The year is 1967 and Theodore Bundy, an average American college student has fallen in love with Stephanie, a dark haired co-ed of the same state university. He convinces her to go on a few dates, but she quickly loses interest, later citing his lack of ambition. The rejection on his heels, Bundy shifts gears and spends the next six years of his life transforming himself into the law student of her dreams. When they meet again Bundy holds the upper hand and Stephanie falls in love. A short time after the small wedding ceremony Bundy abandons Stephanie during a ski vacation and she never hears from him again.(2)
In the context of this short historical blip from the life of America's most "normal" serial killer the ensuing killing and mutilation spree may be explained in any number of ways. Biologically we could look for an imbalance in neurotransmitter firing or an oversized development in the frontal lobe of his brain. Sociologically we could point to society's need to produce deviants in order to see itself more clearly. A psychoanalyst might notice that Stephanie and most of his victims bore a strange resemblance to Bundy's mother, of whose identity he was deceived until late in adolescence.
Each of these explanations provides its own compelling paradigm for looking at 'abnormal' behavior, then leaves great gaps in the understanding of our own 'normally' irregular behavior. We will forever be attracted to deviance models as a way of examining that which we are not, but 'normal' human behavior is also sporadic. More vigorous models are needed to take in the inconsistency, pick out the places where patterns begin to emerge, and go there to seek a more profound summary of observations.
With the help of these models ...
... middle of paper ...
... York: Springer, 1997.
5) Bak, P.; Paczuski, M. "Mass Extinctions vs. Uniformitarianism in Biological Evolution." Physics of Biological Systems. New York: Springer, 1997.
6) Flyvbjerg, H.; Bak, P.; Jensen, M.H.; Sneppen, K. "A Self-Organized Critical Model for Evolution." Modelling the Dynamics of Biological Systems. New York: Springer, 1995.
7) Class notes. Bryn Mawr College. Biology 202, Professor Grobstein.
Web References:
8)Introduction to Chaos Theory, short but easy to understand
http://www.duke.edu/~mjd/chaos/chaos.html
9)Chaos Theory, very good and comprehensive
http://www.wfu.edu/%7epetrejh4/chaosind.htm
10)Second Law of Thermodynamics, for non scientists, very easy to use
http://www.entropysimple.com/
11)Variability in Brain Function and Behavior, interesting article by our prof
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/EncyHumBehav.html
Serial killers are one of the most fascinating and morbid groups of people to study. A
Islam continued to spread by making the idea of being a Muslim sound great. The Muslim Empire didn’t force any Muslims to pay taxes(Doc 1). The idea of changing religions made a lot of sense money wise. The change to Islam was not a large difference, pray more, and eat a little less during sun up. The idea of going to paradise after your death seemed Marvelous (Doc 2). It also gave you an idea about fighting for the Muslim Army, if you died, you would be taken to Heaven with Allah and his Apostle. To some
Some people believe that trade routes were most important reason in Islam expansion.People travel through Mecca and trade there while on their way to other cities such as Aden, Medina, and Petra.(Document A) This shows that Mecca is in the middle of many trade cities, as a result of this trade moves through the city. Trade allows people to interact and move around, when they move around they bring their religious beliefs with them. Mecca was also the home to the most famous pagan shrine, the Ka’ba(Document A).This proves that many people come to Mecca, they came seeking the Ka’ba for their own religions that were important to them. , while they were in the city they began to trade. The people came seeking the Ka’ba but they may hear some Islamic people talking about their own religion. While they listen they might like what they hear. This is not an important reason for the quick spread of Islam because the trade routes themselves don’t make people
The modern world is linked through networks of communication and exchange between peoples. These exchanges between regions has changed cultures, economics, and politics. Through time the cultural influence between regions has consisted of many factors and elements but comes down to the spread of religion and religious teachings , movement of peoples, technological and cultural advancements affecting trade and commerce. Beginning with the Middle Ages in the years 1100-1500 , Africa, Asia, and Europe developed and influenced each other in several different ways. Starting with religion. The birth of Islam in the Middle East rapidly spread throughout Afro- Eurasia. Islam was attractive to people who were uninterested in the requirements of Christianity and the Church.
