• Psychological Case Studies On Serial Killers Online

.A serial killer is typically a person who three or more people, usually in service of gratification, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. Different authorities apply different criteria when designating serial killers. For example, while most authorities set a threshold of three murders, others extend it to four or lessen it to two.

The (FBI) defines serial killing as 'a series of two or more murders, committed as separate events, usually, but not always, by one offender acting alone'.Although psychological gratification is the usual for serial killing, and most serial killings involve sexual contact with the victim, the FBI states that the motives of serial killers can include anger, thrill-seeking, financial gain,. The murders may be attempted or completed in a similar fashion. The victims may have something in common, for example, appearance, gender. A serial killer is neither a, nor a, although there may be conceptual overlaps between serial killers and spree killers.

The 'Nemesis of Neglect': Jack the Ripper depicted as a phantom stalking Whitechapel, and as an embodiment of social neglect, in a cartoon of 1888.Historical have suggested that there may have been serial murders throughout history, but specific cases were not adequately recorded. Some sources suggest that legends such as and were inspired by serial killers. In Africa, there have been periodic outbreaks of murder by Lion and.of China, nephew of the Emperor, was made Prince of Jidong in the sixth year of the middle period of Jing's reign (144 BC). According to the Chinese historian, he would 'go out on marauding expeditions with 20 or 30 or with young men who were in hiding from the law, murdering people and seizing their belongings for sheer sport'.

Although many of his subjects knew about these murders, it was not until the 29th year of his reign that the son of one of his victims finally sent a report to the Emperor. Eventually, it was discovered that he had murdered at least 100 people. The officials of the court requested that Liu Pengli be executed; however, the emperor could not bear to have his own nephew killed, so Liu Pengli was made a commoner and banished.In the 15th century, one of the wealthiest men in Europe and a former companion-in-arms of, and killed peasant children, mainly boys, whom he had abducted from the surrounding villages and had taken to his castle. It is estimated that his victims numbered between 140 and 800.

The aristocrat, born into one of the wealthiest families in, allegedly and killed as many as 650 girls and young women before her arrest in 1610.Members of the cult in India may have murdered a million people between 1740 and 1840., a member of the cult, may have murdered as many as 931 victims.In his 1886 book, psychiatrist noted a case of a serial murderer in the 1870s, a named Eusebius Pieydagnelle who had a sexual obsession with blood and confessed to murdering six people.The unidentified killer, who has been called the first modern serial killer, and possibly more, in in 1888. He was the subject of a massive manhunt and investigation by the, during which many modern criminal investigation techniques were pioneered. A large team of policemen conducted house-to-house inquiries, forensic material was collected and suspects were identified and traced.

Police surgeon assembled one of the earliest.The Ripper murders also marked an important watershed in the treatment of crime by journalists. While not the first serial killer in history, Jack the Ripper's case was the first to create a worldwide media frenzy. The dramatic murders of financially destitute women in the midst of the wealth of focused the media's attention on the plight of the urban poor and gained coverage worldwide.

Jack the Ripper has also been called the most infamous serial killer of all time, and his legend has spawned hundreds of theories on his real identity and.was one of the first documented modern serial killers in the United States, responsible for the death of at least nine victims in the early 1890s. The case gained notoriety and wide publicity through possibly sensationalized accounts in 's newspapers.

At the same time in, became known as 'The French Ripper' after killing and mutilating 11 women and children. He was executed in 1898 after confessing to his crimes.76% of all known serial killers in the 20th century were from the United States. Characteristics Some commonly found characteristics of serial killers include the following:.

They may exhibit varying degrees of or, which may contribute to their homicidal behavior. For example, someone who is mentally ill may have breaks that cause them to believe they are another person or are compelled to murder by other entities. Psychopathic behavior that is consistent with traits common to some serial killers include sensation seeking, a lack of or, the need for control, and predatory behavior. Unlike people with major mental disorders such as, can seem normal and often quite, a state of adaptation that called the '. They were often —, or —by a family member.

Serial killers may be more likely to engage in, or, which are that involve a strong tendency to experience the object of erotic interest almost as if it were a physical representation of the symbolized body. Serial killer with police detectives, November 1924 Development Many serial killers have faced similar problems in their childhood development. Hickey's Trauma Control Model explains how early childhood trauma can set the child up for in adulthood; the child's environment (either their parents or society) is the dominant factor determining whether or not the child's behavior escalates into homicidal activity.Family, or lack thereof, is the most prominent part of a child's development because it is what the child can identify with on a regular basis. 'The serial killer is no different from any other individual who is instigated to seek approval from parents, sexual partners, or others.' This need for approval is what influences children to attempt to develop social relationships with their family and peers.

