It is intrinsic to the human survival mechanism that we have this capacity to repeatedly kill. Killers are anachronisms whose primal instincts are not being moderated by the more intellectual parts of our brain.
Perhaps it’s not that serial killers are made, but that the majority of us are unmade, by good parenting and socialization. What remains behind is these un-fully-socialized beings with this capacity to attack and kill. And often that capacity is grafted onto a sexual impulse – aggression sexualized at puberty.
Many serial killers are survivors of early childhood trauma of some kind – physical or sexual abuse, family dysfunction, emotionally distant or absent parents. Trauma is the single recurring theme in the biographies of most killers.
Intense study in the field of serial murder has resulted in two ways of classifying serial killers: one based on motive and one based on organizational and social patterns. The motive method is called Holmes typology, for Ronald M. and Stephen T. Holmes, authors of numerous textbooks on serial murder and violent crime. Not every serial killer falls into a single type, and many are more than one type. Neither of these classifications explains what might actually lead someone to become a serial killer (more on this later). There is not enough scientific data upon which to base these classifications, either -- they are based on anecdotal and interview data. Critics of the Holmes typology point to this as a flaw, but many investigators still find the method useful when studying serial murder.
According to Holmes typology, serial killers, can be act-focused (who kill quickly), or process-focused (who kill slowly). For act-focused killers, killing is simply about the act itself. Within this group, there are two different types: the visionary and the missionary. The visionary murders because he hears voices or has visions that direct him to do so. The missionary murders because he believes that he is meant to get rid of a particular group of people.
What exactly is psychopathy?
The number one trait of a psychopath is a lack of empathy. Others are a tendency to lie, a need for thrills – psychopaths become bored very quickly – and narcissism. But the lack of empathy is the biggest thing.
One common explanation is that psychopaths experience some kind of trauma in early childhood – perhaps as early as their infant state – and as a consequence suppress their emotional response. They never learn the appropriate responses to trauma, and never develop other emotions, which is why they find it difficult to empathize with others.
They grow up not knowing how to “feel”, and learn instead how to manifest what they think are emotions or the correct appearances of emotion. They know the “mask” they should wear.
In the case of serial killers, that’s why there are individuals who can raise a family, be what most people would consider a good spouse and parent, and at the same time have secret second lives where they go out and kill strangers. They can compartmentalize.
Thanks, https://www.theguardian.com/,https://people.howstuffworks.com/
