An example of a child who was abused then later in life transformed into a serial killer would be Donald Gaskins. Gaskins was abused by his step-father. This abuse was primarily physical abuse. This abuse followed him to school each day where he was bullied by his class mates. They primarily physically and emotionally abused him. This went on for years. The Federal Bureau of Investigation stated “neglect and abuse in childhood have been shown to contribute to an increased risk of future violence” (Morton). Just as the Federal Bureau of Investigation predicted Gaskins had enough. Gaskins and his friends went out and gang raped his friend’s sister. From there Gaskins became a rapist and began raping young girls and boys to find a way to cope …show more content…
A well-known personality disorder is psychopathy. Psychopathy’s shortened term “psycho” is often used as a slang term to mean crazy. Psychopathy is a real issue caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. Psychopathic people have traits “common to some serial murderers, including sensation seeking, a lack of remorse or guilt, impulsivity, the need for control, and predatory behavior. These traits and behaviors are consistent with the psychopathic personality disorder” (Morton). Psychopathic tendencies are most common among killers. Although, “serial killers suffer from a variety of personality disorders, including psychopathy, anti-social personality, and others” (Morton). With psychopathy in a serial killer they feel they have a valid and justifiable reason for killing three or more people. With psychopathic killers feel their motives make their killing okay. Serial killers have “many other motivations for serial murders including anger, thrill, financial gain, and attention seeking” (Morton). A common motive for serial killers is revenge. They feel that someone did them wrong, much like a person who was abused as a child. They feel they have a valid excuse for murdering the person that abused them or substitutes if they find that object of their rage unreachable. Another common motive is simply anger. With anger it is more often than not that they do not have a target. They are just angry and are willing to kill anybody to cope with it. Antisocial personality disorder is often in people who show “a lack of remorse and/or guilt, shallow affect, a lack of empathy, and failure to accept responsibility” (Morton). Antisocial personality disorder is similar to psychopathic personality disorder yet, it remains different. The Behavior Analysis Unit at the Federal Bureau of Investigation stated, “Psychopathy is a personality disorder
If a child is neglected or abused by a parent or guardian, then such bad behaviors or mental disorders can develop. “According to Sigmund Freud the development of the unconscious personality early in childhood will influence behavior for the rest of one’s life” (Freeman, web). When a child has no foundation to learn from, they cannot learn how to be ethical. Also the child may not be able to be empathetic and learn how to understand other people’s feelings. “Childhood adversity, such as abuse, neglect, parental loss, and other stressful experiences, has been estimated to account for 45% of the variance in childhood-onset psychopathology and 26-32% of the risk for later-onset psychiatric disorders” (Burgers, web). An example of a child affected by a lack of parenting is a man named Charles Manson. He grew up in a very unstable home. His mother was a sixteen year old prostitute who tried to sell him for one bottle to alcohol. While growing up, he moved between different family members since his mother was incapable of raising a child. Manson said in his own words “Rejection, more than love or acceptance, has been a part of my life since birth” (Emmons, pg. 24). As a result of such neglect and abuse, Manson created an occult. He made the people in the occult his new family who he could control. He then manipulated them to kill multiple people. Manson was named the most dangerous man alive and has a book on his life experiences before the killings (Emmons, web). Another serial killer who was abused as a child is John Wayne Gacy. He was molested by his uncle on multiple occasions. He then raped and killed thirty-three young
As years go on so will the research on serial killers and hopefully we as a society will fully understand them and one day be able to cure whatever inside that makes them have the urge to kill. Works Cited The Electronic Journal of Sociology, published by the University of Guelph, Ontario. http://www.scribd.com/doc/167086215/How-Serial-Killers-Work. According to the article “10 Most Common Traits of Potential Serial Killers By Hestie Barnard Gerber. According to Comrade Chikatilo: The Psychopathology of Russia's Notorious Serial Killer.
Common psychological disturbances in the stages of making a serial killer are seen in childhood and are usually based upon mental and psychological abuse endured by a child.
Individuals who are found to have antisocial personality disorder often exhibit patterns of manipulating or violating the rights of others, lack of regard for the law, lack concern for others, no control over their rage, and they lack guilt for any wrongdoings committed, among other signs. A person with APD will typically have a history of violence, aggressiveness, law-breaking, and deceitfulness dating back to childhood. APD is most common in men than in women. When considering criminal serial killers, people often state that these men they thought they knew were charming, sincere, and the ideal neighbor, but the truth is, it was just a façade masking cruel hatred. Three well-known serial killers that were diagnosed with having antisocial personality disorder are Ted Bundy, Charles Manson, and John Wayne
According to the article “What a Killer Thinks,” by Dave Cullen, there are three categories of killer motivation: the psychopath, the delusionally insane, and the depressed. In serial killing, the motivation falls into the category of psychopaths. The psychology of these people are generally that they simply enjoy killing or feel a need to kill, which is why they murder so many people. According to the article, they state that “They seem to be born with no capacity for empathy,...
