Portrait of a Serial Killer: Jeffrey Dahmer

Who is Jeffrey Dahmer? Jeffrey Dahmer is a well-known American serial killer and is nicknamed the ‘Milwaukee Cannibal’. He was not an only murderer but was also a sex offender.

Jeffrey Dahmer committed 17 murders between the years 1978 to 1991 until his arrest. After murdering the men he would commit several other acts such as necrophilia and cannabilism as well as going to lengths of trying to preserve the corpses through dismemberment. He was specific about his victims as they had to be African American as well as having some criminal experiences, he looked for men that he could lure in by using sex or money. It is believed that his struggle in his early years with his sexuality motivated him to commit the sexual aspects of his crimes.

Jeffrey Dahmer was seen as a normal energetic kid up until a surgery he had at the age of 4 that was for his double hernia however this appeared to have effects on his body afterward. This seemed to have a change in his behavior as he became more recluse and withdrawn from not only society but also his family which was then heightened when his family continued to move frequently. He expressed that the thoughts of murder and necrophilia didn’t start until his mid-teens and it is believed to have been triggered into actions by the stress caused by the repeated arguments between his parents that then led to a divorce. He soon committed his first murder after his high school graduation. When he got older he started drinking alcohol like a lot of others however when he was in his first term of University in Ohio he dropped out as his alcohol consumption got out of control. This then caused his father to make him enlist in the army however was later discharged as his drinking problem kept getting worse. He then was sent to live with his grandmother by his father following many incidents of his many arrests.

Jeffrey Dahmer was previously arrested on cases of child molestation and was a lesser sentence due to him stating that he saw his wrongs and wanted to work at bettering himself, with the help of his counsel he was able to receive treatment instead of incarceration. The account of Jeffrey’s arrest started due to a man being seen walking down his street with a pair of handcuffs on and when questioned about the actions he stated that a man had drugged and restrained him. He then led the police to Dahmer’s house and was greeted by Jeffrey himself, the man then gave the police an account of where things such as weapons, Dahmer attempted to use, where and this led to police to search the house where they found photos of his victims as well as some parts of dismembered body parts such as ahead in the fridge.

When looking at the psychological explanations both nature and nurture play a role when examining Jeffrey Dahmer. On the side of nurture, Jeffrey experienced neglect as his mother had his baby brother which meant that he lost some attention from his parents to his parent’s marriage falling apart due to affairs and getting a divorce. That along with the constant moving caused disruption in his childhood which caused him to isolate himself from society and his family. This was then made worse as his younger brother decided to stay with their mother while Jeffrey stayed with his dad. While staying with his father he took interest in his fathers to work as a chemist, his father then later remarried after he left high school. This can be explained by using theories such as Bowlby’s Theory. On the other side with nature, there as some people that believe that the surgery he had when he was younger played an effect and caused his behavior to change. The theory is that the stress from his childhood had triggered part of his genetics that is seen as serial killer genes. This was backed up as his father – Lionel Dahmer – expressed that he had similar experiences as a child as he also felt isolated and experienced violent tendencies which led him to blame himself as he felt that his son inherited these traits from him. This can be explained by using theories such as Eysenck’s Theory.

In conclusion, in 1991, Jeffrey Dahmer famously earned the nickname of The Milwaukee Cannibal after he was arrested for the murder of 17 individuals in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Dahmer’s victims had been reported missing for months and years; the murderer left no traces for law enforcement to follow. Jeffrey Dahmer committed most of his crimes in a poor, mostly black neighborhood where people did not like law enforcement interference.