Serial Killers As Heroes In Popular Culture

Statistically, the average serial killer is a white male from a lower-to-middle-class background, usually in his twenties or thirties. Many were physically or emotionally abused by parents. Some were adopted. As children, fledgling serial killers often set fires, torture animals, and wet their beds (these red-flag behaviors are known as the “triad” of symptoms.) Brain injuries are common. Some are very intelligent and have shown great promise as successful professionals. They are also fascinated with the police and authority in general (Scott).

Serial killers seem to be a constant part of society. From Vlad the Impaler to the Angels of Mercy killers people with murder on their mind have always been in our society. All of civilization has been focused on war and defense since

Throughout time many have had a fascination with serial killers and with help from the media they have become celebrities within our culture. There are many books, movies, television shows, and news coverage to introduce viewers to their lives. With all the interest behind serial killers, many wonder how they come to be this violent. The question is often asked, are serial killers born or made?

Serial killers walk among us every day; they can walk past us without us even knowing. Murderers have been around for years. There are many people who have heard of some famous ones, such as: Jack the Ripper, Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, and The Zodiac Killer. Serial killers each have a different motivation and a different backstory. Jeffrey Dahmer is a good example. Dahmer, over the course of thirteen years, killed a total of seventeen men that he found in gay bars, bus stops, and malls. Jeffrey Dahmer was withdrawn and eventually became friendless. He became interested in murder and necrophilia at the age of fourteen, but did not act on his impulses until the breakdown of his parents’ marriage and their divorce (“Jeffrey Dahmer”). Dahmer was turned into a killer from his lack of social skills and the isolation his parents’ divorce created. John Wayne Gacy is another good example. Gacy, at a young age, was beaten by his father, along with his mother. He became alienated at school due to a heart condition that his father also saw as another failure. Later, Gacy found out that he was attracted to men, causing an inner issue with himself that continued into his outward actions (“John Wayne Gacy”). The lack of acceptance that Gacy had led to his dangerous life choices and his father's continuous abuse. Serial killers are a form of evil plaguing our world from the lack of parental care and support; therefore, it is a known fact that serial killers are created and

There are many theories as to why people become serial killers. Almost all of these concepts are associated with the Nature vs. Nurture theory. Are serial killers born with the need to kill, or is it something that they learn to long for as they grew up? Many believe that the nurture theory is the likely concept to believe; that serial killers are created from bad childhood experiences including being abused by their parents, or molested at an early age. Psychologist and sociologist have interviewed serial killers and picked apart their minds, to find out what it is that makes them feel the need to perform these heinous crimes. It is the nature theory that they are looking for when

Do you think serial killers were born “bad”? Do you think the society that they live in affects their actions? Medically a serial killer is defined as a person who kills a number of people over a long period of time. No matter when, serial killers where spread all around the world in different countries and I different societies. However, most serial killers shared common characteristics among themselves.

Through our class lectures, we have learned that, "serial killers have set a particular image that is a myth." And also, "serial killers are outside strangers and we need to do everything within our power to stay away from them" (Lecture,

Serial killers have struck fear in the hearts of people, yet the public remains fascinated and intrigued by the crimes perpetrated by these individuals. There are several theories and factors that have been attributed to serial killers in an attempt to explain their behaviors. Furthermore, by indentifying the behaviors that are exhibited by serial killers, law enforcement professionals are able to gather information about these serial killers that will assist in the apprehension of the criminal.

Serial killers is not a new phenomenon. However, only recently, serial killers started being classified on the basis of their motivation to commit homicides. Motives include anger, financial benefits, various psychoses as well as lust and thirst for power. There are also serial killers who commit their crimes on the basis of following the certain ideology or because of membership in a criminal organization or for the realization of their sexual needs. Of course, there are cases that do not fall into none of presenting categories or pertain to more than one.

Serial murder is one of the most baffling crimes that occur in the U.S. and all over the world. Knight (2006) defines serial murder as the killing of three or more people over a period of more than 30 days, with a significant cooling-off period. The cooling off period may be weeks, months or even years long. Researchers have proposed various psychological, biological and sociological theories that offer a partial understanding of the nature of serial murder. Some propose that the basis for criminal behavior is a predisposition to violence as well as a mix between environment, personality traits and biological factors. Serial killers are predominantly male. Only 3 percent of serial murders are committed by women (U.S. News and World Report,

Over 50% of serial killers suffered from emotional abuse as a child. Neglected and humiliated, as kids they felt abandoned and uncared for. Even children who feel rejection to the smallest degree have development failures. The child becomes numb to his/her surroundings, and often shuts down. With that in mind, they often have no sympathy to other kids.

“The serial killer ‘is an entirely different criminal,’ ”The term serial killer is misleading on the ground that each murder is intended to be the last.” We see them as a figure of “the dark side of human potential,” but they believe they’re “on a heroic quest for the biggest score possible” They believe they are “the archetypal figure of impurity, the representative of a world which needs cleansing.” However, society knows that serial killers are not heroes, and they’re not cleansing the world. “The figure of the serial killer is violent impurity personified, and it is a construction that necessitates figures of violent purity to confront it.” While it can be argued whether having mental disorders should prevent a serial killer from being capitally punished, it is proven that many serial killers suffer from “paranoid schizophrenia, manic-depressive psychosis, or psychopathology.” It’s even said that “this crime is actually a form of disease. Its carriers are serial killers who suffer from a variety of crippling and eventually fatal symptoms, and its immediate victims are the people struck down seemingly at random by the disease carriers.” Serial killers usually have a stressor in their life that makes them start killing, and when they do “homicidal mania becomes ‘a necessity… linked to the very existence of a psychiatry which had made itself autonomous but needed thereafter to secure a basis for its intervention by gaining recognition as a component of public

Serial killers are the byproduct of many different things: trauma, death of loved ones, abuse, neglect, adoption, and even witnessing abuse (Are Serial). Serial killers have had to endure a massive amount of something such as trauma or abuse to an unimaginable extent to become what they are; the extent of the abuse, the trauma, the psychological damage they endure is incomprehensible to many. The destruction of one’s innocence can occur at any given time in his or her life, but he or she is more impressionable in his or her youth by the negativism of someone else’s actions (Scott, Shirley L. What Makes Serial Killers Tick ~ Childhood Event). People are susceptible to what they endure in their adolescence, and cruel upbringings, such as

Many things today confuse, yet enthrall the masses. War, murder, medical science, incredible rescues, all things you would see on The History Channel. There is another topic that is also made into documentaries however, serial killers. Dark twisted people that commit multiple murders are of interest to the population, but what caused them to be this way. What horrible tragic set of events could twist a man to murder one or many people. Could Schizophrenia, psychopathy, or sociopathy? Many people have researched this topic and believe that childhood trauma, heavy drugs during the growing phase of life, as well as many other things have twisted the minds of men such as Jeffery Dahmer, Charles Manson,

They usually hate their parents. Almost every serial killer is abused as a child, whether it is sexually, emotionally, physically, or psychologically. This abuse may come from a stranger or a family member, but many serial killers try to lie about this history of abuse. Most serial killers have records of early psychiatric problems and often spent time in institutions as children (i.e.: mental hospitals or psychological rehabilitation centers). They have an intense interest in voyeurism, fetishism, and sadomasochistic porn at a very early age, and they also have a very high rate of suicide attempts. Future serial killers share three other traits in their childhoods. More than sixty precent of serial killers wet their beds past the age of twelve. They also have a fascination with fire, which may be an early manifestation of their fondness for mass destruction. In addition, almost every serial killer starts his abuse and sadistic torture on animal victims (Fisher and Fisher, 2003).