Preview

Serial Killer Research Paper

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
814 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Serial Killer Research Paper
Serial killers often mutilate their victims and abscond with trophies - usually, body parts. They treat their prey as a disturbed child would treat her rag dolls. Some of them have been known to eat the organs they have ripped - an act of merging with the dead and assimilating them through digestion.
Killing the victim - often capturing him or her on film before the murder - is a form of exerting unmitigated, absolute, and irreversible control over it. The serial killer aspires to "freeze time" in the still perfection that he has choreographed. The victim is motionless and defenceless. The killer attains long sought "object permanence". The victim is unlikely to run on him or vanish as earlier objects (e.g., his parents) have done.
The killer is trying desperately to avoid a painful relationship with his object of desire. He is terrified of being abandoned or
…show more content…
Everyone would kill if they could or were given the chance to do so. Such killers are convinced that they are more honest and open about their desires and, thus, morally superior. They hold others in contempt for being conforming hypocrites, cowed into submission by an overweening establishment or society.
Other killers "improve" the intimate object by "purifying" it, removing "imperfections", depersonalizing it, and dehumanizing it. This type of killer saves its victims from degeneration and degradation, from evil and from sin, in short: from a fate worse than death. The killer's megalomania manifests at this stage. He claims to possess, or have access to, higher knowledge and morality. The killer is a special being and the victim is "chosen" and should be grateful. The killer often finds the victim's ingratitude irritating, though sadly predictable.
In his seminal work, "Aberrations of Sexual Life" (originally: "Psychopathia Sexualis"), quoted in the book "Jack the Ripper" by Donald Rumbelow, Kraft-Ebbing offers this

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The Lovely Bones

    • 710 Words
    • 3 Pages

    They often see a category of people, such as women or prostitutes, as “unclean”, and see their removal of those beings as improving the world. Or, they think that killing the victim, usually in some sort of a ritualistic manner, redeems the victim their wrongdoings. In that case, the killer is a special being and the victim is “chosen” and should be grateful. They often find the victim’s ingratitude infuriating, though unfortunately foreseeable. Serial killers must continuously kill simply because they are addicted to the feelings they get when they do. They also rationalize every aspect and detail of their behavior so there is no reason in their head as to why they should stop. They know what they’re doing, the consequences of their actions, and how to avoid getting caught. Most serial killers, and psychopaths in general, are “consummate chameleons” who are able to hide their rage and true intentions behind a charismatic, civilized facade called the “mask of sanity” (Newton). Psychopaths are amoral and though they knowing the difference between right and wrong, they do not care and lack feelings of remorse or guilt. They tend to objectify other people and treat them as if they were…

    • 710 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Albert Fish

    • 2715 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Everyone is aware there are different types of murders out there. All of them take people’s lives but how they do it in each category is different. In the case of serial killers they kill three or more individuals spaced out over a period of time. They tend to go through phases which include the killing phase, capture phase, aura phase, totem phase, and the depression phase. The phases do not happen in a specific order and not all serial killers experience all of them. Each individual is different. However, during the aura phase the killer becomes withdrawn from reality and tends to have heightened senses. During the killing phase is when the killer actually takes the victims life and that normally leads to the totem phase. This is when the killer tends to take a memento of the ‘moment’. For example, Albert Fish would take body parts to cook and eat. Serial killers may experience a phase of depression after the initial effects of the kill wears off, which is normally why the totem phase takes place (to prolong the experience). There is also the capture phase, which generally takes place prior to killing the victim. During this phase the killer renders the victim helpless in a way in which they cannot escape their captivity (Kitaeff, 2011, p. 102). It is quite complex and disturbing. Let’s move onto a serial killer case that is disturbing and riveting and claimed potentially hundreds of children’s lives.…

    • 2715 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mind Hunter

    • 1650 Words
    • 7 Pages

    In the book Douglas describes serial killer’s main goals are hunting and killing. They want the feeling of being and wanting to have complete control over their victims. Douglas dissects each crime scene, reliving it in his mind, creating profiles and predicts their next moves. Douglas has met and interviewed dozens of serial killers to understand their motives. Manipulation, domination and control.…

    • 1650 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Serial Killers

    • 698 Words
    • 2 Pages

    There is a phrase that is used to describe a killer who is both medically and legally sane, who murders again and again and again, until they are either captured or dead. That phrase/classification is "Serial Killer.' When most people, icluding myself, hear that phrase we tend to think of a social outcast, who is horribly ugly and mentally deranged. This is generally not true. In fact, most serial killers are very well liked by those who know them, they are also very attractive to members of the opposite sex (or in the case of homosexual serial killers members of the same sex), and usually have an above average I.Q. There are ways to categorize these vicious killers by the calling cards they leave at all of their crime scenes. This is what homicide detectives call "the signature" of the killer. It lies within the very nature of the killer that his signature will be recreated in each and every murder he commits. These categorizations include sadism, necrophilia, picquerism, and cannibalism.…

    • 698 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    * Every murder he commits, he thinks that it would bring him security and contentment but the deeper he sinks in blood, the more violent and more horrified he becomes.…

    • 684 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Serial Killer Essay

    • 721 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Serial killers have been around all of human history. Their sinister ways of killing have been a good anchor for movie making in Hollywood, leading to many well known movies like “It”, which was based off of a real life story. Other movies would be based off on serial killers like the Zodiac killer and Jack the Ripper. Jack the Ripper was the infamous serial killer in London during the 17th century. He would kill women around the ages of 40’s and all of them would have one thing in common, they were all prostitutes. The way that he would kill them is always astonishing. He would rape the women and then cut their bodies open. The first time he ever killed, he took…

