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The psychology behind serial killers pdf
The psychology behind serial killers pdf
Core concepts of rational choice theory
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The index crime I have chosen for this paper is murder. The theory I believe that best defines why people commit murder is the rational choice theory. The rational choice theory implies that people who commit this offense know that killing is wrong and that a punishment may follow if they are caught. They are fully aware of what they are doing and they deliberately plan and successfully murders someone. A perfect example of this theory is a serial killer, especially those that kill for the excitement of it.
In regards to most murder cases, a person usually kills while in a state of anger or to get revenge on another. Examples include an angry spouse who has just caught their partner cheating, a teenager acting out because they feel they
Murder at the Margin is a murder mystery involving various economic concepts. The story takes place in Cinnamon Bay Plantation on the Virgin Island of St. John. It is about Professor Henry Spearman, an economist from Harvard. Spearman organizes an investigation of his own using economic laws to solve the case.
Imagine yourself going out to a neighborhood party trying to relax after a stressful week. You might want to socialize, drink, or watch television. Now try to think about the penalties that can occur when the party gets out of control such as loud outbursts, fighting, and physical behavior. Depending on the setting of the party, there could be a possible chance of violence happening. In this case, the violent actions can result to homicides, shootings, and suicides. Homicides can vary based on age, gender, race, and methods of killing the victim. Shootings are quick reactions to dealing with victim. Suicides result to choosing to kill one’s life. Overall, there are different reasons to why individuals feel the need to kill someone else. It
The sentencing of underage criminals has remained a logistical and moral issue in the world for a very long time. The issue is brought to our perspective in the documentary Making a Murderer and the audio podcast Serial. When trying to overcome this issue, we ask ourselves, “When should juveniles receive life sentences?” or “Should young inmates be housed with adults?” or “Was the Supreme Court right to make it illegal to sentence a minor to death?”. There are multiple answers to these questions, and it’s necessary to either take a moral or logical approach to the problem.
People are uniquely different and because of this reason, they do have different behaviors. Crime is one kind of behavior that an individual can engage in. They are punishable by the law and may be prosecuted by the state (Helfgott, 2008). There are different theories existing that try to explain the actions of criminals. They deeply explain what causes an individual to commit a criminal activity. This paper discusses some examples of the biological theories, social theories and psychological theories of crime.
Murder - it’s violent, malicious, and it’s perpetrated by individuals with a large bone structure, large muscles and a naturally athletic physique. Can this be an accurate statement? Murder is the act of unlawfully and deliberately killing someone. It is considered a serious offence in Canada. One biological criminological theory could explain this heinous crime. It may be possible to draw a connection between the aggressive personality of some men and the crime of murder. The theory of somatotyping suggests large aggressive men may be more apt to commit murder.
I have spent the last four and one half years working in the criminal justice system as a county jailer, jail deputy and currently a police officer. Throughout my short career in law enforcement I had had a front row seat to what many industry insiders call, “The greatest show on earth.” In this class and during my undergraduate years I have studied many theories on why people commit crimes, and all theories have valid points on why people commit crime.
In this case, an interest in the broad deterrent effectiveness of these measures is an interest in their crime preventive effectiveness by whatever means prevention is achieved. Accordingly, a person contemplating the commission of a crime would undertake a cost-benefit analysis and would execute the criminal plan only if potential benefits sufficiently outweighed expected costs. In addition to theorists, courts have adopted the rational actor model as a justification for the imposition of certain penalties, specifically the death penalty for the crime of murder.
What drives an individual to kill another human being? This complex question has no single answer. One might say out of greed, anger, revenge, a domestic dispute taken too far, or even through self-defense. Generally, these reasons can represent the underlying motive behind most killings; however, what about the motives of serial killers? Scholars have often debated what truly makes a serial killer. Several theories have been proposed by criminologists to explain the origin of a serial killer. These include popular theories such as the labeling theory, social structure theory, strain theory, differential association theory, or learning theory. This paper will analyze the violent phenomena of serial killing through the social control theory.
"The following is not an exhaustive explanation. It's a handout I use when I speak about different types of killers and the motivations for different crimes. But it describes many, if not most types of homicide and most acts of violence. It describes most of the killers and most of the violent individuals I have interviewed.
Crime exists everywhere. It is exists in our country, in the big cities, the small towns, schools, and even in homes. Crime is defined as “any action that is a violation of law”. These violations may be pending, but in order to at least lower the crime rate, an understanding of why the crimes are committed must first be sought. There are many theories that are able to explain crimes, but three very important ones are rational choice theory, social disorganization theory and strain theory.
Rational choice theory, however, states that the framework for understanding and often formally modeling social and economic behavior. It also, depends on the personal choice of all human beings to be involved in weird behavior, based on the punishment of the act. The theory is dependent upon many factors that affect the person’s consciousness. Taking advantage of these theories, capital punishment should provide the most effective deterrent to murder. The rational choice theory relies on the idea that people are rational players.
A good law should be clear so both the judge and jury can apply it in
I have chosen the case study number 3. Through this case study, I have chosen the “Psychological Theory” as a theory that can explain the criminal case through articles that I have been chosen.
Classic mass murder typically involves an individual entering a location and randomly killing as many people as possible, whereas familial homicide usually involves a family member murdering three or more relatives which often ends with the killer committing suicide (Bartol & Bartol, 2008, p. 343). These crimes are tragedies as they are often unpredictable in that they can occur anywhere, at any time, and typically with little warning of which the end results in a massive loss of life. According to Bartol, mass murderers are usually characterized by anger and frustration stemming from the failure of their life to meet their expectations and often have suffered a serious loss (2008, p. 350). Social psychologists have stated that chronic frustration and strain resulting from an individual’s failure to obtain their goals over a long period of time increases the likelihood of aggressive and delinquent behavior (Levin & Madfis, 2009, p. 1229). Barton describes classic mass murderers as usually lacking interpersonal and social skills, and are often withdrawn leaving them with little to no social support structure (2008, p. 351). An example of classic mass murder is one occurring in the workplace. Many perpetrators of these workplace mass murders are often withdrawn,
Michael Sanders, a Professor at Harvard University, gave a lecture titled “Justice: What’s The Right Thing To Do? The Moral Side of Murder” to nearly a thousand student’s in attendance. The lecture touched on two contrasting philosophies of morality. The first philosophy of morality discussed in the lecture is called Consequentialism. This is the view that "the consequences of one 's conduct are the ultimate basis for any judgment about the rightness or wrongness of that conduct.” (Consequentialism) This type of moral thinking became known as utilitarianism and was formulated by Jeremy Bentham who basically argues that the most moral thing to do is to bring the greatest amount of happiness to the greatest number of people possible.