Category: Murder

Correctional Psychology And Serial Killers

Correctional psychology is defined as the application of basic and applied psychological science or scientifically-oriented professional practice to the justice system to enable the proper classification, treatment, and management of offenders. In short, this means counsellors and psychologists who use criminal and basic psychology to work with criminals. The institutions in which correctional psychologists work can be jails, state and federal prisons, juvenile or adult detention centers, and residential “halfway” houses, where inmates may live transitionally after leaving prison. Though correctional psychology sounds similar to forensic psychology, the main difference is that forensic psychologists often evaluate proper punishments for criminals, but correctional psychologists use their skills to improve the mental health of criminals.

Many studies show that between 8-19% of prisons have significant psychiatric or functional disabilities, with another 15-20% requiring some form of psychiatric intervention during their incarceration. A recent history of mental health issues was present in over half of all prison and jail inmates in the United States

The number of mental health staff in correctional facilities varies greatly by location- some states/facilities have a mental health team consisting of a psychiatrist, psychologist, and a social worker working together, and others may only have one of them. In special units for the severely ill inmates, they may have music, are and occupational therapists, psychiatric nurses, and correctional officers available at any time.

Prisons and jails vary greatly in programs and services offered to inmates- most often, jails will only offer programs like recreation and education, but most prisons involve that and certain vocational programs that are intended to relieve stress and boredom in inmates, and can inspire a sense of positive self-concept in the inmates. At the very least, most correctional facilities place an emphasis on preventing suicides through brief initial assessments and crisis interventions. The most common primary treatments used in correctonal settings includes psychopharmacology, group or individual psychotheraphy, substance abuse treatment, and occasionally relapse prevention programs (most often for sex offenders). Some facilities offer life skills training groups to all inmates, including meditation and anger management.

Inmates’ treatment needs are very complex. They can range from substance abuse, homelesness, a history of physical or sexual abuse or criminal recidivism. Rule violations in prisons are seen more frequently in mentally ill inmates. As the population of inmates in the US continues to grow, so has the subpopulation of mentally ill inmates with special needs or treatments; this can include women, juvenile offenders, the mentally/developmentally disabled, elderly or dying inmates, sexual offenders, and those with prevalent diseases.

Some of the inmates that correctional psychologists and forensic writers seem to have the most fascination with are serial killers. Serial killers are murderers who hunt humans- they find a distinct thrill not only in killing but in stalking their victims. The term “serial murderer” was first used by FBI agent RObert Ressler in the 1980’s though multiple homicide has been a part of human history as far back as anyone can remember. Mass media took the term, disseminating it throughout kill-culture, using it to replace the terms “lust-murder” and “mass murder”. The most distinct difference between mass murder and serial murder than many people miss, is that mass murder refers to killing many people all at once, but serial murder reders specifically to killing many people slowly and one-at-a-time.

The first serial killer to gain notoriety was an English man who went by the alias of Jack the Ripper, who murdered 5 London prostitutes in 1888. His legend is shrouded in mystery because his identity has never been clearly and confidently revealed. Hundreds of books and more than a dozen movies have been written about this killer.

In 1984, the FBi published a series of articles including the primary characteristics of the average serial killer- the data of which was all compiled from interviews with 36 currently imprisoned serial killers, all male. Based on these interviews, the profile of a typical serial killed is that of a white male between the ages of 25-35, often the only child or eldest in the family, who believes they are far more intelligent/superior to ordinary people. Because of this so-called “God-complex” they seem to have, they often believe the rules of society don’t apply to them. Though, these characteristcs are not concrete. For example, there have been many female serial killers, the most famous being a Hungarian Countess by the name of Elizabeth Bathory. She and her female followers imprisoned and murdered hundreds of women in her castle in the early 17th century.

Many serial killers became a household name throughout the 20th and 21st century. Albert DeSalvo (1931-1973) was commonly known as the Boston Strangler. John Wayne Gacy (1942-1994) was convicted and executed for the murder of 33 boys in the 1970’s; he buried most of their bodies under the floorboards of his house (which many believe was inspired by The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe). Ted Bundy (1946-1989) may be the most famous of them all- he went on a killing spree across the United States between 1974-1978, and although the exact number of his victims will never be known, he eventually confessed to raping and murdering over 30 women. He was sent to the electric chair for his crimes.

David Berkowitz (1953-), better known as the Son of Sam, and the .44 caliber killer, killed six people and wounded many more in the 1970’s, and was sentenced to six life-sentences in prison. Ed Gein (1906-1984) was a wisconsin native who murdered his victims and then skinned them, using their skin to make covers for his clothing and furniture. Although only two murders have been pinned on Gein with certainty, his brother died under mysterious circumstances in 1944, and six people disappeared from rural Wisconsin communities between 1947-1957.

David Berkowitz (1953–), better known as Son of Sam, killed six people and wounded many more in the 1970s. He was sentenced to six life sentences in prison. Ed Gein (1906–1984) was a Wisconsin native who murdered his victims and then skinned them. He used their skin to make clothing and cover furniture. Although only two murders could be pinned on Gein with certainty, his brother died under mysterious circumstances in 1944, and six people disappeared from rural Wisconsin communities between 1947 and 1957.

Into The Mindset Of Serial Killers

Serial killers or multiple murderers are differentiated from single murderers in the fact that they have multiple victims. They are defined as people who have murdered more than three times. In more recent times, multiple killings are not as common as they may have been in the 1970s and 1980s. Much more advanced technologies and methodology allow law enforcement to pick apart the motivations and techniques that relate to each killer and apprehend them before their crimes can continue. The root of what actually makes someone a sociopath or psychopath is still unknown, though information can be gained through an investigation into their family history, the violence in their methods, their DNA and other mental disorders such as schizophrenia. Some of the most well known serial killers originate from the United States, such as Gary Ridgway, Ted Bundy, Jeffery Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy, all of whom terrorised the citizens of the United States. This paper will discuss the correlations between a number of historical serial killers and the factors that may have influenced them to commit their crimes. It will also draw conclusions based on a number of psychological theories.

Psychological theories are those presented by psychiatrists or people of similar qualifications in attempt to explain the actions of people who act in a different way psychologically to others. Developed by FBI agents in the 1970s, the ‘disorganised-organised’ approach to categorising and profiling serial killers can effectively analyse and in most cases, predict a killer’s movements and personality. The theory classifies killers as either organised (characteristics may include: average intelligence, employed, socially competent, planned attack, removed evidence) or disorganised (random acts of violence, likely to leave evidence, socially inadequate, low intelligence). A different examination, formulated by Sigmund Freud, suggest there was three elements that make up a persona: ID, ego and superego. This is known as the Psychodynamic Theory. The ID is primitive and supplies the drive for things such as food and sex. The ego is a sense of what is acceptable in society. The superego develops morals and values resulting to the prior two elements. In serial killers, Freud concluded that the ID is overwhelmed, the ego is low or non-existent and the superego is warped due to the ID and ego. Where a weak ego exists, serial killers are often found, as they manifest their feelings of oppression and anger from childhood in the form of murder and inflicting pain. Further theories involve genetics and the likelihood of violence being hereditary. These are known as Biological Trait Theories and focus on the biological conditions that control human behaviours such as neurophysiology. Links between impairment of brain function and aggression have been uncovered as a result of this theory.

John Wayne Gacy was responsible for the murders of as many as 33 young boys in Chicago in the 1970s. His family life was difficult from a young age, during which he struggled with his relationship with his abusive, alcoholic father, John Stanley Gacy. John Jr. and his sisters were beat ruthlessly by their father whom rendered Gacy unconscious in one event. John was also a witness to his parents’ arguments and domestic abuse. His father viewed him as a ‘beta male’, due to his heart condition which caused him to be overweight and unhealthy as he was unable to exercise. Gacy’s masculinity did not conform with that of his father, presumably the reason for John Snr’s violence toward him. Gacy also had the realisation that he was gay, which in the 1960s and 1970s was entirely inappropriate and labelled a disorder. A number of neighbourhood bullies were known for mocking him, though he was the subject of his mother and sister’s doting. He eventually dropped out of school due to his poor grades and lack of interest. Following this, he left his family and cut contact in 1962, moving to Vegas to work in a morgue. It was reported that he would often open their coffins and speak to, caress, hug and occasionally attempt to have sex with them, and upon the director’s revelation to his actions, Gacy moved back to Chicago and enrolled in business school.

Over this time, Gacy worked as a clown at children’s and charity events as ‘Pogo the Clown’. By 1968, he was convicted of sexual assault against two boys, spending 18 months in prison. Upon release, he rebuilt his life and was well liked in his new community who knew nothing of his past. Despite this, he assaulted numerous young boys with the prospect of work. Gacy was positively viewed by his community with his own business, being active politically and married for a second time. This however deteriorated as he openly confessed to being bisexual, leading to his second divorce in 1978. Prior to this however, Gacy killed for the first time in 1972. His victim was a young boy named Timothy McCoy. Afterwards, various young boys began to go missing though police rarely investigated it. He would often intoxicate, then torture his victims in various ways such as drowning in the bathtub, dripping hot wax on them, placing them on a rack and urinating on them. It was reported that he would rape them before and after they were killed. A report against Gacy was made in 1977, though again, police refrained from investigation. After Gacy’s divorce, Robert Piest went missing and was reported to police by his mother. The investigation uncovered the belongings of the other missing boys and upon a second search found the bodies in a crawlspace of Gacy’s house. He was put on trial on February 6th, 1980, where he pled guilty by reason of insanity. Psychologists concluded this was not the case and Gacy was found guilty, sentenced to 12 death sentences and 21 natural life sentences.

