Serial Killers Have Plagued The World Since Before The 1500s

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,

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

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

In the article The Serial Killer Phenomenon Richard Whittington-Egan aims to explain what exactly a serial killer is and how they differ from a mass murderer. Whittington-Egan breaks down and showcases the defining characteristics of a serial kill with the help of numerous cases of evidence to confirm the accuracy of each statement. The article concludes with examining the future of this phenomenon, what has been done, and most importantly how difficult it will be to solve such an unpredictable behavior.

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

Serial killers can be defined as a person who kills multiple people over a long period of time. American media spreads stereotypical information about serial killers. The media portrays serial killers as either a monster or a charming guy next door (Forsyth 868). Serial killers cannot be fitted into the medias cookie-cutter definition. Everyone has experienced unique events throughout their life that shapes their personality and serial killers are not an exception. Ronald Dominique, a serial killer suffered a traumatic event while in jail; he was raped, and this event triggered his serial killings. “Serial murderers like those who kill only once, fit into no single profile; and create too wide a burden to be explained with one idea. They do seem to have one similar characteristic –that is; to blend into society and appear normal” (Forsyth 872).

Unfortunately, it’s not unusual in this day and time to turn on the news and hear a warning about a new serial killer roaming our streets. It’s horrifying and hard to understand what could possibly make a person commit such heinous crimes. What is wrong with this person that drives him or her to commit such an act? The truth is that people have searched for the answer to that question for eons. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be many definitive answers to those questions.

Seventeen. Seventeen men and boys who never got the opportunity to have a future. Seventeen families who grieved and lost hours of sleep, waiting on their son, brother, or friend to come home but never would. Seventeen young lives taken by one of the most infamous serial killers in the history of the United States; Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer. Jeffrey Dahmer was much more than a murderer; he raped, ate, and sometimes preserved certain body parts of his victims. But, why? What drove this man to commit such gory and violent crimes? As a child, Dahmer experienced severe negligence by his parents. His mother was a stay-at-home mom (and psychologically ill) and his father was a student at Marquette University. Jeffery’s father traveled for his studies and was never in the household. This engendered his mother’s desire for her husband’s affection but never received it due to his absence. The problems that existed between them provoked a lack of the childhood care that young Jeffery needed. He was often lonely and excluded himself from people. As a child, Dahmer had an extreme and odd fascination in the dismemberment of animals. His parents never gave it much attention and thought this interest was very normal. This was only the beginning of Jeffery’s anatomic study of dead beings. Dahmer may seem like a complete psychopath and indeed he was, but he is only one of thousands of serial

Brogaard, Berit. "The Making of a Serial Killer." Psychology Today. Sussex Directories, Inc., 7 Dec. 2012. Web. 03 May 2014.

How do the minds of serial killers function? What drives them to commit such violent and horrific crimes? For some serial killers their motive is based on either emotional or physical trauma they experienced throughout their lives. Although for one of America’s most infamous killers of the twentieth century, Jeffrey Dahmer both the physical and emotional traumas he experienced are what drove him to commit some of the most gruesome crimes America has ever seen.

Although the prevalence of the serial killer is ultimately unknown, many researchers agree about “one-half of 1%” of homicides are determined to be the product of serial killers (Homant & Kennedy, 2014). In order to prevent future victims, improve the ability of law enforcement to detect and apprehend, potentially incorporate treatment for current serial killers, and increase the ability to detect potential future serial killers it is important to identify characteristics that may cause one to become a serial killer. The question researchers have strived to answer is are serial killers born or are there explicit factors that contribute to someone ultimately becoming a serial killer? Researchers have potentially exposed several factors that potentially contribute to one becoming a serial killer. These conditions are notably greater in prevalence in known serial killers compared to the general population. These factors consist of family dynamics/parental characteristics, experienced child abuse (physical, sexual, and neglect), and psychological disorders.

    Have you ever wondered why people do the things they do? Everyday we question ourselves about activities we see others performing and wonder what could possibly be their reasoning behind it all.  Asking more questions is something we should all be doing. Some researchers have taken this curiosity to the next level and have asked themselves “Are serial killers born or created?” Are the actions of these psychopaths brought on by different events, or are they simply born with the ability to take another person 's life? These are the million dollar questions that everyone should be asking about serial killers. Something is different about those who are capable

Many serial killers and mass murderers have been interviewed and tested to reveal why they killed and raped large groups of people. There are several factors as to why they perform such acts. My findings in this paper show that there is a logically explanation as to why they do what they do. In no way is killing or violence justified, but people have been through things we couldn’t imagine being put through. Many of these killers were put through harsh abuse physically, mentally, and emotionally which haunted them in their futures. This caused them to resolve their issues through inhumane ways. One who was put through sexual abuse became lust serial killers by wanting to rape the victims or sexually punish them. They want their

Many people walk through the paths of life hiding secrets from one another. Sometimes these secrets can be small and insignificant to other people. Sometimes people carry around with them much more serious, deep, dark, and often dangerous or disturbing great example of someone who may be carrying around secrets that everyone could agree on are dangerous and disturbing. A serial killer is generally described as a person who has killed more than three people in a time frame spanning more than a month with time lapsing between each one of their kills. Serial killers come in all different shapes and sizes. Race, age, gender, social status, economical situations, family background, physical

The idea of serial killers and the role they play in our lives has fascinated people since the cases of Jack the Ripper and H.H. Holmes, although serial murderers existed before them. The infamous and mysterious complexities of these cases have puzzled and terrified people for over a century. Perhaps due to the deviant and taboo nature of serial killings, people in our society and others have tried to attribute many reasons for why they occur. In this search for answers, one major scope has been widely left out of the research: the sociological imagination. It is through this method of understanding that I will attempt to explain the development of serial killers and apply theories that explain the frequency of serial killings in our society.