A serial killer is defined as a person who commits three or more murders in at least three separate events. These events must include a “cooling off period” between the kills. Serial killers don’t go straight to killing people. Like any other major criminals, less serious crimes are committed before actually going out and committing more severe crimes. Usually, serial killers have a cycle in which they commit their killings, usually during times of high stress. The act of killing appears to give the killer a temporary relief of the pressure. The book Psychopathy, Perversion, and Lust Homicide: Recognizing the Mental Disorders That Power Serial Killers claims that “Crime is found when a criminal personality type comes in contact with the necessary …show more content…
Being a sociopath doesn’t mean that there is a disorder in the mind, it means the illness is of personality and character. Being connected with sociopathy and serial killings often means that one’s conscience is nonexistent, feels no regret, cares wholly for their own desires in life, and lack ability to sympathize with suffering of their victims. The book Serial Murder and the Psychology of Violent Crimes says “serial killers view other people as tools to fullfill needs and desires, no matter how inhumane or cruel they may be. Serial killers are often characterized as being extremely skillful at impression management.” (Kocsis 31) Most of the time, killers are able to play a part of a friendly and a truly innocent person. This helps them avoid suspicion and lure their victims with charm and cunning. Although they are skillful at presentation, they are not alone in trying to project an image that is acceptable to others. This seems to be a normal and healthy human characteristic. Serial killers must kill over and over again simply because they are hooked to the sensation they get when they do. They also find reasons to justify every part and detail of their behavior so that they feel as in there is no motive to stop. They recognize what they’re doing, the significances of their actions, and how to prevent themselves from getting caught. Most serial killers, and psychopaths in general, are what …show more content…
This does not deem them to be insane and certainly does not justify their actions in court. In the criminal justice system, in order for a person to be considered insane the individual must not be able to comprehend what he/she is doing and that it is against the law at the exact time the crime is being committed. Because of the very rigorous definition that the legal system implies for insanity, it’s very rare that a serial killer falls into this category. In Beth I. Cook’s research journal, Serial Killers: Evolution, Antisocial Personality Disorder and Psychological Interventions, she states that ,”Antisocial personality disorder occurs in only 3% of men and 1% of women in the general population; however, these individuals are responsible for an excessive amount of crime and violence as well as social distress within society.”
The mind of a serial killer is not right and is considered a psychopath. This can be caused by brain damage. “After Henry Lee Lucas was convicted, he underwent numerous neurological tests that revealed fairly extensive brain damage. Small contusions indicated a frontal lobe injury, and there was damage to his temporal lobe and pools of spinal fluid at the base of his brain” (Vronsky, 2005). Lucas’s brain damage is just one cause. Another common reason is that the serial killer would of had an abusive childhood. “Traditionally, the answer has been a horrific upbringing. Most serial killers were abused as children, many hideously so.” (Sandi, n.d) This can have a range of different abusive activities. One example would be an abusive mother. The killer’s mother would have abused him therefore making him hate women. That would be an example of how a man killing female serial killer would relate. He would physically abuse the women just like his mother abused him. Another form of abuse is an alcoholic parent. The serial killer would wait outside of a bar and look to see of his potential victims were under the influence. If they were then they would most likely kill the person. A serial killer can also have a euphoric moment. He could see his
Serial Killers and what goes on in their wicked minds. We may never truly understand what goes through the minds of these notorious serial killers, but we have been getting a little closer to understanding more about it by the research that have has been proven in the last years. Serial killers never develop a sense of attachment and belonging to the outside world,this is why most can't empathize with their victims or their families after the fact. Now, there are some giveaways to tell if you have a psychopathic tendency, they most likely have superficial charm, some are pathological liars they lack remorse, they have impulsivity, unrealistic goals and usually in their youth they have many behavioral problems. Many psychopathic
Serial killers is a person that kill three or more people in a short amount of time. He or she murder one after another in a similar way with an inactive period between each murder. The motivation for murdering an adult or child is based on psychological gratification. The serial killer is normally an adult white male in his late twenties, who has killed four or more individuals in separate incident with an inactive period between. It is impossible to tell just by looking at a person who will become a serial killer, the traits of some criminals or serial killers appear to be similar most of the time. The types of behaviors
Thesis: Psychopathy creates serial killers which can be caused by both biological and environmental factors that are out of the killer’s control. TS: Many people argue that psychopathy causes people to become serial killers and that it is brought on by a multitude of factors such as physical and psychological abuse from early childhood. SP: Peter Vronsky, author of Female Serial Killers: How and Why Women Become Monsters, provides statistics supporting that many serial killers have been abused or witnessed abuse in their lifetimes, stating, EV1: “Many male serial killers had truly traumatic childhoods: 42 percent reported physical abuse, 74 percent psychological abuse, while 35 percent reported witnessing sexual violence as children, and 43 percent reported being sexually abused themselves” (Vronsky 45).
