Serial killers

A serial killer is a person who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time (a "cooling off period") between each of the murders. Some sources, such as the FBI, disregard the "three or more" criterion and define the term as "a series of two or more murders, committed as separate events, usually, but not always, by one offender acting alone" or, including the vital characteristics, a minimum of two murders.

The motivation for serial killing is usually based on psychological  gratification. Most serial killings involve sexual contact with



the victim,but the FBI states that motives can include anger, thrill, financial gain, and attention seeking. The murders may be attempted or completed in a similar fashion and the victims may have something in common: race, appearance, sex, or age group, for example.

Serial killing is not the same as mass mudering, nor is it spree killing, in which murders are committed in two or more locations with virtually no break in between. However, cases of extended bouts of sequential killings over periods of weeks or months with no apparent "cooling off" period or "return to normalcy" have caused some experts to suggest a hybrid category of "spree-serial killer".

causes
heories for why certain people commit serial murder have been advanced. Some theorists believe the reasons are biological, suggesting serial killers are born, not made, and that their violent behavior is a result of abnormal brain activity. Holmes and Holmes believe that "until a reliable sample can be obtained and tested, there is no scientific statement that can be made concerning the exact role of biology as a determining factor of a serial killer personality." The "Fractured Identity Syndrome" (FIS) is a merging of charles cooley 's "looking glass self " and erving goffman 's "virtual" and "actual social identity" theories. The FIS suggests a social event, or series of events, during one's childhood or adolescence results in a fracturing of the personality of the serial killer. The term "fracture" is defined as a small breakage of the personality which is often not visible to the outside world and is only felt by the killer.

"Social Process Theory" has also been suggested as an explanation for serial murder. Social process theory states that offenders may turn to crime due to peer pressure, family, and friends. Criminal behavior is a process of interaction with social institutions, in which everyone has the potential for criminal behavior. A lack of family structure and identity could also be a cause leading to serial murder traits. A child used as a scapegoat will be deprived of their capacity to feel guilt. Displaced anger could result in animal torture, as identified in the macdonald triad, and a further lack of basic identity.

serial killers
Edmund kemper

Richard Remirez