Traces Of A Serial Killer Essay Research

Traces Of A Serial Killer Essay, Research Paper

“It was an urge……A strong urge, and the longer I let it go the stronger it got, to where I was taking risks to go out and kill people–risks that normally, according to my little rules of operation, I wouldn’t take……..” —Edmund Kemper

There are many theories that psychologists and FBI agents have proposed to explain what initiated these killers fantasies and predominately how they turned them into a reality. Is this urge ultimately beyond their control, an urge which forces them to kill, with no feeling of sympathy, empathy, or remorse. We all are interested in serial killers because most of us can’t understand or comprehend why and how they do what they do. It is inevitable for people to become fixated on the unimaginable. The main questions when asked about or thinking about this subject is “Were they born with some predisposition to kill or are they just products of their environment and upbringing.” Many including myself feel that on top of this predisposition, many are also raised in dysfunctional households, which consequently forms the serial killer. The scary thing is that their not insane, at least by definition, and have yet to be treated.

Most would probably envision a serial killer as a scary, perverted looking men who one would see lurking around the woods like an animal waiting for their prey. In actuality they look like the guy next store and live the disguised and impersonated image of them as well. Many are married with children, have girlfriends, and are productive members of society. Take Ted Bundy for example. He was a law student who graduated with a degree in psychology and was very good looking and well dressed. He even worked at a crisis center and wrote a pamphlet on rape for the King County crime commission. Go figure A crisis counselor by day and a serial killer by night.

It is true that almost all serial killers were brought up in dysfunctional homes, but so have thousands of other Americans and they don’t go around killing people for the sheer pleasure of it all. Are these criminals “natural born killers.” The only direct correlation found between all serial killers is their low serotonin level which keeps one’s tension from building, but can cause frustration which often leads to aggression, according to a study by Paul Bernhardt. Crime Times reports on findings that psychopaths are almost fearless and are not as affected by fear-inducing stimuli compared to most people. Therefore they need more to excite themselves. Also if a person is not nurtured and handled as a child, studies have shown that they become withdrawn from others and are later aggressive. But no concrete connection in biological studies of serial killers and their actions have yet to be found.

Most studies have been concentrated on the killers childhood abuse and the effect it had upon them. After reading some of these stories, I wondered myself how someone could cope with such abuse and not turn into a cold, heartless, machine like, killer. They wore the hand that held the weapon, but who did the actual killing. One must wonder if they were not born into such an abusive family, would they have turned out the way they did. I don’t believe so. I won’t argue the fact that if they were born with a predisposition, they would not have problems, but I don’t believe that if they were raised in a normal household they would become the savage killers that they have become. I don’t believe though that a serial killer can form without the combination of the two. Take Kemper for example. His mother was a mean, abusive lady that locked him in their basement for long periods at a time, but, beheading her, ripping and throwing out her tonsils in a garbage disposal, and then raping her headless body, doesn’t exactly give punishment that fits the crime. The cliche an eye for an eye was interpreted as an eye, a heart, maybe a lung, what the hell throw in the whole body for an eye- in Kemper’s eyes. And he quotes, “I certainly wanted for my mother a nice, quiet death like everyone else wants.” Well way to take it easy on her Kemper. Many serial killers mother’s would bring various men home every night and even have sex with them in the same bed where they were sleeping or at least trying to sleep. Henry lee Lucas’s mom not only did that, but she would send him to school dressed like a girl. That can really damage a kid. Not enough alone in my opinion to go on a killing spree, but enough. Many of their father’s were extremely abusive beating them and their mothers. Albert DeSalvo watched his mother’s fingers get broken one by one as a small child. Hi father then sold him off to a farmer. He quotes “He smashed me once across the back with a pipe. I didn’t move fast enough.” John Gacy’s dad shot his dog, of course to only teach him a good lesson. Many other childhood events are said to contribute to a serial killer’s motivation such as adoption, witnessing violence, juvenile detention and peer rejection. With adoption, a kid is born with rejection, and lives with that feeling throughout his life. If his own mother doesn’t want him, why should anyone else. There are many instances were adoption is in the child’s best interest, but try explaining that to the child given up. When people feel rejected, be it by their peers or parents, they start resenting and hating everyone. They develop this defensive attitude, naturally, like