The psychology behind Gacy’s crimes relies on an analysis of his family life and mental development. Many theories of psychology can be applied to his situation. A breakdown of Gacy’s circumstances allows a detailed understanding. Gacy had an extremely negative father figure, particularly as a ‘beta male’ which caused his own fixation on young boys. He acted in such a way that his brain saw it as a defence to his treatment by his father. As to why he chose young boys and not girls comes down to perhaps purely what was accessible. Gacy claimed to be bisexual, though according to _____, individuals are who chose children over adults may be attracted to children regardless of gender. They may not be classified as homosexual, heterosexual or bisexual. Other reasons for choosing children may include that they are easier to obtain and subdue, the attractivity of their innocence or parallels seen between the perpetrator and the victim. In Gacy’s case, it can be assumed that he chose young boys of colour because of two reasons. The first being that their age represented his own when he was exposed to his father’s own harsh treatment, and the second being that they were of colour, thus making their disappearances less noticed or important to authorities. The majority of the murders occurred in 1976 and 1977, during which time people of colour in America were not of priority to the police and disappearances were often disregarded. Gacy’s exposure to corporal punishment can also be correlated with his own methods of torture and killing of his victims. He was known to keep the bodies accessible even after killing them, in order to have an easy source of sexual gratification. His random acts of necrophilia suggest a need for intimacy and an unresisting partner. Gacy was also quite uncouth, making it difficult for him to form relationships with people. A relationship with a dead person does not require any form of social connection.

Further, necrophilia is much more common in a serial killer that is classified as ‘organised’ as they fit into the background of society and do not attract attention. The ‘organised-disorganised’ theory afore mentioned concludes that Gacy was very obviously an organised killer as he was able to fit into to society, put in planning and effort to luring his victims and removing most elements of the crime scene). Referring to the psychodynamic theory formulated by Freud, this could also be applied to Gacy wherein his ID was overwhelming, his ego was threatened due to his sexuality and his superego incredibly warped and inappropriate. Finally, the theories behind genetics and head trauma impacting functioning of the mind can be related. Gacy suffered head trauma at a young age in which a blood clot formed on his brain. It was removed though his family claimed that he ‘wasn’t the same afterwards’. It can be concluded that Gacy’s traumatic childhood greatly contributed to his forming as a violent serial killer as well as a number of other outside factors.

Pathological Behavior Of Serial Killers

When most people hear the word serial killer their mind forms a picture of a celebrity monster. Celebrities because the media has captured the attention of society to discuss the interest of it. Monsters because of the horrific crimes that have been committed and having the capacity to repeatedly kill. Some pathological behaviors are common in serial killers. Psychopathy and serial murders are two who walk among us capable of committing acts without feeling any guilt or remorse. According to the authors of the article, “The Professional Experience of a Killer: Devotion or Need?”, Psychopaths are people who give evidence of much charm, intimidation, manipulation, and sometimes violence in order to control others and all this just to satisfy their own needs (738). They do not show remorse or guilt, empathy and have no power to take responsibility for their actions (Nistor-Lung, Neagu, 738). Psychopathic serial killers know right from wrong and are able to comprehend the criminal law. In spite of the observations I made, the mechanisms between the serial killers and psychopaths can still have the same foundations. I will be documenting the similarities and differences between them because the origins of it has been misunderstood from the different frameworks that has been presented.

This paper describes the study conducted about psychopaths and serial murderers to present the resemblance between the two. Several studies have said that due to their psychopathic nature, serial killers do not know if they have sympathy for their victims, their families, or the general population. Instead, they train themselves to imitate ordinary human conduct by observing other individuals. It is all a controlling act aimed at luring people to their trap before they strike (Morse, 2011). Serial killers have been described as actors with a natural desire to act. A lack of interpersonal empathy and disregard for the suffering of their victims are key characteristics of psychopathic serial killers (Vronsky, 2004). They generally do not feel anger toward their victims. Many serial killers seem to go into a trance when they are stalking and killing a victim, and the violence they commit often has a disconnected effect on them emotionally. The results of this study suggest serial killers are mostly psychopathic.

Serial killers appear to be like everyone else during the primary years of their personality development. They only expose their public faces and their fracture part (broken personality) is hidden from the public view. Serial killers do intend to use their wit and charm to win over others’ trust and manipulate them into getting what they personally want. They’re also often able to use these traits to so no one can recognize their true behavior. Many known serial killers previously went unnoticed because they appeared to lead normal lives with families, homes, and steady jobs. The scariest part of a serial killer’s life is that they lead a completely normal life (Levin and Fox, 2008).

They tend to lack guilt and remorse. Most behaviorists agree that serial killers are psychopaths. This means they don’t see other people as humans, they see them as objects. This allows them to kill people in series and not feel guilty. However, they do know that what they are doing is wrong, which is why they do everything to make sure they remain anonymous. The value of human life and caring about their consequences does not matter to them.

The need for control and predatory behavior is another characteristic that serial killers and psychopaths share. People who feel like they’re helpless to control their own lives and situations will sometimes look for smaller, more manageable areas of their lives that they can have complete control over it. A prerson who has a ‘predatory aggressive personality’ believes other people are inferior, which makes it easy for him to justify hurting or preying on others. Serial killers don’t have normal human empathy, but they’re very good at pretending like they do.

References

1. Nistor-Lung, A. Neagu, M.L. (2013). The Professional Experience of a Killer: Devotion or Need? Contemporary Readings in Law and Social Justice Volume 5(2) pg738.
2. Simon, O.G. (2015). The Traits and the Thrill of Serial Killers. International Security
3. Wilson, D. Yardley, E. (2013). The Psychopathy Of a Victorian Serial Killer: Integrating Micro and Macro Levels of Analysis. Journal of Criminology Psychology Volume 3 NO. 1 pg19-30
4. Kiehl, K.A. (2014). The Psychopath Whisperer The Science of those without Conscience Crown Publisher
5. Melor, J.R. Brook, A. Hosker-Field, A. Methot-Jones, T. Roters, J. (2018) Social, Sexual, and Violent Predation: Are Psychopathic Traits Evolutionarily Adaptive? Violence and Gender, Volume 5 NO 3. https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/vio.2018.0012

Similarities And Differences Of Serial Killers In The Silence Of The Lambs

We live in a world where people try to manipulate us every day. Advertisers want to sell you stuff, charities want you to donate money. Some of these manipulations can be more harmless than others. The Silence of the Lambs however, doesn’t have the word ‘harmless’ in it, The characters are engaged in a game with life-or-death stakes.

Each character is manipulative in there own way, even though Clarice is manipulative just to find out who the serial killer is and hopefully save the life of his kidnapped victim. Some like Dr Lecter are manipulative because it amuses them. He’s able to in control of clarice’s mind in a puppet master sort of way. Dr Chilton then manipulates Dr Lecter by telling him about Clarice’s fake transfer offer. He is manipulative in order to be seen as the only person able to get the killer’s identity out of Lecter and to prevent Clarice from doing so. Everyone was manipulative for a different reason, right or wrong. While there is good manipulation there’s also well-intended lying and deception. Deception that comes from a place of evil. The book’s theme studies this in depth and shows this difference throughout.

I think it’s fair to say there are a lot more differences between serial killers than there are similarities. The similarities are more statistical and issues by law where as the differences can range from each and every person. The two mass murderers shown in the novel could not be more different. Dr Lecter is incredibly intelligent, well-educated and commonly considered very successful. He fits into society well and would not stand out as an obvious “psychopath.” Buffalo Bill is complete opposite, he’s frequently disordered, hates himself and is struggling to find his identity. Dr Lecter would not get any pleasure from ‘wearing’ his victims and is comfortable with his gender identity, which Buffalo Bill struggles continuously throughout the book with these dilemmas.

The stark differences between their motivation and psychopathy is such an interesting theme from the book, since there can be so many outcomes. Hannibal says, “A census taker tried to quantify me once. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a big Amarone.” This line in itself is a joke, that requires some deeper thinking. Lecter is likely on or would be prescribed a category of drugs called monoamine oxidase inhibitors, “MAOIs”. These drugs help to regulate hormones in the brain are used to treat personality disorders as well as depression. They’re not common now as they have a lot of dietary restrictions. Liver, fava beans, and red wine are three of the foods that people are specifically told not to eat on this medication. The fact that he is able to eat this meal without consequence tells us that he is off his medication while practicing this act of murder/cannibalism. This joke is also a direct example of how Lecter maintains cleverness while he simultaneously indulges in his crazy actions of cannibalism. The line can also be taken as a warning to Clarice. He’s letting her know what he does to the people that bores him or wastes his time.

Many people may argue the entire book is actually about mind control. Specifically Hannibal manipulating Clarice through her journey to catch Buffalo Bill. There’s actually been quite a lot of statements saying the book is connected to project MK ultra. An experiment conducted by the United States Central Intelligence Agency where they experimented on human subjects, which was illegal even at the time. It was a top-secret project, funded by the CIA in which the agency conducted hundreds of clandestine experiments, sometimes even on U.S. citizens to assess the potential use of LSD and other drugs for mind control, information gathering and psychological torture. None of them were even aware of the full facts on the experiment. Clarice first is made out to be isolated, then “remolded” by Dr. Lecter. She eventually opens up to him about her childhood which makes her more susceptible to all of his nonsense. We got to see Hannibal managing to manipulate various victims into thinking their superior to the Christian morality. He thought he was able to create and impose his own values. He believed people should be allowed to do as they see fit with the lives of others.

Lecter and Clarice both eventually start questioning the behavioral science unit, a department of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC.) Lecter mocks the psychological wisdom of the unit which then brings the discipline of psychology into question. They brought up the idea that serial killers are divided into 2 groups. One being organized and the other being disorganized. In all fairness no two serial killers are the same, all though in a way everyone can be classified into one of two large groups.

