The psychology behind serial killers : what drives one to commit such crimes?

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to understand the psychology behind what drives serial killers to kill. The research points to several developmental risk factors present in serial killers’ lives, including characteristics such as trauma, abuse or crucial events in their childhood and adolescence, that may have led to offending behaviour in later life. Cleary and Luxenburg (1993) concluded that a common trait in a serial killer’s childhood was a form of either, or both, psychological and physical abuse (Allely et al., 2014). The literature reviewed considered the importance of the nature versus nurture debate, and twin studies to explore the underlying causes of offending behaviour, and possible reasons for what drives serial killers to kill. Furthermore, gender differences in relation to serial killers were also explored. The study adopted a qualitative approach by taking a biographical approach to understanding the psychology behind serial killers. Biographical data was collected for three serial killers, Jeffery Dahmer, Edmund Kemper, and Myra Hindley, drawing from newspaper articles and documentaries found online. The information gathered was later thematically analysed. The emergent themes were childhood risk factors, abuse affecting development, sexual tendencies, the method of killing and disposal of bodies. The findings generated from this analysis were discussed in relation to the literature review. The conclusions drawn from the findings indicated that the three serial killers had a rather turbulent childhood which may have led to later issues in adulthood. The implications of this study shall serve as means to increase the awareness of the importance of primary crime prevention. The identification of problematic behaviour early on to prevent such horrific incidents from occurring and to help children deal with family issues and other environmental factors that affect them negatively should be a priority.