Serial Murder: A Forensic Psychiatric Perspective

In James Knoll’s article Serial Murder: A Forensic Psychiatric Perspective, which was published in the Psychiatric Times, Knoll takes a more psychological look, into murders and breaking down the concept of it. Firstly, he breaks into society’s amazement with serial murders, showing that there and multiple books, movies, and television shows that center around that theme. Even though serial murders is completely terrifying to most of the society, it is very rare compared to other crimes. From the last six decades, victims of homicides that are female have decreased. In the circumstance of serial murders, there has been documentation of the events for centuries, even going back to the sixteenth century. With that in mind, evidence shows that

More media started covering these cases, like Ted Bundy and the Hillside Strangler, began in the 1970’s and was shown an urgent feeling to research and illustrate this paradox. Per most experts, just some of the criteria to be a serial murder is when there are at least two victims killed in unconnected cases. There are different types of serial murders, most having a basis of personality and demeanor traits. In the showing of some research, it is shown that these individuals have similar traits. More than seventy percent of serial murders have similar paraphilia’s (like voyeurism and fetishism), which was connected to committing robberies. One study has shown that a fraction of serial murders are seen to be within the autism spectrum and some to have Asperger’s syndrome. A finding that is one of the more reliable in psychology is that in the mentality of serial killers is the existence of aggressive dreaming. For decades, there have been many theories that have sprung up about serial murderers, mostly coming from interviews. One theory is derived from a source of child abuse in the culprit’s developing years, whether it be sexual or alcohol related, or neglectfulness. Another frequent conclusion found through multiple serial murderers is the appearance of animal cruelty. A theory coming from how a child is raised, like when a mother is unfittingly putting sexual behavior towards her child. A person that lacks a history of healthy relationships seems to rely on different fantasies for a source of fulfillment. During a burglary, a culprit is commonly found to steal items like lingerie to relieve sexual needs. If the criminal’s needs are not satisfied, the incident may escalate to rape or possibly a