How does the psychology of a killer differ from the psychology of ordinary people? Coursework: Psychological Characteristics of the Personality of a Serial Killer Psychiatrists appointed by a judge

The phenomenon of serial murders has always interested psychologists, psychiatrists, criminologists, and even ordinary people. After all, it seems especially interesting that people who often seem absolutely normal to others are capable of committing a cruel, seemingly unmotivated murder. Recently, there has been a clear trend towards an increase in this type of crime. In Russia, the average rate of serial murder is very low, while the largest number of such crimes occurs in the United States, and their statistics grow inexorably as we move from north to south. The United States of America can rightfully be called the leader in the number of known serial killers. Names such as Theodore Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy are famous all over the world. They have their fans and adorers, and the "cult of maniacs" is especially thriving in the United States, where you can buy bags, T-shirts and even watches with images of "stellar" serial killers. It is worth taking a closer look at this phenomenon from a psychological point of view, to understand what pushes people to commit at times monstrous and even grotesque crimes.

Definition of the term "serial killer". Types of serial killers.

One of the most famous FBI profilers, Robert Ressler, introduced the concept of "serial killer" into criminology. He is called the modern Sherlock Holmes for the incredible insight with which an expert calculates and describes a maniac, having familiarized himself with the materials of the case or by the results of the examination of crime scenes. In the 1970s, Robert Ressler's main goal was to compose portraits of alleged criminals. Ressler tried to penetrate the subconscious of the killer, to understand what motivates him, what are the motives of his crimes. Based on his observations, he compiled psychological portraits of criminals.

During his work on one of the cases in 1970, he introduced the concept of "serial killer". By his definition, a serial killer is a criminal who commits more than 3 murders in more than 30 days, with periods of emotional cooling, and the motivation for the murders is most often based on the killer's achievement of psychological satisfaction.

So, introducing the term "serial killer" Robert Ressler continued to analyze the behavior of this kind of criminals. He tried to identify common patterns in the formation of serial killers, in their development and in their further actions. Ressler determined that every maniac has his own individual "handwriting", which is not like the others. This also applies to the choice of weapon, crime scene, victim, method of murder, time of day, and many other factors.

Thus, he singled out two main types of serial killers: organized non-social and disorganizedasocial.

An organized non-social type of serial killer.

Key Features:

Possesses high intelligence. The intellectual level of some representatives of this type can reach 145 IQ points, which is recognized as the threshold of genius (the intelligence of one of the serial killers, Edmund Kemper, is recognized as equal to 150 IQ points, now he works very successfully in cooperation with the police and helps them in calculating criminals).
Controls himself, is self-controlled.
Keeps track of himself, his appearance, housing and car (if any).
Sociopath. Rejects and despises society. Reduces acquaintance only with a narrow circle of people.
Can be charming, make a good impression on others. Usually, the people around such a serial killer are very surprised to learn that this person has committed crimes. Has normal relationships with the opposite sex, is often characterized by friends and acquaintances as a good family man and father.
Personalizes the victim, prefers to act with cunning rather than violence (like Theodore Bundy, who charmed dozens of young girls and they calmly followed him, not suspecting that they were following a serial killer).
Has a certain image of the victim, a feature in appearance, in clothing. There are some known cases of murder of a particular person. This allows the police to catch the maniac "on live bait".
He plans the crime in advance, thinks over all the details, such as the place of the murder, the murder weapon, the actions with which he can hide the evidence, and so on.
Often binds the victim, with the help of intimidation, conquers her to himself.
He does not kill immediately, at first he embodies all his sadistic fantasies, and the victim may die during torture (like Robert Berdella's). However, the purpose of the attack may initially be murder (like David Berkowitz, for example).
Takes steps to eliminate evidence that could convict him of a crime. Can dismember a corpse and get rid of it in parts, hide the victim's body in an inaccessible place. He is even able to give the body a certain pose as a kind of sign, if he wants to say something with this murder.
Can return to the scene of the murder. (Gary Ridgway, for example, often returned to the scene of the crime to refresh his memories, sometimes even to commit violence on the remains of the victim.)
Can contact the police, cooperate.
He is focused on interrogations, thinks over the line of defense. Can have a sincere respect for a competent and intelligent investigator, often "play" with him.
Improves throughout the entire period of the murder, becoming less and less accessible for capture, and is able to control himself so much that he is able to stop killing altogether in order to remain uncaught ("Zodiac", for example, stopped committing murders, feeling that the police were getting close to him, as well as Taksarkana Shooter).

