Homicidal Behavior Essay

Statistically, the average serial killer is a white male from a lower-to-middle-class background, usually in his twenties or thirties. Many were physically or emotionally abused by parents. Some were adopted. As children, fledgling serial killers often set fires, torture animals, and wet their beds (these red-flag behaviors are known as the “triad” of symptoms.) Brain injuries are common. Some are very intelligent and have shown great promise as successful professionals. They are also fascinated with the police and authority in general (Scott).

Around the world, several new cases of serial homicides are reported every year. (Vronsky 15). Ninety-seven percent of serial murders are committed by psychopaths: someone who lacks a conscience, feels no remorse, cares exclusively for his own pleasures and cannot empathize with the suffering of his victims (Levin and Fox 4). The psychopathic state is not a mental illness but is a behavioral or personality disorder (Vronsky 245). When these behavioral components are combined with the desire to kill, an addiction is triggered and rarely broken. The psychology of a psychopathic serial killer produces specific character traits that cannot be altered therefore rehabilitation and imprisonment will be unsuccessful in treatment.

Mass Murderers and Serial Killers are nothing new to today’s society. These vicious killers are are generally vicious, fierce beasts and have an unusual inclination to murder. The questions that people ask about serial killers and mass murderers are what gives these people the desire to kill? What inspires them to continue murdering? Do these killers get fulfillment from slaughtering? Is there a contrast between mass murderers and serial killers or would people say they are the same? How do they pick their victims and what are some of their characteristics? This paper will highlight the answers to these questions and give a better insight of what goes on in the minds of mass murderers and serial killers.

Serial murder crime though rare, is not a a new phenomenon. This crime has been committed for centuries and will continue to be a crime that is committed throughout the world. It is unfortunate and scary that this is probably one of the most serious of crimes that cannot be prevented. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, serial murderers commit their crimes because they want to. Rehabilitation is not obtainable for serial killers due to their inability for remorse and empathy, or to see people as people and not objects(Knight 2006). This research paper will focus primarily on serial murder within the U.S. First and foremost, a legal definition provided by the U.S. Department of Justice will be presented to set forth the discussion of this research paper. As follows will be a detailed discussion explaining serial killer typologies with the use of examples of known serial killers in the U.S. Types of serial killers are: power oriented, mission oriented, visionary, and hedonistic, each typology will be clearly defined and explained. Some serial killers can have a mixture of each typology’s characteristic. Serial killers that will be discussed and used as examples to represent the content of this research paper will be, John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, Robert Berdella, Jeffery Dahmer, and lastly the most prolific serial killer in American history, Gary Ridgeway. Problems with studying serial killing, are that because of rarity and access. Most of what we think

Many individuals who become serial killers were physically, mentally, and emotionally abused and a majority were also sexually abuse by someone close to their family. These actions make a child feel inferior and helpless and those are feelings they eventually want to instill on their victims. 7. Voyeurism- From a young age many serial killers experienced voyeurism by obtaining sexual gratification by looking at sexual objects or acts, especially secretively.

Are serial killers determined by nature or nurture – are they born? Or are they made? It is hypothesized that serial killers are made by the environment that they grow up in but that they all have a predisposition to sociopathic tendencies. This research paper aims to provide support for previous studies about the extent to which nature and nurture influence and determine the likelihood of a person becoming a serial killer.

Tommy entered the house, it was quiet, and he went to the kitchen to get a snack. Tommy dropped his plate causing a loud clattering noise, waking his mother. Tommy’s mom was furious, walked around the corner and started beating Tommy for waking her. As she was beating him a man came around the corner to stop her. It was Tommy’s dad. In a blind rage, Tommy’s mom grabbed the gun from the kitchen drawer; the one she used to threaten Tommy for all his wrong doings and shot Tommy’s father. Tommy’s experiences of regular, yet unpredictable beatings ending with a traumatic death experience forever changed Tommy’s life. After a traumatic experience, a chemical imbalance in the brain occurs; leaving this untreated can cause someone to become a serial killer. Traumatic life experiences, abuse, and an inability to have healthy coping strategies can lead to a chemical imbalance in the brain. Abuse, trauma, and poor coping skills combined can lead to the creation of a killer. Criminologists have identified several common life experiences that convicted serial killer have had in common. One identified experience shared by convicted serial killers is the witnessing a murder or death. Another is experiencing abuse from a young age. The kind of is not as significant a factor, but many serial killers reported higher incidences of sexual and emotional abuse. Abuse combined with a significant traumatic experience has been determined to cause a chemical imbalance in the brain. Another

