Cold Blooded Killer Essay

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 murders are considered to be one of the most heinous and formidable crimes that can be committed, even though serial murders account for less than one percent of all crimes committed in a given year. Serial murders further appalls society in that these killers do not possess any of the basic human emotions such as, empathy, conscious, or remorse. Throughout the decades, the fascination of serial killers have consumed mainstream society, with numerous television shows being produced including, Dexter, Hannibal, and the Following. However, an exaggerated depiction of these killers within the mass media still continues to blur fact and fiction together. As a result, real-life serial killers such as the infamous Gary Ridgway, also known as “The Green River Killer” and fictional ones like Norman Bates have become tremendously interchangeable in the mind of many individuals.

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,

Serial murder crime though rare, is not a a new phenomenon. This crime has been committed for centuries and will continue to be a crime that is committed throughout the world. It is unfortunate and scary that this is probably one of the most serious of crimes that cannot be prevented. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, serial murderers commit their crimes because they want to. Rehabilitation is not obtainable for serial killers due to their inability for remorse and empathy, or to see people as people and not objects(Knight 2006). This research paper will focus primarily on serial murder within the U.S. First and foremost, a legal definition provided by the U.S. Department of Justice will be presented to set forth the discussion of this research paper. As follows will be a detailed discussion explaining serial killer typologies with the use of examples of known serial killers in the U.S. Types of serial killers are: power oriented, mission oriented, visionary, and hedonistic, each typology will be clearly defined and explained. Some serial killers can have a mixture of each typology’s characteristic. Serial killers that will be discussed and used as examples to represent the content of this research paper will be, John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, Robert Berdella, Jeffery Dahmer, and lastly the most prolific serial killer in American history, Gary Ridgeway. Problems with studying serial killing, are that because of rarity and access. Most of what we think

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

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

Brogaard, Berit. "The Making of a Serial Killer." Psychology Today. Sussex Directories, Inc., 7 Dec. 2012. Web. 03 May 2014.

Most serial killers are white males between the ages of 25 and 35 years old with an intelligence level of average or higher. They also tend to be married with children and have a career (Serial 1). They also seem to have a childhood past of being physically and sexually abused and are from broken homes. As children, they often wet the bed, were infatuated with masturbation, were cruel to animals, and liked playing with fire. Because of their childhood, they often develop a psychopathic nature and do not know how to feel sympathy or be in a relationship (Scott 2). Because of their insecurity, a compulsive need to feel like they are in authority becomes a vital part of their well-being, even at the cost of others lives.

Donald Gaskin may be one of America’s most notorious serial killers, possibly killing over fifty men, women, and children, but the courts only convicted him of eight murders. One might say how could he get away with so many murders? The answer is multifarious, and as Fox and Levin dictated in Extreme Killing “It is difficult to gauge the full extent of serial homicides. Because of complexities in linking murders committed by the same perpetrator but at different times and even places, no precise estimate of a serial killer is even possible” (Fox & Levin, 2005). Forensic psychologists attempt to catch serial killers by profiling them based on the crime scene and the killer’s childhood, yet Gaskins was not a typical serial killer because his motives to kill altered from profit to sadistic thrills. Customers often paid him to kill their cheating spouse, enemy, or even parent, making it a full-time profession for Gaskins, but he often killed for the sadistic thrills and power due to his terrible childhood.

Serial killers have been around since the Middle Ages and have grown to be more incessant, driving researchers to search for the answer in the matter of why serial murderers submit these serial killings and how they became so violent. Two hypotheses have developed, are serial killers conceived with predetermined genes that play a central part in creating their homicidal tendencies or do psycho killers become murderers through their surroundings as adolescents?

Though serial killer may have a fairly specific definition, there is no single precise profile for the serial killer. Each has a unique identity, set of motives and methods, and a unique psychopathology that would attempt to explain the mens rea, that is, the purpose or intent of the murder. “Psychological profiling is an investigative tool used strictly to answer the how of the crime, not the why” (Severence et al, 1992; Lanier and Henry, 1998). By examining the psychological make-up of the serial killer, it is often possible to explain the behavior, which might make it a useful tool in solving crimes.

As fascinating as Serial Murder is to society, the research of the patterns and behavior of serial killers gives valuable insight to the future actions and patterns of these individuals, which can be used as a skeleton for investigation into an individual. From early childhood to late adulthood, humans are constantly developing and adapting to the stimuli presented to an individual. This causes the consistently dynamic persona humans are characterized by. Nonetheless, it is compelling to assume that the heinous acts of those who murder repeatedly are inspired not by an individual’s environment, but rather by a disposition at birth. This assumption is one that is well discussed, but not well researched for the sole fact that it is a difficult topic to study empirically. Thus, the analysis of the actions of serial murderers is all but conclusive as the studies regarding this topic are colluded at best; further collusion is caused by the fact that much of the data presented is contradictory to opposing reviewed studies. This creates no conclusive verdict on the matter and urges the further research of the psychology of serial murderers.

How the minds of serial killers work is a very interesting subject indeed. I marvel at how a person could take the life of another human being – and enjoy it. Motivations behind one wanting to kill another can stem from feeling dismissed or rebuffed, the need for power and the need for perfection. It is also possible that a serial killer is trying to overcome some sort of physical limitation. In Charles Schmid’s case, he stood a mere 5’3”, yet he was in extremely good physical shape and excelled

“I don’t feel guilty for anything. I feel sorry for people who feel guilt,” -Ted Bundy. Throughout the world a specific group of individuals such as Bundy, are classified as serial killers. According to the Britannica Encyclopedia the term serial killer or the act of serial killing can be defined as “the unlawful homicide of at least two people, carried out in a series over a period of time.” Every year such murderers create chaos in hundreds and thousands of people’s lives through their dark motives and monstrous actions. Society often searches for reasons why such killings take place, but the majority fail to investigate past the surface of the murders. The psychological motivation for serial killers stems deeper to predisposed state of minds as well as several shared traits and histories. Psychological commonalities among the serial killers such as the biological makeup of their brain as well as similar family situations help people understand the actions that serial killers make. Individuals classified as serial killers are known to have abnormal psychological states of mind that cause them to violently cause chaos in thousands of lives every year. Among these murderers many share psychological commonalities that stem from various aspects in their lives that drive them to such disturbing actions.

Barack Obama, the U.S. president, and John Brennan, the CIA director, claim that ISIS is in fact not Islamic, they just masquerade as the religion in order to recruit other Muslims (Rayman, "CIA Director Says ISIS Not Islamic, But ‘Psychopathic’", 2015). As said by some of America’s highest ranking officials, ISIS recruits its members by using similarities to other branches of Islam and the foot-in-the-door phenomenon. They also use groupthink, cognitive dissonance, reinforcement, and certainly punishment. (Myers, Psychology, 2015; Janis, Victims of Groupthink, 1972; DeAngelis, “Understanding terrorism”, 2009).