    • 721 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mission driven killers kill to eradicate a certain group of people. Terrorists are an example of this kind of motive. Their murders are hate crimes. Financially motivated killers kill to gain money. Women are usually this type of killer. They kill family members for inheritances. Thrill seekers kill because it makes them feel powerful. They enjoy how they feel when they kill someone. Mentally ill serial killers kill because of their own psychosis. They hallucinate that a deity is telling them to commit murder. These killers are usually found incompetent to stand trial. Sadists achieve a sexual release while killing. Similarly to thrill seekers, they kill for the feeling of power, but the power for sadists is…

    • 693 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    David Buss wrote a book a few years ago called “The Murderer Next Door: Why the Mind is Designed to Kill.” One of the central points of this book is that, not only do the majority of us consider killing other people in our lives (more than 80% of both sexes), but—if the external conditions are right—many of us actually do. We do it out of jealousy, rage, self-defense, greed, and revenge.…

    • 1745 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Hedonist killers are serial killers that main motivation is sex, regardless if the victim is alive or not. Serial killers who are motivated by lust typically desire skin-to-skin contact and murder by strangling or a knife. To these killers, lust is so powering that it often becomes an addiction. Lust killers can be opinionated as the most terrifying murderers because they often believe that they are in love with their victims, and sometimes requires mutilation of their victims by cannibalism or drinking their blood.…

    • 84 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Murder is one of the darkest and most intriguing subject to ever exist on the face of this Earth. Murder, by definition, is the act of taking away someone's life, usually in an unlawful way. While cases of murder are pretty common, catching the killer isn’t so simple. In order to better catch a murderer, you have to be able to think like a murderer and get the picture of how they think and work. It’s crucial to be educated about murder because it’ll enable you to understand how murderers work, how to identify them, what they do, and why they do it. Knowing how to murder, disguise yourself and clean up and dispose of the body and evidence are all beneficial because they each will help us understand how a murderer works and how they go through the process of killing someone.…

    • 1459 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Causes of Serial Killers

    • 904 Words
    • 4 Pages

    “A girl was found dead in the woods,” “A serial killer strikes again!” We constantly hear in the media out citizens getting murdered in our surroundings. Sometimes a quick death and sometimes a tragic slow death like Kelly Marry on Friday, November 9, 1888. Kelly was killed by having her throat slashed and her head almost separated from her body. The police written in “Asesinos Seriales las Cronicas del Horror” (Serial Killers the Chronics of Horror) by Andrea B. Pesce states, “El higado y los intestinos…estaban colgados entre los pies de la victima.” (Her liver and her intestines were hanging from the victims legs.) (Pg.74). Kelly Marry is just one of the victims from many serial killers that have existed for many centuries. Franze Joseph Gall is one of the first scientists to bring up a theory to why serial killers kill. His theory has evolved over time and scientists have come up with many causes to why serial killers kill. Three main causes of the reasons are killing for pleasure, killing for psychological and for monetary benefits. Killing for pleasure means killing for sexual pleasure while psychological killers have a mental problem for example schizophrenia and killers who kill for benefits kill for the money. Serial killers have many causes to why they kill but the three main reasons are for pleasure, psychological problems and benefits.…

    • 904 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Serial killers have a propensity to act and think a certain way due to environmental stressors. Through a combination of other factors such as self-esteem and self-control coupled with social skill issues, the person retreats into serial killer mode. The killer, at that point, believes that they can correct their problems through killing. (Holmes and DeBurger 1998) These serial killers get a thrill out of murdering people. Once they do it they crave that excitement to do it all over again. They are not thinking of who they are hurting and how they are affecting the families of these victims. Serial killers, essentially allay their self-esteem and self-control issues through violent acts against others. (Guillen, Tomas Serial Killer…

    • 497 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Serial Killers Do Exist

    • 1332 Words
    • 6 Pages

    There are several different classifications of serial killers. Not every serial killer falls into a single type, and many are more than one type. Some serial killers can be act-focused or processed focused. Another type is the visionary and also the missionary (Freeman, 3). It may be difficult to address all of the classifications, sub-classifications and those that fall into more than one class in this particular paper.…

    • 1332 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Teen murderers have been a big issue not just morally but for our government as well. How should government officials prosecute these juveniles? Is it morally right for us to give them life sentences and if so where do we put them? How are we supposed to knowingly lock up these youngsters with adults, putting them at risk not only to other bad influences but to beatings, sexual harassment, and even death.…

    • 502 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    LE300J Final Essay

    • 1643 Words
    • 5 Pages

    There are many myths that describe, or stereotype a serial killer. You may have heard that serial killers are all dysfunctional loners or that all serial killers are white males. One might also hear that serial killers are only motivated by sex, they travel and operate interstate, they cannot stop killing, they are all insane or evil geniuses, and serial killers want to get caught. As easy as it might be to believe these stereotypes, and although some serial killers meet a few of the descriptions, they are not necessarily true. Through studying Dexter, Perfume, Silence of the Lambs, Frankenstein, Dead Until Dark, and the Walking Dead it can be determined that serial killers are all driven by their own unique motives, they have committed more than three murders, not limited to any specific demographic group, and are committed over a short period of time with a “cooling off” period. Aside from these characteristics it is undetermined why a serial has a desire to kill, they all have their own unique reason.…

    • 1643 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Best Essays