Some of the worst serial killer cases are the ones who target prostitutes. :waitasec: Would legalization help those women? Because many are hooked on drugs and that would have to be legalized too, etc. I'm not sure the solution is that simple. For some prostitutes, legalization would probably make their job safer though. I'm not sure it would save other random girls though.
They're driven by something more than just a need for sex. It's beyond that as they are twisted in their brains and angry and have no respect of life when it comes to female life. One guy said he went around killing woman because he'd been rejected by the woman he loved. Wow. He was getting back at women in general for the hurt one woman caused him.
Then there's the BTK killer who recounted all of his 'kills' without any remorse in court. He just liked to kill women - no particular reason other than it turned him on to do so but he didn't rape his victims. Sick.
I've been meaning to check to see if any of these killers childhood circumstances have been studied. I know of one serial killer, whose name escapes me at the moment, dad has been outspoken and there's been T.V. interviews with him and his serial killer son. The one who kept a trunk/box thingy in his closet. There's one serial killer who has recounted close calls of his mother finding out that he had just killed somebody. She drove the car with a body in the trunk to the store before he had dumped the body. This may be a different killer. No sixth sense? Ever? Weird.
In respect to serial killers much research on personality is abundant in the research literature. The general consensus is that some people have a predisposition to violence as well as an interaction between the environment, personality traits, and biological factors. There are various sociological, psychological, and biological theories that extend a partial understanding of serial murders.
One article I read claims that researchers look to the crime scene itself to discover the potential for two distinct types of serial killers; organized or disorganized (Knight, 2006). Personality types associated with serial killers are described as psychopathic personality types; narcissistic, paranoid or antisocial, bipolar mood disorder and are generally considered rare (Geberth, 1996; Hare, 1993; Hikey 1997; Miller, 2000; Money, 1990; Rtzuk, 1994; Schechter, 1990; Schlesinger, 1998; as cited in Knight, 2006).
Knight (2006) addresses the lack of appropriate object-relations (primary figures being the object, e.g., mother, father) and the subsequent development of narcissism in serial killers. To cut to the chase, Knight mentions in his article that when the parent does not give appropriate feedback such as mirroring and idealization a subsequent stunting occurs and the infants emerging needs are severally affected, which in turn affects the childs sense of self and reality. Consequently, the child self- structure may become damaged resulting in a developmental arrest. This developmental arrest and we are discussing serial killers, produces pathological narcissism.
Holmes and Holmes (1998; as cited in Knight 2006) identifies two different types of serial killers; lust and thrill, both of which are classified as the organized type (this types makes detailed plans to kill, this includes stalking and abducting). An excerpt follows that describes one of these types of serial killers and the implications of a lack of appropriate object-relations and the emergence of a thrill serial killer:
These children would have experienced a profound sense of rejection and low self-esteem. The impact of this kind of dysfunctional object relation would result in the needs for grandiosity being repressed only to unconsciously surface as mirror-hungry behavior. The need for mirroring and attention may explain why thrill serial killers require that their victims remain fully awake and aware during torture as this awareness ensures a response, and this response offers in fantasy and in reality a sense of visibility. (Knight, 2006, p. 1197).
I dont know if any of you can access this article, if you can, it is a good article to read that addresses the characteristics of some serial killers. If you cant find this article, you could go to Google scholar and find one similar. There are so many out there, I grabbed this one and took a quick look at it. I am not an expert on serial killers, so please take this information with a grain of salt!
Reference
Knight, Z. G. (2006). SOME THOUGHTS ON THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ROOTS OF THE BEHAVIOR OF SERIAL KILLERS AS NARCISSISTS: AN OBJECT RELATIONS PERSPECTIVE. Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal, 34(10), 1189-1206.