A serial killer is defined as a person who murders three or more persons in at least three separate events with a "cooling off" period between kills. Patterns of Serial Killers - Serial killers generally have a cycle during which they kill - They most often kill during periods of stress - After killing, they feel temporarily relieved of the pressure to kill - A study of a group of 50 serial killers shows that the majority experienced abuse as children - Breakdown of the reported abuse - Some type of maltreatment, regardless of type - 68% - Physical abuse - 36% - Sexual abuse - 26% - Psychological abuse 50% - Neglect - 18% - No abuse - 32% - Studies show that child abuse is more prevalent among serial killers than in society in …show more content…
Helen Morrison - Dr. Helen Morrison has studied serial killers and has interviewed 135 in total - Morrison says that, regardless of how different their lives may be, serial killers have shocking similarities - Morrison's research suggests that a chromosome abnormality is the most likely trigger - Chromosome abnormality begins to express itself during puberty - Serial killers (mostly men) begin to display their homicidal tendencies during puberty - Studies show that serial killers never develop a sense of attachment and belonging to the world - This lack of development means serial killers don't empathize with their victims - They do not develop emotional attachment to their victims which allows them to "experiment" on them Findings of Jim Fallon - Neuroscientist, Jim Fallon, has studied the brains of psychopaths for over 20 years - Fallon recently discovered he has a whole lineage of murderers in his ancestry - He set out to determine how the brain of a serial killer is different from other brains - He scanned his own brain and compared it to brain scans of psychopaths - He also compared his brain to his son's, which showed normal orbital cortex activity - Results showed that he had the same low orbital cortex activity as a serial