In “What Makes a Serial Killer”, La Donna Beaty aims to provide an evidence regarding the most vital characteristics of a serial killer. Mainly, the information given in the article is based on eight different sources with the help of which the author supports her primary argument. There are four essential characteristics that the author distinguishes as being the most influential in terms of becoming a serial killer. Concretely, according to the presented theories, these characteristics include the impact of society, the general atmosphere within one 's family, the heavy use of alcohol and mental illnesses. Beaty 's essay is fairly an informative piece as suggesting what might form a serial killer, she does not say what she thinks may …show more content…
What is more, the author uses pathos in order to persuade the audience on an emotional level, so that provide a high degree of emotional intensity. Beaty manages to capture the readers with a strong appeal to pathos, using alarming statistics and data. Concretely, she nearly scares the audience by stating that approximately 350 serial killers are currently at large in the USA. Also, according to Holmes and DeBurger, whose evidence Beaty successfully uses in her article, "between 3,500 and 5,000 people become victims of serial murder each year in the United States alone" (Beaty). Such approach of conveying the vital information to the audience is fairly useful as evokes different feelings which in fact urge to read more on the presented topic. That is because the given statistics is taken from the credible sources and that in turn, makes it appropriate enough within the provided context. Moreover, Beaty, in order to appeal to her readers, uses pathos while explaining a variety of emotional behaviors. In particular, the author introduces a number of killers, including John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, and Jeffrey Dahmer. By doing this, she analyses their psychopathic tendencies developed from abusive families in which they have not received enough love and care. Also, the author mentions the failure of the mental health care system as one of the causes of the formation of such violent mental
The film “Murder by Number” also includes medical issues, including brain damage, as contributing to the violence of many serial killers. Some criminologists and psychiatrists believe that serial killers kill because of issues with their families. These issues include failure to properly bond with
Although there has been a recent awareness of serial killers and development of entertainment using serial killers it is still a rare occurrence. Schmid states that Serial murders account for less than or equal to 2 % of all homicide (2005). In addition, since there are many types of murder one needs to know a proper definition of a serial killer. According to Culhane there are three different elements that define a serial killer these elements are (1) three or more victims; (2) three or more occurrences; and (3) an emotional ‘cooling off’ period in between the killings. Using the definition provided by Culhane two serial killers were chosen to be study in this paper.
An attribute of society that has been constant throughout history is criminality, and due to the continuing effort to understand crime, this has resulted in the emergence of many schools of thought. In the 21st century, the world is continuing to see petrifying and outrageous murder cases, a recent one being the case of Canadian citizen Luka Magnotta, who murdered Lin Jun and recorded himself stabbing, dismembering, and performing acts of necrophilia on Jun, mailing his body parts to multiple places in Canada, including to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. After an analysis of the case of Luka Magnotta, when considering a psychological explanation, Magnotta’s criminality can be sufficiently explained through Eysenck’s theory of crime and personality,
John Wayne Gacy, Aileen Wuornos, Richard Ramirez and are all widely known notorious serial killers who in common, share the feeling of abandonment, neglect, and abuse during their adolescence years. Studies often show a traumatic experience can lead to mishap in one’s psychological and physical behavior which can cause anxiety, alcohol and drug use, low self-esteem, withdrawn, dissociation, difficulty with making and maintaining relationships, experiences flashbacks, hypervigilant, self-harm, and criminal activity. Since these killers had to endure a troublesome childhood, they were destined to become criminal masterminds. John Wayne Gacy was a U.S. serial killer who was found guilty of killing thirty-three boys and young men. He had an abusive childhood and struggled with his sexuality.
Jeffrey Dahmer is one of the most notorious serial killers in history, known for his gruesome murders and acts of cannibalism. Understanding the factors that contributed to his behavior is essential in preventing similar crimes in the future. Dahmer's childhood and family background played a significant role in his criminal behavior. He experienced a difficult childhood with parents who had a troubled relationship and were frequently fighting. He also showed signs of early psychological problems, such as his fascination with dissecting animals.
