Analysis of Jeffrey Dahmer using Crime Theories
The field of criminology has been used over the years to systematically study the causes of crime. In criminology, explaining why people commit a crime is very important. However, the explanations of crime are just as complex as the society is deemed to be. Various theories have regularly been used to explain crime in the past as criminologists seek the most effective solutions to reduce the levels of crime. They attempt to explore the conditions that led to criminal behavior and the factors within the society that contributed to its existence. One of the most examined types of offenders is the serial killer. The term ‘serial killer’ has been known to strike both fear and curiosity in equal measures.
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However, his childhood is reported to have key factors that influenced his criminal behavior. One of these key factors includes his mother’s suffering from a mental illness, the rocky marriage of his parents, and the feeling of neglect once his younger brother was born. At the age of six, he had surgery for a double hernia that is thought to have emotionally affected him. His personality changed dramatically from an outgoing boy to a much withdrawn and uncommunicative one, as he got older than before. He lost interest in hobbies at the onset of his adolescent years and found it even more difficult to maintain social relationships having moved out of home thrice by the time he was eight years (Schechter, 2012). He found solace in dead animals and started drinking heavily during the high school years. It is during these high school years that he became an alcoholic. He was forced to drop out of the army as a result of his alcoholic behavior. It is reported that Dahmer was sexually abused by his father at a young age (Hickey, 2012).
His fascination with dead animals continued throughout his teenage years. He would dissolve the dead animals in chemicals and occasionally leave out their heads on a stake. Such features relevant to Dahmer included his inability to develop his social skills, in addition to the impulsive behavior that led to the development of sexual offenses. By the time he was 13 years, he had been arrested
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The rational choice theory describes event decisions as part of a criminal’s thought process prior, during and after committing the crime. According to Hall (2012), event decisions involve preparation, target selection, commissioning the act, escape strategy, and the aftermath. Jeffrey Dahmer used this process to perfection. He would start by selecting the most attractive person in a bar, lure him to his house, and commit the crime before disposing and keeping some parts of the victims’ body. According to Miller et al. (2014), people freely choose behavior based on their rational calculations. With all other things being equal, the choice made by a person will be directed towards achieving the highest level possible of individual pleasure. Crime, according to the rational choice theory, is chosen for its benefits and will always occur if the benefits outweigh the costs. Of all the incentives that drove Dahmer, the sexual fantasies reigned supreme. His sexual impulses dramatically resurfaced whenever he was drunk. He became more and more desperate for companionship that would make him feel superior and in control. Cornis et al. (2014) states that the motives of many serial killers are based on the combination of psychological rewards. These rewards, such as sexual excitement, were what drove Dahmer into committing crime after crime. Dahmer obtained the greatest pleasure from possessing his
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.
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.
In high school, Dahmer was labeled as a weird kid who was very isolated and who showed bizarre behaviors. While in high school, Dahmer began to drink a lot and even went to school with alcohol on his person. Dahmer did well in school, however,
Born May 21, 1960 his parents are, Lionel and Joyce Dahmer. He was considered a happy child till the age of 4 when he received a double hernia surgery. As a teen he had no friends and when he was 14 he was having compulsions toward necrophilia and murder. And said his parents divorce caused his thoughts into action. As a kid he had no friends, and was very unresponsive to family and teachers. After his parents got a divorce he took his thoughts into action.
As a child Dahmer faced numerous obstacles to success: he was a poor student who struggled socially and turned to alcohol as early as high school. All of these factors culminated in a young man who had given up on many cultural goals of the time- he wasn’t attracted to women, so having a family of his own was out; he had no real ambition to contribute to the work force, was unable to get “desirable” jobs due to his lack of education and dishonorable discharge, and his family supported him financially most of the time. For a time, he was in the military, but discharge due to his
Further, they reflect antisocial attitudes, values, and belief because they indicate a disturbing lack of regard for the sanctity of life. Dahmer had no friends and certainly did not use his leisure time to participate in prosocial behaviors. Additionally, he began abusing alcohol in high school and continued doing so throughout much of his life. This drinking caused several negative events in his life including being kicked out of the army and out of a Florida
Right after he graduated from high school, in June 1978, Dahmer picked up a hitchhiker named Steven Hicks and took him to his parent’s house where he had currently lived. Jeffrey continue to get the young man drunk, but when Steven tried to leave, Dahmer struck him in the head with a barbell and caused him to die instantly. He cut up the corpse of his first victim and packed the body parts in plastic bags and buried them behind his parent’s home. Dahmer later dug up the remains, crushed the bones with a sledgehammer and scattered them across a wooded ravine. After the killing of Steven Hicks, Jeffrey’s alcohol intake had spun out of Ohio State University after one quarter term. His father ended up remarrying and insisted that his son go join
His classmates considered him a loner and an alcoholic, who brought liquor into the classroom (Bardsley Ch.14). At 15, Dahmer would scour the neighborhood, collecting the remains of animals for his own private cemetery. A fascination with dead creatures was evident from a young age (Bardsley Ch. 14). Also as a teen, Dahmer’s parents ended their relationship by divorce.
