The Reasoning Behind Why Serial Killers Kill

Who are serial killers?

Serial killers are defined as people who kill at least three people and can keep happening for years until the killer is caught. Serial killers, Clare S.Allely says, murder their victims separately and over a period of time, with a cooling-off period between murders (Allely). This period is at least thirty days long.

Cassandra Simons says that the serial killer may even fantasize about what he/she will do next and who their next victim will be (Simons). Mitchell, H., and M. G. Aamodt say that serial killers typically have a cycle to when they kill that is caused by many things like stress and emotion (Mitchell, and Aamodt). When they finish the job they set out to do, the said pressure is lifted off of them for a little while (Mitchell, and Aamodt). When choosing who their victims will be, some serial killers choose people who reminds them of someone who makes them feel rage and revenge (Simons).

Related research

There are two groups of serial killings: organized and disorganized. In the organized group, J. S Dalal says that the killers tend to plan out the crimes in great deal and having elaborate disposal schemes for the body (Dalal). In the disorganized group, the killers do not plan the murder out in depth or at all. The killers seem to kill just to kill, and not for the end result. The killers are typically a lot more violent and tend to abuse the dead victim even more (Dalal).

Ürmósné Gabriella Simon says that some characteristics of organized serial killers would be people who have a high intelligence level that is higher than most people, keep control in a crime scene and it goes down how they plan it be, keep in touch with the media and follow their crimes, take lots of time to plan the crime out and are really exact, if they were captured do not act like they committed the crime and they play nice, expect that they are going to get away with the crime and not be caught, lead the police to believe it is someone else committing the murder, and for instance a suicide note might be left at the crime scene (Simon).

Serial killers who are identified in the disorganized group are said to have and IQ level that is lower than the average person’s IQ level, make decisions impulsively and without thinking them through thoroughly, be perverted in a sexual way. Be introverted and not have a lot of friends or social conversations , and to not have hobbies, are not after a certain type of person with certain characteristics, and after the victim is dead they tend to carry out rituals like maiming, cannibalism, and necrophilia (Simon).

“Most serial killers have an eager need for power, and want to show off, yet, they are incapable of achieving this in a moral way” (Simon). Many serial killers feel better and keep feeling better the more they harm or put their victims in harm. They sometimes feel worthless because of a variety of things. Because of that they try to redeem themselves and make themselves feel important by committing these horrendous crimes However, they could feel like the greatest of all time because they might think that they have the power to take the life of whoever they wanted to kill in that moment. Most of the time, they do not know how to display control for their actions or learn from what they do because they were never taught discipline as a child (Simon).

The main motives for murder are anger, thrill, financial gain, and attention (Simon). These reasons are the main reasons that someone wants to go out and murder someone. They want to kill their victim because they are either mad at them, just because they want to, for money, or to get attention, like in the news or on television.

There are several different types of serial killers. The Visionary serial killers are not in touch with reality. This type of serial killer may be psychosis or schizophrenic, and they might kill because they hear voices in their heads telling them to do this to people (Dalal). The mission oriented serial killers are killers who have their own goal they want to accomplish. They typically kill homosexuals and prostitutes because they believe they are “cleaning up the society” (Dalal). The hedonistic serial killers kill because of the thrill and pleasure it brings them when they are in the act of killing. Serial killers who just want to use and gain power over their victim are called the power oriented serial killer. Serial killers wh0 kill for possessions are known as the profit oriented serial killers (Simons).

The biggest category of serial killers is the one that just wants to kill because of the sexual pleasure it brings them. The abuse serial killers may experience as a child leads them ot want and makes them feel like they need to have control over their victim. A normal adolescent would be going to parties and hanging out with friends. However, serial killers when they were that age were typically by themselves. They would be turning themselves on and developing fantasies that would affect them later in life when they were killing people (Simons). “The sexual impulses, cravings, and need for control explain how the thrill from empowerment is eroticized. Then as the tolerance builds, the perverse individual takes it to levels of torture, rape, mutilation, and murder” (Simons). The killer only gets aroused through this type of violation, so he keeps killing so he can feel this way.

There are some gruesome and even more disturbing finds that have been found out about serial killers and how they grew up. Arnold Arluke says one of these finds is the link of animal abuse to serial killers (Arluke). People who were identified as just murderers, meaning they killed only one or two people, have a significantly lower number of animal abuse cases than serial killers have. The serial killers who tortured their victims before killing them had a higher rate of animal abuse over the serial killers who just killed their victims (Arluke).

Out of the sample of 354 serial killers 21% had a childhood history of hurting and torturing animals in some type of way. In a similar trial, there was a finding that a young adult who had dreamt and thought of committing a serial murder had abused or tortured an animal at some point in their life.

