Rachel Bierle Mrs. Neuberger Composition II 9 March 2023 Word Count: 1,882 Tommy Lynn Sells’ Portfolio Serial killers have been around since the beginning of time and their tactics have evolved greatly throughout each decade. Most serial killers’ motive for killing people is to seek the feeling of power over other people. These people are all around the world, but the United States has the highest number of serial killers (Moskovska). One of them was Tommy Lynn Sells.
Literature Review: Every murderer has a reason why they do it whether they know it or not. Sexual serial killers do it because they want to feel like they have control over the situation because maybe they were a victim of assault or rape, and they want to gain back the control they lost. Some murder’s kill loved ones because they are guilty of cheating, or they think they don’t love them anymore. Murders are all categorized based on their motive or the professionals put them in one after they review the crime and crime scene. A professional lair suggests someone who tells lies for a living, perhaps someone who lies well.
A case study of twenty year old, Adam Lanza, who committed a mass shooting in December 2012, killing twenty-seven people, including his mother, before shooting himself will be investigated. The psychological reasoning of Lanza in these unforgiving events can be effectively explained through a key psychological paradigm; trait theory. In order to formulate an educated reasoning for Lanzas’ actions particular focus on essential trait theory domains including, the big five model, Hans Eysenck’s theory of crime, and personality disorders will be explored. Selected criminal.
Richard "Iceman" Kuklinski was viewed as a normal man by society for much of his adult life. This man was far from normal. Kuklinski was a psychopath and a sociopath who was driven to kill by his troubled childhood and his lifestyle as a paid hit man. This paper will focus on the criminological theory of why Kuklinkski committed these murders. Richard Leonard Kuklinski was born in 1935 to Stanley and Anna Kuklinski ("Meet Notorious Contract Killer Richard Kuklinski").
Many acts of delinquency have often been explored and researched. Sociologist have created theories in order to explain the crimes and why they have occurred. These theories can be applied to the convicts in order for sociologist to fully comprehend the absolute motive to the crime. The crimes committed by Nancy Hazle, known as Nannie Doss and the “Giggling Granny,” can be interpreted and scrutinized using theories that have been developed by well-known sociologist. Including Robert Merton’s strain theory and Walter Reckless's control theory.
Within the past couple of decades, criminologists have developed different criminological theories that apply to the social behaviors and decisions of criminals. One of the earliest theories developed regarding criminality is the rational choice theory, in which describes the rationalization of determining if the rewards from committing the crime outweigh the consequences. In Scarver’s case, his decision to engage in criminal activities outweighed the potential consequences, or the other alternatives if he did not engage in such criminal activities. In addition to the rational choice theory, Scarver’s criminality can be related to the social disorganization theory, which describes the influence of one’s social and physical environment on one’s decision to commit a crime. Lastly, the strain theory can be related to Scarver’s criminality as well, as it is used to describe an individual who lacks the means to obtain such goals, and aspirations, so therefore, he or she engages in criminal activities to acquire the goals.
In “What Makes a Serial Killer”, La Donna Beaty aims to provide an evidence regarding the most vital characteristics of a serial killer. Mainly, the information given in the article is based on eight different sources with the help of which the author supports her primary argument. There are four essential characteristics that the author distinguishes as being the most influential in terms of becoming a serial killer. Concretely, according to the presented theories, these characteristics include the impact of society, the general atmosphere within one 's family, the heavy use of alcohol and mental illnesses. Beaty 's essay is fairly an informative piece as suggesting what might form a serial killer, she does not say what she thinks may
On July 28, 1999, Lionel Tate murdered Tiffany Eunick while Kathleen Grossett-Tate was sleeping in the upstairs bedroom. Kathleen Grossett-Tate became aware of Eunick’s critical state when her son came upstairs to tell her that Eunick was not breathing. According to the medical examiner, Eunick suffered from fatal injuries due to Tate’s rough house playing (Grimming, 2008, 29). The learning theory explains why Lionel Tate began and continued with his aggressive behavior plus learned violent behaviors through wrestling shows.
