The Pros And Cons Of Serial Killers

In a Google search of “serial killer memorabilia”, approximately 135,000 results would appear. While the U.S. produces over eighty-five percent of the world’s serial killers (“Why do Americans Idolize Serial Killers?” 11), Americans still tend to treat these murderers as icons and celebrities. As defined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a serial killer is expressed as the unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender(s), in separate events. While it is no secret that serial killers have a different mindset than that of a normal person, do these murderers have genetically different minds? Although there is no exact answer as to what causes certain people to have the urge to kill, studies from the “Minnesota Study of Twins

Approximately fifty-two percent of serial killers are Caucasian. While African Americans make up approximate forty-one percent, Hispanics at about five percent, Native Americans at less than one percent, and Asians also being at less than one percent (Aamodt). So why do Caucasians almost outweigh four other races? This is simply because databases for Caucasians serial killers can go back as far to 1790, while African American serial killings only date back to 1940 (Aamodt). Until the 1900’s, society did not see any use in documenting data on African Americans, as Caucasians were considered the “superior” race. This is why the percentage of African American serial killers seems to be raising a lot quicker than that of Caucasians. Thus, disproving the statement, “most serial killers are white”. Statistics are only higher because there is more data on

The most common characteristics that many serial killers share are killing and abusing of animals during childhood, fetishism, anti-socialism, high I.Q.’s (while also doing poorly in school), and alcohol and/or substance abuse. Fictional character, Dexter Morgan, exhibited serial killing tendencies from a young age. He would kill neighborhood animals and was forced by his father to fake emotion and normality to fit in. It appears that Showtime hit the nail on the head with this one. One of the most well known serial killers, Ted Bundy, was infamously known for being cold and merciless. During interviews, he responded to questions about his victims by calling himself cold and explaining that he could not care less about his victims. Cannibalistic serial killer, Jeffrey Dahmer, started out by killing dogs and leaving their heads out on a stick for others to see before moving on to killing and eating people. These are just a few examples of many that prove that commonality is what makes a serial killer, a serial