Jeffery Dahmer is arguably the most notorious serial killer -cannibal in history. Targeting men and boys, Dahmer‘s life of crime began with drinking and sex offending. His murders were exceptionally gruesome, often involving rape, torture, necrophilia, dismemberment, and cannibalism. The media often commented on how “normal” Dahmer appeared. Jeffrey Dahmer made everyone question how one develops into such a monster. By the time of his apprehension, Dahmer had sodomized, murdered, and cannibalized at least seventeen men, mostly black, Hispanic or Asian, in the Milwaukee area between the years of 1978 until his arrest in 1991 (Williams pg.1).
Jeffrey Dahmer was born in Milwaukee on May 21, 1960, to Lionel and Joyce Dahmer. Despite the difficulties of Joyce's pregnancy, he was wanted and adored as a child. By all accounts, Dahmer displayed traits of a happy, bubbly youngster. However, several events from his childhood indicated that the young boy was becoming more and more disturbed. When Jeff was four, his father swept out the remains of some small animals from under the house. As his father gathered the tiny animal bones, Jeff seemed strangely entertained by the sound they made (Bardsley Ch. 13). At the young age of six, Dahmer suffered a double hernia and needed surgery to correct the problem. After the operation, he was never the same socially. Adding insult to injury, the family then moved from Iowa to Ohio where it became apparent Dahmer had grown distant, shy, and nearly uncommunicative (Bardsley Ch. 13).
As a young student, Dahmer, very fond of one of his elementary school teachers, took her a bowl of tadpoles he had caught. Soon Dahmer learned that his teacher had given the tadpoles to his friend Lee. He ...
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...rocess of ‘walking through’, in which the patient and therapist examine the same issues repeatedly in the course of several sessions, each time with greater clarity. This process is enduring, usually lasting for a number of years (Comer 41).
Due to the presence of such a multitude of abnormal behaviors, the most helpful form of psychodynamic treatment available would be the short-term psychodynamic therapies that focus on one individual issue at a time. Perhaps the abnormalities could have been deciphered and treated separately through this type of therapy in order to improve his behavior. It is impossible to say for sure, but had Dahmer sought or been forced into treatment for his many abnormal behaviors, therapists may have been reasonably successful in identifying the underlying causes before he felt compelled to take innocent lives.
Dahmer was a pretty normal, but very lonely kid. His loneliness followed him throughout the course of his life. Never having an intimate friendship or relationship, along with being consumed with confusion over his own sexuality eventually led him to become the household name he is today. From 1978 to 1991, Dahmer murdered 17 boys and men. Not only is he considered a murderer, but he committed (on several occasions) rape and dismemberment. After his later murders, he was found guilty of necrophilia, cannibalism, and permanent preservation of body parts. He is arguably the most well known, gruesome, and intriguing criminal in American history.
Alcohol got the young Dahmer discharged from the army while he was stationed in Germany. He went to Florida, and tried to get a job. When his money ran out, and he had nothing to fall back on, Jeff called his father. Jeffrey was told that, no, he couldnt have any money, but he could have a plane ticket home.
The victim's name was Steven Hicks. Dahmer picked up Hicks hitchhiking and offered to take the hitchhiker to his house for some alcohol. After a while Hicks wanted to leave but Dahmer didn’t want him to leave, so Dahmer hit Hicks in the head with a dumbbell and strangled Hicks with the dumbbell. Dahmer then stripped the corpse of its clothes and masturbated over the corpse. He hid the corpse in the crawl space of his home and dissected the man. Dahmer dissolved Hicks flesh with acid in a toilet and crushed the bones with a sledge hammer. Dahmer scattered the remains outside his home. In 1981, Dahmer was charged with drunk and disorderly conduct. On August 7, 1982 Dahmer was arrested for indecent exposure, he exposed himself to a crowd of women and children. In 1985 Dahmer stated to frequent bathhouses for homosexual sex. Dahmer described his early experiences as frustrating because his sexual partners moved around and would not stay still. To combat his frustration Dahmer admitted sleeping pills to his partners and then he would rape their unconscious bodies. After this incident happening twelve times, the bathhouses banned Dahmer of their use. Dahmer also mentioned an attempt he made to unearth a eighteen year old corpse to use for sexual pleasure, but the soil was to hard to dig, so Dahmer didn’t go through with his plan.In 1986, Dahmer was arrested for masturbating in front of two twelve year old
Unfortunately for police, they had another opportunity to catch Dahmer in the act, but they failed miserably. In May of 1991, a Laotian teenager, Konerak Sinthasomphone, had escaped from Jeffrey Dahmer's apartment, naked, dazed and bleeding, but still alive. Sinthasomphone spoke no English, and Dahmer was able to convince police officers that the 15 year-old boy was his 19 year-old homosexual lover. After police released Sinthasomphone back into the clutches of Mr. Dahmer, Dahmer dismembered the boy and kept his skull as a memento. Coincidentally, this was the older brother of a boy Dahmer molested in 1988, a crime for which he served one year in a low-security work-release camp (wikipedia.org).
