Category: Murder

The Main Identity Traits That Serial Killers Acquire

Identity

What is a serial killer? A serial killer by definition is a person who has consecutively murdered 3 or more people within the time period of 30 days or more. Serial killing is one of the most bewildering crimes that occur in the United States and all over the world. Many serial murderers take a major cooling-off session. The cooling off session could either be weeks, months or sometimes even years long. In this essay, I will be researching serial killers and the traits they acquire to determine if the majority of them obtain some of the same qualities of identity as one another, what are the specific identity traits that they have in common and what other parts of their identity do they have in common A psychologist is someone who majors in the study of normal and abnormal mental states, perceptual, cerebral, emotional, and social processes and behavior by experimenting with, and perceiving, interpreting, and recording how individuals relate to one another and to their environments Psychologists have studied serial killers, and many others, for decades and if anyone knows about their mentality and identity traits, it would be them.

For years, serial killers and serial killings have been an ongoing issue. For example, I found that the very first serial killer in the world dates all the way back to during the early first century AD where Locusta of Galt was hired by Agrippina the Younger, Roman emperor Nero’s mother, to poison many members of the imperial family. The exact numerical value of ho many people she managed to poison and murder is unknown, however, it is known to be very, very many. Another serial killer dated back to 100 plus years ago is Herman Webster Mudgett, or better know as H.H. Holmes, he is one of the very first serial killers recorded in American history. H.H Holmes confessed to murdering 27 different people, although only 9 of his personal confessions were confirmed to be true. It is believed that Herman murdered 200 or more people, some people are skeptic about these claims due to the fact that it can’t necessarily be tracked or confirmed. There were many accusations about how and where he murdered all of these people and evidence shows that the location where all of these murders took place was never truly open for business, which would create suspicion about whether or not he actually did murder as many as 200 people.

Some identity traits that many serial killers acquire are the search of sensation, lack of compassion or empathy, impulsiveness, need for control and sociopathic behavior. These qualities and habits are consistent with the condition of psychopathic personality. Most serial killers are psychopaths and struggle with a various amount of mental issues that are deep rooted. Some serial killers show signs of their mental illnesses early in their childhood through some questionable actions that they portray.

Researchers have proposed various psychological, biological and sociological theories that offer a partial understanding of the nature of serial murder. Some propose that the basis for criminal behavior is a predisposition to violence as well as a mix between environment, personality traits and biological factors. Serial killers are predominantly male. Only 3 percent of serial murders are committed by women (U.S. News and World Report, 1994) Knight (2006) describes some different personality types of serial killers: the psychopathic personality type, narcissistic, paranoid or anti-social, or as having temporal lobe epilepsy, schizoid personality and dissociative disorder. Psychotic serial killers are extremely rare. Most serial killers know right from wrong and are not considered insane. Even Jeffery Dahmer who dismembered his victims and ate their flesh was deemed sane by Dr. Park Elliot Dietz. (Frank, 2000) (Dr. Dietz also deemed Andrea Yates as sane.) People who murder for money or to escape detection such as gang-bangers or the mafias are not considered serial killers. I’m going to focus this paper on the majority (2/3) of serial killers who have been clinically in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual as suffering from Personality Disorder Cluster Type B which is classified as anti-social (psycho/sociopathic), histrionic or narcissistic behavior. The remaining 30 percent of serial killers has one or more other psychosis such as schizophrenia. It’s extremely rare andcontroversial for a serial killer to be suffering from any multiple personality disorder. (Warf, 2002)

People who have been diagnosed with this cluster are sexually inappropriate, prone to a grandiose view of their own uniqueness and abilities, emotionally unstable, self-centered, lacking and sense of guilt, shame or empathy and are often superficially charming, manipulative and exploitative. Most serial killers exhibit a well known triad of behaviors in childhood: a fascination with fire, cruelty to animals and prolonged bed-wetting. Many become almost uncontrollably interested in pornography as teenagers and anti-social when they reach adulthood. Most were physically and/or sexually abused. However, they appear normal in surface appearance and behavior. Typically with this illness, comes overpowering waves of compulsion to kill that wax and wane over time but normally get worse with age.

Serial killers are described by law enforcement as organized or unorganized. Organized killers often appear normal in their appearance and socially. They typically plan their killing, have a mode of transportation and bring some sort of murder “kit”, containing the tools they will need. Most serial killers don’t use guns. The victims usually fit into a certain profile (e.g. gender, race, hair color etc.) and they will hunt down their victims. The organized killer is more likely to have a crime scene picked out, take or discard the weapon, and move or transport the body to a hiding place. In contrast to the organized killer the disorganized killers in which their mental state becomes progressively unstable lack impulse control, they do not plan their kills or hunt victims down and they use whatever weapons are handy (rocks, pipes etc.). Disorganized killers are likely to have no transportation because they cannot hold down a job. While and organized killer will travel far and wide hunting down every victim, the unorganized killer most likely stays in an area close to home and isn’t choosy as to who he kills or what he kills with. His crime scenes are random and evidence is most likely scattered throughout the crime scene. (Warf, 2002)

Anti-Social Personality Disorder

Sociopaths fall under that Anti-Social Personality disorder category. According the American Psychiatric Association’s Manual, a diagnosis of antisocial personality requires at least three of the following: a lack of regret or remorse, a consistent disregard for the safety of oneself or others, a consistent disregard for work and family, failure to conform to social norms, impulsiveness and failure to plan ahead, consistent deceitfulness, and irritability and aggressiveness. A person who has these three or more of these characteristics is a model sociopath. He is most likely a male; the disorder is three times more likely to affect males than women and is much more severe for men. He manipulates other’s using deception and intimidation because he feels he has the right to do whatever he wants and take what he can. He thinks very highly of himself and avoids responsibility to anyone else. He is constantly looking to exploit weaknesses in others. He feels contempt or indifferent towards his victims and usually feels like “they had it coming”. This person is incapable of loyalty shame and guilt He rarely feels a sustained hatred and almost never can have a withstanding relationship. They have a lack of empathy; they can lie, steal, cheat, and kill without feeling one ounce of regret or remorse.

They don’t actually feel particularly deep about anything. They do not hold down any particular job or have a family. If they do have children they are irresponsible parents. He practices deceit constantly in a number of different forms: outright lying, evasiveness, pretending to forget and distortion. He lies for strategic purposes: to boast, or flatter, blame others, even to excuse himself. He lies so regularly and freely, he doesn’t even bother to cover his tracks. When someone calls him out he’ll make up excuses, give fake apologies, and continue on lying. He doesn’t care how people regard his behavior and has little sense of the suffering he’s caused people. Most sociopaths are constantly in trouble with the law because of their poor judgment and impulsive actions. Most sociopaths are also suffering from other mental ailments as well, such as depression or bi-polar disorder. Many are also drug users. Sociopathic tendencies may be the cause or consequence of addiction. Except for strategic purposes this model sociopath doesn’t care what people think. He is more likely an unorganized killer. Note that not all sociopaths commit violent crimes but almost all of them do commit some sort of crime whether it be theft, pimping, rape etc. (Anti-Social Personality, 2000)

The Psychopath

Although they share many similar aspects the psychopath is also very different. He is more than likely the organized killer. He still has a lack of shame, guilt and empathy. Unlike the sociopath, the psychopath puts a great effort into ‘hiding” that he is filled with mental deficiencies by engaging charm, so it takes a while for you to realize what you are dealing with.

Psychopaths do not suffer from hallucinations and delusions. They are not confused, anxious, or driven by overwhelming compulsions. They are often highly-intelligent and they are not likely to be socially awkward. Psychopaths emotions are shallow almost childlike. When they do not get their way they are likely to become irritated and will turn to risky behaviors for the littlest of reasons. Between fifteen to thirty-five percent of the prisoners in the U.S. are psychopaths. Psychopaths offend earlier, more frequently and more violently than others. They are also four to eight times more likely to commit new crimes once released. Psychopaths lack access to their own feelings and those of others. Some studies show that psychopaths are more likely to commit new crimes after receiving group therapy in prison. (Buckholtz, Keihl, 2010)

Sexually Motivated Killers

Sexually motivated serial murder is defined by Knight (2006) as the killing of three or more victims over a period of more than thirty days, with a significant cooling off period. The sexual nature of the crime, which may or may not be explicit, is perverse and sadistic and reflects aggression that is particularly destructive , pathological and rooted in violent fantasies that are acted out on the victim. The sexually motivated serial killer is are very aggressive and have an insatiable preoccupation with death, violence and blood. Their relationships are shallow and again they cannot feel empathy, guilt or shame. Sexually motivated killers are most likely organized and are split into two categories: lust and thrill killers. Often but not always stalking and kidnapping their victims, they make detailed plans for the kill and pick the weapon that will inflict the most pain. For the lust killer sex plays a huge part in the murder itself, with necrophilia being common. The ultimate goal: sexual gratification. The sexually motivated killer will kill until he is caught and if released he will resume killing. There are many ways that sex can be a part of the crime without there being any immediate or explicit sign of sex. There is normally penile and or object penetration of the victim. Postmortem mutilation and dismemberment are fairly common as well. The level of violence escalates with each killing and they often take body parts for trophies. On the other side of the sexually motivated killer you have the thrill seeker.

The get the sexual gratification they are looking by taking time to control and dominate their victims. Sadistic torture and object penetration of the orifices of the victim are common. Thrill seekers enjoy the process of the killing. Unlike lust killer’s who continue to enjoy the kill and gain sexual pleasure even after the victim is dead. Once the thrill seekers victim is dead the interest is lost. Necrophilia, dismemberment and mutilation are very unlikely to occur. The thrill seeker gets his sexual excitement from the cries or pain and the humiliation of the victim who must remain conscious during the attack. There are even cases where the person has passed out and been woken up by the killer. The thrill seeker gets extremely enraged if the victim were to die to early. The thrill seeker draws out the experience so that the pleasure is more intense. (Knight, 2006)

What makes a Serial Killer?