Theodore Bundy is a classic example of an organized non-social killer. This charming young man became one of the most famous serial killers in the history of mankind largely due to his visual attractiveness, intelligence, charm, ability to give the impression of a favorable person and education.

Disorganized asocial type of serial killer.

Key Features:

Possesses low or below average intelligence. Often mentally retarded.
Mentally ill, inadequate. We are despised or not accepted by society due to visible oddities in behavior. Lives at the expense of relatives or the state, may be registered in a psychiatric clinic. This type of killer cannot establish contact with people, especially with the opposite sex.
Lived a difficult childhood with abuse.
Socially maladjusted. Rejected by society.
Unkempt, poor self-care. He also does not monitor his home.
The crime is committed spontaneously.
Does not think over the details of the murder, does not try to destroy evidence.
Kills near your place of residence or work.
The victim is depersonalized.
The murder weapon is often not prepared by him in advance, therefore, the means at hand are used in the attack.
Tries to preserve the memories of the victims. Can keep a diary in which he describes the murders committed. It can also store videos, photos or audio recordings of murders.
May write a sympathetic or mocking letter to the victims' relatives. Quite capable of writing to the police.
Does not comprehend himself and the crimes he commits.

A classic example of a disorganized antisocial killer is Richard Chase, a schizophrenic nicknamed "The Vampire of Sacramento." His psychological portrait was made by the aforementioned Robert Ressler, who, based on the results of examining the places of the murders, was able to describe Chase as accurately as possible. Despite the obvious mental disorders that should have led Richard to a specialized clinic, he ended up in prison, where he committed suicide, fearing a "Nazi conspiracy."

The motives for committing serial murders.

Serial killers also differ in their motives for committing crimes. There is a special classification that allows you to "break" the maniacs into certain groups, however, one should not assume that each of the serial killers belongs to only one type or has only one motive for committing crimes.

So, the classification of serial killers based on the motive of the crime is as follows:

1. Hedonists.They commit crimes for pleasure. They consider murder as a way to satisfy their needs, they see the victim as an object necessary in order to give pleasure. Psychiatrists distinguish between three types of hedonists.

Sexy.They kill for sexual pleasure. In this case, the victim can be alive or dead, it all depends on the killer's preference and fantasies, which play a large role in the implementation of the crime. The killer can enjoy the direct rape, or from torture, from strangling the victim, from beating, from manipulating a weapon that usually has contact with the body (for example, a knife or hands), and so on. It all depends on the fantasy of a particular serial killer.

Destroyers. They can rob their victims, but the main motive for committing a crime is causing suffering to another person, abuse of the victim. Moreover, suffering is delivered by such killers without sexual manipulation, this is their fundamental difference from sexual rapists. They can experience sexual pleasure, but at first glance it is impossible to notice. They can masturbate over the victim's body, but these are quite rare cases. The desire to destroy the victim is determined by the need for sexual domination, but outwardly nothing indicates this, and therefore such murders are often mistaken for robbery, vandalism or hooliganism. It should be noted that serial murder is a murder with a non-obvious motive, thus, in relation to "destroyers" this non-obviousness is expressed most clearly.

Examples: Clifford Olson, Vladimir Ionesyan.

Mercantile.Material and personal gain are the main motives for murder for this type of serial killer. Mostly they are women, and they kill mainly with the help of poison or potent drugs, which in large doses cause death. However, among such criminals, there are quite often men who can use other methods for murder.

