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Psychosocial development in serial killers essay
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Mass murderers and serial killers are nothing new to today’s society. We learn about them in TV shows, books, research papers, in our classes, etc. Psychologists have spent decades trying to uncover the truth behind these killers’ madness. Serial killers vary in their behaviors, techniques, desires, mental illnesses and their personal lives. Have you ever heard of the Tamiami Trail Killer?
Just as the heroin addicts need for a fix may drive him to steal, the serial killers commitment to the fantasy pushes him or her to murder. In short, the cycle of the serial killer is no different from the cycle of any other addict, the ending outcome being functionally the same as the heroin addict’s
The Dead House The book I was reading is called The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich. She is a writer of “psychologically sinister fiction” as described by her author bio in the book. What’s most interesting about her and this book is that she got the idea from a previous experience in her life. Kurtagich, at one point in her life, suffered from inversion syndrome (this is when someone is awake at night rather than during the day).
Statistics show that serial killers in the United States often kill for fun and financial gains. (Serial Killer) In class we have been learning about serial killers and the psychological disorders that cause them to carry out the murders they commit. Andrea Yates mental stability and religious views altered her ability of life and caused five young children to lose their lives
Ranked alongside Jack the Ripper, the Zodiac Killer is one of the most notorious serial killers the world has ever seen. Some of the classic signs of a serial killer are a person who has killed three or more people, with the killings occurring within a month’s time period with breaks in between each murder, and even when they are not killing they want to be the person in control of every situation (Levin). Serial killers most often kill for the psychological gratification, which is an emotion of happiness to a fulfilment of a goal that motivates people to kill. Serial killers only kill for the gratification of the kill. Usually a trait of a killer’s victims is that they have no relationship or direct correlation with the killer.
(The Secrets of Apt 213, EBSCO, 1) They, also blend in with the community so well usually nobody would ever suspect them. Serial Killers often murder people who they have a grudge against or something in common with. “Most of the men Dahmer killed were dark-skinned homosexuals,(Secrets Of A Serial Killer, EBSCO,2)” Jeffrey’s motive concluded lured men from shopping malls and bars by offering them money to pose for pictures, drugged them, strangled them, dismember their bodies, boiled their heads to remove flesh to use the skull later, and he had sex with their dead bodies and he had no desire to get caught. “They enjoy it, they are proud of it and they are not sorry.(Secrets Of A Serial Killer, EBSCO,3)” Jeffrey Dahmer later confessed to killing seventeen people between September 1990 until he was caught, but his arrest was not intentional.
But why do people become serial killers? What flips the switch inside someone who
As a teenager, I have always been drawn to the television shows and movies about the government team that chased after serial killers and spent days figuring out motives and any other possible reasons for a person’s act of terror. These shows and movies sparked a light within me that found an interest learning more about serial killers, their motives, their victims, and any other possibly reason that could make them commit such heinous crimes. What makes a serial killer kill? Are there environmental causes or genetics linked to this? Are there psychological patterns that make a person more likely to become a repeated killer?
Hey You! Yeah I’m talking to you, do you know about serial killers, about their mindsets and motives. Serial killers are “people who have murdered three or more people over a month period with a down time between each death.” Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer were both notorious serial killers, Jeffrey Dahmer had a worse childhood, which could have led to the life he choose to live in, Whereas Ted Bundy’s sneaky and articulate ways made it more difficult to capture him. Serial killers are influenced more by their heredity, the culture they're surrounded by, mentality and personal background, which causes them to act out in abnormal ways.
In order for them to be considered a serial killer each kill has to be a separate event that is controlled by pleasure or psychological thrill (Research Guides: Serial Killers: Introduction, 2023). Serial killers most often become egocentric due to their lack of guilt and empathy, these classifications characterize serial killers as psychopaths (Research Guides: Serial Killers: Introduction, 2023). To hide their psychopathic tendencies and appear to be normal most killers wear a “mask of sanity”(Research Guides: Serial Killers: Introduction,
When someone thinks of a serial killer, the first though is some homeless bozo out on the street, looking to kill off a young girl and take her money and possessions. They imagine them to be antisocial and awkward, with an obvious danger factor. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. Most serial killers would be impossible to tell apart from the everyday person. They are usually well dressed and eloquent, with an outstanding ability to charm anyone and everyone to their whim.
Being a seriel killer also may have some sort of psychological gratification with the murder committed. The number one reason a serial killer murders is for some sexual reason others are motivated by anger, thrill, finanxial gain and because they crave the attention. Murders can be attempted or completed in the same manner. Victims would have either
Serial killers that have experienced death at an early age in childhood can suffer from fractured identity syndrome. A serial killer who has had trauma in adolescent years can cause a much more visible fracture in their personality. Following incidents after the trauma can cause the person to explode with their emotion or possibly irrational and harmful things to themselves or others. Given the effect of childhood and the abuse as well as everything that has happened it is implied that something within the person will affect their mental state.
Ramsland expresses that, “It’s commonly believed that serial killers cannot stop because their compulsion is so strong they become ‘addicted’ to murder” (Ramsland). Just like any other drug addict, the urge becomes too strong and they cave. The want becomes so strong that it is interpreted as a need, so serial killers feel that killing is a necessary thing. Killing is just like any other addiction; it is a struggle for the person to regain control after they become
Serial killers are usually shaped into killers because of their traumatic childhoods. Childhood is supposed to be unforgettable and the most important time of a person's life. However these serial killers had childhoods that anyone would rather forget. Pedro alonso Lopez became a serial killer because of his appling experience in his youth. Also Henry lee Lucas was a serial killer as a result from his horrendous childhood.