The family background of course plays a huge role in the making of a serial killer. Many serial killer producing homes have a history of psychological and behavioral problems. Alcoholism, drug abuse, neglect, sexual abuse and physical abuse all occurred in many known serial killers lives. A poor relationship with family member’s especially ones mother has a great impact on a child and has the power to mold and shape that person. (Dalal, 2009) A disconnect as early as age five has been noted with adult serial killers. (Buckholtz, Keihl, 2010) The foundation for a serial killer is usually laid down in early life experiences and with harsh childhood discipline and punishment. (Dalal, 2009)

The mind of a serial killer is a mysterious monster. Most serial killer’s fall into the categories of psychopath, sociopath and sexually motivated killer, although not all psycho/sociopaths commit violent crime. With two types of killer organized and unorganized we can see some general differences in serial killer’s style’s and mind sets. There are some general consensuses about them: they lack the ability to feel guilt, shame and empathy, they care little about the people around, they are unable to have any meaningful relationships, most to put on a “mask” of normalcy, although some are truly crazy, most serial killer’s do know right from wrong and just don’t care. Serial killers are a mixture of environmental factors, genetics and socio economic situations. Although it is almost impossible to cure a serial killer (once an addict always and addict), prevention is something that is a more reasonable plan of action. Children are born to parents who haven’t been taught how to be parents. If we could implement some sort of parenting classes to all new parents to be than I do believe the amount of psychological disorder’s in general would see a sharp decrease.

Works Cited

1. Henson, JayneR, and LoreenN Olson “The Monster Within: How Male Serial Killers Discursively Manage Their Stigmatized Identities” Communication Quarterly, vol 58, no 3, July 2010, pp 341–364 EBSCOhost, doi:101080/014633732010503176
2. James, Veronyka, and Jennifer Gossett “Of Monsters and Men: Exploring Serial Murderers’ Discourses of Neutralization” Deviant Behavior, vol 39, no 9, Sept 2018, pp 1120–1139 EBSCOhost, doi:101080/0163962520171409980
3. Knight, Andrew, and Katherine D Watson “Was Jack the Ripper a Slaughterman? Human- Animal Violence and the World’s Most Infamous Serial Killer” Animals (2076-2615), vol 7, no 4, Apr 2017, p 30 EBSCOhost, doi:103390/ani7040030
4. Dodd, Johnny “My Dad, THE ZODIAC KILLER” People, vol 81, no 22, June 2014, pp 124–126 EBSCOhost, searchebscohostcom/loginaspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=96160244&site=ehost-live
5. Holmes, Stephen T, et al “Fractured Identity Syndrome: A New Theory of Serial Murder” Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, vol 15, no 3, Aug 1999, p 262 EBSCOhost, doi:101177/1043986299015003004. .

Of Mice And Men: Can The Killing Of A Person Ever Be Justified?

In the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, where a mentally distant protagonist named Lennie inadvertently strangles a woman putting his best friend George in a precarious position where he has to put Lennie down. Due to these circumstances, George made the right decision in saving Lennie’s life because he would have been locked up forever or killed by someone else.

Lennie could be a possible threat to maybe himself or others. Due to Lennie’s mental deficiency, he has a rather difficult time processing things and understanding the things he’s done and how his antics affect the people around him. Lennie’s oblivious of how his actions are an issue and he finds it impossible to act normal and not get in trouble. One quote in the novel was, “And then she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck” (Steinbeck 91). This is referring to when Lennie broke the neck of Curley’s wife when they were alone in the barn. He had only attempted to feel her hair but once she tried to turn away and tried to get him to let go, he grabbed her and wouldn’t let go because she was screaming and he didn’t want to get in trouble. Lennie doesn’t fully understand what he does, he only listens to George so he can play with rabbits once they own a farm. Another part of the book that can support this was this, ‘‘He was so little,’ said Lennie. ‘I was jus playin’ with him… an’ he made like he’s gonna bite me… an’ I made like I was gonna smack him … an’… an’ I done it. And’ then he was dead’” (Steinbeck 87). In source A it says you are eligible if the person is mentally retarded to a very severe extent (BBC). This is something Lennie struggles with. Lennie doesn’t mean to harm things but still does because he lacks the smarts and knowledge of consequences and therefore he’s a danger to others. Lennie’s lack of carefulness and overwhelming stupidity is only a danger for others. The fact that he can’t process things and doesn’t know how to be sensible someone or something is a problem for everyone around him.

If George didn’t kill Lennie, Curley or even the police could have killed him anyway. After Lennie had snapped the neck of Curley’s wife he ran to a creek where George had said to meet him if there was any trouble. Once they found Curley’s wife deceased, they all went out on a manhunt to look for Lennie to kill him. Once George found the creek, the rest of the men were tailing not far behind him. They made George go along and find him because they wanted to make sure it wasn’t him who had actually killed Curley’s wife. Curley and his men were closing in on Lennie when George pulled the trigger on Lennie. Right after Lennie’s killing, Curley and his men came out of the brush. “The voices came close now. George raised the gun and listened to the voices.” (Steinbeck #106). Curley and the rest of the men were within distance when George had killed Lennie and if he hadn’t they would’ve got to him. If George hadn’t killed him when he did they would’ve found both Lennie and George and if they did they would’ve shot him and that also leaves a chance for George to get shot as well for maybe sparing him or in their minds letting him escape or hide. They would’ve scared Lennie and he would’ve been locked up or had a miserable death compared to when George shot him because when George did it he wasn’t expecting it and got to talk about what made him happy so he could die happy. The other men and Curley would’ve never turned them over to the law, there would’ve been no chance for Lennie to go to a mental center or jail. Curley would’ve just killed him on sight . When Curley left the ranch andon the manhunt began, he never had the intentions of bringing him to the police, he wanted Lennie dead. “‘I’m goin’ he said. ‘I’m gonna shoot the guts outta that big bastard myself, even if I only got one hand. I’m gonna get ‘im’” (Steinbeck 96). This also gives Curley another reason to kill Lennie because we all know he hated him from the start. Curley had hated Lennie right from the start because “he was a big guy and Curley hates big guys”. Source B states that non voluntary euthanasia is being deemed justified if the person has an “extremely poor quality of life (suffering) in terms of functional disability, pain, discomfort, poor prognosis, and hopelessness” which is exactly the state Lennie would be in if George hadn’t killed him and Curley had his way with Lennie (Verhagen). Although this may seem like there’s no doubt that it was justified, there’s still the argument that it’s not.

Some believe that even though the actions of George gave Lennie a peaceful death, that he never prolonged his life or saved him. Even though he wasn’t killed by someone other than George, Lennie still faced death in the end and did not live a full life. Even though he ended up dying at the end that was the only real fate he could’ve faced. George knew he’d be killed eventually and wanted to save Lennie the distress and suffering. Of course, they could’ve run and maybe they would’ve gotten away like they did in Weed, but you can only run for so long. Lennie has had a history of hurting things, mice, puppies and now humans, he’s killed them all. A mouse is one thing, and so is a puppy, but he killed a woman and the line was crossed. Intentional or not, Lennie’s actions came with the ultimate price tag and as we saw, George decided to let him go peacefully. If there’s a pattern of Lennie getting worse and worse throughout the book, the sky’s the limit for the possible havoc George can cause. No matter what there will always be two sides to the story, but it seems like George was in a bad spot and had no other choice.

Lennie’s death was necessary, for himself, George and everyone else that around them. George loved Lennie, they were best friends, traveled together, and always had each other’s backs. George knew this was the Lennie’s fate and it was dealt with peacefully. Lennie never wanted to hurt anyone or anything but he couldn’t help it and it bothers him that he did these things even when he hurt Curley, the man who attacked him. In the end, George made the right call, it was best to put Lennie down.

How Does One Become A Serial Killer?

Abstract

The study investigated the contributing factors of why people become serial killers. The study methodology involved twenty case studies of killings that took place in the United States. The casestudies were limited to 1960s up to date. The case studies were screened for credibility and authenticity. Drug abuse, alcohol use, sexual-abuse, and child-parent relationship was specifically examined to identify possible development of psychopathic behavior later in life. Statistical tools, namely SPSS and Chi-square, were used to analyze the results. One of major finding of this study is that military experience was a significant determinant in the category of organized serial killers.

Introduction

For many decades, serial killers have frustrated law enforcement and bewildered the public. Myers, Gooch, and Meloy (2005) suggest that the term serial killer seem to have been first used by James Reinhardt, a criminology expert in one of his books published in 1957. However, there are suggestions that the term may have been used as earlier as the 14th and 15th centuries. One of the earliest known and recorded serial killers was Gilles de Raise, whom it is reported killed an estimated 100 children. To date, serial killers continue to capture the public’s eye in different parts of the world and based on a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) report over 35 serial killers at any one instance are operating in the US. For many people such as social scientists as well as the common man, these murders have been labelled evil. It puzzles people why an individual would decide to murder people without cause, and this has turned the rhetoric evil. However, some people argue that the “evil” is a result of deliberate intent to annihilate human life (Skrapec, 2001). This research examines the competing ideas as to why people become serial killers.

Problem Statement

The aim of this research is to investigate a wide body of literature that explore a diverse range of serial killers and explore certain etiological factors for a better understanding of why people become serial killers. The review of different studies will be particularly focused on case history for serial murderers within the United States. This will include possible inquiries into whether an individual’s upbringing might have influenced them into becoming serial killers.