The mind of a serial killer is obviously different than the mind of a typical person, whether it’s from an experience they had or they were just born with a problem in their brain. The reason they are different that the typical human is because they may not feel any remorse when taking another one’s life. A chemical imbalance in the brain could be the explanation why they are like this or they may have a mental disorder or there could be more to it. Could there be another reason why they kill others? Do they see pleasure out of the deal?
4. Serial killers also show signs of a psychopath though this is not always the case. Psychopaths lack empathy and guilt, are egocentric and impulsive and don’t conform to social, moral, or legal norms. Psychopaths have a distinct set of rules for themselves. They appear normal and are often very charming and charismatic.
There are many theories as to why people become serial killers. Almost all of these concepts are associated with the Nature vs. Nurture theory. Are serial killers born with the need to kill, or is it something that they learn to long for as they grew up? Many believe that the nurture theory is the likely concept to believe; that serial killers are created from bad childhood experiences including being abused by their parents, or molested at an early age. Psychologist and sociologist have interviewed serial killers and picked apart their minds, to find out what it is that makes them feel the need to perform these heinous crimes. It is the nature theory that they are looking for when
Serial killers aren't any different. Some were raised with wonderful childhoods but suffered from mental illnesses. Others grew up with traumatic childhoods but did not suffer from mental illnesses. Abuse (sexual, physical, or mental) or head injuries that might have cause brain damage have the effect to create a serial killer. Some illnesses like schizophrenia, personality disorders, and or psychopathy can affect serial killers’ thinking.
A serial killer is a person whom everybody knows as a friend, a lover or even a father but no one knows about his killer instinct until it's to late. Serial killers have plagued this country and others for many years. They are hard to find and virtually undetectable until they start murdering the innocent.
People who have been diagnosed with this cluster are sexually inappropriate, prone to a grandiose view of their own uniqueness and abilities, emotionally unstable, self-centered, lacking and sense of guilt, shame or empathy and are often superficially charming, manipulative and exploitative. Most serial killers exhibit a well known triad of behaviors in childhood: a fascination with fire, cruelty to animals and prolonged bed-wetting. Many become almost uncontrollably interested in pornography as teenagers and anti-social when they reach adulthood. Most were physically and/or sexually abused. However, they appear normal in surface appearance and behavior. Typically with this illness, comes overpowering waves of compulsion to kill that wax and wane over time but normally get worse with age. Serial killers are described by law enforcement as organized or unorganized. Organized killers often appear normal in their appearance and socially. They typically plan their killing, have a mode of transportation and bring some sort of murder “kit”, containing the tools they will need. Most serial killers don’t use guns. The victims usually fit into a certain profile (e.g. gender, race, hair color etc.) and they will hunt down their victims. The organized killer is more likely to have a crime scene picked out, take or discard the weapon, and move or transport the body to a hiding place. In contrast to the organized killer the
A serial killer is someone who has murdered at least three people on at least three different occasions with a break between the murders (Egger, 2002; Hickey, 2002). … It is likely that they kill during a time of stress and after it is done, they feel temporarily
In the United States alone, there are between twenty-five and fifty serial killers active at any given time. What is a serial killer? A serial killer is defined as the same offender killing three or more people during separate events with a cooling off period (Anderson, 1999). There have been several famous serial killers throughout the years like Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer.
A serial killer's need to kill can range from fear of rejection to pleasure. Once they kill their first victim, they get hooked. Killing for them is an addiction that can't be stopped. When they kill, they get this “high” feeling that makes them want more. Serial killers tend to avoid developing a relationship with their victim, to reduce the chance of getting rejected.
Serial killers don’t develop feelings which allows them to have no emotional connection with their victim which makes it easier to experiment on them. They simple don’t feel remorse for what they have done. (The Psychology of Serial Killers). Along with abnormalities in the brain theirs also abnormalities in their DNA. A chromosome abnormality was found in young teenage boys during puberty, this causes them to display homicidal tendencies.
Serial killers are the byproduct of many different things: trauma, death of loved ones, abuse, neglect, adoption, and even witnessing abuse (Are Serial). Serial killers have had to endure a massive amount of something such as trauma or abuse to an unimaginable extent to become what they are; the extent of the abuse, the trauma, the psychological damage they endure is incomprehensible to many. The destruction of one’s innocence can occur at any given time in his or her life, but he or she is more impressionable in his or her youth by the negativism of someone else’s actions (Scott, Shirley L. What Makes Serial Killers Tick ~ Childhood Event). People are susceptible to what they endure in their adolescence, and cruel upbringings, such as