Serial Killers Or Offenders

Serial killer is described as an example of a murderer who kills several individuals over a long period of time. While these people are usually male motivated by various psychological motives such as power, the number of female serial killers has increased significantly in the recent past. Unlike their male counterparts, female serial killers use less visible means of murder such as poisoning in order to keep under the radar and remain discrete (Gilbert et. al., 2003). Since the less visible methods account for 80 percent of deaths caused by female serial killers, these criminals can be considered as gentle killers.

Serial murder is one of the most baffling crimes that occur in the U.S. and all over the world. Knight (2006) defines serial murder as the killing of three or more people over a period of more than 30 days, with a significant cooling-off period. The cooling off period may be weeks, months or even years long. Researchers have proposed various psychological, biological and sociological theories that offer a partial understanding of the nature of serial murder. Some propose that the basis for criminal behavior is a predisposition to violence as well as a mix between environment, personality traits and biological factors. Serial killers are predominantly male. Only 3 percent of serial murders are committed by women (U.S. News and World Report,

One of the bigger controversies today is the debate over nature versus nurture. With that debate going on there are many topics that are being researched under it, like serial killers, and what drives them to do what they do. Many scientists are still researching whether or not if serial killers are driven by the way they were raised or if it is a part of their genes.

This journal is written 3 authors: Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Central Florida and received his doctorate from the University of Cincinnati, Steven T. Holmes. Dean of the California School of Forensic Studies at Alliant International University, Eric W. Hickey, Ph.D. and Emeritus Professor in the Department of Justice Administration at the University of Louisville, Ronald M. Holmes, M.A. They constructed different types of females who are serial killers and discussed homicidal behavioral traits. It begins with differentiating

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

A serial killer is traditional defined as the separate killings of three or more people by an individual over a certain period of time, usually with breaks between the murders. (Angela Pilson, p. 2, 2011) This definition has been accepted by both the police and academics and therefore provides a useful frame of reference (Kevin Haggerty, p.1, 2009). The paper will seek to provide the readers with an explanation of how serial killers came to be and how they are portrayed in the media.

Throughout history, serial killers and murderers have received a significant number of news articles dedicated to them and have attracted audiences all around the world; however, the question that nobody can seem to answer is, “Why?” What causes people to grow up with the desire to kill and what can we do to prevent others from becoming serial killers in the future? “All serial killers are murderers, but not all murderers are serial killers,” as stated on The Undergraduate Times. A serial murder is defined by Encyclopedia Britannica as “the unlawful homicide of at least two people, carried out in a series over a period of time,” while mass murder is the

The stereotype that exists for individuals who commit serial murder is one that mainly includes males of a specific race. However, it is now known that white males are not the only individuals who commit serial murder. Men and women from all racial and ethnic backgrounds and socio-economic statuses have been found to be serial murderers. Although this information has been presented to society, the cultural schema of the white male serial killer is still prevalent. The assumptions that involve serial murderers often include two aspects, the serial murderer is male and the serial murder is a type of “lust murder”, often involving sexual crimes by a sadist (Keeney and Heide, 1995). Keeney and Heide (1994) define serial murder to be the

Furthermore, I specifically chose the gender of women because in communities; it is universally believed that only men kill so I took a different turn, although we portray women as house wives who settle for domestic purpose, women can be as brutal as their other half. I am also going to explore the common characteristics of a serial killer and what motivates females to opt for murder.

Dennis Nilson stated "a mind can be evil without being abnormal". If this is the case, then what makes a serial killer tick? The definition of a serial killer is; a series of two or more murders committed as separate events usually, but not always, by one offender standing alone. (Brookes, 1988) Over the years, many murderers have been given this term. From the early days of Jack the Ripper, to the most recently publicized case of "the sniper", all have different motives and reasons to the crimes that they commit. Most of the serial killers suffer from mental illness/addictions or have had traumatic life experiences. This is not always the case though; some can also be racially motivated. The typical serial killer is a lower to

Delving into the mind of a serial killer can be a dark and twisted place to go, but also very interesting and intriguing at the same time. While the majority of serial killers in history have been men, women have also had their place in this type of crime. Often our first question when we hear the news of a new serial killer, our first question is “who is he?” But as we will examine through the research for this paper, women can also be geared to not only kill but to do it over and over again. Although women historically are not as abundant as their male counterparts, there is quite a list of female serial killers. Two of those women are Aileen Wuornos, who has been deemed the first female serial killer, and Dorothea Puente.

Murder, with the word by itself it has such power. We have over 150 people getting killed annually because of murders, but why? How is it possible for someone to have the heart to murder someone without any moral guilt? What is their motive? There are people out there who just think murderers are completely insane, but in my opinion there has to be much more for someone to just forget the value of human life. My claim is that there is a deeper understanding in murderers, but there are many people who are completely against that. Yes, I believe there are people who are psychology insane but there are some people who are made into murderers. In reality, we can probably prevent most murders from happening.

The public’s interest in serial murders gives room for the media to make an enticing story line. The media hires talking heads, who speak on serial murder cases. These talking heads call themselves experts, but tend to be enthusiasts. They usually don’t have any actual facts from an investigation, and this leads to a lot of misconceptions about serial killers themselves. Some misconceptions include that serial killers are loners, are insane or smart, and that they are only motivated by sex. These misconceptions initiated by the media’s talking heads make serial killers seem more interesting when most serial killers take initiative in their communities, have many motives,

This is a cop show about a unit that specialises in serial killers and other major criminals. Each season or two will focus on a single criminal. There are two special episodes in each season that go back into the criminals past. One of the specials will be dedicated to how the criminal’s childhood affected their live’s. The second special will be about the criminal’s first killing, robbing, raping, etc.The rest of the episodes will be about the criminal’s current crimes. What will make this show different from other cop shows is that some episode are primarily from the criminal’s perspective. I will say that this show is not a show for kids, it is dark, a little gory, and at times graphic, after all it is about serial killers.

They usually hate their parents. Almost every serial killer is abused as a child, whether it is sexually, emotionally, physically, or psychologically. This abuse may come from a stranger or a family member, but many serial killers try to lie about this history of abuse. Most serial killers have records of early psychiatric problems and often spent time in institutions as children (i.e.: mental hospitals or psychological rehabilitation centers). They have an intense interest in voyeurism, fetishism, and sadomasochistic porn at a very early age, and they also have a very high rate of suicide attempts. Future serial killers share three other traits in their childhoods. More than sixty precent of serial killers wet their beds past the age of twelve. They also have a fascination with fire, which may be an early manifestation of their fondness for mass destruction. In addition, almost every serial killer starts his abuse and sadistic torture on animal victims (Fisher and Fisher, 2003).