His background and early life mentioned earlier proves his actions of aggression and impulsivity. His diagnosis is ASPD comorbid with substance abuse, and accompanied with sadistic, necrophilia, and obsessive features. The sadistic and obsessive feature comes from his sexual pleasure to harm and control others. Also his obsessive features can be linked with his canabalism. “Dahmer reported that he felt an intense need of consuming the flesh of the dead body in order to incoporate the other in his own self, and he experienced this as a sexual sense of closeness and unification” (Martens,2011, pg.504). His necrophilia feature has been present sense his early adolescence. His low self-esteem, and unsocial behaviors may have easily led him down the path to developing ASPD and his other features. Jeffery’s mother also “suffered from hysteria, depression, suicidal
Psychology”). He had become very distant, and started to show a very low tolerance to frustration. Dahmer also showed signs of two different paraphilias: sadism and necrophilia, along with cannibalism.
Within the various fields of criminology, the examination of the reasoning behind why individuals commit crime is important in modern debates regarding how crime should be controlled and prevented. Over the years, numerous theories have developed and continue to be explored – both individually and collectively. Some of the most significant theories with regards to the criminal behaviour of Jeffrey Dahmer include: rational choice theory, attachment theory, differential association theory, biosocial theory and social control theory. This assignment will focus solely on social control theory and how it relates to the case of Jeffrey Dahmer.
For example, Steven Tuomi, who was killed in November of 1978, Dahmer smashed in his chest and then tried to rip out his heart. Ernest Miller's skin was bleached and then kept in Dahmer's closet and his bicep was kept frozen to eat later. Jeffrey Dahmer also experimented with his unfortunate victims. The first was a 14 year old named Konerak Sinthasomphone. Dahmer drilled holes in the back of his head and then injected hydrochloric acid into his brain while he was still alive in an attempt to create a zombie. Dahmer also tried this with 23 year old Jeremiah Weinberger, who was killed in July 1991. After he killed his victims he would keep some of their body parts as “trophies”. To dispose of the remains with some he would smash the bones with a sledgehammer and then scatter in his backyard and with others he would dissolve in
Jeffrey Dahmer was born on May 21, 1960 to parents Lionel and Joyce Dahmer (Davis, 1998). While living in his birthplace of Wisconsin, Dahmer was described by his father to be “’[v]ery exuberant, he liked to wrestle, liked to run around, ham it up for the camera and he liked to play with kids and get together with them’” (Harris, 1996). As Dahmer entered adolescence, his father earned a Ph.D. in chemistry and the family began to move around Ohio (National Center for Crisis Management, n.d.). After the move, his parents fought often and eventually divorced. During this period, Dahmer became “withdrawn and uncommunicative” (Jeffrey Dahmer, 2017) and
Jeffrey Dahmer murdered 17 men between the years of 1978 to 1991 in which he participated in necrophilia, dismemberment and cannibalism (Meyer, 2006). As a child, Dahmer was shy and suffered from low self-esteem. At a young age, Dahmer displayed abnormal behavior starting with the collecting of dead animals and using acid to strip off the meat having necrophilia desires. This escalated in his teen years turning into fantasies of killing and mutilating men. After graduating from high school, he was living alone and the feelings of abandonment returned giving him justification in his mind to commit crimes. Throughout his teens years he abused alcohol, which also lead to abnormal behavior. By the
Dahmer’s first victim started off as a fantasy, however it later became a reality. Dahmer’s need to find fulfillment and pleasure lead to act out his fantasy. Dahmer’s need to control was his motive. The concept of sexual preference and race, didn’t matter, only attractiveness. The dismemberment of the bodies and eating the flesh and internal organs of other human beings felt it gave him a permanent part of them and doing so gave a sexual satisfaction. Thus, leading the urges to spiral out of control. The idea of killing was not the main objective it was just the means he had to take to obtain fundamental control. The lack of control of his environment as a child got mixed with the control of his sexuality. The only way he could gain power to influence or direct people 's behavior was by fulling those fantasies.