The Making Of Serial Killers

A serial killer by definition of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is a person who kills three or more people on different occasions (Barkan and Bryjak 70). Serial killers have been present in societies all throughout history, giving researchers opportunities to study them and bringing attention to their name. Fear and fascination with them enables the media to intrigue society as it creates TV shows, movies, and documentaries about famous serial killers of the past and how they develop (“Subtypes, Patterns, and Motives”). The creation of a serial killer is not based on just one aspect, but instead includes a combination of factors stemming from childhood, a biological and psychological basis (“Development, Dynamic, and Forensics”). When apprehending a serial killer, it is pivotal to assess the individual to determine the level of sanity in order to proceed in the criminal justice system (Grasham).

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.

Serial killers can be defined as a person who kills multiple people over a long period of time. American media spreads stereotypical information about serial killers. The media portrays serial killers as either a monster or a charming guy next door (Forsyth 868). Serial killers cannot be fitted into the medias cookie-cutter definition. Everyone has experienced unique events throughout their life that shapes their personality and serial killers are not an exception. Ronald Dominique, a serial killer suffered a traumatic event while in jail; he was raped, and this event triggered his serial killings. “Serial murderers like those who kill only once, fit into no single profile; and create too wide a burden to be explained with one idea. They do seem to have one similar characteristic –that is; to blend into society and appear normal” (Forsyth 872).

Seventeen. Seventeen men and boys who never got the opportunity to have a future. Seventeen families who grieved and lost hours of sleep, waiting on their son, brother, or friend to come home but never would. Seventeen young lives taken by one of the most infamous serial killers in the history of the United States; Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer. Jeffrey Dahmer was much more than a murderer; he raped, ate, and sometimes preserved certain body parts of his victims. But, why? What drove this man to commit such gory and violent crimes? As a child, Dahmer experienced severe negligence by his parents. His mother was a stay-at-home mom (and psychologically ill) and his father was a student at Marquette University. Jeffery’s father traveled for his studies and was never in the household. This engendered his mother’s desire for her husband’s affection but never received it due to his absence. The problems that existed between them provoked a lack of the childhood care that young Jeffery needed. He was often lonely and excluded himself from people. As a child, Dahmer had an extreme and odd fascination in the dismemberment of animals. His parents never gave it much attention and thought this interest was very normal. This was only the beginning of Jeffery’s anatomic study of dead beings. Dahmer may seem like a complete psychopath and indeed he was, but he is only one of thousands of serial

Denise Mann is a freelance health writer in New York. Her articles regularly appear in WebMD, health.com, cnn.com, Arthritis Today magazine, American Profile magazine and special sections of the Wall Street Journal. In this article, Mann explained the genetic factors that lead to psychopathy in serial killers. She also examined the abuse factor in developing a serial killer. Mann used BTK as an example of a psychopath and explained how his psychopathy lead him to become a serial killer, which helped me relate Dennis Rader, BTK, to a serial killer who developed from psychopath factors, such as traits they display.

    Have you ever wondered why people do the things they do? Everyday we question ourselves about activities we see others performing and wonder what could possibly be their reasoning behind it all.  Asking more questions is something we should all be doing. Some researchers have taken this curiosity to the next level and have asked themselves “Are serial killers born or created?” Are the actions of these psychopaths brought on by different events, or are they simply born with the ability to take another person 's life? These are the million dollar questions that everyone should be asking about serial killers. Something is different about those who are capable

Serial killers have been a rare phenomenon throughout history. Although, they are rare researchers have long since tried to determine characteristics and typologies of serial killers. Their main goal is to get into the minds of these vicious offenders. This article is intends to discuss the different characteristics and typologies that law enforcement, researchers and criminologists have used to tried to explain what create a serial killer and develop a profile in hope to be able to catch serial killers quickly, if not before they kill.

