Serial Killer Research Paper

What if your neighbor was a serial killer? Serial killers are people who have a psychological motivation for killing and are very hard to tell who they are. Theories have been proposed as to what starts someone into being a serial killer. Many psychologist have studied how serial killers think and live their life in order to help law enforcement to catch them. For one to become a serial killer, a person has to have a certain trait. How can understanding the mind of a serial killer prevent murders? Studies can show the psychological aspect of a serial killer, serial killers tend to have characteristics that highlight the fact that they are murderers. The mind of a serial killer is different from normal minds. Every serial killer has a

personality

One common disorder in a serial killer is Antisocial personality disorder (also known as psychopathy), which is someone who disregards the feelings of others.

People with this disorder may lie, act violently, or break the law. The second most common disorder in a serial killer, is Borderline personality disorder.

This disorder is characterized by impulsive behaviors, intense mood swings, feelings of low self worth, and problems in interpersonal relationships. “Besides the murders, serial killers have also been known to exhibit violent sexual behavior before, during, and after their crimes.” (Steven

Reddy 2012). It is also known that female criminals are mostly diagnosed with this disorder. An example of a female serial killer with Borderline personality disorder is Alieen Wuornos. She inspired the 2003 film “Monster” who confessed to seven murders in Florida. The third most common disorder in a serial killer, is Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a long-term mental disorder of a type involving a breakdown in the relation between thought, emotion, and behavior. Symptoms that cause schizophrenia are, hallucinations, delusions, and catatonia. In a serial killer, schizophrenia affects them the most, due to hallucinations, to

Killing people represents the principle of control, which at that point, serial killers believe they can correct their problems through killing. Another well known trait is the inability to feel remorse. This trait makes a serial killer unable to feel guilt for the people they hurt. Why does this happen? Because serial killers feel motivated. “When they inflict harm on their victims they can do whatever they want so they feel themselves like God.” (Hayriye Elif Arikan 2015). They feel that killing is a necessary action and therefore don’t regret the murder. Another reason why serial killers don’t feel guilt or remorse, is because their mind is unstable and are insane. These mental disorders are the reason why serial killers block their guilt. A famous serial killer named Ted Bundy said these words,

Since serial killers feel powerful, they don’t feel the need to care for others. Killing is a way serial killers can fill there needs, a way to feel relieved for a short amount of time. Another well known trait is having poor impulse control. Serial killers don’t think rationally in regards of being caught or the pain and suffering of their actions, they only do it