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The psychosocial effects of trauma on children
The psychosocial effects of trauma on children
The psychosocial effects of trauma on children
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A serial killer is to be known as a killer that will pause for a long period of time before killed more peope. After a serial killer killed one person, they would wait months or years before they killed another and pause after that and they did that till they were caught. But, a man or woman doesn’t just decide one day that they will kill people, it all starts when they were a child. What makes a person want to kill and why can’t we get into a serial killers mind? It may be the way they were raised. It also might be that they were beaten as a child, or their parents abused them, or maybe they were being bullied because they were different from the others. Most of these caused one thing prior to them wanting to kill, and that is because of their mental state of mind. Some of these killers were tormented so much that it changed them mentally and emotionally. Some of the killers were also driven by sexual pleasures. The reasoning is that they were driven down by everything that was around them and it caused them to have issues and things that would make them later have a “tick” and cause them to go on their psychotic rampages.
Most serial killers, if not all, had bad childhoods or a problem they couldn’t control, and an example of this is John Wayne Gacey. Gacey was abused and beat by his alcoholic father. Not only that, he couldn’t play with any of the other children because of a heart condition. Later on in his life things got better and he became well-liked during the 1960s and 1970s . Gacey had also been married and had children according biography.com, a website about infamous and famous peoples biography’s and lives. Gacey had a problem, as a documentary person wrote for Gacey’s biography, Gacey “later realized he was attract...
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Hansen, Suzy. Interview with Pincus, Jonathan. Personal Interview. 27 July 2001. http://www.salon.com/2001/07/27/killers_3/ “Jeffrey Dahmer,” 2013 The Biography Channel website, 2013 December 11, 1:38 AM
< http://www.biography.com/people/jeffrey-dahmer-9264755 >
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John Wayne Gacy,” 2013 The Biography Channel website, 2013 December 11, 1:45AM
< http://www.biography.com/people/john-wayne-gacy-10367544 >
Morton, Robert, J. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Serial Murderer. Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office, Web.
Scott, Shirley Lynn, ‘What Makes A Serial Killer Tick?” “Chapter 5: Child Abuse,” TrueTV Crime Library website, 2013 December 11, 1:58 AM
< http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/tick/abuse_3.html >
We can all agree that serial killers are unpredictable scary people but when it comes to why they kill, everyone has a different view. In my research paper I will get into the mind of a serial killer and try to figure out what exactly sets them into uncontrollable rage.
One of the most horrendous serial killers in modern history would have to be John Wayne Gacy, Jr. He was the second of three children and born in 1942. He lived in Chicago and attended catholic schools, and wasn't a very popular boy in school. Gacy seemed to live a very normal childhood, with exception to his relationship with his father, and series of accidents that effected him. No one could have known what the future held for John, not even his father.
To better understand the case of Gary Ridgway it is important to comprehend a bit more about serial killers in general. Serial murders are extremely heinous crimes that are known to draw in the attention of the public. Serial murder is “the killing of three or more people over a period of more than 30 days, with a significant cooling-off period” (Knight). There have been numerous studies done by researchers to try and determine what exactly makes up the mind of a serial killer to lead them to do such things. They have theorized that it may be linked to aspects that are biological, neurological, or sociological; however none of them can be pinpointed as the actual cause (Knight). What theorists have concluded is that it most likely is not just one of those aspects, but a combination of them all as well physiological, psychological, and environmental elements (Knight).
Dee, C. (2007). Serial killers, up close and personal: inside the world of torturers, psychopaths, and murderers. Berkeley, Calif: Ulysses Press.
As years go on so will the research on serial killers and hopefully we as a society will fully understand them and one day be able to cure whatever inside that makes them have the urge to kill. Works Cited The Electronic Journal of Sociology, published by the University of Guelph, Ontario. http://www.scribd.com/doc/167086215/How-Serial-Killers-Work. According to the article “10 Most Common Traits of Potential Serial Killers By Hestie Barnard Gerber. According to Comrade Chikatilo: The Psychopathology of Russia's Notorious Serial Killer.
In many cases, serial killers began their lives as remotely normal human beings. Most, however, have detectable characteristics of murderers before they hit puberty. Otis O’toole, for example, started a neighbourhood fire when he was six. George Adorno was even younger when he first displayed his pyromaniac tendencies by setting fire to his own sister when he was four. Along with pyromaniac behavior, other often-cited warning signs are enuresis (bed-wetting) and cruelty toward animals. Often, serial murderers are abused physically, psychologically, and sexually as children, sometimes from a stranger, but in most cases from a trusted family member or friend. Typically, they come from broken families, usually...
Common psychological disturbances in the stages of making a serial killer are seen in childhood and are usually based upon mental and psychological abuse endured by a child.
Mass Murderers and Serial Killers are nothing new to today’s society. These vicious killers are all violent, brutal monsters and have an abnormal urge to kill. What gives people these urges to kill? What motivates them to keep killing? Do these killers get satisfaction from killing? Is there a difference between mass murderers and serial killers or are they the same. How do they choose their victims and what are some of their characteristics? These questions and many more are reasons why I was eager to write my paper on mass murderers and serial killers. However, the most interesting and sought after questions are the ones that have always been controversial. One example is; what goes on inside the mind of a killer? In this paper I will try to develop a better understanding of these driven killers and their motives.
03 March 2014. Bell, R. (n.d.). Ted Bundy. A Time of Terror — — Crime Library. Retrieved March 4, 2014, from http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/n.
Mitchell, Heather, and Michael G. Aamodt. "The incidence of child abuse in serial killers." Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology 20.1 (2005): 40-47.
Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, Mark Allen Smith, Richard Chase, Ted Bundy-the list goes on and on. These five men alone have been responsible for at least ninety deaths, and many suspect that their victims may total twice that number. They are serial killers, the most feared and hated of criminals. What deep, hidden secret makes them lust for blood? What can possibly motivate a person to kill over and over again with no guilt, no remorse, no hint of human compassion? What makes a serial killer?
So what makes a serial killer? Levin points out that contrary to popular belief, serial killers don't just 'snap'; or 'go crazy'; (Douglas, p. 137). Many of the serial killers have been the victims of childhood abuse. Jack Levin stated 'Research shows many serial killers suffered abuse, incest or neglect as children and develop poor self images'; (Douglas, p. 137). Serial killers often have a childhood marked by the absence of any nurturing relationship. 'They often come from families where the parents were absent or ineffective, where authority was not defined, and where they could engage in destructive behavior undeterred-violent play, cruelty to animals, and incidents of arson being some of the childhood behavior patterns noted among many serial killers'; (Clark, p. 206).
The brain is the most complex organ in the human body. Since the beginning of time, scientists and neuropsychologists alike have studies its composition and how it influences human behavior. However, no human behavior has baffled researchers more than serial murder. Serial killers are dangerous animals that act upon bizarre influences that have fascinated the human race for thousands of years. Many wonder what could cause a person to take the life of another innocent soul. Do internal factors cause them to do it? Is it their environment? What causes a serial killer to kill?
There have been many serial killer cases that have attracted the attention of not only the media but of mental health experts as well. Many experts from a variety of different fields have come together to answer one question: Why did they do it? It is believed that most, if not all, serial killers have a mental illness, motives, and/or trauma during their lives that made them start killing. Serial killers are not only the effect of nurture but also nature. The environment of their country, the United States is our focus, can cause the number of serial killers to increase especially if the country itself is unstable.
Scott, Shirley L. "What Makes Serial Killers Tick? — Monsters or Victims? — Crime Library on TruTV.com." TruTV.com: Not Reality. Actuality. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.