Serial Killers Essay

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

Statistically, the average serial killer is a white male from a lower-to-middle-class background, usually in his twenties or thirties. Many were physically or emotionally abused by parents. Some were adopted. As children, fledgling serial killers often set fires, torture animals, and wet their beds (these red-flag behaviors are known as the “triad” of symptoms.) Brain injuries are common. Some are very intelligent and have shown great promise as successful professionals. They are also fascinated with the police and authority in general (Scott).

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

This essay aims to examine weather serial killers are born a certain way and their genetics define their psychotic tendencies or whether they're a product of a bad environment that they grew up. This essay looks at recent killings in the late 20th century as there is more information on the killers from this period and it's easier to gain details about their childhoods. Whilst I will look at various different killers to reach more rounded conclusions (see appendix for comparison table), this essay will focus on four in detail to examine the debate; Ted Bundy (1946-89), Jeffery Dahmer (1960-1994), John Wayne Gacy (1942-1994) and Gary Ridgway (1949-present).

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

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

In order to identify serial killers before they kill repeatedly, a person needs to study the characteristics that makes up this type of criminals. Most serial killers have been abandoned, by one or both parents, they are emotionally, physically, and even

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

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.

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

When comparing individuals who become serial killers and their upbringing and trying to understand why and/or how they could do the things they do, you will find a lot of similarities that may help explain their behavior. But complicating things even more in trying to understand these individuals is the fact that they can be so different. Dr. H.H. Holmes is

Serial killers are defined as those who commits take the lives of 3 people in over a period of a month. Most serial killers commit murder for some sort of psychological beneift. Serial killers vary in many ways, some serial killers have patterns, some have motives, some are organized and other are disorganized. Richard “The Ice Man” Leonard Kuklinski, Aileen Wuornos, and Charles Cullen are three specific serial killers who all had different motives for taking the lives of many innocent people.

The ten most common traits among serial killers are as follows: alcohol and substance abuse, psychological abuse during childhood, sexually stressful events in childhood, bed wetting, growing up lonely and isolated, fantasies, preferring auto-erotic activities, developing voyeurism and fetishism in adulthood, and physical injuries. There are four main types of serial killers. Hedonistic - thrill/rush; lust/sexual pleasure; or gain (financial). Power/Control - satisfaction of having complete control; sex; main motive is to gain power. Mission Oriented - seek revenge; eliminate a specific group or person; “ridding the world”; generally not psychotic. Visionary - suffer from some sort of psychosis; delusions; hallucinations; feel compelled or commanded to kill; common: God or demons; victims are not targeted. An example of a hedonistic killer is Jefferey Dahmer who killed 17 men and boys, raped them, and dismembered them. He had necrophilia and was also a cannibal. A power/control killer is Ted Bundy, he was very smart, who would stalk, kidnap, rape, and then kill his victims. Joseph Paul

What is a serial killer? Retired Special Agent Robert Ressler, a twenty-two year veteran of the FBI’s Behavioral Sciences Unit in Quantico, Virginia, is responsible for creating the term “serial killer.” He defines this person as “one who commits a series of murders, usually three or more, the victims most often being strangers, and usually with a cooling-off period in between each kill” (Kelleher & Kelleher, 1998; Pearson, 1998; Ressler and Shactman, 1997). This precise definition is necessary to distinguish this type of predator from the mass murderer (who kills many simultaneously), mercenaries, war criminals, or mafia hit men.

What makes a person a Serial Killer?How are serial killers caused? Serial Killers are people who kill at least 3 people in separate events with a very little cooling off period between each kill. The kills are performed in a unique fashion and the the serial killer has something that they are known for called a signature.Serial Killers are frightening psychopaths because they don 't show human emotions-empathy, conscience, or remorse.What makes a serial killer different then regular people? While the cause is still a mystery today, many people argue over many different theories which come down to the nature vs. nurture question. Are serial killers born the way there are or are they a product of their upbringing?