...With so many criminals diagnosed as psychopaths can serial killers be classified as psychopaths and therefore “excused” for the crimes they commit? Many researchers agree that serial killers tend to lack empathy, compassion, and crave power. Serial killers have been an interesting topic throughout history. There are the infamous serial killers like Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, Jack the Ripper, etc. (Encyclopedia) According to Richard Whittington’s journal “The Serial Killer Phenomenon,” “A large number of serial killers have such characteristics in common, as being essentially a loner, experiencing difficulty with relationships, and showing, psychopathically, neither empathy, conscience, nor remorse, only arrogance.” Whittington believes that most serial killers are outsiders or “rejects”, but many serial killers display normal characteristics which is why it may come as a surprise to friends and family that their loved one is indeed a killer. If serial killers come in all shapes and sizes, than what are the common characteristics that they all seem to share? Whittington states, “the power to dominate… is the driving force behind the practice of torture common to so many serial killers.” (Whittington 328) In many cases, serial killers tend to revisit crime scenes; try to sexually dominate a victim, and usually kill a certain type of victim. Whittington states that “it is not an uncommon behavioral feature”, for serial killers to revisit the scene of the crime. Often, to remind...
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...Reading Serial Killers, The Method and Madness of Monsters by Peter Vronsky, was much more interesting than the last book we read. Through the end, it was very compelling and I was very interested throughout it. The last five chapters were much more pleasant because they went into detail and allowed me to understand the concept of serial killers and how they come to be one. What we learned this week with Dr. McCoy coincided with what we were reading about in the book. Lecture this week was great as always. Dr. McCoy really involves you and makes it as easy to understand as possible. Chapter six, “Serial Killers as Children,” was about some factors to influence children to become serial killers. One piece I found interesting was the part about...
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...Behind the Mask of a Serial Killer ENG/147 AAIA1EJ2I4 December 1, 2014 Kevin Phillips Behind the Mask of a Serial Killer Throughout hundreds of years, serial killers have reigned terror on many people. Some of the most notorious serial killers include Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, and Ted Bundy. Many people have pondered and wondered what motivated serial killers to kill multiple people. Many psychologists believe that most serial killers’ problems are more of a form of mental disorder, as other people believe that the problems stemmed from their environment. While there is no definitive test for serial killers, there are some important characteristics that can help law enforcement profile and catch these serial killers. Early Signs Law enforcement should examine the early childhood of possible serial killers by observing children with troubled fantasies. According to Feud he wrote, “The grandiose infantile narcissistic ego is characterized by states of magical or omnipotent thinking (Freud 1914)”. This means the fantasies are an illusion and it becomes powerful enough to fulfill these fantasies that are thriving in the mind. Therefore by monitoring early children’s fantasies then, they could be treated to dissolve and maintain these early warning signs of potentially becoming a serial killer in the future. Psychological abuse has also played a major role into the background of a serial killer. Seventy-two percent...
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...question that has been debated for decades. Are serial killers born with the lust for murder, or are their desires developed through years of abuse and torment? Many believe it is impossible for an innocent child to be born with the capability to commit a horrible act such as murder. But at the same time, how could we have corrupted society so much as to turn an innocent child into a homicidal maniac? Forensic psychologists have picked apart the minds of serial killers to find an answer as to what forces them to commit such perverse acts. Their ultimate goal is to learn how to catch a serial killer before he commits his first crime. In many cases, serial killers began their lives as remotely normal human beings. Most, however, have detectable characteristics of murderers before they hit puberty. Otis O’toole, for example, started a neighborhood fire when he was six. George Adorno was even younger when he first displayed his pyromaniac tendencies by setting fire to his own sister when he was four. Along with pyromaniac behavior, other often-cited warning signs are enuresis (bed-wetting) and cruelty toward animals. Often, serial murderers are abused physically, psychologically, and sexually as children, sometimes from a stranger, but in most cases from a trusted family member or friend. Serial killers tend to be white heterosexual males in their twenties and thirties, who are sexually dysfunctional and have low self-esteem. Serial killers generally murder strangers with cooling off...