'The quality of their attachments to parents and other members of the family is critical to how these children relate to and value other members of society.' Wilson and Seaman (1990) conducted a study on incarcerated serial killers, and what they concluded was the most influential factor that contributed to their homicidal activity. Almost all of the serial killers in the study had experienced some sort of environmental problems during their childhood, such as a broken home caused by divorce, or a lack of a parental figure to discipline the child. Nearly half of the serial killers had experienced some type of physical or sexual abuse, and more of them had experienced emotional neglect.When a parent has a or problem, the attention in the household is on the parents rather than the child. This neglect of the child leads to the lowering of their self-esteem and helps develop a fantasy world in which they are in control. Hickey's Trauma Control Model supports how the neglect from parents can facilitate deviant behavior, especially if the child sees substance abuse in action. This then leads to (the inability to attach), which can further lead to homicidal behavior, unless the child finds a way to develop substantial relationships and fight the label they receive.

If a child receives no support from anyone, then he or she is unlikely to recover from the event in a positive way. As stated by E.

Maccoby, 'the family has continued to be seen as a major—perhaps the major—arena for socialization'. Chromosomal make up There have been recent studies looking into the possibility that an abnormality with one's could be the trigger for serial killers. Two serial killers, and, came to attention for reported chromosomal abnormalities. Speck was erroneously reported to have an; in fact, his was performed twice and was normal each time. Hellen Morrison, an American forensic psychiatrist, said in an interview that while researchers have not identified a specific causal gene, the fact that the majority of serial killers are male leads researchers to believe there is 'a change associated with the male chromosome make up'. Fantasy Children who do not have the to control the mistreatment they suffer sometimes create a new reality to which they can escape. This new reality becomes their that they have total control of and becomes part of their daily existence.

In this fantasy world, their emotional development is guided and maintained. According to Garrison (1996), 'the child becomes because the normal development of the concepts of right and wrong and towards others is retarded because the child's emotional and occurs within his self-centered fantasies. A person can do no wrong in his own world and the pain of others is of no consequence when the purpose of the fantasy world is to satisfy the needs of one person' (Garrison, 1996). Boundaries between fantasy and reality are lost and fantasies turn to dominance, control, sexual conquest, and violence, eventually leading to murder. Fantasy can lead to the first step in the process of a dissociative state, which, in the words of Stephen Giannangelo, 'allows the serial killer to leave the stream of consciousness for what is, to him, a better place'.Jose Sanchez reports, 'the young criminal you see today is more detached from his victim, more ready to hurt or kill. The lack of empathy for their victims among young criminals is just one symptom of a problem that afflicts the whole society.'

Psychological Case Studies On Serial Killers Online

Lorenzo Carcaterra, author of Gangster (2001), explains how potential criminals are, which can then lead to their offspring also developing in the same way through the. The ability for serial killers to appreciate the mental life of others is severely compromised, presumably leading to their dehumanization of others.This process may be considered an expression of the intersubjectivity associated with a cognitive deficit regarding the capability to make sharp distinctions between other people and inanimate objects. For these individuals, objects can appear to possess animistic or humanistic power while people are perceived as objects. Before he was executed, serial killer stated media violence and pornography had stimulated and increased his need to commit homicide, although this statement was made during last-ditch efforts to appeal his death sentence.

However, correlation is not causation (a disturbed physiological disposition, psychosis, lack of socialization, or aggressiveness may contribute to both fantasy creation and serial killing without fantasy creation generally contributing to serial killing for instance). There are exceptions to the typical fantasy patterns of serial killers, as in the case of, who was a loving family man and the leader of his church.Organized, disorganized, and mixed.

In custody, Florida, July 1978 (State Archives of Florida)The 's places serial killers into three categories: organized, disorganized, and mixed (i.e., offenders who exhibit organized and disorganized characteristics). Some killers descend from being organized into disorganized as their killings continue, as in the case of or overconfidence due to having evaded capture, or vice versa, as when a previously disorganized killer identifies one or more specific aspects of the act of killing as his/her source of gratification and develops a modus operandi structured around those. Organized serial killers often plan their crimes methodically, usually abducting victims, killing them in one place and disposing of them in another. They often lure the victims with ploys appealing to their sense of sympathy. Others specifically target, who are likely to go voluntarily with a stranger.

These killers maintain a high degree of control over the and usually have a solid knowledge of that enables them to cover their tracks, such as burying the body or weighing it down and sinking it in a river. They follow their crimes in the carefully and often take pride in their actions, as if it were all a grand project.Often, organized killers have social and other interpersonal skills sufficient to enable them to develop both personal and romantic relationships, friends and lovers and sometimes even attract and maintain a spouse and sustain a family including children. Among serial killers, those of this type are in the event of their capture most likely to be described by acquaintances as kind and unlikely to hurt anyone. And are examples of organized serial killers. In general, the of organized serial killers tend to be near normal range, with a mean of 94.7. Organized nonsocial offenders tend to be on the higher end of the average, with a mean IQ of 99.2.Disorganized serial killers are usually far more impulsive, often committing their murders with a random weapon available at the time, and usually do not attempt to hide the body.