Organized criminals are typically seen as antisocial (often psychopathic) but know right from wrong as they show no remorse. Based on historical patterns, organized killers are likely to be above average or average intelligence, attractive, married or living with a domestic partner, employed, educated, skilled, orderly, cunning and controlled. They have some degree of social grace, may even be charming, and often talk and seduce their victims into being captured. Ted Bundy could be seen as one of the most notorious organized criminals.

On the other hand we have unorganized criminals. They are typically not planned and the criminals commonly leave evidence such as fingerprints or blood at the scene of the murder. There is often no attempt to move or otherwise conceal the corpse after the murder. Disorganized criminals may be young, under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or mentally ill. They often have deficient communication and social skills and may be below average in intelligence. The disorganized offender is likely to come from a dysfunctional or unstable family. Notorious disorganized criminals could include people like Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen) from Texas Chainsaw Massacre or even the entire family of House of 1000 Corpses. Hannibal to me would be seen as an organized criminal as he’s brilliant and easily seen as one of the most creepy and memorable serial killers. All thought Harris indicated that, “the inadequacy of concluding that one’s unhappy childhood leads to murder.” He implies that a moral or even religious, discourse of sin and evil is a better way of understanding someone like Hannibal rather than relying on someone’s psychological trauma. I agree it can’t be seen as an excuse for murder but I could see how he doesn’t exactly help the situation their in either.

Clarice and Hannibal get compared to people in novels and movies like Dracula. Dracula was compared to Hannibal for both feeling empty and having the need to feed on humans. Hannibal, like Count Dracula slips easily into the well known gray area between good and evil, as in the end of the book were left with questioning Lecter’s integrity. Dracula and Hannibal both reject god after having brutal life experiences. Dracula gets betrayed when his wife commits suicide, and Hannibal witnesses the murder and cannibalism of his sister to soldiers after the death of his parents. Lecter is dark, but he’s also funny. The book ends with the argument that Lecter is more than just a “bad guy.” You see his vulnerabilities and his soft spot for Clarice. Lecter has escaped, but before he disappears, he makes a brief phone call and a promise. ‘I have no plans to call on you, Clarice,’ he says. ‘The world’s more interesting with you in it. So you take care now to extend me the same courtesy.’ Disorganized serial killers have no empathy, but in Lecter we get a little kindness.

The Silence of the Lambs is one of the most taunting, suspenseful, psychological thrillers ever written. This novel is harrowing, dark, moody, sober, and truly frightening, yet exhilarating. The intimate and disturbing characterisations of mass murderers who mutilate their victims (usually female) were shocking. When a person thinks about this book you would not necessarily think about communism, although one has to do with killing and the other with government, both have a similarity to manipulation. Both themes revolve around the idea of ​​how people use words to make people perform actions that only help them. Manipulation does not always have to come with the pain of weapons, aggression or brute force. In fact, it is much more effective when people use their words.

Manipulation can be a gift to some but use the power of manipulation for his/her own gain, like these serial killers. Healthy manipulation leads can people down the right path. So often people are influenced by the world around them that having a little manipulation from a peer is helpful. healthy social influence would be the influences that help us with decisions such as friends who help others with important decisions or family who is brought up a certain way. This form can benefit the person being manipulated. This just goes to show there’s good and bad in everything, even Hannibal Lecter. I think we can agree that Hannibal has an odd sort of soft spot to him. Even though he’s a far more dangerous killer than Buffalo Bill, we find ourselves rooting for Lecter in a way. Lecter has charisma—which makes him the most dangerous. He’s a psychiatrist, so he’s able to go straight to Clarice’s most vulnerable places and make her feel defenseless. It’s Hopkins’ chillingly riveting performance that draws you in, which is exactly what Lecter wants. Despite needing to manipulate Lecter, Clarice does not like feeling manipulated herself. No one does. But she does see that it’s necessary for Jack Crawford to keep things from her in order for them to succeed. Just as Clarice Starling wants to study Lecter for the Behavioral Sciences division of the FBI, viewers, too, get a glimpse at the mind of a serial killer. We’re all amateur psychologists, trying to pick apart a brain, like Clarice who must know how that kind of thought process works. The twisted mind of Hannibal Lecter is the perfect place for anyone to learn.

As Clarice pursues serial killer Buffalo Bill, she is also set back by sexism. It continually presents Clarice as an alone woman in an enclosure filled with males stepping onto an elevator filled with FBI men in suits, wandering about in a room full of male cops before an autopsy. Because of her gender, she’s constantly dealing with unwanted sexual advances. The creepy psychiatrist who works with Lecter flirts with her, as does the doctor who consults with her about the autopsy. And her relationship with Lecter is intertwined with sexualized, sadistic abuse, as he forces her to discuss traumatic details from her childhood in return for information about her serial killer case.

Although Clarice is a passive victim. She manages to confront the boss about his uncalled for and out of line sexism, her professional competence and courage allows her to defeat others’ efforts to objectify her. The book celebrates her competence, bravery, and ambition. Serial killer Buffalo Bill wants to become a woman by sewing himself a dress made out of his female victims’ skins. He’s a kind of nightmare image of Clarice herself, who is trying to shed her femininity in the workplace and model herself after father who was also a policeman passed away. When Clarice kills Bill, were left to question if she is triumphing over male sadism and violence? Or is she affirming the evil of gender nonconformity, and confirming her own status as a killer? Lecter acts as a sort of twisted father figure to Clarice throughout the film, feeding her hints and leads so that she can track down her prey. Lecter has the information Starling needs to find Buffalo Bill due to Lecter psychoanalyzing Bill years ago, but Lecter doesn’t offer up any easy answers. He plays games and blackmails his way through half-truths until he gets what he wants. Starling is smart enough to play his games, but Lecter’s presence remains overwhelming. When Clarice achieves her dream of becoming a special agent at the book’s end, the book presents Lecter’s successful prison break as a parallel happy ending. He calls her at the end of the movie, relaxed, ready to murder (and eat) his psychiatrist. He promises her that she’s safe from him and hangs up to follow after his prey, while Clarice remains on the phone, repeating his name. Lecter then gets the last word over the phone.

Twenty-five years later, Clarice Starling is still one of Hollywood’s most memorable female protagonists. She’s a woman in a man’s world due to her current FBI training. She has to prove herself double than what these men have to in order to make it in this line of work. One of the central themes of The Silence of the Lambs is survival in the face of the patriarchy’s worst evils. The scenes with Lecter work to a brilliant degree in unleashing a wave of vulnerability in Starling. This shows the readers what it has to be like to stand face to face with a man who’s capable of such evil. In order to be a woman in this world you eventually have to reconcile your vulnerability. You can fight back, but you are disproportionately targeted by sexual predators, murderers, and others. It could be the creepy feeling you have when someone follows a little too closely on a street or someone knocks on your door in the early hours of the morning. Every woman is familiar with the feeling of danger. It lingers in as the background noise that can escalate when you suddenly find yourself in a situation where you’re threatened or overwhelmed. There’s an aching fragility and dantiness that rests within women, but ironically we are made stronger by confronting this knowledge and carrying on regardless. Clarice Starling is an ideal figure for this idea since she’s constantly surrounded by women who have been cut up, ripped apart, and have no voice now that they rest on an autopsy booth, and yet still she persists in the hope of keeping other women from joining the ranks of those gone too soon. This, in turn, makes her heroic and the fact that she too curves death — with an acknowledgement through the way that she’s been framed and outnumbered by men

Works Cited

1. Harris, Thomas. The Silence Of The Lambs. St. Martins Press.1988.
2. https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/22533-the-silence-of-the-lambs
3. https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-silence-of-the-lambs-book-summary-quotes.html
4. http://forreadingaddicts.co.uk/authors/8-quotes-to-silence-the-lambs-from-thomas-harris/10410

How Can Serial Killers Be Infectious?

Do you see the effect a Serial Killer on your life? I believe that a psychopath serial killer can kill you without even touching you because it has a huge effect on society today. Many ways they affect us but mainly they cause more violence, Federal investigations, and the Government has assistance for those who have been impacted by the killer. It has been proven that because of their horrific crimes it has infected society also and not just the victims. We might not see it but things are slowly changing but surely.

Violence is something that is so common now that it is expected upon citizens in today society. One of the factors to violence is guns which are a topic that is very hot in the news today. Being exposed to gun violence can have a deep impact on kids, including aggression, insomnia, depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress (Chin paragraph 2). 1.7 million Children live with unlocked, loaded guns – 1 out of 3 homes with kids have guns (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute bullet 2). There are more than 393 million guns in circulation in the United States — approximately 120.5 guns for every 100 people (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute bullet 1). When it comes to the number of gun-related homicides, the U.S. ranks 30th worldwide.

Those people that die from accidental shootings were more than three times as likely to have had a firearm in their home as those in the control group. In today’s society, it is now common for more people to die by unnatural causes that it is almost expected by law enforcement. Put it another way, guns alone accounted for nearly 98 percent of the observed murder rate increase between 2014 and 2016 (Christopher Ingram 7th paragraph). All told, in 2016 gun homicides made up 74.5 percent of all homicides in the United States – the highest share in well over 80 years of complete federal data. Most of the places that we go to today are considered very dangerous because of the number of homicides that occur.

Riots are the culmination of these underlying issues. They might be catalyzed by one particular cause — such as a police shooting — but they are also the result of long-held waves of anger — broader police abuse, residential segregation, economic inequality, and racial tensions, generally, in America. The 2005 French riots surrounding Paris led to deaths, injuries, car burnings, and arrests. Throughout the years America has had many riots that influence the world today for the greater good or bad. Mainly the riots have resulted in many deaths and arrests of other people and some of them were influential that has been marked in our history books. The amount of riots has increased the death rate by 20% in the past decade because of the number of people that have been hurt during the process.