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...death are twisted into a passion to kill. Otherwise a “typical” individual, serial killers turn to violence and death in search of power over others, and to explore their fatal addiction to their monstrous thrills. Most of society views serial killers as they are portrayed on television. There’s Dexter, the handsome serial killer who, while leading a normal life, takes it upon himself to rid all of the “bad guys” in the world in order to fulfill his need to kill. Then there’s Freddy Kruger, a disfigured dream stalker who uses a glove armed with razors to kill his victims in their dreams, causing their deaths in the waking world as well. Just to name a few others, there's also The Jigsaw Killer, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, Leatherface, Michael Meyers and the infamous Chucky. All of these characters are created to exaggerate something that is not only feared in movie theaters, but in real life as well. But what exactly makes a serial killer? While many of these movies and television programs try and make our minds believe that fiction is reality, there are no such things as ‘dream stalkers’ and talking dolls. A real-life serial killer can be distinguished (not by a scary masks) through the many distinctive patterns in their social and mental behavior, unusual childhood, murder periods, and Modus Operandi; all of which are fashioned in different ways to create a cold blooded murderer. Serial Killers are normally classified by their social and organizational skills. Their social...
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...category of serial killer Gacy should fall under. He could fit under the power/control category, but he also shows some tendencies of the lust killer. I have searched through articles on the Internet and even they don’t agree upon a category. In order to determine a category it would be best to go through the different criteria for each category. These include ideal victim type, anticipated gains, method, and location. Gacy was an organized serial killer who pursued young boys in the Chicago area. He was a homosexual who found young boys to be sexually appealing. Many of his victims were strangers who Gacy had never met before, except for a couple of young boys who work for his construction company. This however fits both the categories of lust and power serial...
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...cases people who commit crimes were fatalities of other types of crimes before. There are different types of crimes, but I am going to centre on one type of contemporary crime, which is serial murder, and I will also not forget to look at the incidence, nature, causes and lessening and prevention measures also of serial murder. Understanding Serial Murder/ conceptualisation “South African criminal law defines murder as the unlawful and intentional killing of another person”, Bezuidenhout (2011). In other words the killing must be unlawful in order to be defined as murder. The perpetrator may not be found guilty of murder if she/he claims it was self-defence. Bezuidenhout (2011) , also emphasis that the killing also has to be intentional in order to be labelled as murder. For example if sixteen people die in a car accident. The tax driver may be guilty for not driving like he is expected but he the killing may not be defined a murder. There are many different types of murder, but I will focus on Serial murder. “Serial Murder is defined as the killing of multiple victims over the period of time ranging from days or weeks to months” Adler et al (1996). Adler et al, also emphasis that Serial murders have a minimum of three to four victims. All serial murders turn to have many things in common.“Serial murders tend to be highly mobile in order to minimise the likelihood of establishing links between the murder they commit between various geographic”, Addler (1996). It has been argued...
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...LAT1 - Serial Killers Abstract This paper that was written explores how a person is born innocent, and evolves into a monstrous and calculated serial killer. It will mention several different specific serial killers and their histories to support the facts. Another area that is explored is the difference between mass murderers and serial killers. Many times theses terms are used simultaneously; however the fact is that they are different. Reviewing the classifications, behaviors, motives, childhood neglect, sanity, and how profiling and other methods will assist in catching a serial killer. Understanding and studying serial killers can help in preventing them to start killing, or in catching them before they continue killing. Research shows that the problem of serial killing can be addressed by understanding its causes, identifying common behaviors and motivations of serial killers, and using this information to develop tools for law enforcement to prevent initial or repeated killings If a person commits a murder, it doesn’t constitute to be tagged a serial killing. I will be including material in order to define what serial killer is, and why we are so obsessed with understanding them. To fully discuss and understand serial killers, we must first distinguish the differences between them and mass murderers. The term mass murderer is often used interchangeably; however, the two terms are technically different. Mass murder occurs when a large number of people...