Serial killers are defined to “be driven by instinct and desire to kill.” In a study done in 2000, Dr, Richard Davidson says, “people with a large amount of aggression – in particular people who have committed aggressive murders or have a social disorder – have almost no brain activity in the orbital frontal cortex or the anterior cingulated cortex while activity in the amyglade continued perfectly. The orbital frontal cortex and the anterior congulated cortex control emotional impulses while the amyglade controls reactions to fear.” Davidson concludes his research claiming that although environment can and will affect a serial killer’s thoughts, it is a killer’s genetic makeup that inevitably creates murderous thoughts.
The infamous "Jack the Ripper", Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, and Albert DeSalvo. Childhood abuse is a key point which has been known to fuel many serial murderers. While evidence has shown not all victims of child abuse grow up to be criminals and/or murderers. There's been a heightened risk shown to be associated with childhood trauma personality disorders and criminal activity in adulthood. So, what is child abuse? "Child abuse is when a parent or caregiver, whether through action or failing to act, causes injury, death, emotional harm or risk of serious harm to a child." (para. 2). Abuse is a sequence of behavior used to gain and control power over someone. There's many forms of child mishandling including but not limiting to physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse, and
Several serial killers have a definitive and common personality profile. Almost every major social, biological, psychological behavioural influence that has been seriously suggested as playing a role in causing crime has been thoroughly thought as potentially contributing to the behavior of serial killers (Levin, 2008). The time period and amount of killings fluctuate depending on the individual committing the crimes. Usually, the murders happen in different geographical areas. A mass murder has a separate definition than a serial killer, because a serial killer has a “cooling off” period, where mass murders kill several individual in a single event.
Many studies suggest that there are significant differences in the brain between individuals who possess antisocial personality disorder (psychopathy). While not all people who possess an antisocial personality disorder will become serial killers, every serial killer studied has an antisocial personality disorder; “Neuropsychological testing revealed abnormalities in all subjects tested” (Blake, Pincus, and Buckner 1642). Brain injury, brain abnormalities, or mental illness affects all the serial killers tested. Even if all serial killers had some type of abnormality in the brain, would that mean that they were doomed to become a serial killer? According to the experimental findings discussed in Neurologic Abnormalities in Murderers; 64.5% of serial killers have a frontal lobe dysfunction and 29% have temporal lobe abnormalities. The frontal lobes of the brain “control the essence of our human...
...e to murder over a period of time frequently show sociopath tendencies. Serial killer's have little self-esteem and a sociopath's inability to feel other people's pain or sorrow for any wrongful acts that they have committed (Casey, p. 80).
Simons, C. (2001). Antisocial personality disorder in serial killers: The thrill of the kill. The Justice Professional, 14(4), 345-356.
Crazy, psycho, psychopath, sociopath, these are all common phrases that people use to describe the mental disorder that is clinically known as Antisocial Personality Disorder. Antisocial Personality Disorder is characterized by a lack of empathy for others and a disregard for social norms. Contrary to popular belief, being antisocial does not mean that someone enjoys being alone and avoids social situations, the proper term for that is asocial. Antisocial simply means that someone violates established social rules. This particular mental disorder is especially prevalent in modern fiction; movies, TV shows, and books often feature thrillers where a few daring detectives must hunt down a cold and calculating killer who shows no empathy for others and brutally torments his victims. Although Antisocial Personality Disorder is incredibly common among killers, especially serial killers and mass murderers, it is often mis-portrayed in fiction.
Obsessive Compulsive disorder is seen in 2.3% of Americans. It’s more prominent in adults than in children. Antisocial Personality Disorder, also informally known as psychopathy/sociopathy, is a disorder where people elicit manipulative behaviors and lack morals. This includes disregard for rules, violence, superficial charm, promiscuity, a superiority complex, and difficulty forming attachments. This is said to be caused by genetics as well as modeling, or watching other people perform this kind of behavior.
...Most serial killers do have OCD which is obsessive compulsive disorder which is when you have to have things go a specific way or else you think everything is going wrong, so organized serial killers will most likely have this disorder. Having multiple personality disorder is when you have two personalities; one is your normal self which serial killers most likely use to cover up the fact that they are killers. Depression, anxiety, and panic attacks are triggered by the kind of things the serial killer goes through, so for depression the serial killer could get it from having a non-loving family, Anxiety can come from the struggles that the serial killer faces. Panic attacks can come from having too much anxiety. Serial killers are dangerous and very sick people. Most of them don’t realize they are doing something wrong because they could be severely mentally sick.
The psychological disorder of antisocial personality disorder with and without psychopathy in violent offenders was researched in the article “Cool and Hot Executive Function Impairments in Violent Offenders with Antisocial Personality Disorder with and without Psychopathy”. People diagnosed with antisocial personality have no indication of shame and neglect the privileges and mindsets of others. Antisocial personality disorder can be diagnosed with and without psychopathy. If they have psychopathy, then they have a mental disorder that shows irregularities within the brain and interactive behavior with other people. Central symptoms of antisocial personality disorder include disobeying the regulations of society, antagonistic behavior, deficiency of obligation, unwarily dishonest, inattentive behavior and scarcity of repentance for maltreatment done on others (Nevid, J.S., Rathus, S.A., & Greene, B., 2008).