They are likely to be unemployed, a loner, or both, with very few friends. They often turn out to have a history of mental illness, and their (M.O.) or lack thereof is often marked by excessive violence and sometimes or sexual violence. Disorganized serial killers have been found to have a slightly lower mean IQ than organized serial killers, at 92.8. Medical professionals.

Main article:Some people with a pathological interest in the power of life and death tend to be attracted to medical professions or acquiring such a job. These kinds of killers are sometimes referred to as 'angels of death' or angels of mercy. Medical professionals will kill their patients for money, for a sense of sadistic pleasure, for a belief that they are 'easing' the patient's pain, or simply 'because they can'. Perhaps the most prolific of these was the British doctor. Another such killer was nurse, who admitted during her murder trial that she was. She would administer a drug mixture to patients she chose as her victims, lie in bed with them and hold them close to her body as they died.Another medical profession serial killer is.

It is believed she killed 11 to 46 infants and children while working at Bexar County Medical Center Hospital in San Antonio, Texas. She is currently serving a 99-year sentence for the murder of Chelsea McClellan and the attempted murder of Rolando Santos, and became eligible for parole in 2017 due to a law in Texas at the time of her sentencing to reduce. A similar case occurred in Britain in 1991, where nurse killed four children at the hospital where she worked, attempted to kill three more, and injured a further six over the course of two months.A 21st-century example is Canadian nurse who murdered elderly patients in the nursing homes where she worked.Female. Raped and murdered at least seven young women.Sex is the primary motive of, whether or not the victims are dead, and fantasy plays a large role in their killings. Their sexual gratification depends on the amount of torture and they perform on their victims.

The sexual serial murderer has a psychological need to have absolute control, dominance, and power over their victims, and the infliction of torture, pain, and ultimately death is used in an attempt to fulfill their need. They usually use weapons that require close contact with the victims, such as knives or hands. As lust killers continue with their murders, the time between killings decreases or the required level of stimulation increases, sometimes both., one of the ', murdered women and girls of different ages, races and appearance because his sexual urges required different types of stimulation and increasing intensity.

Searched for his perfect fantasy lover—beautiful, submissive and eternal. As his desire increased, he experimented with drugs, alcohol, and exotic sex.

His increasing need for stimulation was demonstrated by the dismemberment of victims, whose heads and genitals he preserved, and by his attempts to create a 'living zombie' under his control (by pouring acid into a hole drilled into the victim's skull).Dahmer once said, 'Lust played a big part of it. Control and lust.

Once it happened the first time, it just seemed like it had control of my life from there on in. The killing was just a means to an end. That was the least satisfactory part. I didn't enjoy doing that. That's why I tried to create living zombies with acid and the drill.' He further elaborated on this, also saying, 'I wanted to see if it was possible to make—again, it sounds really gross—uh, zombies, people that would not have a will of their own, but would follow my instructions without resistance.

So after that, I started using the drilling technique.' He experimented with to 'ensure his victims would always be a part of him'. Main article:The primary motive of a thrill killer is to induce pain or terror in their victims, which provides stimulation and excitement for the killer. They seek the rush provided by hunting and killing victims.

Thrill killers murder only for the kill; usually the attack is not prolonged, and there is no sexual aspect. Usually the victims are strangers, although the killer may have followed them for a period of time. Thrill killers can abstain from killing for long periods of time and become more successful at killing as they refine their. Many attempt to commit the and believe they will not be caught.took his victims to a secluded area, where he would let them loose and then hunt and kill them.

In one of his letters to newspapers in San Francisco, California, the wrote 'killing gives me the most thrilling experience it is even better than getting your rocks off with a girl'. Was described by a surviving victim as 'excited and hyper and clappin' and just making noises like he was excited, that this was gonna be fun' during the 1982 attack. Slashing, stabbing, hanging, drowning, asphyxiating, and strangling were among the ways Watts killed. Comfort (profit) Material gain and a comfortable lifestyle are the primary motives of comfort killers. Usually, the victims are family members and close acquaintances. After a murder, a comfort killer will usually wait for a period of time before killing again to allow any suspicions by family or authorities to subside. They often use poison, most notably, to kill their victims.

Female serial killers are often comfort killers, although not all comfort killers are female.killed her tenants for their checks and buried them in the backyard of her home. Killed for insurance and business profits. Professional killers (') may also be considered comfort serial killers. Charged tens of thousands of dollars for a 'hit', earning enough money to support his family in a middle-class lifestyle (Bruno, 1993).Some, like Puente and Holmes, may be involved in or have previous convictions for theft, and other crimes of a similar nature. Was finally arrested on a violation, having been on parole for a previous fraud conviction.In 2016, the oldest prosecution and conviction of a suspected serial killer (Felix Vail) took place in Louisiana. He was convicted of murder 54 years after his wife's death in 1962, which had originally been ruled an accidental drowning, and which occurred only months after Vail took out two life insurance policies on her.

He is a suspect in the disappearances of two other women – his girlfriend in 1973 and his second wife in 1984. The prosecutors were allowed to present evidence of the two disappearances under the.

