Making a Monster: The Biological, Social, and Artistic Construction of a Serial Killer From Psychosis to Sondheim 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. Although the behavioral patterns of serial killers have long been attributed to external (that is to say, social) causation, psychologists have recently begun to examine the biochemical circumstances underlying behavioral precursors of serial violence. A British philosopher, G.H. Lewes, noted that, " Murder, like talent, seems occasionally to run in families" (1,2). The observation, while loosely empirical in nature, has proven common enough to catalyze widespread research to identify a genetic factor resulting in a behavioral predisposition to violence. As yet, no single gene that unequivocally stimulates socially maladaptive aggression and violence has ... ... middle of paper ... ...s." J. Am. Psychiatry. 143:838-845. 1986. , A study noting the prevalence of head trauma and mental illness within a population of death-row inmates. http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/ 14)) Prothow-Smith, D. and H. Spivak. "America's Tragedy." Psychiatric Times. Vol. XVI, Issue 6. June, 1999. , A survey of mounting teen violence, including a detailed discussion of several biological precursors to violent behavior patterns. http://www.mhsource.com/ 15) Grinfeld, M. J. "Executing the Mentally Ill: Who is Really Insane?" Psychiatric Times. Vol. XV, Issue 5. May, 1998. , Discussion of the legal aspects of criminal insanity and violence research. http://www.mhsource.com/ 16) Gribben, Mark. "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street." Crime Library. , Presents facts and myths about Fleet Street's most famous serial killer. http://www.crimelibrary.com/
After Ruby defends the cleanliness of her hogs, she continues her assertion: “We have a pig parlor—that’s wh...
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 ...
The mind is such a beautiful, complex, and most times compassionate being, except for the times that it is not quite so beautiful and not quite so compassionate. A serial killer for example has a brain just like you and I, but instead of obeying their surroundings and having a general respect for others, these serial killers in fact kill. While most of society may label these killers as crazy and brush off any other causes for their actions other than their pure evilness, I feel differently. What if the part of the “average” persons brain that deals with their feelings of anger is a little “off” in the serial killers brains. What if serial killers are “wired” differently? Through my research I plan to investigate the brain of a serial killer and prove that these “murder’s” brains are not the same as my own.
Nature versus nurture has been argued in attempt to understand how criminals behave. The theory of what influences psychopath and serial killers’ violent and destructive pathways has not been agreed on till this day. Criminals such as psychopaths and serial killers have been researched for the past two decades. Scientists have found that genetics is a determining factor of who becomes a serial killer. It is important to understand the determinants involved within a serial killer, because if these social and environmental causes are discovered, they can be altered and controlled to reduce crime (Lykken, 1993). With more studies, we would therefore prevent mass murders and could assist in significant reductions of crime within society.
Most serial killers exhibit three symptoms as children that would be considered warning flags. This is known as the “triad of Sociopathy […] the triad consists of bed-wetting after the age of five, cruelty to animals and arson or an interest in fire” (Weatherby, Buller, McGinnis). This is supported by John E. Douglas, a FBI profiler, who helped capture many serial killers. In his interviews with serial killers, he found out that most were abused by one of their parents, mostly by their mother. In one of his first interviews, the man’s mother was friendly towards everyone outside of her home, “yet at home, she treated her timid son as if he were dirt” (Douglas, John E.). The abuse would have further led to development as every killer’s brain examined by Jim Fallon, a neuroscientist, “had damage to their orbital cortex. How you end up with a psychopath and a killer depends on when the damage is done” (Fallon, Jim). Another factor that influences the development of a serial killer is that most killers have too much serotonin. This is caused by the “major violence genes [… which are] in the normal population […and are] sex length. It’s [loc...
In the Healthcare Delivery & Organization aspect of society, Delivery Systems plays an important role, and one such one is Long-Term Care. Long-Term Care (LTC) which is also called custodial care is a diversity of services which help to meet the non-medical and medical aspects of human beings who have a need with a chronic illness or disability who cannot take care of themselves for long periods (Barton, 2009). Long-term care can involve providing custodial and non-skilled care, such as giving assistance with normal daily tasks. Long-Term Care’s diversity can be provided at home, in the community, nursing homes or assistant living facilities. People of any age, and gender may need long-term care, even though it is more common when dealing
And while it isn’t a way to improve the quality, I support taking crucial steps to protect our health and those around us in this unhealthy climate. Local schools have recess policies. When the Quality Index reaches any condition beyond “good”, a health plan kicks in. Recess time is moved indoors or outside activity curtailed. In the higher danger zones, outdoor activities are eliminated altogether, with sporting events canceled or rescheduled. (Air quality - Clovis unified school district, 2015). The City of Fresno sets up cooling centers to allow residence to go indoors in a cool environment to keep at-risk groups from risking heat related illnesses as they attempt to stay indoors in areas without air conditioning or the financial means to pay high electric
Celerity gossip and entertainment news have become a significant and influential part of popular culture. As selling random bits of information about the lives of wealthy and famous characters and personas has become a full on industry, the impact that can come from it forms into a large part of our society. Looking at this impact through three major schools of sociological thought, Structural Functionalism, Conflict Theory, and Symbolic Interactionism, a better understanding of just how far these effects can go can be achieved.