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.
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
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.
Most of the time people cannot comprehend why people that work in the forensic department are sometimes overwrought with anxiety when they have a serial killer case brought into their lab. These forensic scientists have these feelings due to knowing that this could potentially help advance technology. Over the years, serial killers have unpremeditatedly helped further advance the criminal investigation process by unintentionally leaving things behind for a forensics team to analyze. When the team finally solves these cases, it continually propels things such as DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) analysis, finger print techniques, and not to mention the investigation process itself.
As police walk into an abandoned house, a foul stench overtakes them. The room is dim and looks as though no one has been here for months. They walk further into the house and begin to see spots of blood on the floor. They follow this trail down the stairs into the basement where the smell becomes overwhelming, causing some of the officers to gasp and run back up the stairs. In the basement, they find the remains of several young boys who have been molested and badly mutilated. What could cause someone to participate in such horrendous deeds? What sort of person is able to perform such wicked acts?
Could the male serial killer commit these murders for more personal reasons, than just an urge? In some male serial killers there is a non-violent tendency that can prove that they are killing based on a motive rather than the need to kill. Although countless serial killers that have been in the news and are widely known have been killing based on urge, there are a series of men who kill due to the fact that they have no choice. Whether it 's their reputation on the line, a relationship, or a job. They have the motive to kill based on their life and the circumstances. After all the FBI does consider a person who has made three consecutive kills a serial killer. So throughout this essay I will show that there is furthermore to the male serial
There have been many serial killer cases that have attracted the attention of not only the media but of mental health experts as well. Many experts from a variety of different fields have come together to answer one question: Why did they do it? It is believed that most, if not all, serial killers have a mental illness, motives, and/or trauma during their lives that made them start killing. Serial killers are not only the effect of nurture but also nature. The environment of their country, the United States is our focus, can cause the number of serial killers to increase especially if the country itself is unstable.
We can all agree that serial killers are unpredictable scary people but when it comes to why they kill, everyone has a different view. In my research paper I will get into the mind of a serial killer and try to figure out what exactly sets them into uncontrollable rage.
Creeping around the shadowy house, the predator found its prey waking to strange sounds. The victim lay facedown, with a sweating forehead pressed fearfully into the pillow, silently praying the noises would just go away. Suddenly the victim found himself straddled and pinned to the bed. He was unable to scream for help due to the pressure of the handle of a pick-axe against his throat, preventing any breath from escaping, much less any sound. The victim struggled beneath the weight of the assailant. The scant light from the sodium-arc street light outside cast a peculiar silhouette on the walls of the darkened room, projecting an image that looked oddly like that of a cowboy saddled upon a bucking bull at a rodeo. Struggling to dismount the attacker, the victim felt the piercing blows of the sharp point of the pickaxe, succumbing to death only after receiving eleven stab wounds to the chest and throat. The thrill of the kill was stimulating enough that, when interviewed later, the murderer reported “popping a nut,” that is, becoming so sexually aroused by the event, to the point of having an orgasm (Pearson, 1998).
The general profile for a serial killer is an intelligent white male in their mid to late 20’s and 30’s. Many serial killers begin their life with an unstable childhood. The lack of loving and nurturing relationships plays a large role in this. Physical and emotional abuse during childhood is a common trend for children who grow up to be serial killers. Abusing animals, bedwetting into a late age, and exposure to alcohol/substance abuse are also common in a serial killer’s childhood. Not all serial killers are the same, one type of serial killer is a visionary killer. These people are psychotic (schizophrenia and paranoia) and believe they are being told to kill by a greater force such as God. Mission oriented killers believe they are doing
Why do people kill one another? This is a question most people ask themselves when they hear someone has been killed. Sometimes a person kills another person because a part of his or her brain is wrong; other times it’s something far worse. (1: SV; SV.) Serial killers commit heinous crimes because of a couple things: the person either has a personality disorder, or because of decreased connectivity within that person’s brain. (3: SV: SV.)