Power/control. A policeman discovering the body of prostitute, one of 's victimsThe main objective for this type of serial killer is to gain and exert over their victim. Such killers are sometimes, leaving them with feelings of powerlessness and inadequacy as adults. Many power- or control-motivated killers their victims, but they differ from hedonistic killers in that is not motivated by lust (as it would be with a lust murder) but as simply another form of dominating the victim. Is an example of a power/control-oriented serial killer.

He traveled around the United States seeking women to control. Media influences Many serial killers claim that a violent culture influenced them to commit murders. During his final interview, stated that was responsible for his actions. Others idolise figures for their deeds or perceived justice, such as, who idolized, or and, who both idolized the actor.Killers who have a strong desire for fame or to be renowned for their actions desire media attention as a way of validating and spreading their crimes; fear is also a component here, as some serial killers enjoy causing fear. An example is, who sought attention from the press during his murder spree. In popular culture Many movies, books, and documentaries have been created, detailing serial killers' lives and crimes.

For example, the biographical film (2002) focuses on serial killer 's personal life in college, leading up to his execution, and (2002) tells the story of.Serial killers are also portrayed in fictional media, oftentimes as having substantial intelligence and looking for difficult targets, despite the contradiction with the psychological profile of serial killers. Theories Biological and sociological. The examples and perspective in this section deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a of the subject. You may, discuss the issue on the, or, as appropriate.

( May 2010) Theories for why certain people commit serial murder have been advanced. Some theorists believe the reasons are biological, suggesting serial killers are born, not made, and that their violent behavior is a result of abnormal brain activity. Holmes and Holmes believe that 'until a reliable sample can be obtained and tested, there is no scientific statement that can be made concerning the exact role of as a determining factor of a serial killer personality.' The 'Fractured Identity Syndrome' (FIS) is a merging of 's ' and 's 'virtual' and 'actual social identity' theories. The FIS suggests a social event, or series of events, during one's childhood or adolescence results in a fracturing of the personality of the serial killer. The term 'fracture' is defined as a small breakage of the personality which is often not visible to the outside world and is only felt by the killer.'

Social Process Theory' has also been suggested as an explanation for serial murder. Social process theory states that offenders may turn to crime due to peer pressure, family and friends. Criminal behavior is a process of interaction with social institutions, in which everyone has the potential for criminal behavior. A lack of family structure and identity could also be a cause leading to serial murder traits. A child used as a scapegoat will be deprived of their capacity to feel guilt. Displaced anger could result in animal torture, as identified in the, and a further lack of basic identity.

Military. A dishonorably discharged Marine, participated in the kidnapping, sadistic torture, rape and murder of numerous victimsThe 'military theory' has been proposed as an explanation for why serial murderers kill, as some serial murderers have served in the military or related fields. According to Castle and Hensley, 7% of the serial killers studied had military experience. This figure may be a proportional under-representation when compared to the number of military veterans in a nation's total population. For example, according to the United States census for the year 2000, military veterans comprised 12.7% of the U.S. Population; in, it was estimated in 2007 that military veterans comprised 9.1% of the population.

Though by contrast, about 2.5% of the population of in 2006 consisted of military veterans.There are two theories that can be used to study the correlation between serial killing and military training: Applied learning theory states that serial killing can be learned. The military is training for higher kill rates from servicemen while training the soldiers to be desensitized to taking a human life. Social learning theory can be used when soldiers get praised and accommodated for killing. They learn, or believe that they learn, that it is acceptable to kill because they were praised for it in the military. Serial killers want accreditation for the work that they have done.In both military and serial killing, the offender or the soldier may become desensitized to killing as well as compartmentalized; the soldiers do not see enemy personnel as 'human' and neither do serial killers see their victims as humans. The theories do not imply that military institutions make a deliberate effort to produce serial killers; to the contrary, all military personnel are trained to recognize when, where, and against whom it is appropriate to use deadly force, which starts with the basic, taught during the, and may include more stringent policies for military personnel in law enforcement or security. They are also taught ethics in basic training.Investigation FBI: Issues and practices In 2008, the (FBI) published a handbook titled Serial Murder which was the product of a symposium held in 2005 to bring together the many issues surrounding serial murder, including its investigation.

Identification. Who was aAccording to the FBI, identifying one, or multiple, murders as being the work of a serial killer is the first challenge an investigation faces, especially if the victim(s) come from a marginalized or high risk population and is normally linked through forensic or behavioral evidence (FBI 2008). Should the cases cross multiple jurisdictions, the law enforcement system in the United States is fragmented and thus not configured to detect multiple similar murders across a large geographic area (Egger 1998). The FBI suggests utilizing databases and increasing interdepartmental communication. Keppel (1989) suggests holding multi-jurisdictional conferences regularly to compare cases giving departments a greater chance to detect linked cases and overcome linkage blindness.One such collaboration, the Radford/FGCU Serial Killer Database Project was proposed at the 2012 Annual Conference. Utilizing 's Serial Killer Database as a starting point, the new collaboration, hosted by Justice Studies, has invited and is working in conjunction with other universities to maintain and expand the scope of the database to also include. Utilizing over 170 data points, multiple-murderer and; researchers and Law Enforcement Agencies can build and profiles to further research the Who, What, Why and How of these types of crimes.Leadership Leadership, or administration, should play a small or virtually non-existent role in the actual investigation past assigning knowledgeable or experienced homicide investigators to lead positions.

