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Psychology of serial killers
Serial killers psychology case studies
Psychology of serial killers
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A murderer is defined as someone who has committed the crime of taking the life of an individua.l Murderers are usually triggered by an event and are harder to profile, as murders aren’t likely to commit the crime more than once. A serial killer; however, is someone who kills more than three times within a relatively short interval of time and are more easily identified through their similar characteristics. Although, murderers may not have committed the crime more than once does not mean that they don’t have a similar general characteristics. In Crime and Punishment by Fydor Dostoyevsky, Raskolnikov shares similar psychological characteristics including isolation, narcissism, and higher IQ’s with a general profile of murderers, which ultimately was what led them to murder.
There are many different forms of isolation; emotional, physical, social, etc. Regardless of the type of isolation, it signifies the cutting off of an individual from society and human interaction. Raskolnikov physically isolated himself by staying in his room and cutting his personal interactive relationships from those around him by refusing to leave his couch, “[he] didn’t go out for days together, and [he] wouldn’t work" (Dostoyevsky 339). His “big, clumsy sofa [which] occupied almost the whole of the one wall and half the floor space of the room,”(Dostoyevsky 22). became symbolic of deeper thinking, so therefore one of the reasons Raskolnikov would isolate himself is because his deep philosophies were forms of higher thinking that other individuals could not understand. “He was so immersed in himself and had isolated himself so much from everyone that he was afraid not only of meeting his landlady but of meeting anyone at all” (Dostoyevsky 3). Isolation...
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"The Nature Conservancy. Protecting Nature. Preserving Life.™." Coral Triangle Initiative Goals and Commitments. The Nature Conservancy, n.d. Web. 06 Jan. 2014. .
"The Psychological Aspect of Murder." ThinkQuest. Oracle Foundation, n.d. Web. 10 Jan. 2014. .
"Top 10 Unusual Traits That Potential Serial Killers Share - Part 2." Top 10 Unusual Traits That Potential Serial Killers Share - Part 2. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Jan. 2014. .
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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.
Serial killers are a type person who commits a series of murders, often with no apparent motive and typically following a characteristic, predictable behavior pattern. Most of the time something triggers them and then they go on their serial rampage. Some things that can be part of a serial killer's profile is they are normally white males, late 20’s early 30’s, kills with in own race, method of murder is hands on, and their victims are selected because they share specific characteristics. The types of serial killers are disorganized asocial and organized nonsocial. The different types of serial killers are: missionary killers, power seeking, lust killing, visionary killer, thrill killing. The profiling of a serial killer's changes upon the
Charister Clause and Lars Lidberg (1999) used five characteristics from Shahriar disorder that are common among serial killers.
A serial killer is someone who does three or more killings in a short period of time. However, not all serial killers are the same. There are many differences between a male and female serial killer. For example, a female serial killer tends to commit more premeditated murders because they either know their victims or they know their routines. Many women serial killers have a history of being sexually abused as they were growing up, while the men have been physically abused. Most female serial killers choose poison and strangling, a less messy approach.
According to the article “10 Most Common Traits of Potential Serial Killers By Hestie Barnard Gerber
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
Due to crime-inspired shows that air on television, fascination with serial killers presents itself more and more. People want to learn what makes a person break to the point of taking another’s life. Some suggest that killing releases a sexual desire, while others suggest that revenge may be the motive. A serial killer has the stereotypical look of a white male who tends to act socially awkward, not easily approachable, and possesses a mental illness. While the accuracy of this look tends to be true occasionally, the majority of the time a serial killer looks no different than anyone else and appears rather social. Some experts believe that a serial killer has codes in his DNA which causes him to kill; nonetheless, other experts believe environmental
A serial killer is a person who has killed three or more people over a month apart. Their motivation for killing is usually based on psychological issues. (Sanmartn,2001) In the U.S, the most reported serial killers are lower middle class white males, usually in their late twenties to early thirties (Skrapec,2001). Serial killers, often, are liars.
Almost all people know who serial killers are, but what exactly defines a serial killer. The FBI defines serial murder as “a minimum of three to four victims with a ‘cooling off’ period between, the killer is usually a stranger to the victim, the murders reflect a need to sadistically dominate the victim, and the murder is rarely for profit.” (Vronsky, 2004, p.36) Serial killers are usually a white male from a lower-to-middle-class background typically in his twenties or thirties. Also, 85% of the world’s serial killers live in America, with at least twenty to fifty unidentified active serial killers plotting another one of their killings. On average, every person has seen or met at least 37 serial killers in their lifespan.
Serial killers commonly attack a single target at a time one on one. There also tends to be no or very little relation between the person being killed and the killer (murder 1). “The nature of this drive has been heavily debated, but there is a consensus on some points (Anderson 1).” Many researchers have noted sexual behavior in the murder.
Murderers and Serial Killers in the Chicago Area. A notorious murderer or serial killer is the typical next door neighbor one would hardly associate with a serious crime: an educated psychopath with little regard for life. Most of them commit murder for some misplaced psychological benefit. Their actions border on insanity, as some commit theft by stealing their victims’ belongings and committing rapes, an indication of a need for financial gain or a craving for distorted sexual desires.
Several serial killers have a definitive and common personality profile. Almost every major social, biological, psychological behavioural influence that has been seriously suggested as playing a role in causing crime has been thoroughly thought as potentially contributing to the behavior of serial killers (Levin, 2008). The time period and amount of killings fluctuate depending on the individual committing the crimes. Usually, the murders happen in different geographical areas. A mass murder has a separate definition than a serial killer, because a serial killer has a “cooling off” period, where mass murders kill several individual in a single event.
A serial killer's murdering spree is methodical and extremely well planned, and the motive usually is to get even (Douglas, p. 137). A serial killer often plans his crimes extremely carefully. He looks for a certain type...
Arndt, W., Hietpas, T., & Kim, J (2004). Critical characteristics of male serial murderers. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 29(1).
Serial killers have captivated the attention of scientists from the first signs of their existence to modern day. Interested by these killers’ inhumane actions, researchers set out to determine the cause of such graphic, horrific crimes. The brain has been brought into question regarding the motivation of these cold blooded killers. After extensive research, abnormalities of both the chemical composition and material makeup have been identified within the brains of numerous serial killers. These differences are more than mere coincidence, they are evidence that killers do not think in the same way. The killers’ drives and motives are irregular, just as their brains are. Not only are these variations interesting, but they are also crucial to the justice system in regards to the punishment of past, future, and present sequential murderers. It is important that as a society we learn the differences in the mind of a killer, and also recognize and understand them. A serial killer’s brain greatly differs in function from the average citizen’s brain due to physical variations in the brain and a different chemical makeup.