3. Visionaries.They commit murder "at the instigation" of God or the Devil, hear voices, suffer from hallucinations.

The form of the mask of normality can also be indicated by the place where the wearer meets his future victims. For example, Ted Bundy met girls on college campuses, that is, in a crowded place. Jeffrey Dahmer selected victims in bars and clubs or at gay pride parades. But Henry Lee Lucas was looking for victims on the highway or next to woodlands.

The serial killer's “mask of normality” has a close relationship with his modus operandi. Achievement of mental stability in a one-step act is achieved by fulfilling the exact set of all circumstances, in which the elements of the serial killer's psyche find a way out from the inside. Due to the fact that the characteristics of these deformed elements are stable, then the method of their withdrawal outside will be the same. This explains why the serial killer's modus operandi is stereotyped. It is the optimal form of achieving the state of the "mask of normality".

Now, one often widespread speculation should be explained that, supposedly, every serial killer wants to be caught, which is why he ultimately makes a fatal mistake for himself, which leads to his capture. In fact, this phenomenon has its own explanation through the use of the term "mask of normality" and some provisions associated with it.

The state of mental stability, which arises after a single release of unconscious energy, gives rise to a clear relationship between the need to achieve the state of the "mask of normality" and the need to commit crimes. The fact that the killer is able to achieve a state of mental stability with the help of a one-step release of energy contributes to the atrophy of his psyche defense mechanisms. A simple way of ejecting unconscious energy is available to a criminal, and therefore complex ways of its release become unnecessary. Social stereotypes, which are at the conscious level of the psyche, begin to degrade as a result of atrophy of defense mechanisms. Since the sphere of the conscious is deformed, the unconscious determines all the perception of the world of the serial killer, and the unconscious is the thirst for the realization of desires without taking into account the peculiarities of acceptable social behavior. Thus, the perception of the world at an unconscious level leads to the fact that environmental factors are no longer taken into account. A serial killer does not deliberately provoke the police to interrupt his criminal activities, he is simply disoriented in the world of social prohibitions.

Some of the similar personality traits of serial killers.

While serial killers can differ in many essential ways, they all share certain similarities.

So, most of the serial killers are white men 20-30 years old, and they commit their crimes near their home or place of work. 88% of serial killers are male, 85% of them are white, the average age ranges between 28-29 years. 62% of serial killers kill only strangers, the other 22% kill at least one stranger. 71% of maniacs commit their crimes in a certain area, while a much smaller number of them travel long distances to kill.

Hervey Cleckley identifies 16 main behavioral characteristics of a psychopath - a serial killer (which, rather, belong to the type of organized non-social killer):

Charisma and intelligence.
Lack of hallucinations and other signs of irrational thinking.
Absence of neuroses and psychoneurotic experiences.
Insecurity.
Deceit and insincerity.
Lack of remorse and shame.
Unmotivated antisocial behavior.
Biased judgment and inability to learn from your mistakes.
Pathological self-centeredness and inability to love.
Weak affective reactions.
Absent-mindedness.
Indifference in building interpersonal relationships.
Indecent behavior with or without alcohol.
Suicide threats are rarely carried out.
Sexual life is messy.
Lack of goals in life and inability to follow a certain order.

Serial killers are also distinguished by low social fitness, dissatisfaction with their place in society, impulsiveness, infantilism, narcissism, isolation, aggressiveness, suspicion, and vindictiveness.

To one degree or another, narcissism is inherent in all of us, but among serial killers it is expressed to an incomparably greater degree. In their book on mental disorders, Theodore Milon and Roger Davis classify pathological narcissism as one of those societies that promote the slogan "every man for himself" and individualism. In individualized societies, the thoughts of a serial killer about himself will be like a gift to this world from above, in a collectivist society, his thoughts about himself will be like a gift from above to the collective.

The narcissist is more anxious than guilty. He lives restlessly, constantly experiencing dissatisfaction. The narcissist lacks the ability to empathize. He views other people as objects designed to maintain his high self-esteem or to receive any other benefits for himself.