Literature Review

Most of the studies conducted concerning the causes of serial killing have mainly focused on establishing environment factors. Nevertheless, recent studies have incorporated genetic and biological factors in connection to the environment to account for reasons why people become serial murderers (LaBrode, 2007). While these studies have been crucial in establishing the biological and environmental risk factors, they have not managed to adequately isolate the factors as either environmental or biological as they are not able to control the association between them. Myers et al. (2005) asserts that another challenge regarding this subject that there has not been a unanimous agreed-upon definition isolates serial killers from other types of killers. For example, isolating mass murderers, spree, and serial killers has been a difficult task. As a result, there is a diverse number of appropriate of what is considered serial killing.

Findings of a Myers et al. (2005) study urge that serial killers refers to a single offer is reportedly involved in at least five isolated incidences with a “cooling-off-period” between the instances. The same study also reports that many studies seem to agree that one of the conditions that define serial killing is the “cooling-off-period.” Yet, disagreements largely exist concerning multiple other variables that make up a serial killer such as motivation and number of victims involved. A mass murderer describes an offender that destroys several human lives in a single operation. Based on these definitions, the number of operations is what distinguishes serial killers from mass murderers. On the other hand, LaBrode’s (2007) findings define spree murder as one that involves more than killings at different places but within the same incident.

LaBrode (2007) identifies some risk factors that are associated with such kind of antisocial behavior as exhibited by serial killers. It is deemed important to understand risk factors for psychopathic violent behavior as it helps law enforcement and rehabilitative justice agencies to create interventions for people who may be prone to commit the same kind of acts. Beasley (2004) states that the highest risk factors are primary influenced by two major factors: early onset of violent and antisocial behavior, and secondly, persistence of such criminal behavior. Moreover, there are two other categories of serial offenders: those that are adolescence limited and those that are life-long persistent. The adolescence-limited category involves peer influences where an adolescent tends to mimic what peers exhibit and do, while life-course persistent is like a disorder. Beasley (2004) suggests that those offenders that begin exhibiting violent or criminal behavior at an early age may have genetic influence when compared to adolescent-limited category.

Biological Causes of serial killing behavior

While there have been limited conclusive research about the underlying causes of psychopathy, several studies have examined the neurobiological underpinnings of serial killing (Alley et al., 2014; Beasley, 2004, Messori, 2016). In trying to understand the neurobiology of serial murderers, researchers have mainly investigated two parts of the brain: the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala. According to neurobiological studies, the work of the amygdala is associated with aversion conditioning and reactions to facial expressions (Alley et al., 2014). These faculties have been shown to be significantly impaired in people with psychopathy. Low volume of amygdala and slow reactions to words with negative connotations were observed in people with high degrees of psychopathy. This finding is an indication that distortion in the structure of the amygdala is a contributing factor to social disorders, especially in terms of instrumental learning and aversion conditioning (Perez, 2012).

It has also been argued that distortion to the prefrontal cortex is associated with psychopathy. The medial orbit-frontal cortex (OFC) is responsible for sending and receiving projections to the amygdala. Damage of to the OFC has thus been associated with psychopathy. Evidence links low volume in prefrontal cortex in unsuccessful psychopaths relative to control participants. This should not be understood to mean that all neurological impairments are responsible for psychopathy; instead, it provides a clue as to the possible reasons why people become serial killers (Haggerty, 2009).

Organized Killer

According to Messori (2016), organized serial killers are those that are actuated by stressful events. This category of offenders are said to use forethought as they plan and execute their operations, mostly after a triggering incident. The FBI profiles these killers as those that likely have average intelligence with a significantly good social normalcy. Typically, they carry their weapons and plan to take their targets to an unspecified location so as to destroy trace of their actions. Considering stressful events in the lives of this category of offenders, some studies have suggested that they seek to kill people as a way of trying to gain control of their stressful feelings (Messori, 2016; Haggerty, 2009). They seem to have experienced inconsistent childhood discipline and they have a good level of calm when they execute their targeted victims.

Feelings of Loneliness and Rejection

Some serial killers are motivated by feelings of loneliness and rejection and exhibit a great degree of interpersonal relationships problems. According to the FBI, such serial killers are profiled as disorganized killers. They are not easily predictable, and it is difficult to construct their way of operation. They leave a trace of their operations and reportedly of low intelligence with an appreciable degree of lacking social normalcy. Messori (2016), asserts that childhood background of these type of murderers seem to be characterized by parents with unstable employment and received extreme punishment as they were growing up (Conroy, 2018). Their crime scenes are not organized and there appears to be randomness of how the execute their victims which tend to portray their problems at interpersonal relationships. They experience a higher degree of anxiety as they kill their victims and they get involved in sexual acts with the dead victims.

Internal Motivations

Visionary Killers

Despite the idea that most serial killers are not influenced by psychotic behaviors, multiple murderers who think that certain invisible voices are directing them to murder would fit into this category. According to Messori (2016), these killers are motivated by “heard voices” that dictate their violent actions. One known example in regard to this category of serial killers is Herbert Mullin who, in the 1970s, killed ten Californians since he thought that the killings would be tantamount to offering sacrifices that would help to stop earthquakes. Put differently, visionary killers experience hallucinations which may sometime be impossible to explain. Profiles of visionary killers assert that they received messages/impressions from either God or demons to execute certain people. In fact, most of them when they get prosecuted defend themselves using insanity.

Mission-Oriented

Studies have profiled mission-oriented killers as those that feel that they have a purpose to target and annihilate a group, especially minority groups such as prostitutes, children, or people belonging to a race. Their intrinsic drive seems to be a deeper desire to “straighten up” things that needed to have been rectified. Thus, their objective is entirely grounded on the idea of getting rid of the world, state, or country, of target people that they think are problematic. They carefully plan their operations and seem to pick their potential victims at random.

Hedonistic Serial Killers

Under this category, serial killers seem to be actuated by three factors: lust, thrill, and comfort. Their primary motive is to achieve some fulfillment as a result of the joy they find in killing their victims. Unsurprisingly, this explains why they take pleasure and love what they do during their violent acts. They exhibit high competency which is evidenced by how they plan their operations coupled with the efforts they put on trying to distort trace of their actions. Law enforcement agencies have found it difficult constricting the profile of such serial killers particularly if they are transient. Those motivated by lust are believed to obtain sexual pleasure by killing people. As for thrill-oriented killers, they simply kill people solely because they like the thrill that such acts bring them. They seem to delay death of their victims wanting to see their agony as they die away. Research has not identified any other possible intrinsic motive why such killers conduct their violent acts (Egger, 1990). Lastly, comfort-oriented killers kill to gain control or comfort over their victims. Despite competing ideas regarding what this type of killers benefits by killing their victims, it has been argued that they have “narcissistic needs” for control and power (Messori, 2016; Wright, 2019).

Discussion

One of the major objectives of this study was to include a larger sample size that incorporates of races and gender-a diverse demographic composition. Most of the existing studies have typically concentrated on case studies involving Caucasian serial killers. The study identified etiologicalaspects of the killers from the review of literature. As already highlighted, for all the case reports, data was gathered from publicly available sources. Due to time and data constraints, it was difficulty obtaining data for some of the typologies of serial killers used in this study. Findings established that 80% of disorganized category lacked military history while 70% of organized serial murders had military experience with a positive significance (p ≥ 0.01). This is explained by the idea that disorganized murderers tend to be socially immature, low integrity, and unpredictable in their operations. However, organized ones (especially military-type), by virtue of their training, carefully plan, execute, and even hide trace of their acts. It is evident therefore, why organized serial killers are likely to have served in the military. What is not clear from the results, however, is that it was difficult knowing whether military training may have contributed to such anti-social behaviors leading to violence.

Alcohol was linked with many cases because it enhances the risk of getting involved in violent and destructive behaviors. Alcohol can stimulate violent acts as it inhibits behavior and can make someone courageous to act as they please. In other words, it can boost fantasy which is then used a means serial killing. Drugs have a nearly similar impact as alcohol-it can make a person fantasize and boost their courage when they want to carry out their violent operations. Other psychological etiological factors such as sexual, maternal abuse and bullying account for aggressive psychopathic behaviors as they contribute to feelings of rejection and hence the onset of psychopathy, especially if an enabling environment is presented.

Conclusion

In view of the findings of this study, it is evident that there are several theories and intrinsic motivations that can make one to be a serial killer. Despite the multiple limitations that are associated with serial killers, this study attempted to investigate the intrinsic motives by incorporates a diverse demographic sample. It is noteworthy that previous studies have focused on Caucasian serial killers. However, this study included genders, Hispanic, Caucasians, and Black- Americans. The finding that military experience could be attributed to serial killing, can aid the criminal justice systems in apprehending suspects and developing treatment interventions as a form of rehabilitative justice, for specific persons. More research on African-American serial killers should conduct as it is a major research limitation. Part of the limitation was since their data/information was not available making it difficult to profile them. Altogether, this study has provided valuable findings that can help to treat individuals who may exhibit violent or psychopathic tendencies.

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12. Skrapec, C. A. (2001). Motives of the serial killer. In Violence and Psychopathy (pp. 105-122). Springer, Boston, MA.
13. Wright, G. (2019). Why would a nurse become a serial killer? Retrieved 2 August 2019, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-48600478.
14. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/10/what-makes-a-serial-killer
15. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-48600478

Henry Lee Lucas: The Analysis Of A Serial Killer

Serial killing is one of the most appalling crimes that has been occurring all over the world since the beginning of time. Serial killers have always raised interest and curiosity in the public and most people are disgusted by the nature of their terrible crimes. But why would someone commit such a terrible crime? What is his/her motive and what causes them to become a serial killer? An example of one of the world’s most notorious serial killers is Henry Lee Lucas. By analyzing the life of Henry Lee Lucas using anthropological, psychological and sociological perspectives, the cause(s) for his murderous behaviour can be examined and determined.