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...was running from the scene, covered in blood, I thought ‘Was I a monster like all of them said or was I just pushed too far? (Hansen.)” Serial killers are one of the most fascination and morbid groups of people to study. A serial killer is someone who kills three or more people with a cooling off period (Hickey). Now the FBI has changed it to two people. In between their crimes the serial killer appears normal and fits in with society quite well. Serial killers are very different from all other murders. A serial killer is smart, cunning, and will conceal everything they can. A mass murder kills or tries to kill a lot of people at one time; like shooting up a school or movie theater. A spree murder kills one or two victims here drives to another town and does it again. There seems to be no logic to mass and spree killers. A serial killer is very special and has certain characteristics. Serial killers aren’t caught more quickly, because it is possible that many would-be serial killers are apprehended before they kill the three or more victims required to qualify them as such in the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Similarly, it is certain that some serial killers are detained under mental health regulations and do not directly answer for their crimes, others soon to kill many more people over the years without being apprehended. Serial killers, despite the media attention, commit only a tiny fraction of all the murders (James). Murder is usually either a crime of personal relationships...
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...John Wayne Gacy: The Killer Clown Serial Killers Abstract John Wayne Gacy was a serial killer and rapist. John Wayne Gacy murdered and sexually assaulted young boys. John Gacy killed and hid his victim’s bodies in the crawl space of his home. John seemed like a normal man, he was well-respected in his community. John was a psychopath who had no remorse. When john was captured he was able to give a detailed drawing of where all the bodies could be found. John was sentenced to the death penalty. The term serial killer was a term no one had heard of until about forty years ago. There are many definitions to the term serial killer. Each definition differs by the number of murders, the serial killers motivation, and the characteristics of the murders. The most known one is the FBI’s definition, which is “the unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender, in separate events.” Numerous people may confuse the term serial killer with mass murders and spree killers. There are six categories of motive types of serial killers. These categories are visionary, mission-oriented, thrill-orientated, lust, power and control, and gain motivated. The visionary type means they hear voices or have visions and they are psychotic. The mission-oriented serial killers will kill a certain type or person because they think that they are bettering the world. The thrill-oriented type will kill because they have fun doing it. The lust motivated killers will kill because it turns them...
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...WR-123 Research Paper NOT ALL MONSTERS ARE MAKE BELIEVE - A CASE STUDY ON THEODORE R. BUNDY What causes someone to become a serial killer? Is there something inherently evil about them that emerge as they age, or are they born that way? Do they become that way because of their upbringing? Most Psychologists feel that it is a combination of all these things that determine the psychosis exhibited by serial killers. (www.psychology.org/links) Psychologists have looked into the darkest recesses of human behavior, to try to figure out how and why people commit such gruesome and brutal atrocities against their fellow human beings. One of the best cases of documented psychopathic behavior is that of Theodore R. Bundy. On November 24, 1946 Theodore Robert Cowell (aka Ted Bundy) was born. His mother was a single young woman who decided the best course of action was to move back home to have her parents help her raise her son; as in the 40’s it was not acceptable for a young single woman to have a child out of wedlock. Until the age of four, Ted believed that his mother was his older sister, and grandparents were his mother and father. (Rule, A: The Stranger Beside Me) The signs that something was dreadfully wrong with Ted began to show themselves very early in his childhood. When Ted was barely three years old, one of his Aunt’s stayed the night with the family. The Aunt woke up in the early morning hours to find her young nephew Ted, lifting her blankets...
