Murder, willingly taking another human's life, is considered a heinous crime in the United States, and from the sociological perspective, breaks an important more. Serial Murder, therefore, is a sociologically deviant phenomenon where a person kills two or more people in distinct events, and an FBI overview of serial killers states “No single cause, trait, or even a group of traits can differentiate or identify serial killers … from other types of violent offenders” (FBI). However, use of the sociological perspective to identify potential factors in these cases is possible. As a boy, Jeffrey Dahmer was described as being a loner and a poor student- and had been sexually abused by a neighbor. He is homosexual, which carried a negative stigma during most of his lifetime: he was described as appearing to be a gentle, suave man in homosexual circles. Jeffrey Dahmer was a serial killer who raped and murdered 17 men between 1978-1991: he also consumed some of his victims, …show more content…
From the macrosociological perspective and applying strain theory, his difficulty achieving and attaining typical cultural goals of his time left him otherwise unbound by them, and with alcohol to escape into, didn’t feel the pressures of society to complete them. This lack of pressure left the door to deviance wide open, and allowed him to murder 17 men and rape many more. Utilizing the microsociological perspective via control theory, the lack of external forces in his life through borderline neglectful parents, superficial connection to peers, and no fear of prosecution for his crimes, in addition to a lack of self-control. Of course, these factors weren’t apparent as these events were occurring, and no specific cause or traits can be attributed exclusively to serial killers, but using the sociological perspective can at least help explain why these atrocious crimes