Introduction to Henry Lee Lucas: The Notorious Serial Killer

To start off, Henry Lee Lucas was a white, male American serial killer confirmed of killing 3 women (including his mother), even though he claimed to have killed thousands of people. Lucas’ nickname is “The Confession Killer” because he confessed to hundreds of unsolved murders but later in life he recanted the confessions (Zigenfus, 2017). Lucas did not have a very clear modus operandi because he had various methods of killing which include excessive stabbing/beating, raping, necrophilism, mutilation and allegedly sometimes eating parts of the corpse (Jackson, 2018). Lucas was a nomadic killer as he allegedly killed people in different locations while drifting the country with his sexual partner Otis Toole (who was also a serial killer). The murder of Lucas’ mother was motivated by her treatment of Lucas during childhood and his anger. However, the motive for his other murders is sadism as Lucas derives pleasure from inflicting pain on others (Zigenfus, 2017). He was caught in 1983 when Lucas was arrested for possession of a deadly weapon and in his cell, he began confessing to hundreds of murders. However, Lucas’ confessions became confusing and farfetched and he later admitted to making fake confessions so that he would receive better treatment in jail. In total, it is not definite how many murders he did commit, but some believe it was just three: his mother, Becky Powell and Katharine Rich (Jackson, 2018). Eventually, Lucas was sentenced to death but the sentence was later changed to life imprisonment. Lucas died in prison in Huntsville, Texas, from natural causes in 2001, aged 64. Furthermore, Lucas’ reasons for committing the murders may lie in his childhood and the culture he grew up in.

Childhood Trauma and Cultural Influences

To begin, Lucas’ childhood surroundings and culture affected his behaviour as an adult and may have led to his criminal future. In simple terms, culture is the behaviour, values and attitudes that a group of people holds (Haskings-Winner, Collishaw, Kritzer, & Warecki, 2011). ‘I [Henry Lee Lucas] hated all my life. I hated everybody. When I first grew up and can remember, I was dressed as a girl by my mother. And I stayed that way for two or three years. I was beaten. I was made to do things that no human bein’ would want to do,’ (Cube & Norris, 1985, p.36). This quote describes how the group of people that Lucas was surrounded with led to him having an extremely disturbing childhood. In 1936 Lucas was born to a poor family as the youngest of 9 children and Viola, his mother, was a prostitute and his alcoholic father lost both of his legs in an accident. A typical family structure involves two individuals that provide attention, care, and stability for their offspring. But Lucas’ family had a dysfunctional family structure in which Lucas was heavily beaten (once falling into a coma) and shown no remorse by his mother while his father was an alcoholic (Cube & Norris, 1985). Viola would cross dress Lucas in public and often make him watch her with her clients (Cube & Norris, 1985). An anthropological school of thought called cultural materialism can explain why Lucas’ kinships with his family would eventually cause him to grow up and behave the way he did. Cultural materialism states that the conditions within an environment influence how a culture develops, including the morals and beliefs of the culture (Haskings-Winner et al., 2011). As a child, Lucas was subjected to harmful and abusive conditions where he was made to do terrible things and this influenced how Lucas’ personal behaviour developed. For example, Lucas’ uncle introduced him to bestiality by teaching the boy how to kill animals after they had been tortured and sexually abused (Zigenfus, 2017). This led to Lucas finding pleasure in bestiality and performing it during his teen and adult killing years because Lucas was brought up in his uncle’s point of view that there was nothing immoral about bestiality. To add on, young Lucas also had sexual relations with his half-brother and later in life would have sexual relations with other men (Zigenfus, 2017). In total, Lucas may have raped and tortured women because his childhood was deeply immersed in sex: watching his mom have sex, his uncle introducing him to bestiality and having sex with his half-brother. This caused Lucas to need and derive sexual pleasure when committing murder. To sum up, the culture and behaviour Lucas was surrounded around as a child would influence his behaviour later in life. Another cause for Lucas’ deadly behaviour is brain injuries and mental states during his life.

Psychological Factors and Brain Injuries

As a matter of fact, Lucas’ psychological well-being and state of mind possibly could have encouraged his motivation of crime. When Lucas was a child his brother stabbed him in the eye and his mother did not treat the wound for 3 days leading to the eye being removed (Jackson, 2018). Likewise, throughout the rest of his childhood, Lucas was not shown any care or affection by anyone and this led to his abnormal aggressive behaviour. This is similar to the Surrogate Mother experiment conducted by Harry Harlow. The experiment showed that infant monkeys who did not receive affection and fulfill their emotional needs from their mother would become aggressive later in life, very much alike to Lucas (Haskings-Winner et al., 2011). To add on, the social-cognitive theory is a theory in cognitive psychology that takes a person’s motivation, environment, and behaviour into account (Haskings-Winner et al., 2011). In other words, people learn behaviour by watching and imitating. An example is when Lucas’ uncle showed him how to torture, kill and have sex with animals (Jackson, 2018). Another instance is that Lucas was raised in a violent environment where he was constantly beaten by his mother. This could explain Lucas’ behaviour in his adult years when he was using excess violence to stab, torture and kill his victims. Furthermore, a group of doctors at Presbyterian and Baylor hospitals took multiple tests and conducted examinations on Lucas involving studying his brain in order to understand his mind. The doctors found small contusions and tissue loss in the frontal lobe, as well as temporal lobe abnormalities that were more pronounced on the left side (Cube & Norris, 1985). This brain damage may have been caused by injuries in childhood including when Lucas’s brother stabbed him in the eye, when his mother smashed a wood plank across the back of his head when he was seven and also excessive alcohol intake and drug abuse (Cube & Norris, 1985). These injuries could influence how Lucas behaved under stress with the possible potential of inappropriate aggressive behavior. According to Dr. Mark, some brain disorders change a person’s behavior regarding whether he becomes aggressive under stress or runs away (“fight or flight”) (Cube & Norris, 1985). This can result in a lack of conscience and aberrant behavior called sociopathy (Cube & Norris, 1985). In other words, brain disorders can create a sociopath. Other experts claim that there is a possibility of damage to the commissural fibers that unite the two hemispheres of Lucas’ brain. If the corpus callosum has been severed or impaired the left side of the brain is unable to exercise proper control over the more primal right side. Sometimes this results in multiple personality disorder and this can explain Lucas’ ambidextrousness and the fact that he claimed to hear voices (Cube & Norris, 1985). To add on, Lucas perceives his victims as objects rather than people. “It was like burning wood,” he said about cremating Kate Rich’s body, “like burning a piece of wood in the stove” (Cube & Norris, 1985). This explains Lucas’ lack of remorse and empathy when killing. In total, Lucas’ unaffectionate and negative environment and brain injuries could have caused him to become a murderer. Also, another reason for Lucas becoming a murderer can be contributed to the behaviour of the people Lucas was surrounded with and him not completing the steps of socialization.

The Role of Social Environment in Lucas’s Development

Additionally, Lucas’ abnormal social environment can be used to prove why Lucas would grow up to become so violent. Lucas grew up with a primary group and social influences that had a negative effect on him. As previously stated, Lucas’ family subjected him to emotional and physical abuse, bestiality, animal torture and homosexuality (Zigenfus, 2017). Thus, it became a norm for Lucas to commit acts of violence (stabbing and strangulation), physically and sexually torture animals and kill people. Lucas was not raised with normal values (for example, not harming people) so he was taught that it was acceptable to be violent. Lucas’s primary agent of socialization was his mother who taught Lucas values and behaviours that are generally unacceptable in society. His mother did not teach Lucas any necessary skills to help Lucas in his life such as communication and how to properly behave in group situations (secondary and anticipatory socialization), so Lucas was unable to learn how to succeed in life and become a participating member of society. Therefore, Lucas was abnormally socialized as he had suffered emotional and physical abuse as well as neglect as a child, leading him to commit horrific acts as an adult (Haskings-Winner et al., 2011). Additionally, the sociological theory of symbolic interactionalism can be applied to Lucas’ life. According to the theory, social values and roles are formed by individual interpretation. An individual creates a sense of self by the reactions of others and the behaviour of others in society is deeply rooted in our response and reaction to it (Haskings-Winner et al., 2011). According to this theory, Lucas’ values were formed by the unusually violent values of his family which is why he committed acts of violence. To sum up, Lucas’ behaviour was formed by the people around him and Lucas not being properly socialized.

Conclusion: Multifaceted Causes of Lucas’s Behavior

All things considered, Lucas’ murderous behaviour can be explained from anthropological, psychological and sociological perspectives. From an anthropological perspective, Lucas’ behaviour formed because of the culture he was exposed to as a child. From a psychological perspective, not being shown affection and brain injuries received as a child led to Lucas’ behaviour. From a sociological perspective, Lucas not being socialized and being surrounded by negative social influences influenced Lucas’ behaviour as he grew older. In brief, Lucas committed many horrific crimes yet.

The Possible Motives Behind Serial Murders

The term serial killer refers to a sole offender, male or female, responsible for a succession of murders over a matter of months or years, and frequently in different settings. In modern society there is a growing fascination with the ‘serial killer’. Public libraries, the media and book sales are filled with ‘true crime’, this category particularly committed to the focus of serial murders, However, serial killers are not exclusively a produce of our century as history proposes that they have always been around (W.Patherick et al, 2005).

