When people hear the word “Sociopath,” theyat automatically think about serial killers like John Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer, or Ted Bundy. These men were notorious sociopaths. Although just because someone is a sociopath it does not always make them a murderer. Sociopathy is an informal term used to describe antisocial behavior. According to The Diagnostics and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), sociopathy is closely represented by Antisocial Personality Disorder. When the term “antisocial behavior” is used, it usually is not talking about someone who does not want to hang out with a friend or go somewhere with their family. It is associated with an individual who has no interest in having relationships with people. They can form …show more content…
There are many sociopaths that are famous for just being a sociopath. But not too many people know about them. Most people know people like John Wayne Gacy. Gacy was one of the most unexpected people to turn out to be such a disgusting person. Everyone in town loved Gacy. He performed at children’s birthday parties as “Pogo the Clown”. He was very well known. What people did not know was that he was a sociopath because he hid it so skillfully, and he just so happens to be one of the most famous sociopaths to every walk the earth. In the 1970’s he killed and raped over thirty young men and boys. He hid most of them in the crawl space under his house. Ted Bundy is another notorious serial killer. He was an attractive, charming, intelligent young man who lived in Seattle in the 70’s. He would lure women in using his charm, and then he would rape then beat them to death. He was also known as a necrophiliac. He admitted to slaying 36 women, but experts believe that the final count was around one hundred. There is also Jeffrey Dahmer who is also very well known. There have been many books and movies about him and based off the story. Dahmer murdered seventeen males between 1978 and 1991. Over the course of more than thirteen years, Dahmer sought out men at bars, malls, etc. and then lured them home with promises of money or sex, and gave them alcohol laced with drugs before strangling them to death. He would then engage in sex acts with the bodies before dismembering them, disposing of them, and sometimes eating them. He often keeped their skulls or genitals as souvenirs. He frequently took photos of his victims at various stages of the murder process, so he could recollect each act afterward and relive the experience. Dahmer was captured in 1991 after one of his potential victims
Infamous serial killer, John Wayne Gacy, was born on March 17, 1942, in Chicago, Illinois. Gacy, born into an abusive environment, was assaulted physically along with his siblings, with a razor strap if they were perceived to have misbehaved by their alcoholic father. In addition, Gacy’s mother was physically abused as well throughout her marriage and during the children’s upbringing. During John Wayne Gacy’s childhood education, he suffered further alienation due to a congenital heart condition that resulted in further feelings of contempt from his father. Furthermore, Gacy eventually came to the realization that he was attracted to men, which caused a great amount of mental turmoil over his sexuality.
A serial killer is defined in Webster's Dictionary as someone who murders more than three victims one at a time in a relatively short period of time. There is no one generic profile to identify a serial killer. They usually are people seeking for a sensation, a lack of guilt or remorse, a need for control, impulsivity, and predatory behavior. These traits make up a psychopathic personality disorder. Psychopathy is a disorder manifested in people who use a mixture of charm, manipulation, manipulation, and occasional violence to control others, in order to satisfy their own wants and needs. There are four main types of serial killers; thrill seekers, mission-oriented, visionary serial killers, and power and control killers. There may be other
Taking the life of another person is one of the worst infractions of the law to commit. The Bureau of Justice defines serial killing as “[involving] the killing of several victims in three or more separate events” (“Michigan” 1). Serial killers often commit extremely violent crimes; they usually become infamous for these crimes. The first recorded serial killers are probably Jack the Ripper in 1888 and Fritz Haarmann in 1924 (“Michigan” 1). Jack the Ripper is also one of the most well-known criminals, almost everyone knows who he is or has at least heard of him. Most people know what he is famous for and associate him with being a bad person. Serial killers are typically sadistic and sociopathic, meaning that they are unable to feel empathy for people who are suffering (“Michigan” 1). Whimsical sociopaths who have sadistic tendencies are very dangerous. They inflict pain because they do not care that someone else is suffering, they only care that it makes t...
An analysis of the most famous murderers and serial killers in the Chicago area shows varying degrees of psychopathy or mental illnesses, which ultimately contribute to homicidal conduct. Analysis also shows that the paths of serial killers have a tendency to converge.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Jeffrey Dahmer is notably one of the most infamous serial killers in the United States. Along with seventeen murders under his belt, he was also a pedophile, cannibal and necrophiliac. Jeffrey Dahmer’s last crime occurred over twenty years ago, but his name will forever be known.
A sociopath is someone who has a lack of
You’d be hard pressed to find one in a crowd. The average serial killer generally blends in with everyone else (Directory Journal, 2010). In fact, most are soft-spoken and even polite. Their monstrous nature only comes through when you dig deeper into their personalities, actions, and habits. Most seem to have come from dysfunctional family settings and were emotionally, sexually, or even verbally abused as children (Directory Journal, 2010). It is almost as if this background activates some psychological trigger that increases their feelings of inadequacy or worthlessness that led them to seek out their own heinous form of release.