...nd Dahmer”, Jeff Dahmer would go to school noticeably under the influence, yet somehow go by “unnoticed”. If the teachers were aware of Dahmer’s state, they never took any form of action to discipline him, question him, or be worried with his condition at all. Not once throughout the entirety of the graphic novel does a teacher, student, or parent seem remotely concerned with Dahmer’s well-being. Dahmer fought off the urge to kill many times and did it with the help of no one and nothing other than his own twisted mind, so there is reason to believe any type of assistance from an adult could have been detrimental in the process of Dahmer overcoming his violent urges. Unlike Benjie, Dahmer had no one to look up to and admire. Benjie was eventually able to appreciate and respect Butler Craig as a man who cared enough about him to put Benjie’s life above his own.
Jeffrey then destroyed the body parts, he done this by crushing the bones with a hammer and bleaching his skull (this would then become a regular pattern for the discarded of future victims). Dahmer continued to lure victims into is apartment by offering them money for sex or nude photographs (Stubel,2007). He would then drug his victims, engage in sexual intercourse then kill them by strangulation. Dahmer’s fantasies then progressed into necrosadistic behaviour by 1988 as he would kill his victims then participate in necrophilia sex. He would then mutilate their corpses, Dahmer would also save the remains of his victim’s body parts as souvenirs such as save genitals of victims, scalps and skulls (Purcell and Arrigo, (2006). Collecting these items allowed to him masturbate up to the point of orgasm and relive the paraphilia experience Dahmer reported. Dahmer also engaged in cannibalism as as in his words a way remembering the victim, it was also reported that this was sexually arousing to Dahmer. Over a period of 13 years Jeffrey killed 17 young males all with a similar organised pattern, the case of Jeffrey Dahmer will be assed below aiming to establish reasons for why he committed such extreme
Dahmer was fascinated and did not hesitate to touch or pick them up. According to Lionel Dahmer, he was "oddly thrilled by the sound they made. His small hands dug deep into the pile of bones.” At the age of six, it was discovered that he needed surgery to fix a double hernia. Following his surgery, which coincided with the birth of his brother,there was a drastic change in the once happy, bubbly, outgoing child. Lionel Dahmer states "he seemed smaller, somehow more vulnerable... he grew more inward, sitting quietly for long periods, hardly stirring, his face oddly
From 1987 to 1991, Jeffrey Dahmer reign terror over the gay community. He was a social incompetent, homosexual man. His spent his entire life feeling as an outcast in this giant world and struggled to find his voice and his sense of self. He resorted to dead rodents and mannequins to bring him entertainment and companionship. Eventually, Dahmer thirst for more and when his abuse of alcohol could no longer medicate him he allowed his gruesome fantasies and needs to take control.
Dahmer’s school life was just like every other normal kids school life, well almost anyway. Dahmer’s education wasn’t normal, well at least most of the time. Dahmer went to Hazel Harvy Elementary School. Dahmer had a average grade school life. But as soon as he went to Reeve High School Dahmer had gotten an interest in dissecting road kill and keeping the bones. After high school Dahmer went to Ohio University. But after 2 semesters Dahmer had dropped out because of his drinking problem.