Michael Fay was an 18 year old teenager living in Singapore, and was arrested in 1994 for multiple counts of vandalism. The Singaporean government in turn sentenced him to a series of canings, which sparked a controversy that lasts to this day; was his punishment right? In “Time to Assert American Values,” an article published in the New York Times, the writer emphasizes that Singapore’s caning punishment is very controversial in the sense that many believe that it is wrong, and many consider it torture. In contrast, “Rough Justice: A Caning in Singapore Stirs up a Fierce Debate about Crime and Punishment,” an article by Alejandro Reyes, discusses not only the harshness of Singapore’s punishments, but also the fact that caning is their own
Dear reader, Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer was Serial killer and sex offender who killed 17 males between 1978 and 1991. Due to childhood trauma, Dahmer began exhibiting unusual behavior at an early age; killing and dismembering animals. I chose to research Jeffrey Dahmer because I am interested in the inner workings of serial killers and what pushes people to commit such acts. My question of choice, “What issues early on in life contributed to the behavior of Jeffrey Dahmer?” is important because it explains the psychology on why serial killers murder, and can be used to recognize signs in others around you. In these documents I will be talking about Dahmer’s childhood, and the trauma he dealt with as a child, which led him to his cannibalistic,
Between the mid-late 1970s and the early 1980s, Dennis Nilsen began mass murdering young men in Great Britain that had at least 15 men through strangulation (Crime Investigation, 2014). In analyzing his life, many of contributions throughout his life could have influenced his criminal behaviour when committing his crimes. Many theories such as broken home hypothesis and schema therapy theory use psychological explanations that determine how the individual resulted into committing their crimes. With schema therapy theory, not only does it discuss the justification for criminal behaviour, but suggests how to reduce the relapse of criminal acts by identifying the cause or the trigger of the individual’s criminal behaviour (Vos et al., 2016). In Dennis Nilsen’s life, there are several indications such as the abandonment of his family members, the termination of a past relationship, and the reclusiveness from society that could have resulted
To me, the arguments made by Beccaria, Howard, and Diderot against the mistreatment of absolutely anyone offered a new concept toward the perspective of conservative members of society to the marginalized population they condemned and exploited. In Beccaria’s On Crime and Punishments, he asserts that the method of torturing people accused of crimes is neither necessary nor ethical, because no one is aware if they are either guilty or innocent. I found it interesting that he mentioned the accused who are weak and succumb to the torture and confess to a crime they did not commit because it emphasized the insufficiency of this method of determining guilt. It seemed as if a prosecutor during their time would employ this strategy to quickly convict
A definition of serial homicide will be provided. The case of one of Cody Legebokoff will then be presented, outlining its key aspects. The theoretical perspectives of Psychopathy and Routine Activities Theory will
Deviance is defined as "any violation of norms, whether the infraction is as minor as driving over the speed limit, as serious as murder, or as humorous as Chagnon 's encounter with the Yanomamo" (Henslin 194). One statement that stuck out to me was sociologist Howard S. Becker 's definition of deviance: "It is not the act itself, but the reactions to the act, that make something deviant" (Henslin 194). One reaction that acts as a punishment for a deviant or minor criminal is the criminal justice system. On page 211 in our book, it is stated that "the working class and those below them pose a special threat to the power elite" (Henslin). As a result of this threat, the law and punishment comes down harder on the lower class than it does on the upper class.
Social process theory depends on the interaction between individuals and society as an explanation and is also known as interactionist perspective. This theory assumes that everyone has the potential to violate the law and that criminality is not an innate human characteristic but is instead a belief that criminal behavior is learned by interaction with others (Schmalleger, 2012). Social process feels the socialization process that occurs because of group membership is the main way through which learning occurs (Schmalleger, 2012). Social process theory views criminality as people’s interactions with various organizations, institutions, and processes in society (Siegel, 2000). This theory feels that people from all areas have the potential