Serial killers have dated back to the Roman Empire where a group of matrons allegedly murdered men with a poisoned ring. Although many centuries have passed and the murder methods have changed, serial killers are still about. However over the course of the years, forensic professionals have determined some general traits that serial killers usually possess. Such traits include childhood abuse, a desire for power, manipulative charm, lack of empathy, substance abuse, fantasies, acting out said fantasies on animals, lonely and isolated youth, physical injuries, being antisocial, bedwetting, and early interests in voyeurism and fetishism. But what defines one as a serial killer? A serial killer is defined as person who murders at least three

Serial killers are not a new development. They have been among us since the beginning of time. Evidence of this can be seen by reviewing some of the world’s most high-profile crimes; some of which remain unsolved. Serial killers are difficult to detect. They are able to move through society, masquerading as normal, healthy individuals. A serial sexual sadistic killer is a specific type of predator. Their crimes suggest that they are void of any feelings or emotion. However, theories suggest that their sadistic behavior is motivated by torturing their victims.

Many people walk through the paths of life hiding secrets from one another. Sometimes these secrets can be small and insignificant to other people. Sometimes people carry around with them much more serious, deep, dark, and often dangerous or disturbing great example of someone who may be carrying around secrets that everyone could agree on are dangerous and disturbing. A serial killer is generally described as a person who has killed more than three people in a time frame spanning more than a month with time lapsing between each one of their kills. Serial killers come in all different shapes and sizes. Race, age, gender, social status, economical situations, family background, physical

Throughout history, serial killers have sparked interest in the minds of many. Serial killers researched today are generally single people who murder for many different psychological reasons, still not fully understood. What happens when you get a group of four psychopaths in the same house, all with the same drive for murder, leads to a bloody trail of death. In the 1800’s, on a remote trail in Kansas, a so called ‘family’ started killing travelers. Working as a unit to execute their murders, these four ‘family’ members would continue their rampage from the same location, killing approximately 11 victims.

Serials killers can be defined in different ways, depending on who you ask. If you ask me, I think a serial killer is someone who has killed more than a couple people. If you ask someone else more than likely you will get a different definition. But what really is the definition of a serial killer? According to Zoe McKnight “Serial murders usually refer to two or more murders at different places and times with a cooling-off period in between, rather than several unrelated murders, or a killing spree” (McKnight). So basically the real definition of a serial killer is someone who has killed at least two people with some time in between the murders. Rather than a killing spree which would be killing person after person. That would be a mass murderer. What I find really interesting about serial killers is how they choose their victims or why they choose the people they do, characteristics of the killer’s victims and what serial killers have in common with other serial killers, and more importantly why they actually kill people, and what happens to them once they get caught.

What is a serial killer? Retired Special Agent Robert Ressler, a twenty-two year veteran of the FBI’s Behavioral Sciences Unit in Quantico, Virginia, is responsible for creating the term “serial killer.” He defines this person as “one who commits a series of murders, usually three or more, the victims most often being strangers, and usually with a cooling-off period in between each kill” (Kelleher & Kelleher, 1998; Pearson, 1998; Ressler and Shactman, 1997). This precise definition is necessary to distinguish this type of predator from the mass murderer (who kills many simultaneously), mercenaries, war criminals, or mafia hit men.

Some can say killing is a form of art. For serial killer, that’s how they see it. They plan the kill and how the event will unfold. Serial killers always have some type of childhood trauma that takes over their mind sets. The mind set a killer is unstable, meaning they don’t have full control of themselves. In my essay, I'll further exam the act of a serial killer.

“The serial killer ‘is an entirely different criminal,’ ”The term serial killer is misleading on the ground that each murder is intended to be the last.” We see them as a figure of “the dark side of human potential,” but they believe they’re “on a heroic quest for the biggest score possible” They believe they are “the archetypal figure of impurity, the representative of a world which needs cleansing.” However, society knows that serial killers are not heroes, and they’re not cleansing the world. “The figure of the serial killer is violent impurity personified, and it is a construction that necessitates figures of violent purity to confront it.” While it can be argued whether having mental disorders should prevent a serial killer from being capitally punished, it is proven that many serial killers suffer from “paranoid schizophrenia, manic-depressive psychosis, or psychopathology.” It’s even said that “this crime is actually a form of disease. Its carriers are serial killers who suffer from a variety of crippling and eventually fatal symptoms, and its immediate victims are the people struck down seemingly at random by the disease carriers.” Serial killers usually have a stressor in their life that makes them start killing, and when they do “homicidal mania becomes ‘a necessity… linked to the very existence of a psychiatry which had made itself autonomous but needed thereafter to secure a basis for its intervention by gaining recognition as a component of public