Question 1:
The group of people that I chose to do intelligence research on was psychopaths, particularly serial killers. I did not focus on any particular subgroup, however there are subtypes of psychopaths such as primary and secondary and among those two subtypes it is further broken down into distempered and charismatic subtypes. In the article Psychopathy: Manipulation, Deception, and Evil, author Pamela Kulbarsh (2012) defines a psychopath as “a morally depraved individual who represent the ‘monsters’ in our society; an unstoppable and untreatable predator whose violence is planned, purposeful and emotionless” (p.1). While in the article it states that not all psychopaths are law-breakers that is a different story with serial killers
…show more content…
One other thing that makes serial killers unique is using their working memory to plan out extensive details in committing a murder. It takes quite a bit of intelligence to plan out a detailed murder and name step by step what they will do and what their back up plan will be if something does go wrong. The average person cannot plan out their day step by step very thoroughly much less committing a crime and getting away with it.
Genetics do play a part in psychopathic tendencies, but also the environment you grow up in and what you are exposed to plays a role in it as well. For example, Ted Bundy. Crime Feed Staff (2015) discovered many troubling details about the way he grew up. He lived a childhood full of lies. He grew up thinking that his birth mother was his sister and that his grandparents were his parents only later to learn that his sister was actually his mother and that his grandfather was possibly his father making him a product of incest. There were many things that Bundy did as a child that showed his strange attraction to violence (p.1). Bundy was exposed to pornography as a young age and became addicted, he needed to fuel his addiction and his fantasies became so unbearable he turned it into his reality. Dr. Al Carlisle, the psychologist who evaluated Ted Bundy, concluded that “Because they have painful memories from abuse, disappointment, humiliation, frustration, or being bullied, they have turned to fantasies
Throughout the years there has been several Myths and Misconceptions have been made against serial killers. Most “serial killers” are thought to be
Many of times we think of serial killers as all being a Visionary serial killer, especially when we watch films and documentaries on them, often times when they are described as insane, or really detached from the world, and then script right of their kill sites it's often times very bloody messy unclean but not all killers are like this. In fact, Visionary serial killers are the minority. One example of a Visionary serial killer that we learned about in our lectures is Cleo-Green, he was a black male in his early thirties and was in a suburb of Kentucky. Cleo-Green Was quite detached from the world in fact after returning to his car after a night out he believed that there was a demon in his car and the demon
Serial killers can be hiding behind the smiles of your neighbors, grocers, and the most unexpected individuals. According to Boschken (2014), a serial killer is an individual that has committed three or more murders over a month without a large gap between murders. Several different characteristics and backgrounds make up a serial killer. Studies have shown that an individual’s background can give insight into the victims and the offender’s relationship to the victims. Serial killers can also be classified into many different categories ranging from if the killing was planned or spontaneous to the mental reasoning for the crime. Professionals have also created a category for dedicated and habitual offenders. This paper examines the characteristics and backgrounds of serial killers, the different categories of killers, and the way crimes and the offenders are organized.
What comes to mind when you hear the words “Homicide in American”? For most in society, an image of a bloody crime scene or a smoking gun comes to mind. However, there is a form of homicide that, due to its individuality, society has put it into a category of its very own; this is known as serial murder. Serial murder is the rarest form of homicide, although it has become widely popular (Haggerty & Ellerbrok, 2001). From the very beginning society has been fascinated with serial killers and how their minds operate, but what is a serial murderer? There have been many definitions used
(Winerman, n.d.) However, the simple ‘’organised/disorganised’’ classification did not provide any real clues as to specific personality types of serial killers nor did it address the specific motivations as to why they killed in the first place. This proved to be a tricky task for criminal profilers at the time because even today, a single ‘’serial killer personality'' trait has never been found. However, over the years as more and more serial killers have been identified and brought to justice, profilers have been able to identify common denominators within different serial killers and as a result have been able to group them into a six different classifications: Visionary types, Mission-oriented types, Hedonistic types, power/control types, recognition seeker types as well as material gainer seekers. (Labuschagne, 2009) Visionary killers often suffer from psychoses or other severe forms of mental illnesses. This variety of serial killer usually commits their crimes based purely on psychotic delusions or orders from ‘’God’’ ‘’Demons’’ or other supernatural entities. (Labuschagne,