19% of all male inmates in US prisons say they’ve been physically assaulted by other inmates. The number of assaults has been on the rise and the ones that have been deadly caused a lot of uproar in the communities. Rape, sexual assault, personal robbery, or assault. This category includes both attempted and completed crimes. It does not include purse snatching and pocket picking. Murder is not measured by the National Crime Victimization Survey because of an inability to question the victim stated by the BJS (Bureau of Justice Statistics). The last study released by the Department of Justice, in 2001, found that the rate of inmate-on-inmate assaults was 38 percent higher at private prisons than at public prisons

Violent crime in the United States refers to murder, rape, and sexual assault, robbery, and assault. Violent crime in the United States has fallen over the last two decades, however, the number of reported violent crimes has risen slightly in the past few years. Among the various types of violent crime reported in the United States, aggravated assault is the most common. In 2017, the crime rate (the number of reported instances per 100,000 inhabitants) was 248.9 for aggravated assault, making a considerable contribution to the overall violent crime rate of 382.9. It is important to note that violent crime rates may not always be precise as crimes that remain unreported can often skew rates meaning it can generally be assumed that instances of crime are more prevalent than reported crime statistics suggest ( Statista paragraph 1). Crimes committed involving guns have also decreased in the United States. However, the number of robberies involving a firearm still accounts for a large proportion of the total figure. Many U.S. citizens are unaware of the drop in violent crimes being associated with a decrease in the accessibility of firearms. Gun ownership in the United States remains the highest in the developed world ( Statista paragraph 5).

Searching for the victims is a process that is the most difficult but is like picking up hairs carefully. The Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program of the FBI collects supplementary homicide data that provides information regarding the age, sex, and race of the murder victim and offender; the type of weapon used; the relationship of the victim to the offender; and the circumstance surrounding the incident. Technology catches up with evidence collected at a time when, for instance, DNA perhaps didn’t exist, and years later can include or exclude a suspect from an investigation. Perhaps even more importantly, over the course of time, friendships and relationships end, loyalties change and consciences grow.

The property owner bears the ultimate responsibility for crime scene cleanup. In some cases, that responsibility may be shared by a property owner and a tenant, depending on the facts surrounding the crime. A fairly widespread misconception about crime scene cleanup is that law enforcement or some other governmental agency undertakes this task on behalf of a homeowner as part of their overall area of service (Ecobear Biohazard Cleaning Company paragraph 2). This is not true. The cleaning up process takes time to actually clean up the body properly. However, the responsibility is for the homeowner because the state is only responsible for making sure the area is clean, but not paying for it to be cleaned. It is a hidden fact that most people do not know and should be aware of because the company prices vary.

After crimes, the guilty are being held accountable for their actions that are why trials occur later on in life. All victims’ rights laws give victims the right to attend trial proceedings (but see the exception just below). Some laws also allow victims to attend any hearing in the same prosecution process at which the defendant has the right to be present, such as evidentiary hearings and plea hearings. In some states, victims also have the right to have an advocate or support person with them during court proceedings. Among those who viewed the victim impact evidence, 62.5% said they would impose a death sentence on the offender, while only 17.5% of those who did not view this evidence would not have done the same.

About 20 states and the federal government have passed legislation that requires DNA collection upon arrest. In cases where a suspect is not known, biological evidence from the crime scene can be analyzed and compared to offender profiles contained in existing DNA Databases to assist in identifying the perpetrator. Most of the time that is why those who are in law enforcement take your fingerprints to put into the database. The database will be able to identify the perpetrator if their fingerprints were to show up at the crime scene.

Medical insurance is another way a serial killer affects the society that you would think it is impossible for them to do. The state pays for the victim medical bills and all the other medical expenses. Based upon eligibility and the individual needs of the crime victim, DCVC ( Department of Crime Victim Compensation) is authorized to provide up to a total of $15,000 for medical and dental services with proper documentation( Department of Crime Victim Compensation paragraph 4). Crime victim compensation is a government program that provides financial assistance to victims of violent crimes and their families. Every state has a crime victim compensation program, though benefits, eligibility, and application vary by state. Most people find this government assistance program to be helpful and weightlifting.

As you can see that the amount of lives impacted by the crimes of a serial killer can have an affect on everyone including you and me. Whenever a crime is committed the highest authority will be involved, federal investigations will occur, and the government will have assistance available for victims. Our society is suffering from their mistakes everyday and you might not realize it until you are older. Believe it or not but that same serial killer that is now in jail is slowly killing you and you don’t even feel the pain of dying.

Serial Killing: Could You Do It?

This project will give motives and psychological explanations behind serial killings – focusing on prominently males. The term ‘serial killer’ was coined by Robert Ressler, an FBI agent and profiler1, and is given to people who commit three or more murders. Even after one killing, motives tend to cease to exist and it becomes more of pattern and psychological cause. Outlining the main reasons, I will evaluate which is the most prominent factor that leads to serial killing. There are unique cases and not all serial killings have these reasons behind them.

The study of serial killers has led to many murderers to have been categorised to either being disorganised or organised. Serial killers with a high victim count tend to be organised. By definition, it means that these killers know what to do to minimise their chances of them getting caught and use intelligence and manipulation to carry out their need to kill. Speaking psychologically, these killers know what they are doing is wrong and wicked but still carry out the murders just to fulfil their needs. Elements considered by the killer would be such things as time and location of the attack or where the body is disposed. This would be what separates this type of killer to disorganised killers.

With disorganised being the opposite of organised, the way disorganised killers work is the opposite to organised (if you can even say they have a way of working). In contrast, disorganised serial killers are caught quicker due to there being a lack of planning and concealment (leaving fingerprints and DNA at the scene) .Some organised killers may start off as disorganised due to their first murder not being intentional and so their need to kill may stem from that first killing.

If you were to ask anyone for at least some kind of explanation behind a serial killer, they may suggest psychopathy or some sort of psychological disorder and this is because it is highlighted throughout life how immoral and punishable murdering is but people still manage to ignore this and carry on.

The effect of killing someone can have so much of a toll on someone that it can drive them to even kill themselves due to the deep and regret, planned murder or not. But for those who do not feel after carrying out a murder are dangerous since no amount of guilt can override their decision to murder. Those who feel this way may have have Anti-Social Personality Disorder (informally known as sociopathy/ASPD). There is one side of sociopathy where they can appear charming, intelligent and seem to have good relationships with people in their life and they are usually diagnosed due to how they manipulate everyone around them to think this. However, there are people with antisocial personality disorder who don’t have their life as well put together. Even if the charming sociopaths may not have good mental health, these other sociopaths deal with bad relationships and their own aggressive behaviour. These sociopaths exploit their victims through violence and intimidation. An example of a serial killer diagnosed with APD is John Wayne Gacy who killed 33 young males. In August 1967, he had sexually assaulted a 15 year old boy, Voorhees, who then went on to report Gacy in 1968. Gacy had persuaded an 18 year old boy to physically assault Voorhees to not speak in court. This is an example of a serial killer using intimidation to get their way. In terms of actually killing, many serial killers used intimidation and a strong image to make their victims cower in submission. Sociopaths would for most of their lives would have felt different to others and never felt in norm with society. Despite this, they will still feel superior over others around them, leading to short relationships and always having relationships on the brink of jeopardy and because of always being in this state of stress, they may turn to murder in order to feel calmer but as a whole, murdering for sociopaths is their way of telling themselves that they are the ones in control.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a personality disorder which involves a dysfunctional emotional regulation system of a person. People with BPD tend to inhabit impulsive and self-destructive behaviour, suicidal thoughts and also intense relationships and due to this, their personal relationships would remain unstable. Since a young age, Todd Kohlhelpp was described to be an explosive and aggressive individual. Kohlhelpp’s father had even stated that “only emotion Kohlhepp is capable of is anger.” Jeffrey Dahmer was also diagnosed with BDP. Similarly with Kohlhepp, Dahmer had also experienced impulsive and violent behaviour, while also inhabiting ASPD traits. BDP affects the serial killer’s relationships while experiencing bouts of anger, leading to them being forced to withdraw from society, and hone their thoughts which would then lead them on to killing multiple people later on in life, which reflect the anger that they have within them.

Homicidal Maniacs And Serial Killer

Abstract

This term paper discusses about how serial killers tend to be. It will touch on how they started, how law enforcements are acting toward it, and how we help them as a society. There is provided evidence from known serial killers and their crimes. In conclusion, this term paper will tell you how these individuals are mentally ill and that they kill to satisfy their needs. They kill others without any goal further ahead.

Introduction

A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more people, usually in service of abnormal psychological gratification, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. There are a lot of known serial killers today, one of the most well-known serial killers is Ted Bundy. He once said “Sure, I get angry. I get very, very angry and indignant. I don’t like being locked up for something I didn’t do, and I don’t like my liberty taken away, and I don’t like being treated like an animal, and I don’t like people walking around and ogling me like I’m some sort of weirdo because I’m not.” Ted Bundy was a 1970s serial murderer, rapist and necrophiliac. He was executed in

Florida’s electric chair in 1989. His case has since inspired many novels and films about serial killers. He was one of the most notorious criminals of the 20th century.

Homicidal Maniacs

Most serial killers are survivors of their early childhood trauma of some kind-physical or sexual abuse, emotionally distant, and bullied constantly, etc. That is one reason that tends to make them killers. Trauma is the recurring theme in the biographies of most killers. (J Oliver Conroy 2018) In the world, these are among the most violent individuals. They are mainly misunderstood as it is hard to understand their motivation. Most of the times they are motivated by the desire to be in control. However, each of the serial killers is different, and there may have different motivations towards torture and murder. However, the need to be in control has been viewed as the major reason why an individual would go ahead and torture, rape and even kill his or her victims.