In this article ethos is weakest, due to the fact that Jenkins was too emotionally attached with the event that had taken place because it was her younger sister and her unborn child who were shot by a teenager for the, “thrill kill” and to see what shooting someone would feel like. Jenkins goes on to talk about how the victim’s families are not taken into consideration at all when it comes to the impact that losing someone beloved to a family is murdered by a child. She does not use any ethos to make claims about any other incidents that have occurred with teen murders, or any proof that research has been done on the teen brain that shows teens experience loss of brain mass which leads them to do rambunctious acts. By talking about her own personal experience, Jenkins is creating pity for not only herself but also her family, who is mourning the loss of a beloved sister, daughter, and unborn grandchild, or niece and nephew. By using more pathos than ethos when explaining how victims should be considered when a teen commits a heinous crime Jenkins creates pity upon herself.
Crime can be defined as an illegal action committed by people and that action is punishable by law. There are many reasons that drive people to commit crime. Some of them would be poverty, depression and other social and mental disorders. For this paper, I chose to write about the Greyhound Bus beheading case. There are many theories that would explain why Vincent Li (the murderer) committed the crime.
In this paper I will be applying the psychological theories to serial killer Ed Gein. Ed Gein was a prolific serial killer in the 1950’s. He murdered and robbed graves for body parts to make furniture and clothing. He was apprehended in 1957, where he stood trial and was institutionalized. Edward Theodore “Ed” Gein was born August 27th, 1906 to George and Augusta Gein.
A serial killer is a person who murders three or more people, usually in service of abnormal psychological gratification, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant break which can also be called a "cooling off period” between them. There are different types of serial killers. Some are mission oriented serial killers; others are visionary killers. There are equally power and control killers and thrill or hedonistic killers. There are many serial killers in the world at large with different motives for killing.
Richard "Iceman" Kuklinski was viewed as a normal man by society for much of his adult life. This man was far from normal. Kuklinski was a psychopath and a sociopath who was driven to kill by his troubled childhood and his lifestyle as a paid hit man. This paper will focus on the criminological theory of why Kuklinkski committed these murders. Richard Leonard Kuklinski was born in 1935 to Stanley and Anna Kuklinski ("Meet Notorious Contract Killer Richard Kuklinski").
This paper will examine serial killer Ronald Dominique and the acts that was performed on his victims and how individuals he knows viewed him. Robert Dominique target victims were men. In the year of 1997 to 2006, Robert Dominique killed at least 23 men that was account for. However, there is a substantial amount that is not account for. However, Ronald would cross-dress and attend gay clubs.
However, that is not the case it’s only the surface level. Until you explore the details of the underlying issue(in this case it’s the psychological impairment of the said killer) it’s impossible to make a justified claim. A good strong point that they make is "Movies and TV have put an image into our minds that these are the characteristics of a murderer when in reality they are masters at disguising their emotions and thoughts letting them blend into society.”
Also his signature mark revealed his status as a serial killer as it linked all of his victims together. DeSalvo committed sexual abuse towards his victims in many forms. For instance, DeSalvo would leave his victims in various positions that show different forms of rape, and in some cases murder. DeSalvo was most likely to have committed these crimes as a result of his sadistic desires, most likely derived from his father’s actions. DeSalvo can most likely be defined as a sociopath as his crimes were organized and methodical.
He feels as if this is something that’ll never go away, as when these events happen, the media can get coverage and learn every single gruesome detail, thus netting them millions upon millions of viewers. Our generation is the one most adapted to technology. If information like this is going to be covered, what’s stopping people from watching it? People wanted to find the reason as to why the killers did what they did, and this was left very unclear, as it their actions didn’t have any clear justification. Answers were still craved, so naturally, people started making assumptions as to why the shooters did what they did.
It is a common fear that people have to be cautious of serial killers because they are terrified by the thought that they might become the next victim; although, very few murders each year are actually committed by a serial killer. Statistics have shown that one would be more likely to be murdered by a family member than a serial killer. Throughout history, the term “serial killer” has struck fear into the minds of people everywhere; however, people remain fascinated with this topic. When people think about a serial killer, generally the first person their mind jumps to is Ted Bundy, although they are unaware that he is not considered the “typical” serial killer. The average serial killer is described as a person who murders three or more people