We as humans are born with the potential to create and accomplish some great and mighty things. For example some people decide to become lawyers, doctors, teachers, and even business owners. All of which will make them a great asset to society. On the other hand behavioral experts have noted that there exist extremely violent people in society who don’t seem to be contributing anything positive. Such individuals seem to prey on the weak and innocent. The aim of this study is to attempt to understand just what makes a serial killer function and act on such a high level of aggression. Several theories will be observed and noted in an effort to properly analyze this issue of the psych of a serial killer. Hopefully the results will add behavioral experts in formulating strategies concerning prevention and intervention.

The idea of serial killers has intrigued us all. today’s society profits off them with new television series and biographies of our most infamous killers. Psychologists and sociologists alike want answers as to what makes a serial killer kill. Scientists may explore serial killing through a sociological lens to see if there have been any findings to predispositions of serial killers due to social circumstances. This way, they may have an advantage to preventing serial killers from developing.

Another characteristic of a serial killer is sexually stressfully events in childhood. Obviously, violent sexual events during childhood impact a child’s life tremendously. In my research, I found several known serial killers were forced as kids to dress up like girls for punishment. Unfortunately, some of them ended up with horrible diseases from it. More often than not, it was by the child’s parents/family member. It was these experiences that led to fantasies later on in their

Ioana (2013) states that serial killers are influenced by their environment, and this aids them in their craft. Ioana (2013) relates the traits of the studied serial killers to traits of psychopaths, and produces the connection that it is common to find that serial killers lack normal close relationships. Psychopaths are known to strive for stimulation, they do not attain it in the same manner as the average person, Ioana (2013) compares the pleasure a serial killer gains from killing to the stimulation psychopaths strive for. This infers that psychopathic characteristics have been found in known serial killers and therefore the theory of psychopathy can be applied when explaining the crime of serial

The top three most reported behaviors are daydreaming, compulsive masturbation, and isolation. Daydreaming seems like a healthy, normal phase in every child’s life, but this behavior actually makes sense for serial killers. The reason is that one of the most important components to the creation of a serial killer is fantasy. The killings are usually part of a complicated fantasy that builds to a climax at the moment of their deadly outburst (Serial Killer Info Polls). The creation of this fantasy starts as a child when the child is frequently left alone for long periods of time. This isolation bores the child and they resort to their minds for company. We can all remember the days of imagining our knight in shining armor coming to the rescue, or pretending to have immense strength, like the Incredible Hulk or Superman, to help them escape from any situation. In the cases of serial killers this fantasy/daydream world has been taken to an extreme. Masturbation begins during these fantasies and contributes much to the

As a reminder, fantasies play a significant role in the lives of these serial killers and the acting out of the killing is the acting out of fantasies (Prentky et al., 1989; Ressler et al., 1988). It is suggested that the reason that they kill again and again is because reality is never as good as the fantasies. It was Freud (1914)

According to Bartels and Parsons, it is believed that there is a dominant understanding of a serial killer that it has to do with a sexual fantasy role, which has to do with a role of sexual fantasy. “Fantasy is defined by Prentky et al. (1989: 889) as ‘an elaborated set of cognitions (thoughts) characterised by preoccupation (or rehearsal), anchored in emotions, and originating in daydreams’’’ (Bartels and Parsons, 2009, 267-268), as well as them being involved in cognitions or images that are sexually arousing (2009). This all goes back to an “isolated sexual murder” (Bartels and Parsons, 2009, 268), in 1885, the first emphasis on sexual fantasy was in 1957 by Reinhardt. Back then is what led to the term “sexual sadistic killer” (Bartels and Parsons, 2009). In 1992 Ressler defined a true meaning of what’s the meaning to the term serial killer, that they have an obsession with fantasies of murder and this leads them to repeat the crimes until they have successfully acted out these fantasies

Serial killers are people that murder more than three other people. The phrase ‘Serial Killer’ strikes fear deep into the hearts of just about every person. But, it is often thought that fear is what drives some curiosities, thus finding it congruous to understand why serial