From as early as 1886, Krafft Ebing, a physician in psychopathology, identified three types of killings, one of those being serialist and next the lust murder (or sexual sadism). Dietz (1986) a century later proposed that in order to be classified a ‘serial’ killer, the offender would have had to have committed the offence on five sperate occasions. With this information based primarily on his own methodical experiences, Dietz’ typologies were; psychopathic sexual sadists, contract killers and supposed psychotics- who may be mentally ill, hallucinating or just malingering (J.A. Kincaid, 1997).

Holmes and DeBurger (1988) characterised four different types of serial killer and examined the motives said to have influenced them. Their assumption included the belief that such crimes are psychogenic and secondly the assumption involves an “intrinsic locus of motives”, meaning that the motives can only be valued by the offender because of their existence entirely in his or her mind. In the mind of a serial killer the motivations are often very meaningful where as in the mind of a “normal” being, we have great difficulty in thinking how someone could inflict this wrongdoing on someone else. It is suggested that a reward for the killing is usually psychological even though some killers may benefit materially from their offences. According to core characteristics Homes and Deburger continue to identify four types of serial killers (E. Hickey, 2003).

Number one being the visionary type, the killer commits crimes because they hear voices or see visons, their crimes are generally spontaneous and disorganised and are commit in response to the voices they hear.

Then there is the mission-oriented type where the killer has a goal. The type to rid the world of immoral people such as prostitutes or beggars. These killers are not usually psychotic, rather they have an impulse to solve the problem directly. The victims are normally strangers who are categorised to fit the offender’s criteria to which he or she considers a legitimate target, the killer would plan the killing then carry out the crime efficiently.

The Hedonistic Type. Killing for pleasure. There are two typologies broken down into sub-categories for this subject firstly killing for excitement and pleasure, these thrill orientated killings are usually sourced by random strangers with no specific characteristics with the murders being spontaneous and disorganised, however, the lust killer the second typology for this killer type, kills for a sexual motive and his or her victims have a required characteristic. This type of killer obtains their gratification by inflicting pain and abusing others (R.H. Burke, 2009). Lust killers are likely to repeat their crimes, making them serial in nature. For these aggressors, sexual pleasure and fulfilment depend on the amount of torture and mutilation they can inflict on their victims, therefore ultimate pleasure is sought by sadistically killing others, it then becomes clear that this type of serial murderer is motivated and driven by a violent and powerful need for continuous sexual satisfaction (Kafka, 2003).

Among many possible explanations for the violent immoral crimes a serial killer inflicts on his or her victims, comes the social learning theory. Commonly associated with Albert Bandura, the social learning theory implies a strong social component to aggressive behaviour. The theory suggests that an individual such as the perpetrator, is an active problem solver who encodes, perceives and makes decisions according to the constraints of his or her environment and considers human beings to possess individual and unique world views and live according to those limits (E. Hickey, 2003).

One well known aspect of Bandura’s work is observational learning, he suggests that an individual’s learning occurs by observation of other people leading to the individual imitating their behaviour, a term Bandura coined modelling. Bandura’s famous study, The BoBo dolls experiment, showed significant relationship between aggressive behaviour and the attributes of nursery children in an experimental group constructed by Bandura, attributes such as low self confidence or lack of self-esteem, he proposed that those lacking either of these qualities were more likely to imitate behaviour. Another contribution from Dollard and Miller (1946) demonstrated how performance on a novel task could be improved by witnessing another carrying it out. They suggested that observational learning is imperative in development as children learn from observing adults and other children that are novel to them, therefore observational learning could explain how adaptive and maladaptive behaviours are learnt (J. Maltby et al, 2013).

Serial Killers: A Psychological Perspective

The understanding of human behavior has been a subject of great importance for different natural and social disciplines such as, psychology, anthropology, sociology among others; this has allowed to the discovery of psychological and social factors that lead to the evaluation of different human behaviors, which has been of great help when it comes to labeling personality traits and conduct disorders, especially in serial killers.

A serial killer, is consider a person who murders three or more people in a period of 30 days or more, with a cool off period between each murder, and whose motivation is based on the psychological satisfaction that the act of killing provides. Serial killers are specifically motivated by a multitude of psychological impulses, especially cravings for power and sexual compulsion. Crimes are often carried out in a similar way, and victims commonly share some characteristics such as profession, sex, age, and race.

According to Dr. Knight’s research, most serial killers exhibit some type of abuse at some point during their childhood. “The mothers of these serial killers, as indicated, were domineering and controlling, punitive and rejecting, or overprotective and seductive, while the fathers were (literally or symbolically) absent. These primary figures, in failing to give sufficient mirroring and idealization, and in lacking recognition of their infant’s emerging needs for grandiosity and idealization.” (Knight, 2006, p. 1199) In her study, Dr. Knight also emphasizes why “many serial killers, as pathological narcissists, are interpersonally manipulative and exploitative, and why their relationships are shallow and lack intimacy, and why they vacillate between devaluation and idealization of the object relations” (Knight, 2006, p. 1199) which explains why criminals fantasize about murder since childhood; they have no remorse or guilt, and acquire a defensive and manipulative personality.

Serial killers are categorized into two different types: organized and disorganized: Organized killers usually have an above-average IQ; they plan their crimes in a very methodically, and cautious way. Sometimes they carry out their murders out of spite, and, to cover up, they involve other people in their planning. Usually, they kidnap their victims, after gaining their trust, killing them in one place and getting rid of their body in another. Sometimes, this type of serial killers look for revenge among people who were part of their life and who marked them in some way. On the other hand, unorganized killers commit their crimes impulsively. While an organized killer will specifically go hunting for a victim, the disorganized will kill someone whenever the opportunity arises, rarely bothering to get rid of the body, leaving it in the same place where they met their victim. They usually carry out surprise attacks, assaulting their victims without warning, and will typically perform horrendous acts such as necrophilia, mutilation, and cannibalism. “In their fantasy, the victim becomes the perfect other and this devouring of their victim fulfils their unconscious need to be a part of the perfect other, to experience the “you are perfect and a part of me” experience.” (Knight, 2006.)

Serial killers share common characteristics. The vast majority come from dysfunctional homes, where the presence of a dominant parent can be appreciated; others were just simply victims of abandonment and rejection, “research into the impact of childhood abuse and neglect on violent behavior of adults who became serial killers concluded that adults who had been physically, sexually and emotionally abused as children were three times more likely to act violently as adults” (Knight, 2660, pg.1199). There are even cases of genetic pre-dispositions such as brain tumors, mental illnesses, and traumas that acted as an external factor that triggered criminal behavior. There is no doubt that further research is required to provide more evidence in order to fully understand the motivation and behaviors of serial killers.

References

1. Knight, Zelda G. (2006). Some thoughts on the psychological roots of the behavior of serial killers as narcissists: An object relations perspective. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal. EBSCO. Web. 1 Feb. 2019.

The Human Geography Of Serial Killers

This research paper is an analysis of the internal and external human geography of serial killers. A serial killer is someone who is referred to as a person who commits murder several times with no real motive. Serial killers are rare but when they do strike the public and the criminal justice system are both affected. Serial murder can produce fear, heavy pressures for investigating agencies and demands significant resources. Most murderers are found because of a connection to the victim, that is not always the case; Psychological and geographic profiling can also help locate a murderer. If we want to better our chances of finding them, we have to learn how to understand human geography, mental maps and backgrounds.

Human geography is, “the study of characteristics and relationships among people and their landscapes”. It is also commonly understood as how earth’s surface has shaped human experience. Human geography relates to the internal and external aspects of humans, and one thing that human geography is used for, is learning about the internal and external makeup of serial killers. According to the google dictionary, a serial killer is,” a person who commits a series of murders, often with no apparent motive and typically following a characteristic, predictable behavior pattern”. Human geography helps humans to understand one another and the psychological developments to cause serial murder.

Serial murder is a scary phenomenon, the human brain can only understand somewhat. Serial killer is a label that means different things to different people, it is important to define what is meant by this classification. Robert olson, Canada’s most infamous serial killer puts it as: “We can’t look into other serial killers minds as to what they do unless they allow to give where their thoughts and views, you don’t find many that have done this any place.” the thoughts of interviewed serial killers show just as many differences as they do in their commonalities. On the other hand, murder itself is easier to understand. We can look at motives- anger, betrayal, frustration and money are all within the imagination of people. Although, with that being said, these motives should only stand for one murder, you have to look closer into the mind of a serial killer to understand their human geography and what has caused them to form into the hunter they are. To do that, you have to look at the actual geography of a serial killer.

The geography of a serial killer

To understand a serial killer, you have to look into their background and know what kind of person they are, who they were in high school, what kind of parents they had, and even where someone grew up. This adds insight into what made someone into a murderer. To find that out, you can most likely look into someone’s mental map, easier said than done. A mental map is a representation of the spatial form of the phenomenal environment which an individual carries in his or her mind. It acknowledges features of relationships and also reflects the individual’s preferences and attitudes towards places. A mental map is something you can not physically look at, and so we as humans can’t understand what it is fully or what makes a mental map different in everyone, so we go to the next best option; Geographic profiling. Geographic profiling is a method that is done to assess someone’s personality and and use clues to tell what kind of person they are. Geographic profiling is a strategic management strategy designed to support serial violent crime investigations. It focuses on the probable spatial behavior of the offender within the context of the locations of various crime sites. The subjective component of geographic profiling is based primarily on a reconstruction and interpretation of the offender’s mental map, and it is here that a psychological profile can be most of help. Most serial killers have some type of personality disorder, and there are many other facts that can fall into geographic profiling to help figure out who is a murderer like the fact that serial killers are more likely to have a history of sexual abuse in their backgrounds, tended to be less organized, and had shorter attention spans(Robbins, 1991, pp. 105-112). They also have been found to be manic and move around a lot in location, and they often change their weapons or methods of killing.