The administration's role is not to run the investigation but to establish and reaffirm the primary goal of catching the serial killer, as well as provide support for the investigators. The FBI (2008) suggests completing Memorandums of Understanding to facilitate support and commitment of resources from different jurisdictions to an investigation. Egger (1998) takes this one step further and suggests completing mutual aid pacts, which are written agreements to provide support to each other in a time of need, with surrounding jurisdictions. Doing this in advance would save time and resources that could be used on the investigation. Organization Organization of the structure of an investigation is key to its success, as demonstrated by the investigation of Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer. Once a serial murder case was established, a task force was created to track down and arrest the offender. Over the course of the investigation, for various reasons, the task force's organization was radically changed and reorganized multiple times – at one point including more than 50 full-time personnel, and at another, only a single investigator.

Eventually, what led to the end of the investigation was a conference of 25 detectives organized to share ideas to solve the case.The FBI handbook provides a description of how a task force should be organized but offers no additional options on how to structure the investigation. While it appears advantageous to have a full-time staff assigned to a serial murder investigation, it can become prohibitively expensive. For example, the Green River Task Force cost upwards of $2 million per year, and as was witnessed with the Green River Killer investigation, other strategies can prevail where a task force fails. Who claimed to be the ', after being caught in Lynn, Massachusetts in 1967.A common strategy, already employed by many departments for other reasons, is the conference, in which departments get together and focus on a specific set of topics.

With serial murders, the focus is typically on unsolved cases, with evidence thought to be related to the case at hand.Similar to a conference is an information clearing-house in which a jurisdiction with a suspected serial murder case collects all of its evidence and actively seeks data which may be related from other jurisdictions. By collecting all of the related information into one place, they provide a central point in which it can be organized and easily accessed by other jurisdictions working toward the goal of arresting an offender and ending the murders.Already mentioned was the task force, FBI 2008, Keppel 1989 which provides for a flexible, organized, framework for jurisdictions depending on the needs of the investigation. Unfortunately due to the need to commit resources (manpower, money, equipment, etc.) for long periods of time it can be an unsustainable option.In the case of the investigation of Aileen Wournos, the Marion County Sheriff coordinated multiple agencies without any written or formal agreement. While not a specific strategy for a serial murder investigation, this is certainly a best practice in so far as the agencies were able to work easily together toward a common goal.Finally, once a serial murder investigation has been identified, utilization of an FBI Rapid Response Team can assist both experienced and inexperienced jurisdictions in setting up a task force.

This is completed by organizing and delegating jobs, by compiling and analyzing clues, and by establishing communication between the parties involved. Resource augmentation During the course of a serial murder investigation it may become necessary to call in additional resources; the FBI defines this as Resource Augmentation. Within the structure of a task force the addition of a resource should be thought of as either long term, or short term. If the task force's framework is expanded to include the new resource, then it should be permanent and not removed.

For short term needs, such as setting up road blocks or canvassing a neighborhood, additional resources should be called in on a short term basis. The decision of whether resources are needed short or long term should be left to the lead investigator and facilitated by the administration (FBI 2008).The confusion and counter productiveness created by changing the structure of a task force mid investigation is illustrated by the way the Green River Task Force's staffing and structure was changed multiple times throughout the investigation. This made an already complicated situation more difficult, resulting in the delay or loss of information, which allowed Ridgeway to continue killing (Guillen 2007).

The FBI model does not take into account that permanently expanding a task force, or investigative structure, may not be possible due to cost or personnel availability. Egger (1998) offers several alternative strategies including; using investigative consultants, or experienced staff to augment an investigative team. Not all departments have investigators experienced in serial murder and by temporarily bringing in consultants, they can educate a department to a level of competence then step out. This would reduce the initially established framework of the investigation team and save the department the cost of retaining the consultants until the conclusion of the investigation.

Communication The FBI handbook (2008) and Keppel (1989) both stress communication as paramount. The difference is that the FBI handbook (2008) concentrates primarily on communication within a task force while Keppel (1989) makes getting information out to, and allowing information to be passed back from patrol officers a priority. The FBI handbook (2008) suggest having daily e-mail or in person briefings for all staff involved in the investigation and providing periodic summary briefings to patrol officer and managers. Looking back on a majority of serial murderer arrests, most are exercised by patrol officers in the course of their every day duties and unrelated to the ongoing serial murder investigation (Egger 1998, Keppel 1989).Keppel (1989) provides examples of Larry Eyler, who was arrested during a traffic stop for a parking violation, and Ted Bundy, who was arrested during a traffic stop for operating a stolen vehicle.

