David Berkowitz "Son of Sam"

Around age 6 David's mother abused him. Very badly to the point when he almost died. But he survived all her evil games. And horrible ways. But David’s mother wasn’t always threatening or abusive. When David was 5 years old his mother was the best. She would take his brothers and him out for picnics or just out to play. “She would also make the most marvelous food and we ate like kings.” “mother would always show love to us and buy us new things she was the best.” But then by christmas time Catherine changed she was no longer nice and loving she would beat David,

Mass murder is defined by the FBI as the killing of three or more people in a single event or in the same day (Petersen & Farrington, 2007). Mass murderers are complex and can be examined by the many factors that regularly appear among them, such as violence precipitating events, weapon of choice, and mental illnesses. The motivations and methods for committing mass murder are easily broken down into specific groups, and through the examination of these definitions and specific cases there is much to learn about the mind of a mass murderer.

According to the “Hare Psycopathy Checklist” a psychopath is a person who knows right from wrong in our society but often feels no guilt, remorse or empathy when they engage in wrong actions. They lie easily, blame others for their actions and often hurt people who are close to them. David Berkowitz meets the criteria of Hare’s checklist and is believed to be a true psychopath. Berkowitz is known as the “Son of Sam”, a thrill seeking serial killer who terrorized the city of New York for over a year. Information about David Berkowitz’s background, personality traits and lifestyle and his serial killer profile help to prove that he is in fact a psychopath. In conclusion, this essay will prove to readers that David Berkowitz is a notorious

The chances of being a victim of a mass shooting are a little less than your odds at being struck by lightning (Fund, 2012). If you take a look at our nation’s history you will see that the rate at which these killings take place are on the decline. This fact begs the question then what are the similarities with all these mass murderers? Is it the mental-health aspect of these murderers that link them all together? Is there a connection between the mass murderers that somehow will allow us to find these people before the acts? Finally, what is the reason that these mass murders are taking place? Are they doing it for fame, love, revenge or power? All of these questions have sparked several studies about these murderers in order to figure out

Seeing stories about mass shootings on the news is an everyday occurrence. Mass shootings occur when people intentionally and indiscriminately shoot multiple people at one venue or at one time. In the United States, there have been 62 mass shootings in the last thirty years. There have been 24 in the last seven years, alone. If he lived in the twenty first century the monster in Frankenstein, by Mary Shelly and the movie by the same title, directed by James Whale, would be a modern day mass shooter. The monster and serial shooters share some comparably important traits, such as being bullied by humans, wanting revenge, and having psychological problems.

Berkowitz by mere chance. If it were not for a witness on his first murder he might have been able to keep killing and get away. The witness said that she saw a man walking by a female with his arm unusually as if hiding an object in his sleeve. She was able to recall a police officer putting a ticket on a car and it happened to be Mr. Berkowitz car. The officers were wondering why this man was 25 miles away from his house at 2:30 am. When the officers approached Mr. Berkowitz he pleaded guilty before they actually had a chance to thoroughly question him.” Rothman, L. (2015, August 10). How the Son of Sam Serial Killer Was Finally Caught. Retrieved August 30, 2015, from

Stories of mass shootings have been broadcasted via media coverage for many decades, with the number of shootings increasing rather than decreasing. The question of why such mass shootings continue to occur more frequently has provoked many thoughts to circulate society regarding why this happens, raising questions about what is best for the public’s safety as well as how to  inform the public about what has occurred. According to Mark Follman, the national affairs editor who leads a team which is researching and reporting gun violence for a renounced magazine, “Mother Jones”,  “there is a growing body of forensic evidence that mass shooters emulate their most infamous predecessors...there are now clear indications that some individuals who plan and carry out these crimes are influenced by sensational news

What makes you into a mature adult? This is shown mostly in the novel, The Book of Lost Things, by John Connolly through characterization, although the author uses various literary terms to show that his main character comes of age. David is a depressed flat character in the beginning who eventually has to grow up a lot faster than other kids his age and become a person that sticks up for himself and a dynamic mature character as the book progresses.     In the beginning of the novel David is characterized as depressed child. For example, “David would always remember the day his mother died” (Connolly 4).

David would come to school with bruises and marks all over his body. The teachers would ask him what happened and he would just play it off. When David reached the age of twelve the teachers began to get involved, and then he was placed in Foster Care. From the age four to twelve David was mistreated, and finally he got away from it all.

David Berkowitz, who many know under the alias of the Son of Sam, or the .44 Caliber Killer, was a serial killer in the 1970s. Berkowitz was a resident of New York City. He was arrested on August 10th of 1977 and was followed up by a sentence of six life sentences in prison on June 12, 1978. This makes his supreme term around 365 years behind bars. To follow are the details of Berkowitz and his life.

First of all, David’s microsystem consisted of his mother, father and five brothers. His alienation from the family lead to his hating the relationships in his mesosystems. He explained that “Inside, [his] soul became so cold [he] hated everything.” (Pelzer, 1995, pp.133) His primary caregiver was the source of his torment and caused a strange love-hate relationship between him and his mother. David desperately sought to earn his mother’s love while at the same time cursed her

Yet again, a connection has been made just as with the types and traits of mass murders/murderers. Many mass killers fall into more than one category on how they establish

This week I was incredibly surprised when I read the excerpt on page 411, titled PsychWatch: Mass Murders. I like they note in the article thought after listening to many different interviewers and videos trying to document and explain these mass murders that the clinical field had a good understanding of these individuals however it is said that they do not. One of the most fascinating things that they bring up in this excerpt is that these mass murders are not actually on the rise, there are specific types of these murders that are on the rise however. The pseudocommando mass murders are one such type that are on the rise. These murders are of the daylight hours, no escape plan, and has planned the violence far ahead of time and comes

Societal and familial gender and sexual socialization play a major role in David’s persistent self-hatred. His father placed an extreme emphasis on masculinity during David’s childhood. David overhears him tell his aunt that, “all he wants for David is that he grow up to be a man” (15). The heternormative culture of Giovanni’s Room taught David that in order to be a real man, you must desire, love, and marry a woman. As a result of this gender and sexual socialization, David experiences persistent feelings of self-hatred and in order to cope with those feelings, he continually lies to himself about his

The legal definition of a serial murder, as defined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)(Morton & Hilts, Eds., 2006), in 2005 is, “[t]he unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender(s), in separate events" (p. 9). However, numerous people debate over the definition, including this researcher, because it lacks a cool-down period in between murders, which numerous professionals believe is necessary for serial killer status. The cool-down period is a short to extended amount of time between murders. This is what differentiates them from other killers such as mass murderers and spree killers. Despite this disagreement, serial killers remain a rare phenomenon. The FBI (2006) states, serial murder accounts for under one percent of the killings a year. Nevertheless, throughout the years, countless people have