Establishing a Murder

Motivation is a reason that a killer starts killing. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) states that the motives of serial killers can include anger, thrill-seeking, financial gain, and attention seeking. For some reason, assassins get the satisfaction of killing people and seeing them suffer. Different serial killers have different methods in killing or starting a murder. Some would keep an eye on a specific person until they catch them and kill them. Some would kill any person they find interesting. Killing depends on the person that is murdering and how they get their satisfaction from it.

The FBI categorized serial killers into three categories, organized, disorganized, and mixed. Some killers descend their killings from organized to disorganized as their murders continue, as in the case of psychological decompensation.

Organized serial killers often plan their crimes methodically, usually abducting victims, killing them in one place and disposing their corpse in another. They often lure the victims with ploys appealing to their sense of sympathy. Others specifically target prostitutes, who are likely to go voluntarily with a stranger. These killers maintain a high degree of control over the crime scene and usually have a solid knowledge of forensic science that enables them to cover their tracks, such as burying the body or weighing it down and sinking it in a river.

Disorganized serial killers are usually far more impulsive, often committing their murders with a random weapon available at the time, and usually do not attempt to hide the body. They are likely to be unemployed, a loner, or both, with very few friends. They often turn out to have a history of mental illness, and their lack thereof is often marked by excessive violence and sometimes necrophilia or sexual violence. Disorganized serial killers have been found to have a slightly lower mean IQ than organized serial killers. Some serial killers possess a very high IQ, which is fascinating because they’d know better. The average serial killer has an IQ 94.7.

Law Enforcements (Facts)

Every day, law enforcement officers across America are called to respond to murders. Each homicide case is tragic, but there are few cases more heartrending and more difficult to understand than serial murder.

For years, law enforcement investigators, academics, mental health experts, and the media have studied serial murder, from Jack the Ripper in the late 1800s to the sniper killings in 2002, and from the “Zodiac Killer” in California to the “BTK Killer” in Kansas. These diverse groups have long attempted to understand the complex issues related to serial murder investigations. Until the Serial Murder Symposium, however, there had been few attempts to reach a consensus on some of these issues. (Robert S. Mueller, III)

Serial Murder isn’t a new phenomenon, and it isn’t particularly American. Taking you back in time, serial murderers have been registered all around the world. Serial murder is a relatively rare event, estimated to comprise less than one percent of all murders committed in any given year. Law enforcement professionals are subject to the same misinformation from a different source: the use of anecdotal information. Professionals involved in serial murder cases, such as investigators, prosecutors, and pathologists may have limited exposure to serial murder. (Federal Bureau of Investigation)

In cases like serial murder, the investigation must be managed by homicide investigators who are experienced. The law enforcements will not oversee the investigation. Their role is to make sure the investigators have their resources for them to do their job. There are some procedures that law enforcements may consider while preparing for the investigation.

• Completing Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) between different law enforcement agencies, in order to obtain mutual support agreements and commitment of manpower, resources, and overtime.
• Identifying all resources that may be needed during the investigation and maintaining detailed lists of available resources.Establishing good working relationships with other departments prior to the crisis, through networking, scheduled meetings, and joint training.
• Providing training opportunities in the latest techniques and methods of homicide investigation.
• Additional observations regarding leadership in task force operations include:Communication on administrative issues should be restricted to management personnel of the various agencies, so as not to distract investigators.
• The intense pressure in high profile investigations may at times decrease logical decision making. Tunnel vision and impulsivity should be avoided.

There are more procedures to know, but these are some of them made by the FBI.

Once they find out who the serial killer is, it is vital for the law enforcements involved in the case to work together. The lead investigator(s) must have the experience, dedication, and tenacity to direct all aspects of the investigation. They should also, with management’s support, could select a cadre of investigators and support personnel and assign such personnel as the investigation dictates. In serial murder investigations, the lead investigators must handle all crime scene activities and related leads, as each incident may be interwoven. It is the responsibility of the lead investigators or the lead control investigator to ensure relevant information is distributed to the entire task force.

Serial Killing Murders Around the US

Aligning what we said before serial killers are mentally ill, and that they won’t kill if their mentally stable. So, as a society we are known as to help others that are ill in all kinds of forms. Serial killers harm us in so many ways, but that doesn’t stop us from helping them get better.

It may seem to be counterintuitive on the surface but many serial killers are actually insecure individuals who are compelled to kill due to a morbid fear of rejection. In many cases, the fear of rejection seems to result from having been abandoned by their mother in early childhood. (Scott A. Bonn 2019) Maybe, by showing them love and affection it’ll slow them down from doing what they’re doing. Most probably they won’t stop, or they will, but all of this will take time, so much time for them to heal and be okay.

Some of us are horrified, mortified, and disgusted from them, and we couldn’t blame you or ourselves. The actions they make, makes us hate them. These individuals are not normal human beings, and if we show them hate and rejection more than they already feel, they’ll continue killing. It is for sure not easy to like them or accept them, but we need to make them feel better of themselves and help them become a better person before making them destroy themselves, families, and humans. Ted Bundy studied law in the University of Washington, and as said to be, if it wasn’t for his notorious murders, he would’ve been the most successful lawyer in his years. We need to try making them walk on a right path before walking on the wrong one.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this term paper shows us how these mad, sick, crazy, individuals kill and torture human beings. It’s sad and upsetting that in our society there are people like that. Police, governments, law enforcements, and us, are trying their very best to stop these actions. Serial murderers are individuals that are interesting to read and learn about because they are like no other. They have history and they are part of history. 15,000 victims annually killed from serial killers around the world. May they rest in peace.

References

1. A&E Television Networks “Ted Bundy Biography” Published-April 2, 2014. Updated-December 13,2019.
2. Apache. Jack A. “Probing the Mind of a Serial killer” -1993 Print
3. FBI. Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives for Investigators. “Serial Murders” Published-August 29, 2005-September 2, 2005.
4. Guillen, Tomas. “Serial killers Communiques: Helpful or Hurtful” “Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture” Published- 2002
5. J Oliver Conroy “What Makes A Serial Killer” Published- Friday, August 10, 2019.
6. Schemata. Online Posting. “Inside the mind Of a Serial Killer”
7. Scot A. Bonn- PH. D “Understanding What Derives Serial Killers” Published-September 10, 2019
8. TC-Holidays “Known Serial Killers”
9. Wikipedia “Serial Killers”

Serial Killers: Definition, Demographics, Motivations, And Typologies

The Intrigue of Serial Killers

Today, I feel everyone is fascinated by crime with serial murder being the most fascinating crime out of all crimes. You see books, newspapers, television shows, and movies based on well-known killers like Ted Bundy and Andrew Cunanan who had the destructive minds that continually kill. Many of these accounts leave impressions that serial killers are different and distinct from other criminals. Our current knowledge on serial killers is based almost exclusively on a small number of cases studies and past investigations. So, our current level of knowledge on serial killers is at best, still a little sketchy. This knowledge might not stand up to more rigorous testing. This paper will review the definition of serial killing, demographics of serial killers, results of research on the killers and their motivations, and typologies that are used to classify these individuals.

Defining Serial Killers: The FBI’s Perspective

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), a serial killer is a person who commits at least three murders over more than a month with cooling off periods (Brogaard B. D., 2017). However, there is debate from criminologists about the proper definition of a serial killer. The term serial murder was becoming well-known in the 1970s by an investigator with the FBI. Several typologies have been advanced to classify these killers into discrete categories. One of the more popular typologies, the organized and disorga¬nized typology, was developed at the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit First, there is the organized and disorganized killer. The organized killer is the hardest to identify and catch. These killers are extremely intelligent and extremely meticulous. They must plan out every detail of the crime in advance and the killer takes every precaution to make sure they don’t leave incriminating evidence behind. It is common for this person to watch their next victims for several days to find someone they consider to be a good target. Once the victim is chosen, the killer will pick them up, usually through some sort of ploy to gain sympathy, and take them to another location to do the killing. Once the victim is killed, the perpetrator will usually take precautions and hide the body. A criminal like this take pride in what they consider to be their “work” and tend to listen and watch news stories about their crimes. One of their motivating factors may be just to attempt to stump the law enforcement officers who are trying to solve their crime. Killers like the BTK and John Wayne Gacy were listed as organized killers. Unlike the organized killer, disorganized killers rarely plan out the murders of their victims. Majority of the time, their victims happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. This type of serial killer usually strikes at random when they find an opportunity or a person in a vulnerable place. They take no steps to cover up their crime and tend to move to other towns or states regularly to avoid getting caught. Disorganized killers usually have low IQ’s and are extremely antisocial. They rarely have close friends or family, and do not like to stay in one place very long. These killers are prone to have no recollection of their deeds, or confess that they were motivated by voices in their heads or some other imaginary source. Examples of disorganized killers are Ottis Toole and Richard Chase, also known as The Vampire of Sacramento (Crime Museum, LLC, 2017). Then there is Ted Bundy, we can’t discuss serial killers without mentioning Mr. Bundy. He is a mixture of both organized and disorganized crimes. He does tend to have more organized crimes. However, based on the murder spree he did in 1978, he moved towards becoming more disorganized in his murders. His obsession for necrophilia also put him in the disorganized category (WordPress, 2017).