In each case it was uniformed officers, not directly involved in the investigation, who knew what to look for and took the direct action that stopped the killer. By providing up to date (as opposed to periodic) briefings and information to officers on the street the chances of catching a serial killer, or finding solid leads, are increased.Data management A serial murder investigation generates staggering amounts of data, all of which needs to be reviewed and analyzed.

A standardized method of documenting and distributing information must be established and investigators must be allowed time to complete reports while investigating leads and at the end of a shift (FBI 2008). When the mechanism for data management is insufficient, leads are not only lost or buried but the investigation can be hindered and new information can become difficult to obtain or become corrupted.During the Green River Killer investigation, reporters would often find and interview possible victims or witnesses ahead of investigators. The understaffed investigation was unable to keep up the information flow, which prevented them from promptly responding to leads. To make matters worse, investigators believed that the journalists, untrained in interviewing victims or witnesses of crimes, would corrupt the information and result in unreliable leads (Guillen 2007). Memorabilia Notorious and infamous serial killers number in the hundreds, and a subculture revolves around their legacies. That subculture includes the collection, sale, and display of serial killer memorabilia, dubbed ' by one of the best-known opponents of collectors of serial killer remnants, Andrew Kahan.

He is the director of the Mayor's Crime Victims Office in Houston and is backed by the families of murder victims and ' existing in some states that prevent murderers from profiting from the publicity generated by their crimes.Such memorabilia includes the paintings, writings, and poems of these killers. Recently, marketing has capitalized even more upon interest in serial killers with the rise of various merchandise such as, and books such as The Serial Killer Files: The Who, What, Where, How, and Why of the World's Most Terrifying Murderers by, and The A-Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers by Schecter and David Everitt.

Some serial killers attain celebrity status in the way they acquire fans, and may have previous personal possessions auctioned off on websites like. A few examples of this are 's 150-pound stolen gravestone and 's sunglasses. See also.Footnotes.

^ A serial killer is most commonly defined as a person who kills three or more people for psychological gratification; reliable sources over the years agree. See, for example:. Retrieved June 15, 2016. A person who murders 3+ people over a period of 30 days, with an inactive period between each murder, and whose motivation for killing is largely based on psychological gratification., Serial murder is the killing of three or more people over a period of more than 30 days, with a significant cooling-off period between the murders. The baseline number of three victims appears to be most common among those who are the academic authorities in the field.

The time frame also appears to be an agreed-upon component of the definition., p. 190 Three killings seem to be required in the most popular operational definition of serial killing since they are enough to provide a pattern within the killings without being overly restrictive., p.

195 in general, most experts on serial murder require that a minimum of three murders be committed at different times and usually different places for a person to qualify as a serial killer., p. 73 Most experts seem to agree, however, that to qualify as a serial killer, an individual has to slay a minimum of three unrelated victims., p. 1. ^, p. 73 Serial killing has been defined by different researchers or groups as either two or more, three or more or even four or more people killed over at least one month with a cooling off period between each of the murders., p. 1, pp. 4, 9., p.? 'The base population was 387 serial murderers, who killed (under various motivations), three or more persons over a period of time with cooling-off periods between the events.

The author identified 232 male serial murderers who violated their victims sexually'., p. 4, 9. ^ Scott, Shirley Lynn. Archived from on July 28, 2010. Retrieved 2011-01-09., p. 29, p. 5., p. 225., pp. 7, 27–32, 49–54, 79–82. ^.

'Review: The Meaning of Murder'. Washington DC. May 30, 1967. 4., p. 190., p. 195. ^., p. 5. November 4, 1957.

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^, p. 145. Morse, Stephen J. Law Library – American Law and Legal Information. Crime and Justice Vol 3. From the original on 2008-10-09. Retrieved 2008-09-25., p. 794., pp. 48, 461–476., pp. 131–133.

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The Independent. Retrieved 2010-07-29., p. 107. ^, p. 38., p. 41., p. 166. ^, p. 162., p. 107., pp. 1006–17. Rodgers, Abby. Business Insider. Retrieved 20 April 2014., p. 33., p. 790, p. 43., p. 790, p. 43., pp. 99–100.

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^ Ramsland, Katherine (2007-03-22). The Forensic Examiner.

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AbstractNature vs. Nurture is a hot topic of debate in the psychological community.

One of the best targets for study in this area is serial killers. This is because they are so mysterious in their behavior and it is common for people to want to know why they are who they are.

Here that question will attempt to be answered. Three serial killers are looked at and nature and nurture is applied to each one to try to attempt answer this age old question.The debate dealing with nature vs. Nurture has been ongoing since the beginnings of psychology with no definitive answer as to which one plays the largest role. Some psychologists claim that nature is the deciding factor in how a person turns out. Some say it is nurture that is the deciding factor, while others still, say that it is a mixture of each.

