Comparison Of Biological Theories In The Silence Of The Lamb

Jeffrey Dahmer was a notorious serial killer in the late 70’s throughout the early 90’s. What made him stand out from most serial killer’s was what he did to the bodies of his victims. During this research paper, I will cover his childhood life, what led to his lifestyle of killing and cannibalism and also the crimes that were committed during his murderous acts. I will also compare what theories relate to Jeffrey Dohmer and what could possibly be the reason why he did what he did.

Antisocial personality disorder is “a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood.” (National Institute of Mental Health, 2007). It is often characterized by blatant inattention to social norms and laws, pathological lying, putting others at risk for personal benefit, and an obvious lack of remorse (NIMH, 2007). One of the most notorious people with this disorder is Jeffrey Dahmer, a serial killer and necrophiliac whose sexual nature and gruesome offenses captured the nation’s attention (Talbott, n.d.). This paper will attempt to provide an overview of Dahmer’s life, as well as explain how both nature and nurture played roles in not only the production of a criminal, but also in the personality of all people.

This isn’t to say that Dahmer wasn’t responsible for his crimes- a jury of his peers determined he wasn’t legally insane at the time of the murders, but society made Dahmer. Next, this paper will use the strain theory to analyze Dahmer and his crimes.

Jeffrey Dahmer, also commonly known as the Milwaukee Cannibal, is one of America’s most notorious serial killers. In the span of nearly 15 years, between the years 1978 and 1991, it is estimated that Dahmer was responsible for the death of fifteen to seventeen young men (Radford University). As his nickname suggests Dahmer was known for drugging his victims, then raping them, then disembodying them, and if the mood fit him, cooking and eating his victims. Dahmer’s unique case resulted in him being psychologically analyzed and diagnosed by at least seven different psychologists during his trial (Palermo & Bogaerts, 2014). This paper seeks to explore the diagnostics given to Jeffery Dahmer and prove, through the use of available information, their accuracy.

Jeffery Dahmer is arguably the most notorious serial killer -cannibal in history. Targeting men and boys, Dahmer‘s life of crime began with drinking and sex offending. His murders were exceptionally gruesome, often involving rape, torture, necrophilia, dismemberment, and cannibalism. The media often commented on how “normal” Dahmer appeared. Jeffrey Dahmer made everyone question how one develops into such a monster. By the time of his apprehension, Dahmer had sodomized, murdered, and cannibalized at least seventeen men, mostly black, Hispanic or Asian, in the Milwaukee area between the years of 1978 until his arrest in 1991 (Williams pg.1).

Part of Biological explanations can also be applied to Ted Bundy’s serial murder cases. Biological explanations believe that criminal behavior is inborn and physically observable and criminals are

In the movie “Copycat” from 1995 there is a character named Helen Hudson (Sigourney Weaver) who is a psychiatrist that studies the behavior of serial killers. At the beginning of the film she is giving a lecture at the University of San Francisco and at the end of the lecture, Daryll Lee Cullum (Harry Connick, Jr.) follows Helen into the restroom and tries to hang her, but fails and gets locked up in prison. Thirteen months later, Helen suffers from panic attacks and agoraphobia which have resulted from her Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. She has been housebound for months now and has a homosexual assistant named Andy (John Rothman). Darryl Lee is in contact with William McNamara, another psychopath who wants to follow in Darryl Lee’s footsteps and become famous. So Darryl Lee tells William to continue his work of killing Helen.

“The last thing you want is Hannibal Lecter inside your head.” It is a daunting task to effectively transfer textual tonality from page to screen. Balancing proper visual interpretations of the text with original insights is not an easy procedure, and not every filmmaker is equipped with the artistic skills necessary to complete such an undertaking. Alejandro Jodorowsky’s wildly unsuccessful attempt at adapting Frank Herbert’s Dune, for example, ended in bankruptcy for the studio and premature cancellation of the project due to the extensive runtime the film was to have in accordance with the length of the book. Many filmic adaptations fail in their inability to recapture and translate what originally gave a text literary merit. Jonathan Demme’s adaptation of the quintessential Thomas Harris novel Silence of the Lambs is so well

William Sheldon emerged biological and psychological factors of crime to link criminal behaviour with physical characteristics. William Sheldon claimed that there was a high correlation between an individual body build and there temperament. He found that “Individuals mesomorphs or individuals who had muscular builds and tended to be more risk taking were more delinquent and criminal than others” .