Psychological Traits and Characteristics

There is no single psychological or personality profile that all serial killers fit, but there are certain characteristics that have been found in serial killers. First, serial killers are more likely to have a history of criminal activity, often in the form of petty crimes, than a history of psychiatric treatment. Second, some serial killers exhibit tell-tale signs of a psychopathic personality. In several small studies, approximately half the serial killers satisfied criteria for psychopathy as measured by Hare’s Psychopathy Checklist. This may explain why some serial killers are good at dis¬arming their victims with little coercion and avoiding apprehension for an average of 4 to 5 years. Third, many (not all) serial killers have a rich fantasy life capable of fueling their appetite for murder, with or without the aid of additional facilitative conditions like pornography, alcohol, or drugs. Objects the serial killer collects from the crime scene or takes from the victim, commonly called trophies, not only help the killer relive the crime but can also trigger future killings. Several studies show it is not unusual for a person to have murder fantasies for several years before acting on them. A lot of the public’s knowledge concerning serial murders has something to do the Hollywood productions. Movies and television shows are created to heighten the interest of the public instead of accurately portraying serial killers. By the movie industry focusing on the atrocities inflicted on victims by these so called, “deranged” offenders, society becomes so captivated by serial killers and their crimes. The rarity of serial murder combined with inaccurate information and fictional portrayals of serial killers has resulted in a few misconceptions and myths regarding serial murder. First myth, majority of serial killers are not reclusive, social misfits who live alone. They may not appear strange. Many serial killers are very good at blending in with their communities. Serial murderers usually have families and homes, are employed, and appear to be normal members of the community. Because many serial killer blends in so effortlessly, they are oftentimes overlooked by law enforcement and the public. The Green River Killer, Gary Ridgeway, confessed to killing 48 women over a twenty-year time period in Seattle. He was married at the time of his arrest and was a truck painter for over thirty years. He also attended church regularly and frequently picked up prostitutes and had sex with them in between his killings. The BTK killer, Dennis Rader, killed ten victims in Kansas. He forwarded written communications to the news media over a thirty-year period taunting the police and the public. He was married with two children, was a Boy Scout leader, served in the U.S. Air Force, and was president of his church. Second myth, serial killers are only motivated by sex. All serial murders are not sexually-based. There are many other motivations for serial murders like anger, thrill, financial gain, and/or just seeking attention. Washington, D.C. serial snipers, John Allen Muhammad, a former U.S. Army Staff Sergeant, and Lee Boyd Malvo killed out of anger and thrill. They were able to terrorize the Washington, D.C. metro area for a month, shooting 13 victims, killing 10 of them. They even communicated with the law enforcement by leaving notes, and they even requested money to stop the shootings. Another serial killer, Paul Reid killed at least seven people in fast food restaurant robberies in Tennessee. After gaining control of the victims, he stabbed or shot them. The motivation for the murders was just witness elimination and financial gain. Third myth, serial murders are done by white males. Serial killers span to different backgrounds. There are white, African American, Hispanic, and Asian serial killers. The racial diversification of serial killers generally mirrors that of the overall U.S. population. Charles Ng, a native of Hong Kong, China, killed numerous victims in Northern California. Derrick Todd Lee, an African American, killed at least six women in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Rafael Resendez-Ramirez, a Hispanic, murdered nine people in Kentucky, Texas, and Illinois. Rory Conde, a Colombian, was responsible for prostitute homicides in the Miami, Florida (Federal Bureau of Investigation)

Debunking Myths About Serial Killers

Research on the motivation behind serial homicide is complicated by the fact that motivation is often used to define serial murder and distinguish it from other cate¬gories of multiple murder (i.e., political terrorism, orga¬nized crime, military combat). It has traditionally been assumed that serial murder is driven by sexual motives, and in more than half of the serial killers interviewed, a clear sexual motive has been identified. Furthermore, in comparison with the emotional and social issues that frequently motivate single-incident homicide, serial homicide is more often motivated by sexual fantasies and desires. The relationship between serial murder and sexual motivation may be an artifact of how serial murder is defined. Future researchers must consequently avoid confounding the criteria used to define serial murder (i.e., motivation) with the pre¬sumed motivation for serial murder by defining serial murder using variables other than sexual motivation. Whether sexual motivation is one artifact of how ser¬ial murder is defined, nearly half of the serial killers who have been interviewed deny that there was a strong sexual component to their crimes. However, a small portion (4—5%) of serial murders appear to be motivated by psychosis, and slightly more are motivated by a strong profit motive. Revenge, on the other hand, may be a more powerful motive for serial murder than either psy¬chosis or profit. There is preliminary evidence, for instance, that some serial killers target victims who dis¬play characteristics symbolic of a group or person they despise. Ted Bundy targeted young women with long dark hair parted down the middle because these were prominent features of a woman who had spurned him years earlier. John Wayne Gacy preyed on young males as a way, perhaps, of venting hatred toward his own homosexuality. An even stronger motive for serial mur¬der is the power a person can derive from taking con¬trol of another person’s life. Forcing a stranger to submit to their every demand and then killing the per¬son with their bare hands, a knife, or a piece of rope can be highly reinforcing to a serial killer.

Typologies and Psychological Underpinnings

There have been numerous attempts to classify serial killers into more descriptive typologies and categories. Another popular typology of serial murder was pro¬posed by Holmes and DeBurger. This typology consists of four categories: (1) visionary type; (2) mission-oriented type; (3) hedonistic type, which is broken down further into serial killers, the thrill killer, and the creature-comfort killer; and (4) power/control type. These typologies were created to link certain personality types and behavioral patterns with different types of serial murders. This helps law enforcement divide serial killers into certain categories based on their mental state and behavior they have during their crimes. According to Homes and DeBurger, the visionary type is alleged to be motivated by delusions and hallu¬cinations, is opportunistic in selecting victims, and leaves a messy crime scene. Hedonistic type is motivated by personal enjoyment, pleasure, or gain, these killers carefully select victims by their own criteria and usually try to leave a clean crime scene. The problem with the Holmes and DeBurger typology is that because the four types are so poorly defined and the boundaries that separate them so indistinct, there is a high degree of overlap between types—a fatal flaw in any typology. Furthermore, there is no empirical sup¬port for the typology either as an effective shorthand in describing serial homicide or as a mechanism for pre-dicting future behavior (Morton). Serial killers are not theoretically insane. However, many serial killers have been clinically diagnosed with some sort of personality disorder. The precise class of personality disorder is cluster type B, which is sociopathic or psychopathic. People diagnosed within this type of disorder are found to be emotionally unstable, self-centered and tend to be manipulative. Some psychology researchers have expressed there are a frequent amount of serial killers that suffer from other disorders like schizophrenia and multiple personality disorder. The origins of the serial killer have been misunderstood because of the different characteristics and framework that have been presented over the years. It makes it hard to understand the serial killer and the label of insanity is used to generalize each one (Bonn, 2019).

Research studies have also showed that people who are serial killers can slip through the cracks in the justice system. The field of psychology is not helped, then as most serial killers are sometimes put to death when caught and further research into this insanity definition is not found. Psychologists are constantly working to find reasons for these obsessions and drives that push these killers to the edge. In many cases, most research has found that the insatiability is the result of filling some type of void that the killer has within themselves. Additional research has found that the serial killer is stuck with violent fantasies that provoke their feelings to hurt and murder others. This is common for all serial killers within the typology mode. It is worth noting here that a large number of the most gruesome crimes were committed by psychotics, not psychopaths. Psychosis and psychopathy are different kinds of mental disorders. Psychosis is a complete loss of sense of reality. Psychopathy is a personality disorder, like narcissistic personality disorder. Personality disorders are potentially more permanent and less curable than psychotic illnesses. Psychotics and psychopaths can have traits in common, like blunted emotions, but they differ by whether they are in touch with reality. Psychopaths are more calculating and manipulative but they do not suffer from hallucinations or delusions. They do not hear the voices in their heads or hold false theories about society or their own lives. One hypothesis about psychotic diseases, like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder is that the glutamate system is dysregulated. This basically means the overstimulation of the person’s brains and emotions can lead to those manic phases, delusions and hallucinations. Therefore, the lack of stimulation creates the opposite affect with blunted or a negative thoughts or emotion. The overstimulation and lack of stimulation can happen at the same time at different receptor sites.

Childhood Trauma and Its Impact on Serial Killers

Childhood abuse is a factor that has received attention in the academic and psychology field with claims of many serial killers suffered child abuse through a parent or guardian. While evidence shows not all victims of child abuse grow up to be criminals or abusers, there is a increased risk with childhood trauma and behaviors for personality disorders and criminal activity in their adult life. A study carried out in Radford University in Virginia in 2005 explored the rate of child abuse in a large sample of convicted serial murderers and compare this against the rate of child abuse in the general population. The aim of this research was to see if there is a relationship between an abusive childhood and serial killing later in life. The prevalence of child abuse in serial killers is not a new topic. Researchers who study serial killers have noted that a large percentage have suffered childhood abuse and trauma leading to the suggestion that this could have contributed to their murderous behavior in later life. The term ‘abuse’ includes abuse personally suffered and/or abuse witnessed against another which involved violence or sexual acts. A number of studies have focused on some of the most well-known cases of serial murder and the serial killers who have reported child abuse in their history. John Wayne Gacy, Gary Ridgeway, and Ed Gein are three infamous serial killers who were physically and verbally abused as children by a parent. Other factors common in serial killers are abuse, trauma, insecure attachment, loss or abandonment of a parent or caretaker, antisocial behavior, head injury and low arousal levels.” Furthermore, Mitchell and Aamodt wrote, “Familial contributions include the physical absence or lack of personal involvement by one or both parents and alcohol or drug dependency by one or both parents.” Researchers also included data on the serial killer group when classified into organized, disorganized and mixed offenders and found no difference in the frequency of abuse across these sub-types. For example, those who suffered more psychological abuse did not become a more organized killer compared to a disorganized killer. Researchers are careful not to generalize these findings across all serial killers and note those included in this study were a group of categorized lust killers. Other types of killers may not show the same pattern regarding childhood abuse. However, the differences found in this study are indeed great. They do suggest, even with these various factors taken into account, that there is a higher prevalence of child abuse within the serial killer population when compared directly with the normal population. This is a finding of significant interest to criminologists and psychologists studying serial killers and the factors which may have contributed to their behavior (Guy, 2019).