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...own perception or ending of the movies. Also, both movies contain a sense of tragedy in the final scenes; in the movie M, I felt somewhat sympathetic toward the mentally ill killer even though I knew he was the serial killer and might be pretending to get away. The feeling of sympathy toward the serial killer in the presence of his victim’s families also made me feel guilty about my feelings. Also, in Bicycle Thieves, when Antonio stole the bike, I wanted him to get away without his son finding out about it, which is also a contradictory or immoral feeling knowing that the “theft” was the reason for his plight, and by stealing someone’s bicycle, he is going to place someone in his situation. Also, Antonio turned into a thief in front of his son due his circumstances shows audiences a sense of tragedy. Both of the movies did not provide a satisfactory ending that we as classic Hollywood viewers expect; instead, it allowed audiences to interpret their own endings and place audiences in action. The movie M is an important part of film history because it was the stepping stone for the serial killer genre. At the beginning, the serial killer writes a letter to the press, and the police uses that letter, handwriting, and fingerprints to find who the killer is; this kind of scenes are part of many serial killer or crime movies and TV shows ever since. This movie was important because it was the first sound film by Fritz Lang. Moreover, this movie was influenced by German Expressionism...
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...Wiebe November 28, 2015 Are Serial Killers Created or Born? There are people out there who kill for the sake of pleasure. There aren't many are but they are out there. In our society we know them as serial killers. A serial killer by definition is a person who has killed more than three people at different times. There has been an ongoing debate about whether the serial killers are naturally born, murderous creatures, or if there has been certain circumstances throughout their lives which turn them to the monsters that the are. The mind of a serial killer all most never compares to another serial killer's mind, but one thing that they have in common is that they do not have a “normal” or “healthy” state of mind....
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...! ! ! ! ! General Purpose: To inform ! ! Serial Killers ! Andrea Mendoza ! Specific Purpose: To inform people the importance of knowing why some people become serial killers and how to spot characteristics of serial killers.! ! Central Idea: Most serial killers will not end what they have started because of the pleasure they feel when committing this horrible crimes.! ! Introduction ! I. Do you ever wonder who your neighbors or who you are next to in the streets on a day to day basis? Have you ever thought that some of this people grew up with horrible life stories.! ! II. I think a lot of you will learn so much from what I will inform you, because we all have loved ones who we want to protect and care for.! ! III. I myself have found to be scared to walk around at night alone after watching the news and knowing what is going on out in the streets.! ! Body: ! ! I. What is a serial killer?! ! A. a serial killer is a person who commits multiple murders in a period of time and cannot seem to stop. ! B. On most scenarios serial killers come from a very disturbed childhood, being abused them selves by people who they believed “loved” them.! C. Some serial killers can be anti-social and avoid crowds or becoming friendly with people, because they feel no emotions nor remorse. ! D. In most cases I've seen or heard of, the typical serial killer will leave some type of “signature” on the victim or where the crime was committed...
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...Amy Hankins LE300 capstone: serial killers as heroes in popular culture Final Project The Evolution of serial killers and societies fascination A serial killer is someone who is known as a friend, father, co-worker, politician, in fact a serial killer can be anybody. For centuries stories about serial killers have graced the covers of newspapers and magazines. Many famous stories have influenced a lot of films that have been produced and continue to be produced. There is an endless amount of questions as to how serial killers become serial killers, which falls under nature vs. nurture. “The causes of psychopaths remain a mystery. We don’t even have a satisfactory answer to the question of whether psychopath is a product of Mother Nature or a feature of upbringing (Brogaard & Marlow, 2012).” Nevertheless, due to the many serial killers that plague this country, they have come from a very unstable background mostly during the childhood years. Within this essay I would like to discuss not only what has been learned throughout the semester but also bring to light the possible reasons as to why serial killers kill and why society has such an enormous fascination with them. According to the dictionary a serial killers is a person who commits two or more murders at different times. Serial killers are extremely intelligent and some have most likely obtained a degree of some sort. This sort of intelligence is evident in Mr. Brooks, Dexter, silence of the lamb and perfume. All...
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