Characteristics Of A Serial Killer

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

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

Studies have also shown that there are different categories for serial killers. Some are stereotypes that only kill a certain type of victim, for example if a woman leaves a man and he goes after women that look like her. There are some that state that they were told to do so under a

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

Serial killers are the byproduct of many different things: trauma, death of loved ones, abuse, neglect, adoption, and even witnessing abuse (Are Serial). Serial killers have had to endure a massive amount of something such as trauma or abuse to an unimaginable extent to become what they are; the extent of the abuse, the trauma, the psychological damage they endure is incomprehensible to many. The destruction of one’s innocence can occur at any given time in his or her life, but he or she is more impressionable in his or her youth by the negativism of someone else’s actions (Scott, Shirley L. What Makes Serial Killers Tick ~ Childhood Event). People are susceptible to what they endure in their adolescence, and cruel upbringings, such as

Several serial killers have a definitive and common personality profile. Almost every major social, biological, psychological behavioural influence that has been seriously suggested as playing a role in causing crime has been thoroughly thought as potentially

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

Throughout time many have had a fascination with serial killers and with help from the media they have become celebrities within our culture. There are many books, movies, television shows, and news coverage to introduce viewers to their lives. With all the interest behind serial killers, many wonder how they come to be this violent. The question is often asked, are serial killers born or made?

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

In society, many people have several questions about serial killers, some questions they confer are: how do these individuals have the mind set to kill people and why they take part in what they do. What do you think creates these killers? Some factors that researchers have paired to the making of a serial killer are parents and the, mental illness that comes with this. Many serial killers are in every state around the world and are both sexes. Serial killers are considered a serial killer once they have killed two or more people. The definition of 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. In 2005 statistics show that there are 4,007 killings in the world. 2,715 of these killers are from the United States. The remaining 1,292 killers are from other countries.

A main factor that differentiates serial murderers from other homicidal offenders is their reasons to commit such horrendous crimes. Usually, homicidal killers kill because of complex conflicts between families, mobsters, couples, and friends or because money problems. "A psychokiller, I should make clear, is not a regular murderer. A murderer has a vendetta, a nice specific personal thing against his victim" (Serial Killers). However, very different from normal killers, serial murderers are motivated by compulsion and have the urge to slaughter other humans.

They frequently come from troubled families filled with alcohol and drug abuse, psychiatric problems, and criminal behavior. In many cases, they do not have a father present and live alone with their mother. They also experience a heavy amount of abuse as children and as a result become violent adults. Although this is true to some extent, it is argued whether the abuse is key rationale for their actions. It is explained in a piece by the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress that scientists say “genetics is the key role in determining who becomes a serial killer” while criminologists and psychologists say “that large events such as abuse and abandonment create the setting and foundation in which serial killers grow into sadistic mass murders” (Serial Killers: Nature vs. Nurture).

Findings in this article are designed to ask questions and gain a better understanding of what a serial killers mind is like, why serial killers are so popular in American pop culture and, the basic fascination and interest in serial killer cases and, review basic facts and ideas of how we can stop or try to limit cases of serial killer violence and crime, through studies and research. Covering a range of historical, medical and, scientific views in a wide variety of cases and findings, the goal is to expand on the ideas and theories of what causes people to become serial killers.

Through my research and reading of The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, Sick of living/unwilling to die (presumably the Zodiac Killer), The Man He Killed by Thomas Hardy, and Incident by Amiri Baraka, I have come to the conclusion that serial killers are motivated to kill due to a combined influence of the way they were raised alongside their nature/the basic character that they were born with. Traumatic childhood experiences or even abuse can influence people who already have the impulse to harm others to go forth with their desires, but both aspects of nature and nurture often must be present to form the foundation of a serial killer.

A serial killer is known for being a psychopath. According to The Merriam Webster Dictionary, “a person who is mentally ill, who does not care about other people, and who is usually dangerous or violent” is known as a psychopath. There are multiple reasons for people becoming serial killers. However, psychopathy is linked to becoming a serial killer. Some people become actual serial killers because of their childhood, mental