It happens that serial killers leave some "trophies" from their victims, usually body parts. They can eat them to merge and assimilate with the slain. Killing itself is a way to achieve a sense of dominance. The killed do not evoke any sympathy from narcissists, they are characterized by disharmonious infantilism. They are not able to put themselves in the place of another person, they concentrate exclusively on their experiences, and their behavior is determined only by their own interests.

Narcissists have very primitive mental defense mechanisms. They cannot adequately perceive the possibility of being abandoned, abandoned.

At the same time, the narcissist believes that all people are like him, they are also selfish, and therefore he accepts murder with approval. He believes that everyone would kill if they had the opportunity or the character. He thinks himself more perfect because he does not hide his emotions and does not hide his desires. If he is caught, he will blame the society, the people around him and the culture for everything that happened, but not himself.

Since the serial killer is narcissistic, he cannot establish contacts with the people around him, which leads to the emergence of affectively saturated ideas, for example, to the opinion that all people around him and society as a whole are hostile towards him. Such thoughts form isolation and suspicion, as a result of which all the actions of others seem to the serial killer to threaten his personality. Thus, by committing an act of violence, the serial killer believes that he is defending his honor.

Serial killers do not recognize social norms and values, they can follow laws or follow instructions, not because they understand their need, but because their violation will be punished.

Jeffrey Dahmer's characterization as an example of a mixed type of serial killer

For consideration, I decided to take one of the most famous serial killers in the entire history of mankind and, using his example, to analyze in detail what factors can influence the formation of deviant behavior. Delving deeper into the tragic biography of this man, I will, along the way, characterize the facts that undoubtedly gave rise to the formation of the personality of a serial killer in Dahmer.

Jeffrey Dahmer was born in 1960 in West Ellis, Wisconsin, USA. His mother worked as a teacher, while his father was a chemist. This fact is very important, since most serial killers come from dysfunctional families (like Henry Lee Lucas or Eileen Wuornos), but here we see an example of an intelligent family. The child is very strongly affected by the treatment of the parents, especially if he was already born with some of the traits inherent in a serial killer. Eileen Wuornos, for example, was beaten and raped by her father as a child, so she, as an adult woman, killed men who vaguely resembled her father. Henry Lee Lucas was abused by his mother, who worked as a prostitute and often forced little Henry to watch the process of his "work". He also told how his mother bought him a donkey, and after Henry became attached to the animal, she killed the animal in front of a frightened child. Such traumatic cases cannot but affect the developing psyche of the child, especially if he was already born with some deviations.

So, back to Dahmer. As a child, he was very fond of animals, however, his parents constantly moved, which forced them to abandon the animals to which little Dahmer became attached. This greatly affected his psyche, later it will be clear exactly how.

Jeffrey was also considered a very unsociable and withdrawn child who had little contact with others, which made him estranged first from classmates, and later from army comrades, from relatives and friends. As I mentioned earlier, alienation plays a very large role in shaping the personality of a serial killer, as it creates suspicion and hostility towards the entire world around us. It also provokes the development of infantilism, inability to empathize with other people, which contributes to the commission of crimes. It was also influenced by the fact that Dahmer's mother was very sick after giving birth to Jeffrey, he saw this and blamed himself, which gave him a feeling of guilt and inferiority. He felt unnecessary to his own parents, thus, anxiety developed in him, which also contributes a lot to the formation of deviant behavior. There are three phases in the development of psychologically alienated individuals:

The occurrence of an anxiety reaction.
The accumulation of negative unconscious experiences, which are mostly latent.
Exhaustion, which manifests itself in the form of violent actions in relation to the social environment, subjectively perceived as hostile.

Rejection also leads to a lack of a sense of security, to the formation of a neurotic personality, respectively, and to the fear of death. This is a very important observation, which, in my opinion, explains why it is very difficult for serial killers to commit suicide, although sometimes they really want to. The same Dahmer, for example, often tried to commit suicide, but did not have the courage. Or serial killer Anatoly Slivko, who often described suicide attempts in his famous diary, repeatedly wanted to throw himself under the train, but could not overpower himself.

