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The psychology of serial killers
The psychology of serial killers
Social factors that contribute to criminal behavior
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Mass Murderers and Serial Killers
Although Mass Murderers and Serial killers differ in their motives and approaches, both types have similar backgrounds and beliefs. “Mass murder is sometimes confused with serial murder by the public and the media.” (Bonn, S. 2015). Serial killers kill at least 2 people. “The classic definition of serial murder also requires a period of time between the murders. This pause or break between killings is necessary to distinguish between a mass murder, which is a one-time event, and serial murder, which has multiple incidents.” (Bonn, S. 2015). There are several things they have in common such as their backgrounds, their IQ’s and their relationship status. Mass murderers and serial killers also both display psychopathic
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“Most of the time they are white men who are divorced or single. Their issues stem from the lack of a father figure that works its way into their adult relationships” (Harper, D. (2006). As children, they are often bedwetters, fire starters and animal abusers. “The "Homicide Triad", which is the traits of a serial killer when they are a child, is the key factor in the development of serial killers. The "Homicide Triad" that includes bed-wetting, arson and animal torture as a child, is one of the most common traits of a serial killer (Newton, 2000, 101). As they grow up they become more dysfunctional themselves despite their high IQ. While they have many similarities, they are slightly different in the aspect that mass murderers tend to be less social then serial killers. They would prefer to be at home alone, contained with their rage while for a serial killer part of their thrill lies in deceiving people. “Serial killers are often ‘peeping Tom’s’ before they graduate to murder.” (Knoll, J. (2006). Although they have differences one thing remains abundantly clear, many people would never guess what is going on in their mind at any …show more content…
Serial killers commit their crimes on at least three separate occasions in various places and with one victim at a time. “Each murder is strategically planned and obsessed over.” (Knoll, J. 2006). They are not insane at the moment but instead coolly detached. They have planned over every detail and their every thought is on their victim and the crime that is about to happen. Often, investigators have deduced this is because of their early formative years. “Investigators with significant experience interviewing serial murderers have speculated that the behavior may result from a deadly convergence of: 1) early childhood attachment disruptions; 2) psychopathy; and 3) early traumatogenic abuse.” (Knoll, J. (2006). After the killing is over they find a dump spot and depending on how fast they want it to be discovered leave the body. Often, they will take a trophy with them so they can relive what they have done. “Once caught serial killers thrill over telling the authorities every detail of their crime.” (Harper, D. 2006). Mass murderers, much like serial killers, have planned in their minds everything they are about to do. They are un-compassionate, cruel and manipulative. While the crimes are different and planned in diverse ways the two at the core remain the same with their sociopathic behaviors and
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.
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.
Common psychological disturbances in the stages of making a serial killer are seen in childhood and are usually based upon mental and psychological abuse endured by a child.
In a Google search of “serial killer memorabilia”, approximately 135,000 results would appear. While the U.S. produces over eighty-five percent of the world’s serial killers (“Why do Americans Idolize Serial Killers?” 11), Americans still tend to treat these murderers as icons and celebrities. As defined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a serial killer is expressed as the unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender(s), in separate events. While it is no secret that serial killers have a different mindset than that of a normal person, do these murderers have genetically different minds? Although there is no exact answer as to what causes certain people to have the urge to kill, studies from the “Minnesota Study of Twins
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 issue.(Sanmartín,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. They have no sense of remorse or guilt. Most of the time they are not in serious relationship or have any emotional obsession to any one person, besides their victims. Most of the well-known serial killers are: Robert Pickton, Charles Manson, Anthony Sowell, Ted Bundy, The Zodiac Killer, The Green River Killer, and The BTK murderer. (Sanmartín,2001). Often, women were never seen as even a suspect
Almost all people know who serial killers are, but what exactly defines a serial killer. The FBI defines serial murder as “a minimum of three to four victims with a ‘cooling off’ period between, the killer is usually a stranger to the victim, the murders reflect a need to sadistically dominate the victim, and the murder is rarely for profit.” (Vronsky, 2004, p.36) Serial killers are usually a white male from a lower-to-middle-class background typically in his twenties or thirties. Also, 85% of the world’s serial killers live in America, with at least twenty to fifty unidentified active serial killers plotting another one of their killings. On average, every person has seen or met at least 37 serial killers in their lifespan.
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 are people who kill three or more people. They don’t have a close relationship with their victims. They are mostly white, younger males, but this might not always be the case. Many serial killers have specific childhood experiences that contribute to their urge to kill. Genetics can play a role, for example; specific patterns of genes found in serial killer’s brains. Many serial killers do at least one of these things as a child: wet their bed, set fires, and torture animals. Child who have problems; for example, being abused either physically or sexually, parent troubles, and school problems can lead to someone being more likely to be a serial killer.
Despite popular belief, serial killers are not always people that have that stereotypical “serial killer” look to them. Yes, most do not usually look happy and cheerful, but most of the time they just look like normal people. They are not always skinny, or have a long scraggly beard. There are some common myths about serial killers that many people believe to be true. For starters, most think that serial killers are male. The common belief is that the men are the aggressors, and women are always the victim; although that is found to mostly be the case, it is not one hundred percent true. “Approximately 17 percent of all serial homicides in the U.S. are committed by women”(Bonn). Another myth about serial killers is that they are always lonely,
Countless serial killers have had an abnormal childhood; many people believe this is where the catalyst of events starts. It is proven, that more often than not, serial killers have either lived in an inhabitable home, had lackadaisical parents, or could have a different frame of mind. This being said, when one hears about mass murderers or serial killers, the first question that pops into a person’s head is, “What were they thinking?” For all a person knows, this could be the killer’s normalcy.
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.
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 term “serial killer” was created in the mid-1970s by a man named Robert Ressler, a former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Violent Criminal Apprehension Program. “He chose "serial" because the police in England called these types of murders "crimes in a series" and because of the serial films that he grew up watching.”(Freeman). Before this term was created these murders were known as mass murders crimes. Serial killers can be act-focused, who kill quickly or process-focused, who kill slowly and torture their victims.
So what makes a serial killer? Levin points out that contrary to popular belief, serial killers don't just 'snap'; or 'go crazy'; (Douglas, p. 137). Many of the serial killers have been the victims of childhood abuse. Jack Levin stated 'Research shows many serial killers suffered abuse, incest or neglect as children and develop poor self images'; (Douglas, p. 137). Serial killers often have a childhood marked by the absence of any nurturing relationship. 'They often come from families where the parents were absent or ineffective, where authority was not defined, and where they could engage in destructive behavior undeterred-violent play, cruelty to animals, and incidents of arson being some of the childhood behavior patterns noted among many serial killers'; (Clark, p. 206).