Serial Killers In The Media

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Serial killers are often portrayed in the media as being highly intelligent individuals capable of superhuman feats. The purpose of this paper is to review multidisciplinary research on Serial Killers’ behavioral and personality traits in conjunction with crime scene characteristics to ascertain a better understanding of this phenomenon. A serial killer is someone who murders three or more people in more than 30 days, and there is a usually a cooling off period in between kills (break in the time of one murder until the next). Serial homicide is typically committed by one individual acting alone. In studying the past and current behavioral patterns and personality traits of those who commit serial homicide in professions such as, Psychology,…show more content…
Serial killers account for 0.5% to 1% of homicides committed each year in the United States and are responsible for an average of 105 deaths (Myers, Gooch & Meloy, 2005). Research shows that serial killers with traits such as, above average intelligence use an organized methodology to commit their crimes, whereas serial killers with a below average intelligence will use an unorganized methodology (Canter, Alison, Alison, & Wentink, 2004). An organized methodology includes elements of preplanning; more socialization with the victims and the crime scene has little if any trace evidence. The disorganized methodology is considered to be carried out with a sense of disorder and little, if any preplanning. There is little socialization with the victim, and more trace evidence is found at the crime scene. In this paper, the correlation between intelligence levels, methodology and personality and behavioral traits of serial killers will be…show more content…
The research took place at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, MA. This article was focused on making a distinction between antisocial personality disorders and psychopathy in those who commit serial homicide and to analyze behavioral characteristics and historical aspects of serial killers. Labrode (2007) analyzed materials from over two dozen sources in a multidisciplinary approach, including but not limited to the fields of Abnormal Psychology, Behavioral Science, and Biological

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