Serial killers are generally defined as "all offenders who through premeditation killed three or more victims over a period of days, weeks, months or years" (Clare S. Allely, June 2014, p. 487). The topic of serial killers has been an ongoing subject in psychology, including criminology and the criminal justice system (María Elena García-Baamonde 2022). Psychologists and people alike have been asking the same question: "Are serial killers born or made?" (María Elena García-Baamonde April, 2022, p.1). In an attempt to gain better knowledge of the concept of murder specifically committed by youth and to try and understand the severity of this issue, a study of different research articles from ScienceDirect, Scopus, and PsycoINFO was reviewed …show more content…
The study of psychopathy has been helpful in trying to understand antisocial behavior and violence among adolescents involved in these horrific acts. Psychopathic characteristics that are persistent in violence among minors include mental health issues, a history of substance abuse, a criminal background, impulsiveness, emotional instability, and a complete absence of guilt (María Elena García-Baamonde 2022). Traits of psychopathy can begin to show during infancy and can easily be recognized as the child gets older (María Elena García-Baamonde 2022). According to Myers and Borg, there are six categories of criminal behavior patterns that are studied in the youth cases, including "(1) ‘generic’ juvenile delinquency (which provides an explicative framework for other violent or non-violent crimes); (2) crimes of firesetting; (3) crimes of cruelty to animals; (4) crimes of a sexual nature; (5) crimes of sadism; and (6) serial murders" (María Elena García-Baamonde April, 2022, …show more content…
Allely 2014). People with ASD tend to have symptoms involving difficulty with communication or interaction with others, confined interests and repetitive behaviors, having a hard time functioning in school, work, and other areas of their lives, and difficulty expressing or having emotions for others or themselves. Silvaet al has argued that Damher struggled with "a form of high-functioning ASD psychopathology" (Clare S. Allely, June, 2014, p. 293). Dhamer's childhood highly reflected the symptoms of ASD. From a young age, he showed a lack of social skills, had a hard time attaching to anyone or anything, he couldn't make close friends; he was mostly considered a loner among his peers and teachers; and all together, he was reported to seem like an unhappy, shy child. (Clare S. Allely,