Alexis Zeznanski

PSY 100 033

Instructor: Andrea Friedrich
T.A.: Chelsea Bouquet
23 November 2015
Serial Killers: Behind the Madness
According to the FBI, serial killings means that a series of three or more killings
that have common characteristics to suggest that the crimes were conducted by the same
person or persons. There are many possible factors that contribute in making a person
have the desire to murder a series of people including but not limited to biological,
psychological, and sociological aspects.
According to Michael H. Stone, head injuries, substance abuse, hereditary factors
of mental illnesses are biological aspects that have affected serial killers behaviors. Head
injuries could have an affect of the brain. Causing damage to parts of the brain that
control behaviors, thoughts, and emotions can change a person mentally and physically.
The hippocampus, which is located in the medial temporal lobe of the brain, plays a role
in emotions and causing damage to that might change personality or the way people react
or respond to different stimuli emotionally. Almost all serial killers share a common
condition that could result in a change in behavior or actions, hormonal imbalance.
Hormonal imbalance occurs naturally during the adolescent stage in a human because of
puberty. However, after this stage has passed a persons hormones may still be
imbalanced causing unusual behavior.

Substance abuse can be a factor of personality change. It can increase aggression

and violence causing unexpected behavior and creating a persona of a serial killer.
Substance abuse can include alcohol, narcotics, or other drugs. Certain psychomimetic
drugs such as LSD, phencyclidine, cocaine, and amphetamines can decrease the ability to
withhold ones self from acting out their criminal fantasies.
The study of mental illness is a broad study of psychology that has an affect of the
biological factors of a serial killer. Stone gives examples of many serial killers with
mental illnesses and how their side effects of the illness may have caused a big role in
their killings. Some of the illnesses that he described were schizophrenia, congenital
neurosyphilis, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and psychotic depression. However, even
if the mental illness caused someone to commit murder, the FBI does not classify
personality disorders as a defense reasoning for insanity. Mental illnesses can be a
hereditary factor. The most common disorders are psychopathic, sadistic, antisocial,
narcissistic, schizoid, and explosive or irritable. Animal torture is a common sign of
violence within a child that could indicate a mental illness and should seek medical
attention if signs are noticed. The book Serial Murder and the Psychology of Violent
Crime, states that a sociopath is a personality disorder rather than a disorder of the mind.
The psychological aspects of a serial killer can be influenced by home
environment or experienced traumatic event. Parents have an affect how a child thinks,
behaves, and respond to different stimuli. According to Stone, who studied 83
biographies of serial killers, 67% of the biographies showed a positive correlation of
parental humiliation with violent behavior. Also parent brutality plays a role in creating a
violent behavior in serial killers at a young age. A traumatic event that caused a lot of

stress to a young child can be brutality or sexual assault or molestation. Such humiliating
events can cause insecurity. Since no one enjoys the idea of being weaker than someone
else, especially males, some killers want to show that they are superior by humiliating
others either physically or sexually depending on their past. Ronald Holmes describes a
serial killers psychology as a psychopathic personality, which then can be portrayed as
intelligent, rational, calm, unreliable, insincere, unemotional, over-reactive to alcohol,
indifferent to the trust or kindness of others, and suicidal. A psychopath usually shows no
remorse or shame of his or her actions. Also they are described to have poor judgment,
poor insights, impersonal sex life, and antisocial behaviors. Also in Chapter 1 of Serial
Murder and the Psychology of Violent Crime, compares a sociopath to a politician. Both
have to maintain a persona of normality. They create a personality has none as just one
of the guys meaning they blend into a community or society. However, politicians use
their impression of management to become successful when in politics while serial killers
greater their changes of torture and kill others with lack of suspicion from others.
Sociological factors from the mid-1960s and the Industrial Revolution caused an
increase in the number of serial killers. This can only suggest that with great change of
community can create a negative effect on people. Men serial killers have a tendency to
become homicidal due to the change in cultural of women becoming higher class and
having more power. Also lower-middle class me are more prone to becoming abusive and
even assaultive if threatened with estrangement and rejection.
In conclusion, serial killers can either be born with some mental illness, but most
were faced with factors that caused them to behave in some violent ways. Biological,
psychological, and sociological aspects can influence a person to become very violent.

Some characteristics of serial killers are similar; however each serial killer is different
weather it be how they were raised, what they were born with, and their personalities.
The psychology behind these disturbed humans can be explained medically, clinically, or
observationally.

Refrences
Holmes, R., & Holmes, S. (2010). Theories of Serial Murders. In Serial murder (3rd ed.,
pp. 53-72). Newbury Park, California: Sage Publications.
Kocsis, R. (Ed.). (2008). Serial murder and the psychology of violent crimes (pp. 3-290).
Totowa, NJ: Humana Press.
Morton, R. (Ed.). (2010, May 21). View printable version (pdf). Retrieved November
10, 2015, from https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/serial-murder
Stone, M. (2001). Serial Sexual Homicide: Biological, Psychological, and Sociological
Aspects. Journal of Personality Disorders, 15(1), 1-18. Retrieved November 23,
2015, from Google Scholar.