Locations

The location of where victims bodies are located are usually determined before the victim is murdered. Location is an important factor relating to serial killers. According to huffpost, the largest amount of serial killers in the united states come from Oklahoma. It is only the 28th largest state in america and consists of only 39 total cities in the state; most of them do not have over 1 million people. Serial killers most likely attack in lower profile states because they are easier to go undetected.

From reading an article called,” 10 places murderers dump dead bodies in the US”, it has become clear that parks- national and public, are popular places to store dead bodies, and that’s probably because of the fact that most parks consist of a large amount of land. Geographical patterns in crime have been studied since the mid-nineteenth century. Violent and property offences are examined with spatial relationships to poverty. The geographical focus of criminology has now shifted from regional areas to city neighbourhoods. There is a tradition of using spatial patterns to study serial killers, but many have often found that data from individual human beings and their day to day interactions are the best way to understand the minds of murderers.

There are many preconceived thoughts about what a serial killer or a victim should look like. For instance, most people probably assume that american serial killers are a white male, in their 30’s, all are insane or evil geniuses or that they are all dysfunctional loners. Contrary to popular belief most of these are not true, or at least as true as one would think. Misconceptions are a big barrier that can block people from seeing the real truth; not all serial killers are the same and most of them are actually female. A misconception like that can change everything when it comes to trying to find a murderer. Victims are different because they are easier to identify; with that being said, there are still misconceptions about them too. For instance, there are thoughts that most homicide victims are young women in their 20’s. The cause for misconceptions can all go back to your mental map.

Methodology and results

Before technology became a turning point in the twenty-first century, many serial killer researchers would reference newspaper files as sources for data, which is the first database used for information on finding serial killers. Many serial killers were identified through this method and from a variety of sources including, Journals, interviews and computer abstract searches. However, newspaper stories are problematic sources of data because they are dependent on editorial decisions and they may glorify information to increase circulation. Newspaper accounts have been found to be inaccurate in their description of details.

Anytime media is used for a source of information, it becomes important to consider the biases in the reporting of the stories of interest. Problems with media suggest a bias in the current research. The crimes of repetitive killers who hunt over large regions may be unidentified as serial killers because the information can contradict the media.

The second database is known as Micro Level data. It was regarded as a reasonable approximation of the serial killer “population.” while an accurate number of all serial killers does not exist, and most likely never will, the best efforts to date suggest that the size of the modified FBI list is on the right order of magnitude.

“We were just hunting humans. I guess because we thought they were the hardest thing to hunt, but humans are the easiest thing to hunt.”(convicted canadian murderer).

The study of human Geography has shaped the way we view the world and more specifically, the way serial killers view the world. The attempt to expand our knowledge in this area of rare but extreme violence is a challenge, even offenders themselves may not understand why they do what they do. Interaction between academic research and the police field allows an investigative methodology to grow. The importance of human geography-external and internal, for criminal investigation can be summed up into one quote by one of america’s most famous murderer, ted bundy,” murder is not about lust and it’s not about violence. It’s about possession.”

The Impacts Of Serial Killers Of The 1970’s On Society

The Decade of Fear

There are many characteristics that define a decade. The 50’s were known for poodle skirts and Elvis Presley, the 60’s helped spread the message of peace and love and then there was the 70’s. While the 70’s was a decade of social change and free will, it also was the decade that introduced the world to some of the most notorious killers we have seen in U.S. history. The world was introduced to Ted Bundy, The Zodiac Killer, David Berkowitz, aka The Son of Sam, and John Wayne Gacy. Serial murders are one of the most perplexing crimes and is defined as the killing of three or more people over a period of more than 30 days, with a significant cooling-off period (Lassieur,10). These four individuals had a huge impact in the seventies and left the world with fear and shock. Serial killers of the 1970’s had a huge impact on the safety of the community and causing people to be in fear everywhere they went.

David Berkowitz: The Son of Sam

From 1976-1977 David Berkowitz, also referred to as Son of Sam, terrorized the streets of New York City. He was born David Falco in June, 1953. He was convicted of killing six people and wounded seven others, with a .44 Bulldog revolver. He put the city of New York into a state of shock and panic (Newton,17). Berkowitz had a history for being a difficult and violent child (Newton,17). His behaviors as a child began after the death of his adoptive mother (Newton,17). It was when his adoptive father remarried in 1971 and moved to Florida without him, when his behaviors intensified (Newton,18). At the age of 18, he joined the army and was considered an excellent marksman before ending his service in 1974. Research indicates that Berkowitz’s left behind a diary with information regarding his life. It indicates that he set off approximately 1,500 fires in New York City in the mid-1970’s (Newton,18).

In Berkowitz’s case, he proclaimed to be driven by demons. During his killing spree, he would send letters to the New York newspapers regarding the murders. He would sign them as “Son of Sam”, a reference to a demon he believed lived inside a black Labrador retriever owned by his neighbor, Sam Carr (Newton,18). He first attempted to murder a woman in December of 1975, but she survived several stab wounds (Newton,18). He then successfully murdered a woman in July, 1976. From there, he would claim the lives of five more victims’. Unlike Bundy and other serial killers, Berkowitz was arrested on August 10, 1977, just 11 days after killing his last victim (Newton,18). The police worked diligently to capture him and had to sort through a maze of letters and suspicious persons. Ultimately, he was identified as the suspect of the killings and his car was found to have a parking ticket near the scene of one of the shootings which helped the police make the connection to Berkowitz. In May of 1978, Berkowitz confessed and pleaded guilty. He was given a series of three separate mental health exams and was found competent to stand trial. He was sentenced six consecutive life sentences for his crimes, and for each person he killed. David Berkowitz remains in prison today and has been denied parole. He is currently 65 years old. Berkowitz now calls himself the “Son of Hope.” (Newton,19). He has proclaimed to be redeemed from his crimes. He often helps inmates who are psychically and/or mentally challenged. Regardless of what he thinks, David Berkowitz will remain behind bars for the remainder of his life.

Ted Bundy: The Charming Psychopath

Ted Bundy, serial killer, rapist, and necrophiliac, was and still is today one of the most well known serial killers in the 70s. Ted Bundy‘s early years of life we’re very normal, his parents, also known as his grandparents treated him like their own. However, Bundy did not live in a wealthy household, because of this he felt insecure and began to start stealing in highschool to get the things he thought he deserved (Lassieur,73).Throughout his childhood he was known for his odd behaviors, uncontrollable rages, and always feeling out of place. “In the spring of 1972 Bundy graduated with a degree in psychology from the University of Washington”(Lassieur,75). Afterwards he was accepted into law school, but suddenly began to fail all his classes. It was at that time where Bundy killed his first victim. In 1973 began what would be known as one of the most notorious killing sprees in U.S history. Ted Bundy had killed 30 women in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, and Florida (conversations with a killer). Bundy was a very handsome young man who seemed very smart and confident. He would Luehr in his women by pretending to be injured, asked for help, or would pretend to have a fake identity. After he did this he would bring them to his car, tie them up or force them to stay by pulling out a weapon. After killing a couple of women in Washington and Colorado, Bundy was arrested in Utah for possession of burglary items (Lassieur,80). Police believed that Ted had something to do with the murders in the previous states. So they lined him and he was identified by one of the victims. He was then arrested on March 1st, 1976 for the kidnapping and attempted murder of Carol DeRonch (Lassieur,80). After a couple of the months the police were able to piece together murders and came to the conclusion that Bundy had murdered Caryn Campbell and would go to trial (Lassieur, 80). However, before trial Bundy had jumped from a two story building out the window and took off. He fled to the mountains where the police caught him several days later (Lassieur, 81). After being back in jail, Bundy had come up with a plan to escape prison for the second time. Bundy escaped by not eating food for a couple of weeks to lose weight so he was able to crawl through the roof of his jail cell and leave the building (Lassieur, 82). “Bundy took a bus to Denver, then flew on to Chicago, where he stole another car. Then Bundy set out to Florida” (Lassieur, 82). When Bundy arrived to Tallahassee Florida he took the identity of a former Florida State student Chris Hagan (Lassieur, 82). In January 1978 Bundy entered the Chi Omega sorority house. Bundy had beaten to girls, One with a fractured skull and a broken jaw (Lassieur, 82). He had also strangled, violently bitten, and sexually assaulted Lisa Leavy (Lassieur, 83). “Margaret Bowman who was also in the sorority house had been strangled and hit on the head with such force that her skull had been crushed” (Lassieur, 83). After attacking the Chi Omega house he broke into Cheryl Thomas’s aparentemente and attacked her (Lassieur, 83). He had killed two more people after this. Bundy was pulled over and arrested. In trial Bundy got caught because of the bite marks he left on his victims (Lassieur, 84). “Bundy was found guilty and sentenced to die in the electric chair” (Lassieur, 84). While Bundy was in jail he was interviewed by many investigators. He never took responsibility for the murders, instead he would discuss them as if he might have done them (conversations with a killer). After nine years Bundy was executed by the electric chair on January 24, 1989 (conversations with a killer). On this day people hold up signs outside of the person that read “Fry-day” and “Burn Bundy Burn”. (Conversations with a killer). Ted Bundy is still noon today for the wicked crimes he committed and the sick killer he was.

