Why Do Serial Killers Affect Human Behavior?

The term serial killer is “The unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender in separate events” according to the F.B.I. It is clear that there is something not right about a person who can kill, and continue to do so. With serial killers there is no real reasoning behind their murders, they do not just snap one day, nor do they do it out of greed or even jealousy. There is time between the murders, and most of the time these people are active members of a community. While there are many studies about why these people murder, there have been no actual breakthroughs. So the question that still remains is what type of psychological disorder could cause this kind of behavior? Robert Ressler, the former director of the F.B.I.'s
Violent Criminal Apprehension Program, is who came up with the term “Serial killer.” The F.B.I states that a serial killer is a person who kills two or more people over a period of time. This definition separates them from mass murders and spree killers. In the past century there have been somewhere around 400 serial killers in the United States, and anywhere between 2,526 and 3,860 victims. Although there is no real way to know exactly how many serial killers there are at a specific time, the estimated range is from fifty to three-hundred; although, there is no real evidence to support this. These murders seem to be increasing over time; since 1950, eighty percent of the 400 serial killers from this century have surfaced. One way a serial killer can be classified is by their organizational and social skills.
Depending on how the crime scene looks depends on if they are organized or disorganized; furthermore, a serial killer can be classified as nonsocial or asocial depending on if they separate themselves from society, or if society separates them. While most serial killers are organized and nonsocial, there are still some that are unlike the rest. Over eighty percent of serial killers are Caucasian males between the ages of twenty and thirty, they are normally very intelligent and the typical victims are Caucasian women. These people do not stick out in appearance and are in fact, usually largely involved with society. As children they usually have three behaviors known as the MacDonald triad: these include bed-wetting, arson, and animal
cruelty. There is one question that still remains.
How can a person commit such horrible acts? Certainly there is something that sets serial killers apart from the rest of the world, and an easy way to answer that question is the reason of insanity. According to the U.S. Code, a plead of insanity means “at the time of the commission of the acts constituting the offence , the defendant, as a result of a severe mental disease or defect, was unable to appreciate the nature and quality or the wrongfulness of his acts. Mental disease or defect does not otherwise constitute a defense.” A serial killer using this defense must prove to the jury that at the time of the murders he did not understand right from wrong, but it is very difficult to prove that he did not know that he was killing the victims. In addition, there have only been two serial killers successfully use the insanity plea. The head of the F.B.I.’s Investigative Support Unit, John Douglass, believes "don't have a problem understanding what death means, and that they have the power to
kill"
Some theories say that serial killers have suffered brain damage or they have an underdeveloped brain. A study by Adrain Raine, a professor of criminology, at the University of Pennsylvania, found that there is a decreased amount of brain activity in the part of the brain that controls emotion; thus these people lack certain emotions, self-awareness, and sensitivity to violence. Adrain has found these similarities in smaller criminals as well, he says “The findings suggest that many people currently being punished for their crimes cannot actually control their behavior, and should be seen as suffering from a disorder that needs treatment." These people not only have an under-developed dorsolateral cortex, but also a shrunken ventromedial cortex. Graeme Fairchild, a lecturer in clinical psychology at Southampton University, has concluded that aggressive adolescents usually have a shrunken amygdala. That being said they are lacking the ability of decision-making, learning from their mistakes, and emotions and mortality. Graeme has said, "People with severe forms of conduct disorder could be seen as having a brain development disorder, rather than just being evil," said Fairchild. "If the parts of your brain involved in feeling guilt or empathy are damaged, then there is an issue of diminished responsibility. It is too early to use this in the courts, but we have to ask if they are truly to blame for their behavior."