Many deranged people throughout the history of the United States have earned the infamous title of “Serial Killer”, however there may not be another serial killer more deserving of the title than John Wayne Gacy. Serial Killers are the real life monsters that your mom and dad told you do not exist. John Wayne Gacy was one of the most feared and active serial killers of all time and there is a reason he is one of the most famous. In this paper we will discuss John Wayne Gacy’s career as a serial killer, how he was finally arrested, and how differences in technology has changed between the time John Wayne Gacy was arrested and now, and how these technological differences could have made a difference in catching him.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a sociopath as someone who behaves in a dangerous or violent way towards other people and does not feel guilty about such behavior. Sociopaths lack a conscience that allows people to decipher between right and wrong. In A Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe, the narrator, Montresor, is believed to be a sociopath by many. He kills his friend, Fortunado, after he literally adds insult to a thousand of injuries. Though what the insult was and the previous injuries were never revealed to the reader, it could be assumed that Montresor probably overreacted to the Fortunado’s insult. But in order to answer this question the evaluation upon his motivation, strategy, and Montresor’s feeling and emotion towards
Robert Hare, the author of Without Conscience and a professor of psychology, once said, “Know what you are dealing with. All the reading in the world cannot immunize you from the devastating effects of psychopaths. Everyone, including the experts, can be taken in, conned, and left bewildered by them.” The media has popularized the idea that all psychopaths are serial killers or rapists. However, this is not the case. Many psychopaths and sociopaths can be average people that interact normally. Moreover, psychopaths and sociopaths are often considered the same thing; they are vastly similar with minute differences. Both psychopathy and sociopathy are anti-social disorders that are difficult to treat and are associated with many myths.
This is explained through personality disturbances, such as sociopathy and psychopathy. David Lykken distinguished between the sociopath and psychopath. Sociopath refers to antisocial personalities that are due to social dysfunctions. Psychopaths refers to those whose antisocial behavior may result from a defect within himself. They can be intelligent, charming and manipulative, yet lack remorse or empathy. Research has focused on two subgroups of psychopathy: primary and secondary psychopaths. Primary psychopaths are born with psychopathic personalities and display maladaptive characteristics like irresponsibility and lack of conscience. Another subgroup is secondary psychopath. They are born with a normal personality but develop psychopathic tendencies due to personal experience. Events like drug abuse or suicidal gestures are very influential to secondary psychopaths. Other types of psychopaths are charismatic psychopaths and distempered psychopaths. Charismatic psychopaths are usually charming, attractive, and liars. Distempered psychopaths are easily offended and easily ticked off. Dysfunctional mental process within an individual can have a huge influence on their criminal
The American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual defines antisocial personality as a persuasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues to adulthood. Antisocial patterns are also known as psychopathy, sociopathy, or dissocial personality disorder. Those with ASPD are sociable but in an abnormal way. They do not conform to normal social standards or behavior. Individuals lack empathy for others and have no shame when causing damage towards another person. This disorder is more common in men than in women. It is about seventy percent more dominant in males ("Antisocial personality disorder," 2004). The prevalence is 3 percent in males and one percent in females (Fisher, & O'Donohue, 2006). There are many factors that are associated with ASPD. They could be family patterns, neglect, substance abuse, or environmental situations. Individuals lack moral sense and only think about benefiting and pleasuring themselves (Antisocial personality disorder, 2000).
‘Psychopathy: a personality disorder characterized by persistent impulsive, irresponsible, antisocial, and often violent or aggressive behavior, often accompanied by an inability to form normal relationships with others.’
“At least seventeen persons[sic], mostly gay and black men, were known to have been murdered by Jeffrey Dahmer from 1988 to 1991. Dahmer cannibalized his victims, had sex with their corpses, and then dissolved them in a fifty-five-gallon vat of acid in his Milwaukee, Wisconsin, home” (“Serial Killers” par. 2). Dahmer committed such heinous and brutal killings that can hardly categorize him as human. Unfortunately, he is not alone; there have been by far more hideous murders over the past century. Serial killers like Dahmer are becoming more common in that they could be considered an epidemic. Many have questioned how these individuals become serial killers, some say they are a result
Antisocial Personality Disorder When I use to hear or think of someone that is antisocial I thought of someone that was quiet, has no friends, struggle to develop and maintain relationship, a loner so to speak; but true antisocial personality disorder is way more complicated than that. Antisocial personality disorder sometimes referred to as sociopathy, can be defined as a mental illness that causes a person values and sense of right and wrong to be accursed. Antisocial personality disorder usually involves a pattern of violent, criminal, or unethical and exploitative behavior with an inability to feel affection for others. People with antisocial personality disorder also tend to manipulate, treat others harshly without guilty or remorse. (Clinic,