Base Instincts: What Makes Killers Kill

In regards to the Gerald A. Sandusky case, which began in June 11th 2012 and ended on October 9th 2012. We are presented with a case where an individual was given unlimited access to young boys of all ages, some from poor and underprivileged backgrounds. Of the 52 charges Mr. Sandusky received, 4 charges were initially dropped, leaving 48. On June 22, 2012, Sandusky was convicted of 45 counts of sexual abuse. Sandusky was sentenced on October 9, 2012, to a minimum of 30 years and a maximum of 60 years in prison (Klein, Tolson,

Expert witnesses from the case of Kjeldsen (1981) state that even though psychopaths are not able to experience remorse or guilt for their victims, they have the mental abilities to appreciate the nature and quality of the actions (Verdun-Jones, Criminal Law in Canada, 2015, p. 209). That is, in other words, psychopaths are to have capabilities to understand as well as foresee the physical consequences of their actions, despite not being able to understand the psychological damage created towards their victims (Verdun-Jones, Criminal Law in Canada, 2015, p.

Imagine this, you have just found out that your brother has been touching and molesting innocent Native American women. Would you take initiative and arrest your own and only brother? Or would you sweep everything under the rug because he is your brother? Well, in the novel Montana 1948 by Larry Watson, a young boy, David, learns that his uncle, Frank, a doctor, has been molesting his Native American women patients. It is up to Wes to make a decision of whether or not to go by law or let everything slide. Numerous of readers believe that justice is shown more than loyalty to family in the book because eventually Frank is arrested. However, loyalty to family is shown more than justice because Wes never thought of arresting Frank in the first

Due to its primary role in processing memory and emotional reactions, over the last decade and a half psychologists have been linking the amygdala to psychopathy. It is involved in aversive conditioning and instrumental learning and is thus involved in all the processes that, when impaired, produce the same functional impairments displayed by psychopaths. Two famous studies conducted by Tiihonen and Kiehl respectively have confirmed this. Tiihonen used a volumetric MRI to test and confirm the positive correlation between low amygdaloid volume and a high degree of psychopathy in violent criminals (measured by the Hare checklist-revised) while Kiehl used a functional MRI to prove reduced amygdala response during an emotional memory task in individuals who scored high on the Hare checklist-revised. However, both these studies along with numerous others were conducted using violent offenders as subjects rather than individuals with psychopathy. Although many psychopaths do exhibit violent tendencies, not all violent offenders are necessarily psychopaths. A study conducted by Raine is one of the few that did focus only on individuals exhibiting psychopathy. In his study Raine was able to show reduced prefrontal grey matter in his test subjects. Unfortunately though, he was unable to differentiate between grey matter in different regions of the prefrontal cortex. It is however clear that there is one region of the frontal cortex that could be

In Devin Faraci’s article “Child Molestor Victor Salva Directing Third Jeepers Creepers Movie” in his opinion, Faraci provides a detailed news report on child molestor Victor Salva being hired as the director for the new “Jeepers Creepers” movie. Appalled by the news, Faraci gives a brief history of Victor Salva’s crimes and reinstates that even though contrary to the public belief that Victor Salva, accused and having served time for his rape of 12 year old child actor Nathan Forrest Winters, star of Salvas’ film “Clownhouse” and owning child pornography, Salva, after serving his sentence continued to shoot films with child actors regardless of his sexual predator nature.

Prior to Dick and Perry’s trial, a case study was underway by Dr. Joseph Satten on Murder Without Apparent Motive which emphasized previous cases in which the convicted murder could have been deemed to have Personality Disorganization.