A serial killer is someone who murders three or more people, usually in service of abnormal psychological gratification, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant break between them. There are three types of serial killers: medical killers, organized killers, and disorganized killers. A medical killer is the rarest type of serial killers. This kind of killer feels they have the best and most perfect cover because it’s very common for people in hospitals to pass away. These types of killers are really smart and know how to carefully conceal their murders. An organized killer is the hardest to identify and capture. They are highly intelligent and really organized. Every detail in the crime is planned
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
Unlike their equivalents, "[t]he organized offender is described as leading an orderly life that is also reflected in the way he commits his crimes" (Canter, Alison, Alison, & Wentink, 2004, p. 293). According to Bonn (2015), the abduction, kill, and disposal are all completed in different locations. "Organized killers are very difficult to apprehend because they go to inordinate lengths to cover their tracks and often are forensically savvy, meaning they are familiar with police investigation methods. They are likely to follow the news media reports of their crimes and may even correspond with the news media" (Bonn, 2015).Bonn (2015) further states, "[o]rganized criminals, according to the classification scheme, are antisocial (often psychopathic) but know right from wrong, are not insane and show no remorse"(Bonn, 2015). Communities have been in shock through the years when they find out they have been living with a serial killer in their
The human brain is a complete mystery to us. Some believe that it is so complex that the even the best and brightest within our society will never uncover its secrets. Serial killers are nothing new to today’s society. A serial killer is a person who murders three or more people over a period of time for primarily psychological reasons. Serial killers are one of the most fascinating and melancholic groups of people to study. These vicious killers are all violent, brutal monsters and have an abnormal urge to kill. There are gaps of time of killing between a ranges of few hours to years.
Serial killers can be classified by their organizational and social skills. They can be organized or disorganized and nonsocial or asocial (Http://www.howstuffworks.com/about-author.htm. "How Serial Killers Work." Serial Killer Habits. N.p., 2007. Web. 13 Dec. 2016.). The way a serial killer can be antisocial or asocial depends if they exclude themselves or if society excludes them. If a serial killer is nonsocial and disorganized he/she
The cause of psychopathy is still a mystery, while others lean towards the upbringing of the person, there are those who say it’s a product of genetic disorder. One famous study that provides us with the best sources of information about whether psychopathy
Under the umbrella of this disorder are psychopathy and sociopathy; people with these mental diseases have a lack of empathy, conscience or moral responsibility. Without these basic qualities serial killers don't feel bad for their victims and can about out on their disturbing impulses they have without dealing with guilt. It is said that," psychopathy has a prevalence rate among the offender population of about 15%–25 %"( LaBrode) in " [crimes committed from] 5%–6% of adult male offenders" (LaBrode). Although people with sociopathy or psychopathy have difficulty feeling remorse for others, they are often said to have charming qualities that can draw victims in. It is important we continue to learn more about ASPD to try and discover ways to help people with it, whether it be through counseling or an actual treatment, because while many serial killers have psychopathic qualities most people with this mental illness "never commit violent crimes"
I do believe everyone has predisposition to have certain traits or characteristics. Certain genes are inherited and can lead to a certain type of behavior. However, the environment plays a major role if we express theres traits and to what extent. CDr. Fallon research did show that people who are diagnosed as psychopaths have neurological defects in the part of their brain that controls animal instinct and ethics. He himself showed very similar defects in those region. Yet, he is not a criminal or a killer. One percent of our general population are psychopath meaning they struggle to make emotional bonds and have empathy, which is strange but not a crime. Therefore, by being solely a psychopath does not make you a criminal there are other factors
One theory is that the brains of sociopaths mature markedly slower than those of non-sociopaths. Another theory claims abnormalities in central nervous system development, such as the prefrontal cortex, could contribute to sociopathy. The prefrontal cortex is responsible for controlling, judgement, impulsiveness, aggressiveness, and decision-making, which are all related to sociopathic traits. There could also be a chemical imbalance in the brain, specifically a serotonin imbalance. Serotonin is known as the “happy brain” chemical, and brings about a positive sense of wellness in a person. Thus, changes in this balance could result in changes in personality. While not entirely a genetic disorder, family history of sociopathy could also be correlated to a diagnosis of antisocial personality
Hereditary traits, like dimples and hair color, are passed down from parent to child through genetics. Psychopathic traits are no different than physical traits when passed down from parents to children. Halina Sulestrowska reveals that there are children who have inherited psychopathic traits that did not originate from the environmental influence on the development of the child (37). When examining children, it is difficult to analyze every single factor when identifying whether or not the child is a psychopath. However, when the other main factors of psychopathy are not aligning with the behavior of the child, the last main factor is genetics. These consistent “anomalies” are the missing factor that lead psychologists to look at the