When Dahmer was about 10 years old, he began to collect animal corpses on the road, dismember them and dissolve body parts in acid. It should be noted that he did not kill animals, but, on the contrary, loved them very much, even often quarreled with friends because they mocked stray dogs. This is very unusual for a serial killer, since almost all maniacs in childhood abuse animals, like Henry Lee Lucas or Edmund Kemper. Although, of course, such a "hobby" for a boy is also very disturbing, it is hardly a sign of a child's adherence to chemistry.

While at school, Dahmer continued his experiments with animals, and he later admitted that autopsy of animals gave him a sense of strength, superiority and dominance, from which he enjoyed. At the age of 14, he kisses a neighbor boy and realizes his homosexual orientation. But he does not have the opportunity to tell anyone about this and is very shy about his desires. The Damer family categorically did not accept homosexuality, especially Jeffrey's father, whom he respected very much. This situation also influenced Dahmer's psyche very strongly, the feeling of alienation from others was exacerbated, unconscious experiences accumulated, demanded an exit, which Jeff carried out by dismembering the bodies of animals knocked down on the road. He also began to consume alcohol, which seemed to bring him relief, helped to avoid feelings of alienation and homosexual fantasies. Alcohol, however, only promotes the release of sexual aggression, facilitates the onset of affect and intensifies it.

Thus, we see before us a number of factors that undoubtedly greatly contributed to the transformation of a quiet boy into a young man with unbridled sexual desires for unconscious men. Such desires could arise from the desire to control the situation in life, however, taking into account the complete inability of Dahmer to dominate others, such needs were reflected in his sexual preferences.

In fairness, it is worth noting that Dahmer was aware of all the abnormality of his desires, tried not to think about them, using the only way to abstraction available to him - alcohol. However, alcohol provided temporary relief, and, even as we understand now, only made the situation worse.

At the age of 18, Dahmer killed his first victim. It happened exactly at the time when his parents divorced and parted, leaving Jeffrey alone in an empty house. This behavior of the parents only intensified the feeling of alienation, uselessness, Dahmer fantasized a lot during that period. It should be noted that fantasy is a very important part of the modus operandi of a serial killer, because it is during it that he imagines what he will do with the victim when he gets in his way. Dahmer fantasized that one day he would drive a car, meet a hitchhiker, pick him up and take him to his home, where they would have a great time together. Such fantasies surprisingly came true, but ended in a completely different way. After Jeffrey and his new acquaintance drank, he began to pack up to leave. Dahmer wanted the hitchhiker to stay, but didn't know how to stop him. He was drunk, and alcohol, as mentioned earlier, releases sexual aggression, which can manifest itself in completely unexpected forms. Geoffrey grabbed a hand dumbbell and killed his new acquaintance with a blow to the head. Thus, there was a simultaneous surge of that unconscious energy that had been accumulating in him throughout this entire time. After the first murder, a serial criminal can sincerely regret and regret what he did. This is exactly what Dahmer felt in the first time after the crime. However, as mentioned earlier, for a maniac, murder is akin to a drug - it releases that energy that cannot find any other way out, except for this instant surge. Ted Bundy admitted that the first murder caused him a keen sense of guilt, however, over time, it went away.

After the murder, Dahmer experienced a real shock, not expecting this from himself. However, he had enough prudence to understand all the illegality of his actions, and therefore take measures to eliminate evidence. He dismembered the victim's body and hid it in the forest. Here we see the typical behavior of an organized non-social serial killer. Nevertheless, it cannot be said that Dahmer did not experience any negative emotions during the dismemberment of the body, on the contrary, it was very unpleasant for him to do it. So much so that he resorted to alcohol.

For the next 9 years, Dahmer was able to control his desires, perhaps the defense mechanisms of the psyche had not yet completely atrophied. At first, Dahmer found an outlet in the army, which he really liked. Then in religion and reading. But nothing could replace him that feeling of relaxation and calmness that came after the first crime, and therefore, in the period from 1987 to 1991, he killed 16 more people.