This paper will examine nature vs. Nurture in some of the most intense cases that people have studied in length to attempt to pinpoint which factor played the most important role. Three cases will be examined. One that points mostly to nature; one that points mostly to nurture; and one that point to a mixture of the two. There will still be no definitive answer as to which one plays the biggest role. That will be for the reader to decide as even scientists have no idea.Nature and NurtureThe debate of nature versus nurture is an ageless debate among the psychological community.

Is it one or the other? Or, is it a mixture of the two? Nature is defined by the genetic code of the person. It takes into consideration DNA and biological connections. “Theories that base their understandingof human behavior on 'nature,' focus on characteristics that we are born with, like our genetic make-up, stable personality traits, and physical predispositions.” (Hartney, 2010). Nurture is quite the opposite. People on the side of nurture are of the opinion that it is the environment that determines who a person is and becomes.

“theories that base their understanding of human behavior on 'nurture,' emphasize those experiences that mold and change us throughout our lives, such as how our parents raised us, what we were taught at school, and our culture. (Hartney, 2010).

Nature and nurture can be studied in various ways on many different types of people. The extreme classification though is when these theories are applied to a group of people who are hard to examine at best. Serial killers, for example, are so complex that the nature vs. Nurture debate seems to have just gravitated towards them in the hopes of answering the age old question; do they kill because of nature or because of nurture?All serial killers are murderers but not all murderers are serial killers. There are key differences between murderers and serial killers.

“A serial killer is someone who kills at least three victims one by one in a series of sequential murders, with a form of psychological gratification as theprimary motive.”(Smith, 2003). Therein lays the key difference. A serial killer is mainly motivated by the psychological gratification of the act while an average murder may be committed for reasons such as revenge or robbery. The typical serial killer profile is that of a white male between the ages of 20 and 30 who commonly target their victims within the vicinity of their living space.

There is usually a cooling off period before another killing occurs but as the crimes get closer together then it is apparent that the killer has hit a peak and needs more to fuel his psychological desires. While this is the typical profile there are exceptions to the rules as will be seen in this article. Not all serial killers fit this profile and this is obvious through history as women have been known to become serial killers themselves. No matter what sex, age, or race a serial killer is, is it feasible to think that it can be determined how they became serial killers?

Was it nature or what it nurture? Maybe it was both.Nature: The Son of SamWhen looking for a serial killer whose profile leans mainly towards nature, David Berkowitz, AKA Son of Sam, is one that stands out above most others. David described as quiet and polite by all who knew him, is one of New York’s most infamousserial killers to date. Going by the alias Son of Sam, David went on a crime spree that lasted from July 1976 till July 1977 killing 6, and wounding (some very seriously) at least 8, leaving one paralyzed for life. It was later found that the attacks were rather random.

The big question is what caused this polite and quiet young man to become a monster in the night? Evidence points to nature.Nature deals with genetics.

This makes good sense in David’s case as the nurturing that he received, by all appearances, seemed to be appropriate. David was raised by his adopted parents Nathan and Pearl Berkowitz.

“He had a normal childhood in the Bronx with no clear warning signs of what was yet to come.” (Bardsley, 2011). By all accounts, even by David himself, his adoptive parents were loving and kind to him, supporting him each step of the way. Thought they were not a rich family they gave David what he needed and treated him with the love of a real parent. Growing up in an environment that was conducive to good mental health and an overall happiness was not enough to override David’s natural propensity for violence and it began to be noticeable by friends and neighbors that David had a violent streak. Because his nurturing was of standard quality the nature of his inner self must be examined.When Pearl Berkowitz died David’s mental health seemed to quickly decline. Not knowing who he was or where to turn, he searched for and found his birth mother. He found that she had conceived him with her married lover who forced her to put David up for adoption using the threat of leaving her for good.

While this writer could find no record of David’s biological families mental health conditions or criminal history, it is assumed, for the purpose of this paper, that there were biological factors from his real family that contributed greatly to his condition and behavior. While it is a leap to make such an assumption, it is clear that the nurturing he received from his adopted parents could not have possibly played a role in the killer he came to be.Nurture: Nannie DossWhile there are many cases where nurture plays an obvious role in the making of a serial killer, Nannie Doss stood out greatly to this writer. Nannie was, even as a small child, infatuated with the idea of love and it was the one thing she craved her entire life. Her childhood was a very unhappy one where she was forced to do heavy and laborious work and play time was not permitted.

Her father was not the ideal loving parent who dotted on his little girls. It was said of him that“After all, James Hazle was the boss and, if rumors are correct, he wouldn't spare the switch — on his daughters or his wife — to get what he wanted.”(Geringer, 2011). By most accounts, her father was abusive and did not show love in any way.

This is one theory on why Nannie was so obsessed with the idea of being loved. When she did finally find a man to marry she quickly found that in losing her demanding and abusive father she had gained the same in her new mother-in-law. Unhappy with her new situation of having to live with a woman like her father and a husband who cowered to her, Nannie had many affairs.