Challenges and Future Directions in Serial Killer Research

Serial murder is a rare event, thereby making it difficult to research. Today, nearly all of what we know about serial murder is based on a few case studies con¬ducted on individuals who agreed to be interviewed by law enforcement and a handful of archived studies using information collected from newspapers, police files, and court documents. However, there is a need for more empirical research on serial murder. First, a gen¬erally accepted definition of serial murder must be found so that it can serve as the standard for future research. The use of divergent defi¬nitions of serial murder and confounding definitions with variables (like motivation) have slowed progress in the field. Second, theoretical models need to be created, tested, and updated. A good theory could reap tremen¬dous benefits by advancing research and practice in the field. Third, alternatives to the traditional serial killer typologies need to be found. One such alternative is the instrumental-affective dimensional approach in which instrumental and affective motives for serial murder can coexist. Finally, more research needs to be devoted to prediction—not just as a way of narrowing down the field of suspects in a series of seemingly related murders but also as a way of understanding the factors that lead to serial murder and how some of these features can be ameliorated, altered, or changed.

The Peculiarities Of Psychology Of The Serial Killer

Can you imagine killing one person? How about 50? Now that I have your attention, I want to direct your attention to the mind, act, and emotional state of a serial killer. My goal is to get you to understand the various reasons why certain humans decide to commit these horrendous acts. There are several different aspects that affect the minds of serial killers that play a huge role in why they do what they do. Researchers and law enforcement attempt to delineate complicated questions such as…. How does a person become a serial killer? Are they born, or made? Can anyone become a killer/criminal? The Federal Bureau of Investigation defines serial killing as the act of murder involving at least four events in separate locations and are separated by a “cooling off period.” “The context of serial murder is presented, with a redefined definition of sexually motivated serial murder” {Social Behavior & Personality: an international journey} Serial murder has occurred throughout the span of history. One of the earliest documentations of serial murder involved a Roman woman named Locusta. She was hired by Agrippina the Younger to poison several members of the imperial family. Documentations of serial killers’ span from England, Germany, Hungary, Italy, etc. Murders are usually performed in a distinctive pattern with a signature that is easily distinguishable. There are several concepts that have been proposed as to what makes a person become a serial killer.

This research will examine the psychological roots of seral killers and why they do what they do. It will also look at the differences in sociopathy and psychopathy as well as the typologies of serial killers. The field of psychology has explored the mind of criminals. In the United States the question of the state of the criminal mind as been particularly notorious since the 19th Century. “Understanding the human mind has often been based on the M’Naghten rule, which is based on a case in 1843 involving the rules of insanity” {https://www.ultius.com/ultius-blog/entry/research-paper-on-serial-killers.html} It is crucial that serial killers be understood. Society fundamentally makes, empowers and obliges their psychological state as research has recommended. This is the reason psychology and sociology have had the option to take advantage of attempting to give truth and thinking to why the serial killer does what he/she does.

Are Serial Killers Born, or Made?

Are serial killers born, or made? This is an old age questions that continues to resurface every time the public gets a glimpse inside the mind of a serial killer. Evidence that has been gathered from books such as ‘Inside the Minds of Mass Murderers” and “Inside the Minds of Serial Killers, both written by Katherine Ramsland, provide information and evidence that killers are in fact made, and not born. Psychiatrists have been researching serial killers who are on death row that have committed some of the most heinous crimes. This research has a significant role in why people believe killers are made, and not born. An argument is that there are a set of factors that lead people to killing which are; neurological damage, abuse, and paranoid thinking. There was a study done by Lisa Marshall and David Cook that shows the differences between the childhoods of psychopath criminals and non-psychopath criminals. The two used the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised and the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse to show how the environment you are surrounded in as a child affects your adult life. They studied the results of familial factors such neglect, physical abuse, psychological abuse, etc… but they also studied societal factors such as negative school experience and negative school performance. The results showed that “Inadequate or incompetent parenting leads to insecure attachment bonding that forecasts low levels of empathy, compliance, cooperation, and self-control.” (Lykken, 199) Though this research has truth, the concerns for establishing a relationship between an individual’s criminal behavior and their biological structures moved towards genetics, which then lead to the theory of chromosomal aberration. One of the most interesting findings of this theory was the chromosomal abnormalities detected most frequently in criminals, are in relation to the sexual chromosomes. This research established that the frequency of this syndrome among criminals is ten times higher than among the general population. It was also observed that the excess of X chromosomes doesn’t result in only criminal behavior, but it fits in abnormal personalities that are difficult to explain from the psychiatric point of view.

Of course, this is not the only biological difference in criminals, but it remains to be one of the more prominent anomalies. Psychiatric terminology classifies serial killers as either psychotic or having psychopathic or sadistic behavior depending on the facts of the crime. According to Vernon J. Gerberth’s experience, killers are rarely psychotic. Usually, they are sexual psychopaths with a deep criminality, and most have a good connection with reality. The term psychotic killers suggest that they kill because their psychosis urges them to kill while a psychopathic killer kill because they simply like to kill. How can anyone explain this type of behavior? Psychopathy is described as a personality disorder highlighted by distinctive behaviors and by certain personality traits. Psychopaths lack a conscience and feelings for others, taking what they want, and doing what they like without having a single trace of guilt or regret. This term, “psychopath” is used when the biological, genetic, and psychological factors as well as the social influences and childhood experiences helped to develop the syndrome.

Scientific studies of human behavior show that emotion is learned and as human, we are social creatures. By integrating these two ideas, it indicates how much we, the human race, are influenced by others as well as the environment. In 1961 an American psychologist conducted a study of children between the ages of three and five. Each child was placed in a room with an adult and multiple toys including a bobo doll which is an inflated doll, soon after the adult would hit, kick and scream at the doll. The psychologist used his theory of social learning to emphasize the importance of observational learning, imitating, and modeling. The adult would later leave the room while the child would stay there. They observed what the child did to the doll after seeing how the adult treated it and of course, the child did exactly what the adult did. Humans cannot control their behavior because it is learned along with the emotions that come with it. Children that are brought up in unloving, abusive, and neglected environments are later in their lives emotionally scared for life and unfortunately are more likely to become psychopathic killers. However, this is not true in all cases. For example, Andrei Cicatello who is a serial killer and also a cannibal was simply made into the monster he turned out to be. There was no abuse, neglect, or bad upbringing he had to endure. Andrei had a normal life, went to school, but soon turned into a sexual predator and molester at a young age. A common judgment people say is that there are multiple reasons and explanations for a serial killer to become what they are. These reasons are not because of neglect, abuse or ridiculous accusations, but because they are born the way they are. It is all in their genetics. Personally, I believe serial killers are both born, and made.

We have discussed on what causes someone to become a killer. Through a combination of factors such as environmental stressors, self-esteem, and self-control couples with social skill issues, the person retreats into serial killer mode. The killer, at that point, believes that they can correct their problems through killing. Studies explored the validity of the classification of organized/disorganized serial killers and the four typologies (visionary, mission, hedonistic, and power/control.) The Federal Bureau of Investigation has a three-stage analysis of how to categorize these criminals called profiling. The first stage of their analysis is within type consistency. If the crime scene behaviors belong to the organized or disorganized classifications co-occur for different murders, then this would provide evidence of specification of crime scene behaviors within these typologies. The second stage of their analysis is considered ‘between-type discrimination.’ The two classifications are cross compared for co-occurrence. In the third stage of their analysis, they consider any overall patterns of crime scene behavior co-occurrence. The potential problem is that the FBI organized/disorganized dichotomy to some extent relies on the notion of offender leaving evidence behind that can be used to determine the method of committing the crime. So, let’s take a step back to examine the classifications and typologies of serial killers. Without doubt, all killers have a compulsive need to commit murder.

Some serial killers are focused on the act of killing while others are focused on the process of killing. Organized crimes are premediated and carefully planned, so little evidence is normally found at the scene. Organized criminals according to the classification scheme are antisocial, often psychopathic, however they know right from wrong and are not insane and do not show remorse. Organized killers are likely to have an above average intelligence, attractive, married, or living with a domestic partner, employed, skilled, orderly, cunning, and controlled. They have a degree of social grace, can be charming and often talk and seduce their victims into being captured. There are typically three separate crime scenes: where the victim was approached, where the victim was killed, and where the victim was disposed. Organized killers are extremely difficult to apprehend because they go to great lengths to cover their tracks and are often forensically savvy. In contrast, disorganized crimes are not planned, and the criminals typically leave evidence such as fingerprints or blood at the scene of the murder. There is no attempt to conceal the corpse. Disorganized offenders may be young, under the influence of drugs, or alcohol, or mentally ill. They often have deficient communication and social skills. They likely come from an unstable and/or dysfunctional family. Disorganized killers will often “blitz: their victims – that is, use sudden and overwhelming force to assault them. It is also important to note that a murder case can also be a mix of organized and disorganized. This usually occurs when there are multiple offenders of different personality types involved in the killings. It can also occur when an offender is going through a psychological transformation throughout his/her killing career. Visionary serial killers suffer from psychotic breaks with reality. They sometimes believe they are another person or are compelled to murder by entities such as the Devil or God. David Berkowitz, more famously known as “Son of Sam” was a visionary killer. He pleaded guilty to eight separate shooting attacks. He claimed to have been obeying the orders of a demon manifested in the for of a dog belonging to his neighbor, “Sam.” Mission-oriented killers typically justify their acts as “ridding the world” of certain types of people perceived as undesirable such as the homeless, ex-cons, homosexuals, drug users, prostitutes, or people of different ethnicity or religion, however they are generally not psychotic. Joseph P. Franklin, former member of the Ku Klux Klan, was convicted of killing 12 young black males whom had white girlfriends. Hedonistic killers seek the thrills and derives pleasure from killing.