Jeffrey Dahmer was born in Milwaukee on the 21st of May, 1960, to Lionel and Joyce Dahmer. From a very young age Jeffrey was a normal young boy who showed no signs of any mental problems. At a very young age Jeffrey began to develop an interest in dead animals when his father found a number of dead animal bones while sweeping under the house. This didn’t affect the way he behaved until when he started going to preschool. Whilst attending preschool Jeffrey was seen as a very shy boy, at the same time his interest in animals began to grow.
Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer came into the world at 4.34pm on the 21st of May at the Evangelical Deaconess Hospital in Milwaukee 1960. Little did his parents know at the time of his birth that there son would become one of America's most infamous serial killers, not only for the amount of victims which he had killed, but also for dismembering them and his odd tendencies. Jeffrey's childhood started like any other, he had two parents who loved and adored there son dearly. They would give him what ever his heart desired. Joyce Dahmer started a scrap book on her son recording events that happened in his life, his first step, his first accident, his first tooth, his first haircut and even his first scolding. While Jeffrey was still very young his father worked long hours in his laboratory and his mother worked as a machine instructor. But the carrying of Jeffrey had been hard on Joyce Dahmer and every little thing seemed to annoy her. So Lionel being the husband that he was and wanting the best for his wife decided to move to his mothers house in West Allis, but the crack's in the marriage started to show early.
...o wrestle, liked to run around, ham it up for the camera, and he liked to play with kids and get together with them,” (“Serial Killers). Jeffrey Dahmer had been a normal child until his family moved three times in a short period of time. Afterwards Dahmer’s parents noticed that he had become shy and antisocial. Scientists argue that Dahmer’s genes and brain activity prove why he is a psychopath while psychologists argue that the external factor of moving from town to town is the cause. Though many humans must deal with violent situations and experience horrific events everyday for most of us it does not alter our attitudes and personalities to be mass murderers. All in all, it is true that many children who are victims of abuse become violent in their adult lives but to cross into the category of a serial killer one must be born with a different biochemical makeup.
“My consuming lust was to experience their bodies. I viewed them as objects, as strangers. It is hard for me to believe a human being could have done what I've done”(Dahmer).
There was no abuse or trauma that was said to have happened during his childhood; however, it was said that he became more reserved as he grew older. He showed little to no interest in hobbies, but he was fascinated by dead animals. During his high school years, he was heavily abusing alcohol which caused his father to make him enlist in the army. He was soon kicked out and went to live with his grandmother, who then reported that he was showing very odd behavior. His parents got divorced in July of 1978 and this took a negative toll on Jeffrey. Dvorchack states, “During the divorce, Jeffrey Dahmer was left alone. His mother moved to Wisconsin with his younger brother, David; his father had moved out of the house. He was left with no food, no money and a broken refrigerator” (Dvorchack). By that time, Jeffrey was already18 and had just committed his first murder. Between 1978-1991, Jeffrey Dahmer had killed over 17 males. Some would say his parents’ divorce and rejection is what caused Jeffrey to get out of hand. Secondly, the standard way of thinking about the topic of serial killers has it that from the day they’re born, they’re going to grow up with the traits of a stereotypical killer. Another
During Dahmer’s psychiatric evaluation, Dr. Wahlstrom concluded, “Jeffrey was suffering from a mental illness never cured for” (FBI 1992). This leads me to perceive that Dahmer must have been displaying psychotic traits that went unnoticed and undocumented during his early lifetime. I can only speculate that this uncured mental illness lead Dahmer to develop and refine his inability to empathize with society; which in turn, lead him to engage in cruelty without mentally comprehending the victim’s suffering. Although the causes for psychopathy are unclear, some suggest that psychogenic aspects can outline abnormalities which may be present in psychopaths (Schmalleger 2014). When looking at Dahmer’s distant relationship with his parents early on in his childhood, I became conscious of the fact the lack of affection from his parents which may have lead him to develop twisted views on how one should display affection to others, thus prompting him to show psychotic behavior later on in life (The profile of Jeffrey Dahmer 1996). Even though the letter of the law fails to describe Dahmer and even if he was not fit to stand trial, I believe the court would have declared him fit for trial due to the brutality of the