Serial Killers Essay

Serial killers have interested me ever since I was young; the way that they think has become more interesting to me as of late. I have read a lot about the America's most infamous serial killers and the more I read the more interesting the their story becomes, some had served time in the military. I found this to be more than just a coincidence. This lead me to ask the question: Does the military enable people with personality disorders to “practice” killing, giving them the confidence to commit serial murder? What is the significance of military training associated with serial killers? Some examples would be Gary Ridgeway (Green River Killer) U.S. Navy, William Bonin (Freeway Killer) U.S. Army, Dennis Rader (BTK Killer) U.S. Air Force, David Berkowitz (Son of Sam) U.S. Army, and Jeffrey Dahmer U.S. Army, to name a few.
My first peer-reviewed article came from a journal called, Military Psychology. Author Paul Gade discusses the need for better research on people who enter and leave the military as well as the need for better kept data on a member's life timeline. “Although more than 200,000 of America's most fit young men and women pass through the military establishment each year, we know very little about the effects of their early military experiences on their life choices or on their subsequent military or civilian careers” (Gade 1991). After reading this from his paper, I realized that the military doesn't really have a way of tracking their members after they leave the military. I knew well before this article that the military has a goal and the focus is not always on the individual, “Understanding how people make career and other life choices has become increasingly important to the military services for managing force ...

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...esn't leave home in the morning compelled to kill; he will do it when he feels like it and when he feels safe. He needs to be in control” (McCarthy 2002). Media focuses more on the crimes of the killer and less about the victims. The article only mentions four of the victims and their mention focuses only on the fact that they were prostitutes.
I made the connection between serial killers with prior military service and looked for peer reviewed articles. The databases were not full of articles as I had expected. The research into this phenomena is weak and not at all abundant. I have noticed that some of the offenders that have had military training, when the media covers the story, not much attention is focused on the fact they served in the military. I was surprised to find out that several of America's notorious serial killers have served time in the armed forces.