships that children develop as they grow, babies know that they cry to get attention from their parent for food or just a cuddle this is the beginning of learning to build relationships. Every child and family are different in how they believe relationships should be made and who children are allowed to talk to or be around so everyone is different when it comes to who they trust or get along with. Relationships children and young people may have are: parental, carer, sibling, family, friendship, emotional, acquaintance and professional. Parental/carer is the relationship between the child and the person who is their main carer(s).
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
Almost every major social, biological, psychological, behavioural influence that has been seriously suggested as playing a role in causing crime has been thoroughly thought of 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 crime. 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 individuals in a single event. Each of a serial killer’s killings temporarily gratifies whatever provokes the killer’s actions, and each subsequent killing terminates a separate sequence of behaviors.
A killer is not born. A killer is made. However, we are all born with the potential to kill, and any one of us can be made into a killer. It might take a lot to drive us to murder, but some people are simply more susceptible to the idea than others. People tend to believe that serial killers are mentally ill individuals, however, more often than not, they are rational beings who have suffered tremendously. Often, we cannot tell who is a serial killer. It could be the person standing next to you, and you would not have the slightest indication. Serial killers are shaped by isolation from their peers, neglect from loved ones or caregivers, and copious amounts of physical and psychological abuse as children.
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.
Each serial killer can be classified as a specific type. The four main types of serial killers are thrill seekers, mission-oriented, visionary, and power and control. Thrill seekers kill for the sole purpose to entertain themselves. They also want attention from the media. Thrill seekers send messages and keep a record of their killings. Mission-orientated serial killers have a reason to be killing the type of person they are. They think that by getting rid of a certain group; for example, prostitutes, then they are doing a favor for the society. Their crime scenes are organized. Visionary serial killers have another personality, this is known as dissociative identity disorder. They tend to think that God or the demon has told them to do this. Power and control serial killers kill because it gives them power. They like to watch their victims suffer and scream. The tend to be abused when they are
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.
Many serial killers suffer from anti-social personality disorder or dissocial personality disorder. They are also psychopathic, meaning they have no empathy or guilt. They kill impulsively and they make up rules for themselves which are they only rules they follow. They have a “Mask of Sanity” meaning they never let anyone but their victims see their true selves. They also have resentment towards society for their own failings and can never take responsibility for their own actions.
...ion from their parents and will respond with various emotional and behavioral manners. A parent’s involvement begins early in a child’s life. As a child’s brain develops their knowledge from their encounters will be vital in their brain’s advancement. A parent’s involvement is important for their brains’ development because the parent can offer stability and security which is necessary for a child to grow. Children that have been observed experiencing separation from their parents will respond through different mediums. Children can also respond with different behaviors that are either short term and can develop into long term habits or parts of their personality. Children are sensitive creatures that do not respond well to unstable environments. A parent’s separation from their child could be more detrimental in some cases than staying in their child’s life.
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
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.