One trial that was done found that in a sample of sexual serial killers, 36 percent abused and tortured animals during their childhood, 46 percent during their adolescence, and 36 percent in their adulthood. In another study, 90 percent of their sample of serial killers had abused animals at some time in their life. Different organizations that are trying to prevent harm to animals in some form receive thousands of calls every year reporting animal abuse. Hundreds of these calls are supposedly being said that a child or a young adult is committing these felonies. (Arluke).

Another find that has been discovered about serial killers is the presence of abuse in their childhood growing up. Serial killers, Cassandra Simons says, have commonalties in their childhood including long and devastating periods of social deprivation and psychological neglect (Simons). The family that the serial killers grew up with seemed fine on the outside. However, they were not great on the inside. On the inside, the families have a history of drug usage, drinking, mental disorders, and felonies committed (Simons). Most serial killers have endured emotion abuse and “have developed into sexually dysfunctional adults” (Simons).

Cassandra Simons quoted Egger when he wrote, “The intense rage of the serial killer may be a mirror of the horror suffered in childhood. This rage reflects an intense hatred bred in childhood and which can now be targeted on victims “(Simons). Mitchell, H., and M. G. Aamodt quoted other research done by R. K. Ressler and T. Shachtman say that in serial killers “100 percent had been abused as children…over 40 percent of the murderers reported being physically beaten” (Mitchell, and Aamodt). The type of abuse that was endured was either physical, sexual, psychological, or neglect, and was all taken place before the person was 18 years of age.

The physical abuse that was taken place was an injury that was purposeful and did not happen in an accidental event. Rape, incest, exposure and prostitution are all examples of sexual abuse. Any sexual activity that is not healthy for the child based on a variety of information and context nor consentual would be in this category. Psychological abuse is defined as intentional act of making fun of the child and causing him/her emotional pain and suffering. Not providing, whether it be from failing to do it, forgetting to do it, or refusing to do it, the right amount of clothing, food, health care, a place to live, and emotional and physical help is in the category of neglect. This is the category that would contain any instances where the kid was not getting the right amount of attention from his/her parents (Mitchell, and Aamodt).

When the serial killers were children, they took the abuse that they were given and deemed it as not fair, mean, and inconsistent. The neglect that some serial killers received from their mothers helped shape them into the person they become. Most of the time when a serial killer did not have a mother who cared for them or one who would abuse them, they also lacked a father figure. However, if he was present, most of the time he was physically, emotionally, and, sexually abusive as well (Simons). Instead of being isolated under the controlling fists of his or her parents, Simons says, the individual was now in school displaying deviant behaviors and acting out aggression (Simons). These acts and behaviors are from the trauma and abuse in that child’s home.

In the research that they did on 50 serial killers, Mitchell, H., and M. G. Aamodt found that only 68 percent of the sample had experienced some type of abuse. When it was further broken down, 36 percent of the sample was identified as being abused physically. When compared to the general population, the population of people who are not serial killers, only 6 percent was identified as being abused physically. In the category of being sexually abused, 3 percent of the general population was abused sexually.

In the population of serial killers, percentage was significantly higher with it being at 26 percent. Psychological abuse has the lowest and highest percentages out of the research that was done in this trial. The general population was identified as to having only 2 percent being abuses psychologically compared to the 50 percent of the serial killer population. Surprisingly, the category of being abused by neglect was the same percentage for both of the populations at 18 percent (Mitchell, H., and M. G. Aamodt).

Another study conducted with a population of more than 60 serial killers found, once again, that psychological and physical abuse as something that was in the lives of many children who then later turned out to be a serial killer. In another trial done to a group of all male serial killers, it was found that children who had experienced abuse from neglect were three times more likely to become serial killers in the future time to come than the children who were not abused when they were younger (Allely).

In some adoption studies, 40 percent will be a criminal if the child’s adoptive parents and biological parents are both violent. This is compared to 12.1 percent if only their biological parents are violent and passes that gene down to their offspring, and then as low as 6.7 percent if only a violent environment is present in the child’s life. The probability that a child will become violent in the future if the child does not have violent biological and adoptive parents and if the child is not in an environment that is violent is as low as a 2.1 percent chance (Allely).

