More handpicked essays just for you.
Crime and mental illnesses
The relationship between mental illness and crime is complex
The relationship between mental illness and crime is complex
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
While there’s been a load of research on the human brain, no one fully understands it. The brain is relatively small, only weighing about 3 pounds, yet it is a very complex system. Human behavior researchers have spent years trying to understand why people make the choices they make. Even so there is not much known on why people become serial killers. There are some explanations on why a serial killer kills, yet there is no clear answer to how they start their killing spree. In this paper we will try and understand if a person is just born to kill or if it is due to something a parent or other prominent figure has done, that makes them into a monster.
Almost all psychopathic killers are male very few are female which could mean that
…show more content…
They also showed sadistic tendencies either experimenting with animals or committing small crimes before murder. Some high intelligence but are diagnosed with a mental disease. Often serial killers experiment with their victims trying different crueler ways of torture.
Besides some minor differences, serial killers are very much alike. Dr. Helen Morrison says “No matter what country, ethnicity, race, socioeconomic background, education, familial background, they are all exactly the same.” (Rogers, 2012) Serial killers desire to kill becomes bigger and bigger until they cannot control their own urges. Even though serial killers commit these heinous acts, they still need to see their victims as below human, calling the victims cargo and such.
Because serial killers are often looked on as quiet loners or even productive members of the community, the community is usually taken by surprise. In the case of John Gacy who was married and owned a business, killed and raped 33 young males and buried them under his house. Not even his wife knew what he was up to. Serial killers are never the maniac running across the street with a butcher knife or axe; they are the next-door neighbor that keeps to
…show more content…
Phillip Garrido was a normal child until at 14 years old was involved in a horrible motorcycle accident. After the accident he started to fantasize about rape and he used drugs. Later on he kidnapped Jaycee Dugard an 11-year-old girl and kept her for 18 years. There are different lobes connected to the frontal lobe and to the lobes on the side of the brain that have to do with sexual desire. If those areas of the brain are damaged someone’s view on sex can be messed up. Also at the University of Wisconsin the Madison a study of brain scans of criminal psychopaths revealed that the criminal decreased connectivity between the amygdala and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). If there is low connectivity between these two structures of the brain, there is no strong negative emotion felt by the psychopath. This study shows some correlation between brain abnormalities and criminal
In many cases, serial killers began their lives as remotely normal human beings. Most, however, have detectable characteristics of murderers before they hit puberty. Otis O’toole, for example, started a neighbourhood fire when he was six. George Adorno was even younger when he first displayed his pyromaniac tendencies by setting fire to his own sister when he was four. Along with pyromaniac behavior, other often-cited warning signs are enuresis (bed-wetting) and cruelty toward animals. Often, serial murderers are abused physically, psychologically, and sexually as children, sometimes from a stranger, but in most cases from a trusted family member or friend. Typically, they come from broken families, usually...
The term serial killer was created in the 1970’s by a man named Robert Ressler. He chose serial killer as the name to describe a killer that murders three or more victims over a period of time because the FBI were always studying a series of cases created by the killers (Freeman, 2007). Serial killers have been around for centuries, since ancient times. There have been many studies done to try and figure out how the minds of serial killers work, so the FBI can catch them and find a way to stop them. Not all serial killers are the same, this makes it hard to figure them out and provide a clear definition of how their minds work. Most serial killers have similar character traits and can be classified into different categories to make it easier to find patterns and reasons as to why they are killing.
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.
The most common characteristics that many serial killers share are killing and abusing of animals during childhood, fetishism, anti-socialism, high I.Q.’s (while also doing poorly in school), and alcohol and/or substance abuse. Fictional character, Dexter Morgan, exhibited serial killing tendencies from a young age. He would kill neighborhood animals and was forced by his father to fake emotion and normality to fit in. It appears that Showtime hit the nail on the head with this one. One of the most well known serial killers, Ted Bundy, was infamously known for being cold and merciless. During interviews, he responded to questions about his victims by calling himself cold and explaining that he could not care less about his victims. Cannibalistic serial killer, Jeffrey Dahmer, started out by killing dogs and leaving their heads out on a stick for others to see before moving on to killing and eating people. These are just a few examples of many that prove that commonality is what makes a serial killer, a serial
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
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.
They have no sense of remorse or guilt. Most of the time they are not in serious relationship or have any emotional obsession with 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. (Sanmartn, 2001). Often, women were never seen as even a suspect in a serial murder, but little did they know, women were just as bad as men.
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.
Serial killers are defined to “be driven by instinct and desire to kill.” In a study done in 2000, Dr, Richard Davidson says, “people with a large amount of aggression – in particular people who have committed aggressive murders or have a social disorder – have almost no brain activity in the orbital frontal cortex or the anterior cingulated cortex while activity in the amyglade continued perfectly. The orbital frontal cortex and the anterior congulated cortex control emotional impulses while the amyglade controls reactions to fear.” Davidson concludes his research claiming that although environment can and will affect a serial killer’s thoughts, it is a killer’s genetic makeup that inevitably creates murderous thoughts.
Serial killers have captivated the attention of scientists from the first signs of their existence to modern day. Interested by these killers’ inhumane actions, researchers set out to determine the cause of such graphic, horrific crimes. The brain has been brought into question regarding the motivation of these cold blooded killers. After extensive research, abnormalities of both the chemical composition and material makeup have been identified within the brains of numerous serial killers. These differences are more than mere coincidence, they are evidence that killers do not think in the same way. The killers’ drives and motives are irregular, just as their brains are. Not only are these variations interesting, but they are also crucial to the justice system in regards to the punishment of past, future, and present sequential murderers. It is important that as a society we learn the differences in the mind of a killer, and also recognize and understand them. A serial killer’s brain greatly differs in function from the average citizen’s brain due to physical variations in the brain and a different chemical makeup.
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.
...e to murder over a period of time frequently show sociopath tendencies. Serial killer's have little self-esteem and a sociopath's inability to feel other people's pain or sorrow for any wrongful acts that they have committed (Casey, p. 80).
A serial killer is a person that has killed three or more people withing a period of time, then they take a some time off which is called the “cooling period”. Some people say that serial killers kill because of a psychological gratification. Serial killers are people who suffer from psychotic breaks, they believe that they are another person and might also hear voices. There are two most common sub groups which are “Demon Mandated” They kill because a demon ordered them to do it, A “God Mandated” kills because god sent them to do it because the person wasn’t doing holly things. Serial killers face many problems in their childhood, trauma can create a deviant behavior in adulthood. The family or environment plays a big part, when children are rejected or neglected they are unavaible to create social relationships. Which will lower their self esteem , this will help them start developing their fantasies. Children don’t have the power to control the mistreatment that they suffer so they create a new reality , one that helps them escape from what they’re living. This reality becomes their fantasy , one that they have total control off and during this time the child becomes sociopathic. In their world a person doesn’t do any harm and the pain of others had no consequences when it is providing satisfying needs to the person, they lack empathy for their victims. If they...