There are three subtypes of the hedonist’s killer: list, thrill, and comfort. Sex is the primary motive of lust killers, whether the victims are dead or not. Fantasy plays a huge role in their killings. The sexual gratification they receive depends on the amount of torture and mutilation of their victims. They will typically use weapons that require close contact with their victims. As lust killers continue with their murders, the time between killing decreases or the required level of stimulation increases, sometimes both. The primary motive of a thrill killer is to induce pain or terror in their victims, which provides stimulation and excitement for the killer. They seek the adrenaline rush provided by hunting and killing victims. Thrill killers murder only for the kill; usually the attack is not prolonged and there is not sexual aspect. Material gain and a comfortable lifestyle are the primary motives of comfort killers, Usually the victims are family members and close acquaintances. Jeffrey Dahmer was an American serial killer and sex offender who committed the rape, murder, and dismemberment of 17 boy and men from 1978 to 1991. Many of his murders involved necrophilia, cannibalism, and the permanent preservation of body parts. The main objective of a power/control serial killer is to gain and exert power over their victim. These killers are sometimes abused as children, leaving them with feelings of powerlessness and inadequacy as adults. Ted Bundy kidnapped, raped, and murdered countless young women and girls during the 1970s. Bundy would typically approach his victims in public places, feigning injury or disability. At the heart of criminal profiling lies these ideas that the serial killer can be classified as either organized or disorganized and then further analyzed into the typologies.

With the numerous studies and research that has been done on serial killers there should be warning signs before it gets to the point of killing. Distorted images of serial killers have been spread throughout time. What is that distorted image? That killers live among everyday life, that are the one who creep into someone’s life unknowingly to torture and kill them. The serial killers that are on the movie screens, Norman Bates, Michael Myers, the evil master mind of SAW, these characters are just that, characters. They have been made up as the exaggerated fictional characters from the Hollywood imagination. The unfortunate truth is that serial killers are real. They kill innocent people every day for no reason. This society is made of many different levels of humanity and not all people pay close attention to family and friends. If society became involved and made sure that each person was loved and treated well, many lives would be saved in the future. As if modeled directly from the deepest depths of nightmares, both fascinating and terrifying. Serial killers hide behind plain and normal existences. They often can escape being caught for years, decades, and in some cases, an eternity. You never know who could end up as the next Dahmer, Gacy, Bundy, Geins, or Holmes.

References

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3. H.White, J. (2011, February 17). The utilization of forensic science and criminal profiling for capturing serial killers. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0379073811000351.
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5. panelLaurenceMiller, A. links open overlay, LaurenceMiller, & AbstractPart I of this two-part article outlines the history of serial killing and describes the varying patterns and motives for this type of crime. It reviews the assorted typologies of serial killers that have been elaborated by different researchers and offers an integrative classification of primary serial killer subtypes. In addition to the commonly cited male. (2013, November 14). Serial killers: I. Subtypes, patterns, and motives. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1359178913001183.
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Psychology Of Serial Killer Personality: Yang Xinhai

Abstract

Yang Xinhai (2003) ‘When I killed people, I had a desire. This inspired me to kill more. I don’t care whether they deserve to live or not. It is none of my concern. I have no desire to be part of society. Society is not my concern’ (BBC News, 2004). After Yang’s trail in an interview aired on China’s Central Television, this was stated by Yang Xinhai as to the question of why he murdered 67 people and raped 23 women (BBC News, 2004). This research paper is about Yang Xinhai, who was also known as Yan Liu, Yang Zhiya, and ‘The Monster killer’ was one of China’s most infamous serial killers and serial rapists. Exploring Yang’s background as a child up until the start of his crimes and his crimes and conviction to try to understand what a serial killer is and what made Yang Xinhai become one of the most infamous serial killers in China.

Background, Crimes, and Personality Profile

July 29, 1968, in Zhengyang County, Zhumadian Henan, China, Yang Xinhai was born. There is little knowledge about Yang’s childhood, except that he was the youngest of four children, and his family was the most impoverished in their village. To others, he was considered an introvert and intelligent, but he did not apply himself in school (Shingh, 2018). Later, in 1985, he dropped out of school and started to travel around China to working as a general laborer at the age of 17. In 1988 and 1991, he got sentenced to re-education labor camps for crimes of theft. A few years later, in 1996, Yang was sentenced to a labor camp again this time for five years for robbery and attempted rape in Zhumadian. In 2000, he got released early; after he was released, his girlfriend found out about the attempted rape conviction and ended their relationship, leading to the start of his murder and rape spree (Shingh, 2018).

From 1999 to 2003, Yang murdered 67 people and raped 23 women in four provinces, Anhui, Shandong, Hebei, and Henan of China. December 6, 2002, Yang killed the Zhanwei family in Liuzhuang Village of Henan’s Xiping County Liu Zhanwei, his mother, wife, son, and daughter. Liu’s father, 68-year-old Liu Zhongyuan, was the only family member to survive because he slept in a new house that night. Liu Zhongyuan discovered his family after the attack, Liu Zhongyuan’s wife was the only one still alive when found but, died ten days after in the hospital. Yang confessed that he used an iron hammer to murder the Zhanwei, then buried the hammer near a tomb and tossed his bloody clothes into a river (China Daily, 2004). Like the Zhanwei family, Yang Xinhai broke into family’s homes rape female family members then murder the entire family with a hammer, ax handle, shovel, or knife. To avoid detection from police by planning his attacks hours before, wearing different size shoes each time, disposing of his clothes, and disposing of the weapon, then buying a new one up until November 3, 2003 (Singh, 2018).

On November 3, 2003, police mounted a routine inspection on an entertainment house in the city of Cangzhou in Hebei province in China. During the investigation, Yang Xinhai was behaving uncomfortably, so the police decided to arrest him for some questioning. While in custody, DNA they gathered from Yang, which linked him to 67 murders and 23 rapes. Shortly after linking Yang to these crimes, he confessed to the murders and rapes (Singh, 2018). In 2004, in Louhe, Henan Province, China, The Louhe Intermediate People’s Court, Yang was founded guilty of intentional homicide, willful and malicious injury, and pillage and rape, he was sentenced to death (China Daily, 2004). On February 14, 2004, Yang Xinhai was executed by a firing squad.

Before looking into how someone becomes a serial killer, and why first, what is a serial killer? The FBI (2010) defines a serial killer or a serial murder as the same offender(s) killing of two or more victims in separate events with similar characteristics and a period in between murders referred to as separate occasions, cooling-off period, and the emotional cooling-off period. Although not every serial killer is the same, serial killers have different motives and mos. According to the FBI (2010), motivations of a serial killer could be anger, ideology, sexual, power/trill, mental illness, criminal enterprise, or for financial benefit. Serial killers also have victim preference, selecting a victim based on vulnerability, availability, and desirably, which means preference on gender, race, age, ethnicity, physical appearance, or other specific factors (FBI, 2010).

According to the FBI (2010), there is a link between psychopathy and serial killers; Psychopathy is a personality disorder that is characterized by someone who was born lacking empathy, impulsive, manipulative, charming, and violent to fulfill one’s own needs. Psychopaths and sociopaths often get mixed up, but a psychopath is thought of as born, and a sociopath is made due to the environment. However, not all violent criminals are psychopaths or sociopaths, and not all psychopaths or sociopaths are violent. Psychopathy does not fully explain what makes a serial killer; it is only a part of the explanation. When thinking of a serial killer, a common misconception is they mostly come from broken homes or have a criminal record. While that may be right for some serial killers such as Ed Kemper, who began murdering at the age of 15 and diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, On the other hand, some serial killers lived ordinary lives and were even considered outstanding members of society, such as Ted Bundy, who volunteered for the suicide hotline, politics, and a college graduate.

While looking into Yang Xinhai and what turns someone into a serial killer. Yang was no doubt a cold-blooded murderer and rapist with no remorse or regard for the victims. However, with little knowledge of his childhood, it is hard to say he was born a psychopath or product of his environment, a sociopath. If he was a psychopath, his environment still influenced him due to growing up the poorest in his village, and he grew to resent society. His resentment towards society shows in his statement in an interview after his arrest, Yang Xinhai (2003) ‘When I killed people, I had a desire. This inspired me to kill more. I don’t care whether they deserve to live or not. It is none of my concern. I have no desire to be part of society. Society is not my concern’ (BBC, 2004). Yang’s IQ is unknown; he was intelligent the way he covered up his crimes by changing shoe sizes, disposing his clothes, and the weapon immediately.

Yang Xinhai, motivated by a desire to rape kill and a deep-rooted hatred towards society, committed horrendous crimes. Yang was intelligent in covering up his crimes every time he committed one leaving only DNA, but police had no one to tie it to until his arrest in 2003. He planned hours before and covered up after the crime suggests he is organized and not impulsive, but during the crime, he was disorganized and impulsive.

References

1. Asia-Pacific | China executes mass murderer. (2004, February 14). Retrieved October 25, 2019, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3488047.stm.
2. Man faces death after killing 67. (2004, February 2). China Daily. Retrieved from https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2004-02/02/content_302087.htm
3. Serial Murder. (2010, May 21). Retrieved from https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/serial-murder.
4. Singh, H. R. (2018). YANG XINHAI China’s Worst Serial Killer. YANG XINHAI China’s Worst Serial Killer. Retrieved from http://www.lawyersupdate.co.in/crime-file/yang-xinhai-chinas-worst-serial-killer/