The Enigma of the Zodiac Killer

The self-proclaimed Zodiac Killer was directly linked to at least five definite murders, and possibly five more in Northern California from 1969-1974 (Newton). There is no biographical information to reference like there is for other serial killers, since the Zodiac Killer was never linked to a specific person. Despite intensive investigations, no one was ever arrested for any of these murders and some cases still remain open. The Zodiac Killer could be responsible for several killings, since he continued to make threats to local law enforcement agencies and local newspapers. The notes were cryptic in nature and kept the local police department investigating every possible lead. In 1974, all communication abruptly stopped, and no one was ever directly linked to the murders. There were several speculations, but nothing would stick. The letters to the local police department started by confessing that he was the killer of two teenagers. The police indicated that his letters were so detailed about the murders that only a killer could have known this information (Newton). His letters also indicated that there would be further attacks if his letters were not printed in the front page of the newspapers. Each of his letters consisted of symbols. There were 13 symbols that were supposed to be his name, encoded. However, to this date, no one has been able to crack this code. Mostly a circle with a cross through it, which would be known as the Zodiac Killer’s symbol. The Zodiac killer claims that his letters were a three-part cipher that contained his identity (Newton). Soon after the first attack a second letter was sent to the San Francisco Examiner, that stated “Dear Editor: This is the Zodiac speaking,” it described the murders in detail and made fun of the police for not being able to crack his code or catch him (Newton ). Three days after the 4th killing, the San Francisco Chronical received another letter from the Zodiac Killer, claiming the crime. The pattern was consistent with the previous letters, but this time he indicated that he would plan to shoot out the tires of a school bus full of children and shoot each child as they came out of the bus. This incident put the police department into a state of panic, however the crime was nothing more than a threat. This pattern continued for a long time until 1974, when the letters and murders stopped abruptly. To date, four separate attacks have been linked to the Zodiac Killer, 5 killed and one seriously wounded (Newton). During one attempt, there was evidence that included fingerprints, leads, and tips but despite this the police were unable to track him down (Newton). Much remains a mystery with the Zodiac case. Some have argued that the crimes continued late into the 1980’s but law enforcement had no proof or connection to support that theory. Investigations continued late into the 1990’s and some have claimed to identify the Zodiac Killer, but again nothing ever materialized. One suspect was Arthur Leigh Allen, a school teacher from California who had been institutionalized in 1975 for child molestation charges, however his identification as the Zodiac Killer never sustained (Newton). Police were able to generate a sketch of him, based on descriptions given to him from some of the victims who survived. Numerous books and movies have been made about the Zodiac Killer, however no conclusive evidence has been found regarding his identity (Newton).

John Wayne Gacy: The Killer Clown

In the town of Chicago John Wayne Gacy was a very respected person in the community, he was a successful contractor, and was always in an upbeat mood (Lassieur, 59). However, Gacy had these urges, these urges controlled him and he took it out on teenage boys. Gacy was born in 1942 in a middle-class family. His father was a alcoholic and his mom was a homemaker (Lassieur,59). He grew up in an abusive home and was always beaten in physically and mentally by his father (Lassieur, 59). At the age of 20 Gacy graduated from business college and married his coworker Marylynn (Lassieur, 60). The two of them had two children, a boy and a girl. Nobody knew The second life Gacy had. “When he was not home being a father he would spend evenings picking up teenage male prostitute or runaways for sex” (Lassieur, 61). He was arrested in the spring of 1968 for the kidnapping of a young teenage boy. He tied him up and raped him. (Lassieur, 61) “Gacy was found to be mentally competent after the psychiatric evaluation”. After 18 months in prison Gacy was granted parole and released from jail (Lassieur, 62). Gacy would find young boys to have sex with him in exchange for money (Lassieur, 63). “Over the years Gacy had perfected his routine. Pick up a boy, take him home, give him a drink or some food, tie him up or handcuffed him, rape him, kill him, then dispose the body in the crawlspace under the house” (Lassieur, 64). One downfall to his routine was the large number of corpses underneath his house. The terrible smell began to make hits friends and neighbors complain. Casey had described his victims as “lowlifes”or just boys who were in the wrong place at the wrong time (Lassieur, 65). Gacy’s choice of the victims were all very similar, slender, muscular, short, between 5’2-5’9, weighed under 150 pounds, light colored hair, and between 14 to 20 years old (Lassieur, 66). After committing his last crime, officers had received a search warrant for Gacy’s house. They found very strange items but it wasn’t enough to arrest him. Instead they had him follow 24 hours a day and 7 days a week (Lassieur, 67). This caused Gacy to go insane and confess to his best friend. “Gacy drew out a detailed map of where each body laid underneath his house for the officers.” (Lassieur, 69). He was immediately arrested for the 29 bodies that were found underneath his house, he also threw four of the bodies in the Des plaines river making it a total of 33 killings (Lassieur, 69). Sadly nine of the bodies were not identified. “On March 12, 1980 John Wayne Gacy was found sane and guilty of murder” (Lassieur, 71). After 14 years on death row, he was executed by lethal injection in May of 1994 (Lassieur, 72).

Psychological Insights into Serial Killers

Throughout the years, we have struggled to understand a serial killer’s mindset and what goes through their head. Jack levin who is an educator and specializes in murders, has interviewed serval serial killers face to face for the past twenty five years. “One lesson I’ve learned is that power and control are much more important motivations for the worse kinds of criminal violence than many people realize” (Levin, 23). In his novel he begins to talk about the psychology behind serial killers and their motives for killing. Levin states that some killers kill for money or economic advantage, some have a deadly versions of a temper tantrum and when frustrated they lose control and kill. “Some simply kill to experience a rush of power and control or to gain a sense of their own superiority” (Levin, 23). After interviewing killers he learns that killing one person and feeling that power isn’t enough. This causes them to keep killing and killing. He also believes that killers who have had a poor childhood and were abused, kill to convince others of their strength and their importance (Levin, 24). A perfect example of this would be John Wayne Gacy. Many serial killers lack control, meaning they can’t stop after killing one person. This leads them to be a Sociopath, having no empathy for what they just did (Levin, 25). How do we know if someone is a sociopath? Sadism. “This means the pleasure derives from inflicting pain, suffering and humiliation” (Levin, 27). This is a very common word to describe serial killers. Some serial killers like David Berkowitz, didn’t kill as many people as other serial killers did. “However, when he wasn’t killing people, he would send letters to columnist Jimmy Breslin at the New York Daily News, which contain cryptic clues as to his identity” (Levin, 30). The Zodiac Killer did the same. Even though they aren’t killing, they feel in control and powerful. This is the feeling that that they thrive for. However, we don’t see Ted Bundy fall into these categories. He wasn’t abused as a child, was a pretty normal kid actually. Not every serial killer grew up in a abused home so there are different psychological reasons why each killer kills. Even today we are still learning about the psychology of these killers. Jack Levins reasonings aren’t the only reasons why serial killers kill.

The Evolution of Serial Killings: From the 1970s to Today

Serial killers aren’t the sensation they use to be like in the 1970’s. Of course, that does not mean that they have disappeared. In 2011, New York Police found the bodies of four women dumped near a beach in Long Island, and in Philadelphia, they attributed murders of three women in the Kensington’s neighborhood to a possible “Kensington stranger” (Levin). The number of murders since the 1970’s has decreased over time. James Alan Fox, a criminology professor at Northeastern University and co-author of Extreme Killing: Understanding Serial and Mass Murder, keeps a data base of confirmed serial murders since the 1900’s (Levin). According to his data, there were only a dozen serial killers before the 1960’s in the U.S. It was in the 1970’s that the number increased to 119, then growing even more in the 1980’s to 200 (Levin). By the 2000’s the number has dropped considerably to 61 serial murders. There is really no explanation as to why there were so many serial killings in the 1970’s, just theories. However, there are several reasons and explanations for the decline in murders. During the 1970’s, law enforcement did not have a very sophisticated method of investigating these types of crimes. They did not have the ability to access and link cases together, nor did they have the organization and man power to investigate the increase in crimes and murders. There also became a growing obsession in the media, that gave some of these psychopath’s notoriety and a very short path to celebrity which added another problematic layer the police had to work through. Some attribute the decrease in numbers to better policing, DNA technology advancements, GPS location technology and better investigating techniques, which allows the police to catch a potential serial killer after their first crime (Levin). The technology and social media aspects available today make it much easier to document events as they happen. We also have not seen the medial memorialize some of these incidents and become obsessed as they did with Ted Bundy or John Wayne Gacy. In the 1990’s media began covering more acts of domestic terrorism which shifted our obsession with the serial killer. While we may not see as many serial killings as we did in the past, some have indicated that mass shootings have begun to draw the same kind of attention from the media. So, while we may never see another Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, Son of Sam, or Zodiac Killer, violence and murder are still very much part of our society today as it was in the 1970’s.

The Reasons For Growing Number Of Serial Killers In The USA

There were many reasons as to why there were many serial killers in the U.S during the 70’s and 80’s. Although their mental health and childhood development plays a big part as to why, for example, when their parents would be abusive for a long period of time or being isolated from scholar or home activities. Another major role that came into play was their daily environment that included the use and abuse of drugs. There were a lot of situations that contributed to the mental health of patients/or common everyday people. However the blame can be split in both parties since the individual might have abused medicine instead of trying to find a proper solution to their problems or they took situations out of proportion.

Since the beginning of time serial killers have always been around, but the word did not come about until the 1970’s when FBI investigator, Robert Ressler took it upon himself to figure out how and why those criminals worked the way they did. With time, he believed in criminal profiling and slowly but surely, the word took sail and is known for what it is today. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in their Behavioral Analysis Unit 2 book, the definition of a serial killer is as follows, “The term ‘serial killings’ means a series of three or more killings, not less than one of which was committed within the United States, having common characteristics such as to suggest the reasonable possibility that the crimes were committed by the same actor or actors.” This means that anyone can be considered a serial killer after committing multiple consecutive murders over a period of a month and do not have to include a motive but do have the same memo or pattern.