It is very rare to study something that is as fascinating yet as bewildering as the distinctive paradox, that is the human brain. Every individuals conflicting behaviour and elaborate character that make them the person they are must have a justification. I originally established a fascination in forensic psychology as I read about a sequence of homicides committed by Gary Ridgway, otherwise known as the “Green River Killer”. Upon discovery of this case, questions began to pervade in my head about what may be the cause for an individual to execute such things, and just how someone’s mind could be so peculiarly dissimilar to my own.

that it is not normal for her to look this way and there is a false

The biological theories are an essential to criminal justice professionals to explain why the genetic characteristics of the human being's body chemicals and evolutionary aggressive criminal conduct have been proposed as explanations for crime; however, to distinguish criminals from non-criminals without adding the value judgment. (Bohm & Vogel, 2011) “Biological theories can be understood as a broad, science-based, anthropological approach to understanding criminality” (Swan, 2017, para. 4). It is important to understand the body type based on the functions of the brain. Therefore, there are several different methodologies to describe the physical differences between criminals and non-criminals such as physiognomy, phrenology, criminal anthropology, the study of the body types, heredity, and scientific technologies that examine the brain function and structure to give the criminal justice profession another look into an individual before a biased take.

The ID, ego, and super ego are always in constant conflict with each other especially in Buffalo Bill because as Hannibal Lector says he does not actually want to be a transgender. The ID pressures you to be impulsive and this comes out when tension is not resolved due to repression, fixation, denial, guilt, projection and more (Buccellato 2017). Buffalo Bill is serial killer who was lost and did not know who he was and tried to be a lot of different things. In the movie, Hannibal Lector uses his experience as a psychiatrist and psychoanalyses him. He found that he has had tried many different passions and tried to be many different things but never really knew who he really was. Buffalo Bill’s parents left him at young age and killed his grandparents. There were many social factors that led to him to skinning larger women. Buffalo Bill had unresolved tension that made him have fixations on something new every time. His most harmful fixation was trying to become a transgender by killing women and making their skin into clothing. This pushed him off the edge of just being psychotic to making his mental health into a problem for the criminal justice system. Freud did not talk about crime much but he did say “I must maintain that the sense of guilt was present before the misdeed, that it did not arise from it, but conversely the misdeed arose from the sense of guilt” (Rafter and Brown 2011: 50). This explains how guilt and repression can be turned into a crime over time. Having ones deep inner thoughts kept down without realizing them can be traumatic and cause one to lash out with drastic behaviors like

The criminal mind is something that is difficult to comprehend. The aggressive, manic, and psychotic behaviors of criminals are all a reflection of their human biology and the environment. Jeffrey Dahmer, also known as the Milwaukee Cannibal, committed several crimes of murder and rape which were behaviors influenced by both external factors and his genetic makeup. While certain justifications for criminal acts can be argued as irrational, it is clear that the biological and environmental factors that contribute to Dahmer’s loneliness, and antisocial behavior fail to fully excuse his motives. These factors fail to fully excuse his motives because he used his “insanity” at trial as a plea to escape any consequences, and because he was not deprived from the ability to resist his impulsive and obsessive behavior. It is important to acknowledge cases like Dahmer’s because further advances can be made to treat psychotic behaviors and answer vexing questions in regards to law and medicine.

You think if Catherine lives, you won't wake up in the dark ever again to that awful screaming of the lambs”(Demme, 1991). Clarice claims she doesn’t know and it is possible she truly doesn’t, but we can see in her face that wants it to be true. We see the pain in her face and her desire to be released from the screaming and find peace. Director Jonathan Demme lets us connect with the characters by shattering the fourth wall. He positions the camera so Clarice is essentially talking to the audience in extreme close up shots. This technique instills her anguish into the audience. Clarice then becomes more demanding, asking for the killer’s name but before Hannibal can answer Dr. Frederick Chilton informs her it’s time to go. She is nearly dragged out of the room, but breaks free to run back to Hannibal’s cage and retrieve her case files. The visual style up to this point in the scene has been dark, but when Clarice rushes to the cage, there is light illuminating Hannibal. Clarice running towards this light represents her search for peace. She is hoping the clues left by Dr. Lecter in the case files will enable her to catch the killer, save the kidnapped girl, and stop the lambs from screaming.