She was not promiscuous for the sake of sexual gratification but in the search to find the feeling of being loved even if only for a brief time.The marital relationship steadily declined and when two of their children died (the deaths were ruled accidental but there was little doubt that they were poisoned by Nannie) her husband left with their remaining children except for their newborn daughter. Nannie was left behind with the newborn and her mother-in-law (who died of natural causes before her son returned). Upon his return he brought with him a new woman and her child. Nannie packed up herself and her children and left cursing her husband for what he had done to her life. Stillobsessed with finding love and never wanting to be alone, Nannie began her search for another husband and found on in 1929.

This time she thought she had the perfect man just to find out that he was a heavy drinker with a criminal record.Though her new husband beat her and abused her children she stayed on for 16 years. The marriage only ended because her husband died. Nannie, taking his liquor jar, poured in some rat poison and he died quickly. Nannie married once again in 1947, again thinking she had found the perfect man.

However, once again she had married a man who liked woman and drinking too much. Her affairs began once again and it would not be long till her new husband would meet the same fate as her first. This happened again with a third husband who also met his death after marrying Nannie. After killing all these husbands (it is still not understood what motivated her to kill her children) it became apparent that she was moved by nurture to commit these crimes. Her father showed no love, only coldness, hardness, and abuse. The men she married gave her more of the same.

Being treated badly sent her over the edge. Maybe she was predisposed to these traits and her nurturing just triggered her behavior. Maybe she only killed out of sheer anger at the hand life dealt her.

Either way, the case of Nannie Doss points more towards nurture than anything else.Nature and Nurture: Carl PanzramOf all the serial killers documented throughout history, Carl Panzram is quite possibly the hardest to study. This man was, as history tells us, as close to inhuman as one can get.

His crimes began at the age of 8 and carried on throughout his entire free life. Nothing was off limits to this killer. He raped, burned, and brutally beat men, women, and children.

Because of these heinous crimes he was dubbed by the world as too evil to live. He even agreed with this statement himself being quoted as saying “I was so full of hate that there was no room in me for such feelings as love, pity, kindness or honor or decency,' he said, 'my only regret is that I wasn't born dead or not at all.” (Gado, 2011).

What caused a human being to not only harm others in such horrible ways but to also hate themselves with such a burning passion? Was it nature or nurture? With Carl Panzram it was clearly a mixture of the two.As far a childhood went, it appeared to be a typical upbringing for young Carl. Born in 1951 on a farm in Minnesota, hard work and little play were common for children.

“His parents were of German descent, hard-working, stern and like most other immigrants of that era, dirt poor. Carl eventually had five brothers and one sister.” (Gado, 2011). Though this was the lifethey all led, his brothers and sisters were known to have grown up to be honest and decent people, the very traits that passed Carl by completely. At the age of 11, his parents could no longer handle his violent and criminal behavior and sent him to a boarding school, which in those days, was more like a prison for grown up men.

In this facility, he was horribly abused, sexually, physically, and verbally. This treatment had a profound effect on Carl. “The more beatings he endured, the more hateful he became.

He was hit with wooden planks, thick leather straps, whips and heavy paddles. But during all that time, Carl was planning revenge.” (Gado, 2011).Once he was realeased from the school and went back to his home, his mother tried to make things better for him and the family as a whole, but Carl was past saving having incurred too much damage in his short life.

“He knew nothing else in his brief life except suffering, beatings and torture. His youthful mind dwelled on things of which most children knew little.” (Gado, 2011). There was to be no happy family reconciliation and it would not be long before Carl would leave his family home for good.

He has been quoted as saying “I fully decided when I left there just how I would live my life. I made up my mind that I would rob, burn, destroy and kill everywhere I went and everybody I could as long as Ilived.” (Gado, 2011).

Carl lived up to this statement very well. He went to his death with a taunting smile on his lips and never once showed any remorse or regret for any choices he made during his life.This is nature and nurture mixing at its most clear. From his own accounts, Carl was born bad. He had always known that he would be a monster. Once he was put in boarding school and the abuse and torture began, those genetic traits within him were further triggered. No matter how much his mother tried to love him, Carl would be a killer.

Between his nature (propensity to violence) and his nurturing (the abuse he suffered at the boarding school), Carl’s fate was sealed.ConclusionThere will never be an end to the debate over nature and nurture. Having examined the three cases of different serial killers it does however become clear that in certain cases one take over more than the other. For David, nature was stronger then nature. For Nannie, nurture was stronger than nature. And for Carl, both were equally powerful.

It is this writer’s conclusion that both nature and nurture play a significant role in who we become, though the pull may be stronger on one end orthe other. There are no rules here.

Who we become due to genetics and environment can only be decided on a case by case basis. That is clear by the studies on serial killers.ReferencesBardsley, M. Retrieved from M. Carl panzram: too evil to live part 1 Television series episode. In Tru tv.Geringer, J.

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