All serial killers fall into different categories though. One of them is visionary where the offender suffers from psychotic breakdowns and cannot differ their fake surreal thoughts from reality. For example, they could believe they are a greater entity like an almighty god or devil or someone that was put on this Earth to get rid of and even sacrifice people. A second category is mission-oriented where the offender believes the world will be a better place if a group of people were to be killed off like homosexuals, a religion or ethnicity, and even prostitutes and believe by doing this they can change society for the better. The third category is referred to as hedonistic and here the killer seeks thrill, power, lust, and even comfort. These acts can be sexual based and can be forced upon the victim before they are killed or even after they are dead; this is called necrophilism. The suffering of the victim may also make them feel like they are in control. The final category is criminal enterprise or financial gain where the killer benefits in social status and earn money unfairly, for example in a gang or robbery. All of these are the types of serial killers and only some of the characteristics that classify them.

Psychology and sociology play a big part in the development of a serial killer. For example, how the parent raises them throughout their toddler or even teenage years could potentially determine how they develop psychologically. They can develop a mental illness like antisocial and narcissistic personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety, and even depression. These illnesses can also be passed down genetically, but may also come about because of the environment constantly changing drastically and violently. The political era in the 1960’s and 1970’s consisted of many movements, wars, protests, scandals, and even assassinations that could have influenced the offender negatively.

Serial killers are made up of different backgrounds and characteristics who don’t just turn from a regular everyday person to a psychotic being over night. Some of the common reasons are having to be around abusive situations or being abused in any type of way. As children grow up they adapt and accept what they see in their normal everyday life that can conclude to having confused thoughts or have struggle identifying from reality to fantasy. Some other reasons for someone to lose a sense of reality is by blocking out emotions from previous traumatizing events in their life or not being able to cope with certain life events. Although they decided to perform unethical actions due to events they weren’t able to control, many times people try to void the problem by abusing controlled substances and/or consume behavior-altering items at free will instead of expressing their inner emotions.

How One Becomes A Serial Killer?

Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, David Berkowitz, Rose West, and Andrei Chikatilo. These are all names of famous serial killers but what made them that way? Are serial killers genetically born will the urges to take away another human beings life or does the environment they grow up in mold them into the killers they soon become?

The peak of a serial killers activity generally happens when they are in their early twenties to mid thirties, but what happened during their childhood and adolescent years that force them to this point? What’s the neuropsychology behind serial killers? Are they born with the urges hardwired into their genetics or do brain dysfunctions cause their urges to kill? The five serial killers that were mentioned in the beginning all grew up with different lives. Some had a decent childhood and a seemingly normal adulthood, and some grew up with dark and twisted childhood and an even more twisted and dark adulthood, but all ended up with the same fate.

A common attribute among serial killers is growing up with childhood traumas. Multiple serial killers were either born out of wedlock or they were adopted, a few were even sons of prostitutes. Although there are some exceptions to this, most serial killers grow up being physically and mentally abused. A number of serial killers even admitted having had highly uncertain or overwhelming relationship with their mothers that were generated by both the person having a sexual attraction towards their mother and by maternal abuse. In some cases there is also a family history of substance abuse and psychiatric disorder. Oftentimes, lying, stealing, destroying property, setting fires, and being cruel and callous to other children, are aggressive, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns serial killers possess throughout their childhood. Numerous serial killers grew up lonely, shy, or they had the feeling of being neglected, discarded, and unloved. Antisocial behavior is common among serial killers, with some exceptions, and during childhood some traits such as; bedwetting, fire setting, an cruelty to animals, can predict a antisocial adulthood. During young adulthood, these soon to be killers start out their career with assault which then soon accelerates to battery, then arson, then rape and ultimately murder. Sadistic fantasies that are seen among serial killers tend to evolve during childhood and adolescent years and are a important factors in recognizing young children who are on the path of becoming sexually sadistic serial killers.

All serial killers fantasise about what they want to happen, (how they want to kill, what they want to do the the person, ect.) this normally starts during the adolescent time of their lives, can sometimes start during childhood, and flourishes over their lifetime. Sooner or later the serial killer will start to include real life people he/she actual knows into their fantasies and being to mentally prepare new realistic fantasies. As their fantasies get more developed, they start to depersonalize their victims. The victims end up being diminished to worthless object that only exists for the offenders satisfaction. As soon as the killers have fully acted out their fantasies and have gotten away with it, they tend to feel progressively empowered. They feel invincible which only motivates their killing spree. After awhile a killers sequence of abduction, torture, and murder becomes more ritualized and more polished. The serial killers become more and more methodical in the way they kill and in the way they elude their capture by learning from their mistakes and near-misses. A single absence of moral sense merged with an enlarged feeling of entitlement characterizes these sadistic killers that cross over the thin line to actual predation on other people. Descriptors that can be used to characterize these killers contain; a hostile emotional state and emotional instability, lack of empathy, lack of responsibility, poor impulse control, low self-confidence, and a low frustration tolerance.

Frontal lobe dysfunctions can be related to violent, nonsexual crimes, such as murder, and temporal lobe dysfunction can be related to sexual, somewhat non violent crimes, such as pedophilia. Dysfunctions to both regions of the brain can be related to crimes, like rape, that combined both sexual and violent elements. There are two different types of aggression, affective and predatory. Affective aggression is associated with high states of physiological and emotional arousal and it usually happens when species are fighting for territory, food, social statuses, and mates. Predatory aggression is associated with low physiological and emotional arousal, and it usually involves some level of initial stalking, and it usually happens across all species, “it’s not out of hatred or revenge: it’s business, not personal” (Miller 2014). Affective aggression killers seem to be lacking in their capability to control aggressive instincts, that are produced by subcortical limbic structures, caused by damage to the frontal lobe. Predatory aggressive killers maintain their frontal lobe activity in order to handle, control, and regulate actions, but they do so with the aid of their limbically motivated, irresistible impulse for sex and dominance over another human being. Both predatory and affective aggression are not confirmed in all animal species but such creatures wouldn’t be able to survive without these traits and under certain situations, the same could be accurate for humans.

Excessive theta activity in the brain is one of the most commonly detected electroencephalographic (EEG), a type of monitoring method used to record electrical activity in the brain, abnormalities that corresponds with violence. An abnormality, like this, is consistent with the low arousal theory, which states that people with abnormalities like this seek extreme stimulation through antisocial behavior in order counteract their low levels of physiological arousal, in other words they are known as sensation seekers.

Ted Bundy did not have any major childhood traumas growing up but he did show signs becoming a sadistic serial killer. During his adolescent years Bundy recalls growing up antisocial and he would wonder the street looking for open widows for which he spy on oblivious women. He had a substantial juvenile record during his adolescent years but by the time he was around twenty six years of age he had graduated college and was on a career path in law or politics. That career path was cut short though, after bandy realized his true desire in life after brutally assaulting his first victim. Even after the body count started to climb, the police regularly ruled him out because of his supposedly respectable character and appearance. Ted Bundy was a seemingly normal person…or so people thought. Bundy is one exception to the statement about how serial killer are made by childhood traumas, but he did show a few of the signs you typically see in most children whole later become killers.

David Berkowitz, also referred to as Son of Sam, is a famous serial killer like Bundy except Berkowitz had a very different childhood. Berkowitz falls under the category of serial killers who had a traumatic childhood. Berkowitz had unmarried parents and ended up being put up for adoption and his adoptive parents ended up changing his first and middle and gave him their surname. Starting at a young age he started to show many signs of being a violent sadistic serial killer. He was above average intelligence but lost all interest in school and became more concentrated with disobedient behavior. Berkowitz is a serial killer who falls between the cracks of being the normal dark and twisted serial killers who shows all the signs and the serial killers who, to others seem like a normal human being but behind closed doors are the violent sadist killers they fantasises about being.

Rose west is a british, female serial killer who teamed up with her husband to torture and kill at least nine young woman. When she was a teenager her parents separated, she started out living with her mother but six months later she moved in with her father when she was sixteen. Her father suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and he repeatedly sexually abused rose and her older sister. Rose had been getting raped by her father from the age of ten and at the beginning of puberty she would parade around semi-naked in the presence of her younger brother. On multiple occasions, at just the age of thirteen, rose would sneak into her youngest brother, Gorden, room and molest him. She also raped her brother Graham when he was just twelve years old. When Rose got older she regularly worked as a prostitute, and often while her husband watched and she encouraged Fred, her husband, to start abusing their daughter when she was just eight years old and Rose would also abuse the girl herself. Rose grew up with a very traumatic childhood that puts her in the category of serial killers category of their childhood pushed them to this point.

There are many signs out there warning us about what path a child is heading down based on their choice, what’s going on in their life and their personality. It is predicted that, children who have tendencies of enjoyment of animal cruelty, bedwetting, and firesetting, run a high risk of having antisocial behavior in the future. Children also run a high risk of becoming a serial killer if they have these five stereotyped, violent patterns; destroying property, setting fires, stealing, lying, or if they are callous and cruel to other children.

In her online article, Davies (2018) states “Genetics loads the gun, their personality and psychology aim it, and their experiences pull the trigger,” so both a killers genetics and the environment they grow up in combine to motivate their violent behavior. Not every serial killer out there has suffered from childhood traumas or abuse and not every single child out there has become a serial killer. Nevertheless, there seems to be a stronger correspondence between child abuse/traumas and serial killers rather than serial killers being born with the urges hardwired into their genetics.