Serial Killers: Types, Factors And Disorders

The definition of a serial killer is usually described as an individual who repeatedly commits murder, typically with a distinct pattern in the selection of victims, location, and method. The people usually perform there murders in a unique way that are often known as their signature. Serial killers are sometimes compared to mass murderers; however, serial killers don’t really follow the format of mass murders in which they don’t take breaks in between the murders.

According to Sigmund Freud the development of the unconscious personality early in childhood will influence behavior for the rest of one’s life. In his theory freud belives humans develops early in life with three parts of there personality. The three parts are the id, the ego and the superego . The id is considered to be primitive, supplying unconscious drives for food and sex, the ego is formed as sort of a guide to remain aligned with societies norms and the superego develops incorporating values and morals.(McLeod 2019). It seems to be that serial killers are overwhelmed the id but seem to lack the ego and super ego and according to the psychodynamic theory crime occurs when a person displays a weak ego.

Types of serial killers

According to Holmes and DeBurger (1998) they have identified four categories of serial killers. This including Visionary killers who are categorized as being out of touch with reality and are said to be hearing voices in their head, the Mission-oriented serial killers who believe that their life's mission is to kill certain kinds of people, the Hedonistic killers in which they gain their thrills from the excitments of murdering and is usally what most serial killers fall under,and Power/control killers who seek satisfaction through having control of there victims. In the end serial killers try to diminish their self-esteem and self-control issues through murder.

Between these categories these killers can also fall into one of the two subcategorgies which are organized and unorganized killers.Organized killers is seen as leading an organized, average life. The indivual is also thought to have an average to aboveaverage IQ, well maintained employment and is socially proficient. These features are anaylized from the crime scene left by this type of killer. The crime scene this type suggests that the killer planned there attack, they are careful not to leave blood and finger prints behind and are attentive to details. The organized serial killer is thought to be killing as some sort of reaction to a stressful event (Canter 2004).Compared to the oprganized killer the disorganized killer leaves the crime scene just as one would assume in a mess. The disorganized is more likely to leave blood, fingerprints and the murder weapon behind and the act is seen to be opportunistic. The traits of this killer is seen as the opposite of the organized killer as this indivual will be more socially inadequate and have below-average IQ (Canter 2004). This idea of the organized/disorganized theory relates to to the idea of the social control theory. In which this theory also states that people engage in criminal activity when their bond to society has weakened.(Gielnik 2019)

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Enviromental factors

Research on the environmental causes of serial killing points msinly to childhood experiences like abuse, loneliness and abandonment which can lead serial killers to commit their crimes. Infancy is one of the most significant stages in the development of the human. Infancy is a crucial time for brain development. It is vital that babies and their parents are supported during this time to promote attachment. Without a good initial bond, children are less likely to grow up to become happy, independent and resilient adults. (Winston 2016 ). . If a child does not receive adequate attention and physical touch during this time period they may engender feelings of anxiety, fear, and mistrust.This is considered the trust vs,mistrust stage from eriksons development theory in which can lead to a sense of mistrust in people and the infant will develop a sense of only itself(Munley 1975). Research also suggest that the presence of a father/father-figure during childhood can reduce violent behavior during adulthood. Holmes and DeBurger (1985) suggested that most serial killers usually are born into a family where one parent is absent,there is an increasing the rate at which serial killers were raised without one of their parents These unstable and unhealthy relationships may results in the incapability of forming emotional attachments during childhood which could grow into adulthood.

Apart from rejection neglect and abuse have been found to be causal factors of serial killers. A landmark study of 50 serial killers found that childhood abuse was more prevalent in lust serial killers. One of the authors of this study, Michael G. Aamodt, explained, “Our data showed that a much higher percentage of serial killers were abused as children than the population in general. It certainly makes sense that the type of abuse received as a child — physical, sexual, or psychological — could influence a serial killer’s behavior and choice of victim.” ( Davies 2018 .]. These childhood experiences would most likely lead to the development of non-secure attachment styles which would lead to difficulty informing relationships which is crucial to the development of a human.Through this these kids can experience lonieliness which could transcend into adulthood in which this lonelisness experienced can be seen as a contributing factor to the motivation of controlling victims which is one of the motivations of a serial. Based off research it easy to conclude that limited positive interactions ,neglect,abuse,abandemnets etc, can result in the progression of a serial killer.

Disorders

The pattern of abuse and abandonment may also lead to the development of mental illness. Many serial killers have been clinically diagnosed in the widely used Diagnostic and Statistical Manual as suffering from Personality Disorder. The class of personality disorder is cluster type B, which is sociopathic or psychopathic. People diagnosed within this type of disorder are found to be emotionally unstable, self centered and prone to be manipulative.

Borderline Personality disorder is one of the cluster b disorders This disease is characterized by impulsive behaviors, intense mood swings, feelings of low self worth, and problems in interpersonal relationships.It has been diagnosed among Jeffrey Dahmer, who killed seventeen boys and men between 1978 and 1991.Another cluster b disorder assosicated with serial killers is Antisocial Personlity disorder This disease is characterized by impulsive behaviors, intense mood swings, feelings of low self worth, and problems in interpersonal relationships.This disorder is very common among serial killers because of most of there expiriences during childhood like neglect,abuse etc. This disorder is seen to only affects 0.6% of the population but it may affect up to 47% of male inmates and 21% of female inmates. It’s also been diagnosed one of the most popular serial killers Ted Bundy, an infamous killer and necrophile, who confessed to 30 murders in the 1970s.(types of killers).Psychopaths are usually what people call serial killers which the term is traditionally described as a personality disorder characterized by persistent antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and bold, disinhibited, and egotistical traits.Based on a study carried out by Stone, 86.5% of the serial killers met the Hare criteria for psychopathy, and another 9% presented only a few psychopathic traits (not enough to be classified as psychopaths). A remarkable finding of that study was the fact that approximately half of the serial killers presented schizoid personality, as defined in the DSM-IV. Some schizoid traits were present in another 4% of the research subjects. Sadistic PD, as described in the appendix of the DSM-III-R, were present in 87.5% of the men and discrete traits were found in 1.5% of them (Morana 2006). Schizophrenia is wide ranging and often misdiagnosed the symptons go from hullications and delusion to catonia. People who suffer from the disease may seem like they have lost touch with reality which fits a lot of serial killers mindsets.Indivduals suffering from these disorders are impaired in their social functioning which increases the likeliness of them to perform violent acts. behavior.

Cognitive Psychology

Many people are curious on what pushes someone to start killing and eventually become a serial killer.One particular theory that has been stressed was the diathesis-stress model, which is a psychological theory that attempts to explain a disorder, or its trajectory, as the result of an interaction between a predispositional vulnerability and a stress caused by life experiences. Through a combination of other factors such as self-esteem and social skill issues, the person can become a killer (Colodro 2018) from this mentality the killer believes that they can correct their problems through killing. It has been proposed that unresolved feelings and the child’s view of the world from experienced trauma, may cause a child to seek comfort in fantasies revolving around themes of things they lacked as a child such as control/domination which could lead to aggressive and obsessive fantasies. These children use these fantasies as anoutlet for most of there life but eventuallythe fantasy is not enough to fulfill there needs. Thus, when serial killers separate from their fantasies they translate it into real life as a cognitive staging. The thing is when they translate there fantstasy into real life there expectations are usually not meant because of unanticipated circumstances resulting in the serial killer's fantasy being unsatisfied, leading them to develop new and more violent fantasies in order to try to satisfy their needs.(Bonn 2014)