Lastly, another find that has been discovered about serial killers is that some of them have a different mental set up. The Antisocial Personality disorder is one of mental disorders that might have an affect on the serial killer. This people with this disorder do not feel bad for what they do. Psychologists suggest that this lack of emotion and feeling is because of the rejection that they received as a child. Individuals with this disorder are able to manipulate people fairly well because of their intelligence level, which is normally very high. They also do not prefer to have close relationships with anyone (Simons). Simons says

The antisocial personality disorder allows him or her to achieve total personal satisfaction without comprehending the pain that he or she has inflicted on the victim. They have almost no capacity to put themselves in the place of their victims and, therefore, have no sympathy for them…The behavior and actions are attributed to psychogenic or intrinsic factors that are roots within the individual’s mind. These serial murderers are not acting from external motivations such as money; their primary motive is the thrill of the kill. (Simons)

The Antisocial Personality disorder is developed in the person a long time before he or she would start to commit these acts of violence (Simons). It has been suggested that some serial killers might have ASD and also might have a head injury. ASD stands for Autism Spectrum Disorders. Out of a study of 239 serial killers, only 106 were discovered to have ASD and/or a head injury. In this instance, a head injury is defined as any brain disease like meningitis or trauma to the head. Only 28.03 percent of the population for this trial had ASD. And 21.34 percent of the sample had any sort of head trauma (Allely).

Other disorders that might have an effect on serial killers would be Psychosis and Schizophrenia, Psychopath Personality Disorder, and Substance Abuse. J. S Dalal says that psychosis and schizophrenia are both psychotic illnesses that have symptoms that leave the person with the disorder highly paranoid. PPD, or psychopath personality disorder is the continuing disability of the mind making you act in an extremely aggressive way. With substance abuse, some studies have shown that about 50 percent of serial killers have this disorder. In the disorder, the person would ingest alcohol and do drugs like marijuana before committing a crime (Dalal).

Conclusion

Jeffery Dahmer, Jack the Ripper, and Ted Bund are all are notorious serial killers. They all killed many people and they all completed what they wanted to do in different ways. Jefferey Dahmer grew up with out a lot of social interactions and was an introvert. He also had a history with drinking alcohol and his parents got divorced. After he was caught, he ended up being charged was many murders, necrophilia, and cannibalism.

Jack the Ripper was never caught and was a very careful and sneaky. He mainly killed prostitutes. He would remove the inner organs of the victims and he did this at all different locations. He was caught in the act one time and he then sent the victims kidney to the police with a note that was written in blood that said he ate the other kidney. Ted Bundy confessed to killing 30 different people, but this number of people may actually be a lot higher. He was a serial killer, kidnapper, rapist, and necrophile that was found charming by his victims and is how he was able to do this so easily. He assaulted and abused young women and girls (Simon).

Jeffery Dahmer would be in the category as a disorganized serial killer. Because of how he lured his victims to him, expected not to get caught, and when he was taken in custody, he was acting peaceful, Ted Bundy would be in the category as a n organized killer. Jack the Ripper would be in the category of an organized killer because of how consistent he was with his killings.

Jeffery Dahmer is a perfect example of a serial killer who had an odd childhood because of the animal abuse and torture he would do. Also, he was affected by his parent’s decisions and was neglected by them not too long before he started to commit all of the felonies that he committed. Jeffery Dahmer, Jenephyr James writes, had a troubled childhood (James). He did not have an easy time of making friends and was a loner and introvert that was very interested with the idea of death and deceased bodies (James).

Jeffery Dahmer also tortured and abused animals before he started killing and taking the lives of human beings. “He had a collection of roadkill and insects preserved in chemicals. Dahmer was also fond of impaling the heads of animals on stakes and mounting the bodies on trees behind his house” (James). He also had pressure on him from his parents a little before he started killing. When he was 18, his parents were getting divorced and were trying to pressure him into siding with one or the other. After they got divorced, his parents neglected him (James).

Others might say that serial killers are born crazy and they are born a psychopath which is why they go out and kill many human beings. However, the research that has have provided throughout this essay shows that serial killers have different reasons for which they decide to take the lives away from other people. These reasons are not all their fault either. They are not able to control the family from which they come from or the genes that affect aggression that they receive. They also are not able to control if they were abused as a child. If they were able to choose, who would choose to be abused? These things have an impact on people and cause them to do things that a normal person would not do because their mental set up gets changed from the trauma they experience.

Works Cited

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3. Arluke, Arnold, et al. “Harming Animals and Massacring Humans: Characteristics of Public
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11. Simon, Ürmósné Gabriella. “The Traits and the Thrill of Serial Killers.” Internal Security, vol. 7,
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13. Simons, Cassandra. “Antisocial Personality Disorder in Serial Killers: The Thrill of the Kill.” Criminal Justice Studies: A Critical Journal of Crime, Law and Society, vol. 14, no. 4, Dec. 2001, pp. 345–356. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,custuid&custid=infohio&db=eoah&AN=21216291&site=ehost-live&scope=site.