The Psych Of Serial Killer

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,

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

Violence is one of the most exaggerated forms of physical aggression and it can exist for a series of reasons. It involves a person or a group of persons acting against another person or groups of persons with the purpose to achieve one or several diverse goals. In many cases violence results from individuals perceiving the acts of other people as hostile and thus wanting to act against these people before it is too late. Depending on the situation, more or less individuals might get involved in an act of violence, especially when they consider that it would be essential for them to do so.

There is no real general profile of serial killers; each serial killer has a unique set of characteristics. In attempt to profile these types of criminals, there has been some common characteristic that serial killers have exhibited during child that has been mention in early in this paper. Research into serial killers is important partly because even though there is literature out there on serial killers, there is still not much known about these types of criminals. The purpose of this paper's focus on Mr. Kuklinski is to hopefully debunk stereotypes and myths in regards to serial killers. Popular or common belief of serial killers to deranged psychopathic people who are unhinged. However, Kuklinski is the opposite he is cold hearted and possesses a full mental capacity to where he understand everything he doing and full ramification of his action. He completely understands that he is indeed committing first-degree murder and if he were to get caught he would punish with life in

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

This literature review focuses on serial killers from a psychological viewpoint while trying to answer the question, “Are serial killers born to kill or are they bred to kill?” Firstly, this review will define a serial killer and the different kinds of killers, then it will take a look at different case studies of children who fantasized about mass killing and identify similarities between the cases attempt to find a way to possibly prevent their fantasies from becoming reality. The debate of nature vs. nurture is also discussed as psychologists and researchers come to the conclusion that environmental factors play a bigger role in the developmental character of a person than genetics, but there is still no definite answer as to why some individuals grow up with the urge to murder other people and/or animals.

Imagine a world where there were no serial killers and the countless lives that could be saved. We should know why these serial killers commit such heinous acts of violence. This knowledge would help to better understand serial killers and bring the mortality rate down. It has been established through research and experiments that one’s social environment and upbringing affects their criminal behavior. Coyne states, “environmental variables work together to cause problem behavior.” (34) Interpreting that these killers usually have something happen in their life, usually when they are younger, and experiencing negative effects of nurture. Some of these

Cohle, Rust. " Serial Killer / Hitman - Richard Kuklinski (The Iceman) - Documentary." YouTube. 7 Oct. 2012. Web.

Introduction: This investigation examines the biological causes for serial killers’ psychopathic tendencies and examines those same biological factors in both men and women to find the correlation between a higher rate of male serial killers and the biology behind their actions. It is imperitave to first know what a serial killer is, and what makes them such a cold fish. There are sections of the brain that do have control over a human being’s personality, where that individual can either develop into an average person or join the other one percent of psychopaths living in the world today (due to physical damage or chemical imbalance in the brain). These specific sections of the brain are different in males then in females, some components of the brain vary in size etc. between sexes. It is crucial to have all these pieces, with this information its then possible to form a conlusion to the surfaced question.

Creeping around the shadowy house, the predator found its prey waking to strange sounds. The victim lay facedown, with a sweating forehead pressed fearfully into the pillow, silently praying the noises would just go away. Suddenly the victim found himself straddled and pinned to the bed. He was unable to scream for help due to the pressure of the handle of a pick-axe against his throat, preventing any breath from escaping, much less any sound. The victim struggled beneath the weight of the assailant. The scant light from the sodium-arc street light outside cast a peculiar silhouette on the walls of the darkened room, projecting an image that looked oddly like that of a cowboy saddled upon

Many things today confuse, yet enthrall the masses. War, murder, medical science, incredible rescues, all things you would see on The History Channel. There is another topic that is also made into documentaries however, serial killers. Dark twisted people that commit multiple murders are of interest to the population, but what caused them to be this way. What horrible tragic set of events could twist a man to murder one or many people. Could Schizophrenia, psychopathy, or sociopathy? Many people have researched this topic and believe that childhood trauma, heavy drugs during the growing phase of life, as well as many other things have twisted the minds of men such as Jeffery Dahmer, Charles Manson,

“The serial killer ‘is an entirely different criminal,’ ”The term serial killer is misleading on the ground that each murder is intended to be the last.” We see them as a figure of “the dark side of human potential,” but they believe they’re “on a heroic quest for the biggest score possible” They believe they are “the archetypal figure of impurity, the representative of a world which needs cleansing.” However, society knows that serial killers are not heroes, and they’re not cleansing the world. “The figure of the serial killer is violent impurity personified, and it is a construction that necessitates figures of violent purity to confront it.” While it can be argued whether having mental disorders should prevent a serial killer from being capitally punished, it is proven that many serial killers suffer from “paranoid schizophrenia, manic-depressive psychosis, or psychopathology.” It’s even said that “this crime is actually a form of disease. Its carriers are serial killers who suffer from a variety of crippling and eventually fatal symptoms, and its immediate victims are the people struck down seemingly at random by the disease carriers.” Serial killers usually have a stressor in their life that makes them start killing, and when they do “homicidal mania becomes ‘a necessity… linked to the very existence of a psychiatry which had made itself autonomous but needed thereafter to secure a basis for its intervention by gaining recognition as a component of public

The events of the past can hold a great influence on the actions and behaviors of the future. From being raised in a supportive and loving home, to one that is full of neglect and abuse, each event can potentially impact the future of an individual. In the case of serial killers, there has been some debate on whether the evil ones are made or born; does it happen because of a genetic factor, environmental factor, or is it simply they addicted to the feeling of slaughtering another individual’s life? Although, the most important key in finding the truth deals with the past and shapes the outcome of the future. Upon viewing in a psychological stance, there is no clear understanding of why one aspect that most serial killers share, namely

Violence is an ever present dark cloud that blots out the sun; a stifling hand over the mouth of the victims of society. The word violence, when looked up in a dictionary, has a list of varied definitions, and for a good reason. Violence comes in many different shapes and sizes. A definition that best covers the idea is: any act that show aggression or is intentionally done in the intent of hurting someone. Now this covers the idea of physical, emotional, and mental harm. Violence is a highly controversial idea that is one of the harder concepts to grasp relating to psychology and human nature

In essence, violence is the act of causing some degree of harm to your own body, property, or another form of life. Like many words in the English language, there is several definitions for one word. Likewise, violence has several definitions that depend on the perspective in which the word violence is being viewed. When looking at every aspect of violence, there are many events that at first would not be considered violent, but in actuality are very violence for instance, sports. Everyday somewhere around the world, men and women are paid to fight each other until a knock out or decision is ruled. Violence also is seen on news stations, video games,