He was innocent of the crime for which he was convicted. He’d just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was all because of his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great grandfather! This text evidence shows how his family had bad luck, how

The United States formed the principle of “Innocent until proven guilty”. Sometimes the perpetrator knows that they’re guilty, but they’re found not guilty. Kenneth Parks, a twenty-three-year-old man who “… Broke in, stabbed his mother… drove himself to the police station… said ‘I think I may have killed some people’” (Quoted in Eagleman 437). Parks was a man who committed murder and was found not guilty. Various parties knew that Parks committed the murder, but motive was the reason he was found not guilty. Controversy around Parks’ adjudication just added to existing debates about psychological crimes. Who did the crime, the culprit or his/her biological factors? Should the culprit get rehabilitation

When it comes to judging cases in the legal system, things get tricky due to the imbalance between psychology and law. Psychology acknowledges that disorders have degrees; however, the law uses the method of sane or insane. Due to this, “not guilty by reason of insanity” is used and one the most famous cases we see this in is the case of Andrea Yates. In my essay, I will explain the basics related to her case and my personal opinion on this case.

Cary Stayner is being tried for the murders of: Carole Sund, Juli Sund, Silvinia Pelosso, and Joie Ruth Armstrong committed in 1999 (Chavez, Clark, Najar, & Sers, 2005) . His defense is that he is mentally ill and has brain abnormalities which caused him to murder these four individuals. It is said that when abnormal development of the brain occurs, it can lead to cognitive deficits which can affect dysregulation, lack of empathy, rage, and aggression (Heide & Solomon, 2006, pp. 229). Due to Stayner’s childhood and the traumatic experiences his family went through, Stayner could have had delays in brain development from the neglect he and his siblings faced during the seven years his brother was missing. As a result, he could have some form

However, more recently, a study led by King’s College London has claimed that there are differences between the brains of psychopaths and other criminal offenders diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder. Dr. Nigel Blackwood who led the research is quoted as saying “We describe those without psychopathy as 'hot-headed' and those with psychopathy as ‘cold-hearted’.” This statement shows a clear distinction between what should be interpreted as a lack of self-control and ability to repress impulses and what should be diagnosed as psychopathy.
The study took MRI scans of 66 men, two thirds of which were offenders who had been diagnosed with antisocial personality whilst the other third were non-offenders considered to not have any personality disorders. Of the 44 offenders, 17 met the diagnosis criteria for psychopathy (ASPD+P) assessed by the guidelines stated in the DSM-IV. Researchers saw that the members of the study diagnosed as psychopaths had notably less grey matter in areas associated with moral behaviour and understanding other peoples’

After he died, his brain was scanned and it was discovered that he exhibited a damaged orbital cortex, which can be found in many serial killers” (Pemment, 2012, n.p). All of these changes can lead to psychotic killer tendencies as the child grows up.

When one thinks of a young child one thinks of joy, innocence, and being carefree. Too often than not though that innocence is taken from a young child through sexual abuse. Studies have shown over and over again that a child who has been sexually abused carries those scars with them into adulthood, many times affecting adult relationships.                           When a person thinks of a child molester they see in their minds the dirty old man image. This is not the case in most abuse cases. Usually the child knows the person that is going to harm them. The offender is usually someone that the child and his or

It is very rare to study something that is as fascinating yet as bewildering as the distinctive paradox, that is the human brain. Every individuals conflicting behaviour and elaborate character that make them the person they are must have a justification. I originally established a fascination in forensic psychology as I read about a sequence of homicides committed by Gary Ridgway, otherwise known as the “Green River Killer”. Upon discovery of this case, questions began to pervade in my head about what may be the cause for an individual to execute such things, and just how someone’s mind could be so peculiarly dissimilar to my own.

Together with Professor Martin Rossor, a consultant neurologist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, and Director of the Dementia Research Group, Professor Glover will use the same interviews to try to provide a more fine-grained view of the cognitive, emotional and moral capacities of these patients. They aim to chart the changes in these capacities as the people we study become increasingly antisocial. The interviews will be conducted in parallel with brain imaging studies, with the idea of seeing how far changes in capacities are linked with degrees of atrophy of the brain at specific locations. They will also carry out a retrospective analysis of criminal convictions and sentences of 250 patients over ten years, to see how the progress of the disease affects attributions of blame and of legal