By the late 1970s it was very evident that the traditional setting of a nursing home was no longer suitable for the aging seniors and their family members. With developments in medicine seniors were able to age in place, so many were begging for the establishment of a nursing home. With many rumors of mistreatment and neglect surrounding long-term care receiving more and more advertising, the need for
Today, our environment faces air pollution; however, some of us are still not aware of it. It is a serious matter because it is all around us, and it causes harm to every single one of us; it might not be as evident in certain areas as others, but it is still present and affecting us in numerous ways. Air pollution, as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), is the contamination of the indoor or outdoor environment by any chemical, physical or biological agent that modifies the natural characteristics of the atmosphere (as cited in WHO, n.d.). In other words, air pollution is contaminated or dirty air. Furthermore, in the new estimates available, the WHO reports that 1 in
Celebrities--love them or hate them--have become an epidemic in today’s society and will continue to negatively affect those who continually position them in influential parts of life. The word “celebrity” is derived from the word “celebrate,” in that a person is supposedly famous because the community celebrates him or her (Wright 1). Celebrities influence the public in many negative ways, and since the invention of television and the internet, even more are affected each and every day, and lifestyles are more influenced in today’s society. Gossip magazines are only still around due to people’s fascination with celebrities in the public eye. News channels most likely than not have now relied on celebrity gossip to gain and maintain viewers in the twenty-first century. The reality of today’s media and celebrity culture is that public figures with a spotlight on them, either because of good or bad reasoning, are the role models of the twenty first century (Aalai 1). There is no shortage of celebrities and pop stars who have adopted the mindset that there is no such thing as a negative publicity (Huston, et al. 3), and because of this, celebrities more negatively than positively affect society’s public eye of today. Celebrity lifestyles have become increasingly more prevalent in today’s society, especially to teens and younger adults; they negatively affect its viewers through means of advertising products and self-images, including the fashion industry, unreal lifestyles portrayed across reality TV shows, and the news of the aftermath showcased to the public.
Imagine yourself in the front row seat to the most anticipated Bodybuilding Competition of the year, Mr. Olympia, seeing these hulk-like beasts flexing and exposing muscles that you may not even know existed. Rewind to the mid-1900s, the same competition but the size and body competition of the Gentlemen competing is distinctively noticed. Years of competition has drastically pushed the limits of perfection to an entirely new boundary unlike before, thus creating a new goal to reach. Whether the ideal body be that of an Ancient Greek God with the bulging 6-pack to the Modern day Ronnie Coleman who is the definition of a real life Hulk, we are able to differentiate how the definition of muscular and strength has changed throughout the years. Muscularity had a different meaning in the past compared to current times, thus we will be examinimg the progress of people’s muscular transformation over the years
Although air pollution is not really thought of to be a big contributing factor to declining health, according to Medical Doctor, Harry Heimann, it can be one of the biggest killers. We do not see air pollution, so we are not inclined to think much of it, but it can be extremely harmful. Certain illnesses are air-borne and of course we acquire the ever-present aerosols and gases that greatly poison the air we depend on, and not only that, but can help aid in the spread of these harmful agents (Heimann). Not only can air pollution affect the general population, but it can have a disastrous effect on those with asthma or other allergic diseases. An estimated twenty-five million people in the United States alone suffer from asthma, which accounts for approximately forty percent of the United States population. That is already a large number, but as air pollution increases, those numbers are increasing concurrently. The diagnosis of asthma is rising to an extremity, with approximately thirty percent of those diagnoses in children, with environmental factors such as air pollution as the cause (WHO). In the most severe cases, asthma can cause death. Approximately 3,000 asthma cases each year in the United States are fatal, and that number could gradually increase if we do not stop global warming and decrease our role in air pollution.
Air is arguably the most needed element to sustain life on Earth. Air quality is the degree of clean air that surrounds us and good air quality refers to clean, unpolluted air that is essential to maintaining the delicate balance of life on this planet (British Columbia Air Quality 101 2016). However, with the industrialization age and its heavy use of coal power machineries, to today’s age and our ever growing use of automobile air quality has gotten worst. In the US, for example, California has the worst air quality of all the major cities (CNN Air pollution report 2016). However, several efforts are taking place to address the problem.
Air pollution, is something that has been a problem in the United States, for some time now. Throughout the last few years, there have reportedly been huge population increases in majority of the major cities. Those cities include: Atlanta, Ga., Los Angeles, Ca., Salt Lake City, Ut., and many others. Ironically these same cities are the ones that have the worst air quality in the United States.