Jeffrey Dahmer: Serial Killer

Childhood and Background

Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer, better known as the Milwaukee Cannibal or simply Jeffrey Dahmer was one of the most notorious serial killers of the twentieth century in the US. Dahmer was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on May 21 1960, he grew up with his mother, father and brother. Dahmer was a seemingly happy child as an infant until the age of six when he had a hernia surgery. Following this surgery, he changed and became disconnected and uncommunicative. (about.com) 1968, there were allegations that he was molested by a neighbor-- though this was unreported at the time (maamodt). Damher was said to enjoy experimenting on and cutting open dead animals (mostly road kill) and insects. Throughout schooling days, he had very

His father and him spent time together when he was a child around many small animals. For example, he was known by many to have had a fascination with dead animals, he enjoyed to experiment and cut open animals to see how they worked. His family life was not stable with constant moving, his parents always fighting, his mother suffering with mental illness, his father working and attending school and feelings of neglect after his brother was born; the combination of these issues may have lead him having issues being close to others. There were also suspicions that he may have been sexually abused by a neighbor at a young age (though this event was denied by Dahmer). He also had a habitual drinking problems allegedly starting at age 13 which may have had influence on his behaviour. Some psychological issues may have been visible in Dahmer from a young age of being uncommunicative, withdrawn and a “loner” personality following a hernia surgery that was reportedly traumatizing to him. In an interview, Dahmer stated that he had violent thoughts intermingled with sex, one of having sex with a corpse. This clearly demonstrates some form of a mental illness with his alcohol dependency, necrophilia and possibly antisocial personality

On one hand, Dahmer had many clear mental issues from young with his violent sexual fantasies, his fascination with dead animals and his anti-social behavior; some of what made him a killer could have been linked to certain mental illness and nature. On the other hand, Dahmer had an unstable childhood with messy family politics, possible sexual abuse from a neighbor, his alcoholism, etc. There was clearly some influence from both sides, also arguments on whether his anti social behavior stemmed from emotional scarring after his hernia surgery or if it was always there and just happened to come out during this time. In my opinion, there is more evidence in the “nurture” triggering his “nature” that is what lead to him committing these