Mass Murderers : A Diverse Group Of People

Although serial killers come in all shapes and sizes, there is a general profile that criminologists go by when trying to profile a criminal. The typical serial killer is a white male in his late 20s to early 30s, kills within his own race, his targeted victims share specific characteristics, and his method of murder is “hands on” in means of strangulation. The types of serial killers include visionaries, missionaries, lust killers, thrill killers, gain killers, and power seekers. Depending on the type of serial killer, their profile may change; for example, certain clues from missionary-type killers can help decide their religious affiliation. Also, certain types of serial killers may generally have different age groups. Most serial

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,

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.

and that there is an abundance of physical evidence left at the scene, and evidence that is found is used to determine the personality of the person. Visionary killers may also suffer from severe breaks and social reality, which is why they try and justify what they do to be for the greater good. According to Google, a Visionary serial killer is Hedonistic, this type of serial killer seeks thrills and derives pleasure from killing.(Google,2017)

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

This journal is written 3 authors: Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Central Florida and received his doctorate from the University of Cincinnati, Steven T. Holmes. Dean of the California School of Forensic Studies at Alliant International University, Eric W. Hickey, Ph.D. and Emeritus Professor in the Department of Justice Administration at the University of Louisville, Ronald M. Holmes, M.A. They constructed different types of females who are serial killers and discussed homicidal behavioral traits. It begins with differentiating

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

Mass murderers have many different types of planning. A mass murderer can plan their attack or it can be heat of the moment. The first type of planning is organized. In organized there can be Pseudocommando, Schizophrenic, Morbidly Jealous or Set-and-run. A example of pseudocommando is Omar Mateen. Knoll implies, “The pseudocommando is a type of mass murderer who kills in public during the daytime, plans his offense well in advance, and comes prepared with a powerful arsenal of weapons. He has no escape planned and expects to be killed during the incident” (Knoll). This means the Mateen planned his mass murder out in advance. He killed all the people in public and daytime. He thought to himself that he was going to be killed.

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

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

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.

What makes a murderer? The mind of someone who commits such heinous crimes has never really been diagnosed. The chromosomal patterns have yet to be determined. So what causes someone to kill? Are serial killers and mass murderers more of a product of their own upbringing and environment or of delusional thoughts from a chemical imbalance? Someone who kills is an obsessed individual who lacks a conscience and who has no remorse. All the known characteristics of someone who kills point to something beyond our comprehension. Ted Bundy and Charles Manson are both infamous in the world of criminal history. Not all killers are the same: they may have grown up differently, used certain killing methods, and had a unique pool of victims.

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

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.

A plethora of serial killers, dead and undead, have been most horrifying in their methods. There are several types of serial killers, some have been caught while others continue to haunt their surroundings. There are several approaches in categorizing serial killers. One method requires examination of the crime scene, the other requires counseling with the serial killer. In profiling a serial killer, law enforcers realize that serial killers are not unlike regular people; there are several exceptions like schizophrenics but most of them look like everyone else. Serial killers, often, do not just kill, they might also eat their victims, torture, or rape them, and then they finish them off. A serial killer is