The Mind of a Serial Killer

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Serial murder is one of the most baffling crimes that occur in the U.S. and all over the world. Knight (2006) defines serial murder as the killing of three or more people over a period of more than 30 days, with a significant cooling-off period. The cooling off period may be weeks, months or even years long. Researchers have proposed various psychological, biological and sociological theories that offer a partial understanding of the nature of serial murder. Some propose that the basis for criminal behavior is a predisposition to violence as well as a mix between environment, personality traits and biological factors. Serial killers are predominantly male. Only 3 percent of serial murders are committed by women (U.S. News and World Report, 1994) Knight (2006) describes some different personality types of serial killers: the psychopathic personality type, narcissistic, paranoid or anti-social, or as having temporal lobe epilepsy, schizoid personality and dissociative disorder. Psychotic serial killers are extremely rare. Most serial killers know right from wrong and are not considered insane. Even Jeffery Dahmer who dismembered his victims and ate their flesh was deemed sane by Dr. Park Elliot Dietz. (Frank, 2000) (Dr. Dietz also deemed Andrea Yates as sane.) People who murder for money or to escape detection such as gang-bangers or the mafias are not considered serial killers. I’m going to focus this paper on the majority (2/3) of serial killers who have been clinically in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual as suffering from Personality Disorder Cluster Type B which is classified as anti-social (psycho/sociopathic), histrionic or narcissistic behavior. The remaining 30 percent of serial killers has one or more other psychosis s... ... middle of paper ... ...emic Search Complete (23218518) U.S. News and World Report. (1994) 116(17) 12 Retrieved by Academic Search Complete (9404267502) Frank, Christina. (2000) Biography. 4(6) 82. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete (3383734) Warf, Barney. (2002) Heinous spaces, perfidious places: the sinister landscapes of Serial Killers. Social and Cultural Geography, 3(3) 323-345. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete DOI:10.1080/1464936022000003550 Antisocial Personality—Part 1. 2000. Harvard mental Health Letter. 17(6) 1-7. Retrieved by Academic Search Complete. (3826533) Buckholtz, Joshua W., Kiehl, Kent A. (2010) Inside the mind of a Psychopath. Scientific American Mind, 21(4) 22-29 Retrieved by Academic Search Complete (58698958) Dalal, J.S. (2009) A case study of serial killers. Journal of Punjab Academy of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, 9(2) 109-113 (49019063)

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