Sean Ballard PSY-281 25 April 2012 Serial Killers-Outline 1.

Introduction: Vampires, Werewolves, Poltergeists, Banshees, and other things that go bump in the night; all monsters of myth and legend, instilling fear in all of us. However, none as frightening as the monsters who walk among us: Jeffrey Dahmer, Gary Ridgway, Aileen Wuarnos; your daughter's boyfriend, your neighbor, the lady at church..Serial Killers. 2. Definition a. For the purpose of analysis, we need a common starting point, so let's look at how we define the term Serial Killer. Title 18, US Code states, " the term serial killer as a series of three or more killings, not less than one committed within the United States, having common characteristics as to suggest the reasonable possibility that the crimes were committed by the same actor or actors"(Morton). b. Like most legislation, that definition is too broad for our purposes. In 2005, the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (BAU-2) offered the following items for inclusion into a practical definition (Morton): - one or more offenders - two or more murdered victims - incidents should be occurring at differing times, in separate events - the time period between the murders differentiates it from mass murder or spree murder c. Today, the FBI defines serial killing as, "the unlawful killing of two or more victims, by the same offender(s), in separate events. 3. Causality. a. This is a complex process inclusive of biological, social, and environmental factors, in association with the individual's ability to chose to engage in certain behaviors (Sycamnias). The confluence of these factors are what define individual behavior from generic human behavior. We are all victims of our own experience, we are all shaped and influenced by those experiences in our decision processes. Since, we have new experiences each day, we continue to grow and adapt as we encounter the need to develop new coping mechanisms. This is prohibitive of identifying all the factors that influence normal behaviors, more so for those resulting in specific behaviors(Morton). It is rather the confluence of multiple factors, in disparate combinations, a perfect storm of biological, social, and environmental factors which result in serial killing. b. Here are some commonly held views on causality: - Predisposition to serial killing biological, social, and psychological in nature, but not limited to one specific trait, experience, or factor.

- The presence of the multiple factors in confluence occur at critical times in the social development of the serial killer. - Nothing differentiates the serial killer from other violent offenders. -Serial killers are not limited by ethnicity, gender, race, religion, or creed. - There is no template to apply to serial killers, each has unique motives. - Those sexually motivated have eroticized violence and entwined it into their psyche. 4. Psychopathy. Like causality, there is no specific template to use in profiling a serial killer. Motivations and on-scene behaviors vary from case to case (Sycamnias). However, there is enough similarity with psychopathic personality disorder, that Dr. Robert Hare developed an assessment tool, the Psychopathy Check List-Revised (PCL-R). This tool measures specific clusters of traits and socially deviant behaviors that fall into four general categories: interpersonal, affective, lifestyle, and anti-social (Morton). a. Interpersonal traits: glibness, superficial charm, grandiose sense of self worth, pathological lying, and the manipulation of others. b. Affective traits: lack of remorse or guilt, shallow affect, lack of empathy, and failure to accept responsibility. c. Lifestyle traits: stimulation seeking, impulsivity, irresponsibility, parasitic orientation, and lack of realistic life goals. d. Anti-social traits: poor behavioral controls, early childhood behavior problems, juvenile delinquency, revocation of conditional release, and criminal versatility. e. While all psychopaths do not become serial killers, all serial killers share some traits of psychopaths. Psychopaths who commit serial murder do not value human life and are callous in their interaction with their victims. This is most evident with those who repeatedly target, stalk, and sexually assault their victims, before killing them without hesitation (Morton). 5. Serial murder has one unique characteristic. Unlike most types of murderer, serial killers generally have no association linking them to their victims. 6. Conclusion: No identifiable causality, no profile to differentiate them, behaviors easily masked or misinterpreted, and the one unique factor is the lack of a factor. They walk among us; they are the predators and we their prey. Beware, for those stories of myth and legend are true; there are monsters out there, and they look like us.

Work Cited 1. Morton, Robert J., ed. "Serial Murder: A Multi-disciplinary Perspective for Investigators." National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Aug. 2005. Web. 12 Apr. 2012. 2. Sycamnias, Evan. "Evaluating a Psychological Profile of a Serial Killer." Law Libray.Net. nd. Web. 12 Apr. 2012. <http://www.uplink.com.au/lawlibrary/Documents/Docs/Doc5.html>