SERIAL KILLERS: The Psychosocial Development of Humanity's Worst OffendersWhether it be Jack the Ripper in nineteenth-century England or Ted Bundy in 1970s America, the public has always been fascinated by the criminal offender type known as the serial killer. Professionals continue to speculate and develop new theories about their identity decades after their crimes ended. But what is it that causes such evilness in individuals that causes them to take an innocent life, not once but multiples times, and for no apparent reason beyond their own perverse psychological gratification? This fascinating book explores this question by looking at the psychosocial determinants of criminal behavior, including serial murder. The role of such internal processes as attachment, moral development, and identity formation in the development of a person’s predisposition to various forms of deviance, including physical and sexual aggression, is reviewed. This information is then applied to actual serial killers, including David Berkowitz (The Son of Sam), Charles Manson, Eric Rudolph (God’s Crusader), Ted Bundy (The Face of Evil), Edmund Kemper (The Co-ed Killer), and the Zodiac Killer, in an effort to construct a psychosocial profile of each and to attempt to pinpoint the various developmental factors that contributed to their eventual criminality. Finally, early intervention strategies are explored that can potentially redirect a child’s developmental trajectory away from crime and deviance, and toward a more adaptive and socially acceptable behavioral repertoire. This book will be an insightful resource to all law enforcement professionals, policymakers, police academics, psychologists, psychiatrists, and many others in the helping professions as well. |
From inside the book
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... understand this class of evildoers , we must first explore why they felt the level of rage they did , and further , why any amount of rage would lead them to kill multiple people . Also , while the emotion of rage has on many occasions ...
... understanding of the serial killer's psychological function- ing and development can lead to information and clues that will potentially benefit the investigation of an unknown serial offender. Misconceptions Many misconceptions have ...
... understanding of their development, and more importantly, allow us to more effectively target intervention efforts at an early age. 5. We can profile serial killers based on the crime scenes they leave behind. Very few serial killers ...
... understanding of the developmental factors that can lead to a propensity to engage in such deviance. The numbers may be relevant, however, to our understanding of self-deter- rence, even among serial killers. However, when we look at ...
... understand these typologies in the same context as the classic serial killer quickly run into problems. The problem ... understanding of causative factors. There have been many classification schemes offered by members of the ...
Contents
3 | |
23 | |
51 | |
Chapter 4 WHO AM I? The Role of Identity Formation During Adolescence Part I | 86 |
Chapter 5 CLOSING THE GAP The Role of Identity Formation During Adolescence Part II | 121 |
Chapter 6 CRIMINAL BEGINNINGS A Killer Is Born | 135 |
THE SON OF SAM An EgoDirected Killer Subtype Deficient Sexual Self | 155 |
Deficient Social Self | 174 |
GODS CRUSADER An EgoDirected Killer Subtype HyperIdeological Self | 188 |
THE FACE OF EVIL An Opportunistic Killer | 199 |
THE COED KILLER A Symbolic Killer | 215 |
Chapter 12 THE ZODIAC KILLER A Lingering Mystery | 226 |
Chapter 13 INTERVENTION STRATEGIES Changing a Killers Course Before They Kill | 236 |
BIBLIOGRAPHY | 261 |
INDEX | 267 |
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Serial Killers: The Psychosocial Development of Humanity's Worst Offenders William M. Harmening No preview available - 2014 |