Well-known psychiatrists spoke in court both for the prosecution and for the defense, who gave their conclusions based on the conversations they had with Jeffrey Dahmer.

Psychiatrists appointed by the defense.

Doctor Fred Berlinbelieved that Dahmer was not able to realize his actions during the commission of crimes, since he suffered from paraphilia, or rather, necrophilia, which is classified as a mental disorder of personality, and therefore a person suffering from this ailment should be sent to a psychiatric hospital. He stated that Dahmer could not avoid thoughts of murder, and necrophilia is not at all the choice of the accused himself. Prosecutor McCann, during an interview with a psychiatrist, forced him to admit that Dahmer was a liar, which in itself indicated that he was able to assess the wrongfulness of the actions he was committing. The ability to lie successfully is a sign of a psychopathic personality, which, in turn, indicates that the serial killer has a well-defined mask of normality and belongs to the type of organized non-social killer. In order for a person to be declared insane, the court must answer two questions facing them: "Did the accused have a mental personality disorder?" and “Could the accused have realized all the unlawfulness of his actions while committing crimes?”. If the answer to the first question was an unconditional “Yes”, that the court should answer the second question, and only then make a decision on the direction of the accused either to a psychiatric hospital or to a prison.

So, the fact that Dahmer was able to hide his double life during all these 13 years spoke of him as a rather intelligent person. Dr. Berlin, however, believed that it was not necessary to have low intelligence to be abnormal. In his opinion, Dahmer could be an excellent liar, an actor and an excellent ability to hide his emotions, but this did not mean that he had no mental illness.

Doctor Judith Beckerpaid great attention to Dahmer's childhood. She explained how Jeffrey was influenced by the fact that the Dahmer family had to abandon those animals to which he became attached. In her opinion, Dahmer killed his victims and kept parts of their bodies at home because he was afraid of being abandoned, because he was looking for a company for himself, even if the corpses of the lovers he had killed were acting as his “comrades”. Jeffrey also developed such a feeling of abandonment while his father and mother constantly fought, which subsequently led to the divorce of the Dahmer couple. Jeffrey did not have close friends, he did not talk to anyone about his problems, did not communicate closely, and was mostly alone. Dr. Becker's findings were poorly scientifically substantiated, and therefore her testimony was not considered too closely. In the end, she diagnosed Dahmer with necrophilia, which answered in the affirmative to the first question posed to psychiatrists.

Doctor Karl Walstromdescribed Dahmer as "a thirty-one year old white man with severe and very advanced mental disorders, whose personality is primitive, rigid and shy." He also emphasized that Jeffrey had fantasies and delusional obsessions, such as, for example, creating a zombie by pouring acid into the subcortical region of the brain. Fantasizing is a sure sign of a disorganized antisocial killer. Dr. Walstrom believed that Dahmer had a mental disorder of personality, and therefore he should be placed in a psychiatric clinic, where he will be provided with the necessary assistance.

Psychiatrists appointed by a judge.

Doctor Samuel Friedmanbelieved that Dahmer killed because he needed company. He spoke kindly of Jeffrey, describing him as "a pleasant young man in all respects, with a sense of humor, beauty and charm, who was and remains a bright and, in principle, not a bad person." Friedman told how Dahmer himself tried to understand what was wrong with him and why it all happened. Jeffrey told the psychiatrist in detail about himself, hoping that he would understand the root cause of such deviant drives in him. “I hope that something can be done to cure this man who definitely has intelligence and charm,” Friedman said of Dahmer. Despite his sympathy, he found Jeffrey sane, because he could resist his desires if their immediate fulfillment could lead to exposure. He was planning a crime and could refuse it if it threatened him. Crime planning, according to Friedman, is a clear indication that Dahmer does not have a mental personality disorder.

Psychiatrists appointed by the prosecution.

Doctor Fred Fosdelbelieved that Dahmer did not have a mental disorder of personality, and he was sane at the time of the crimes. He described Geoffrey as a calculating and cold-blooded killer who killed only for his sexual gratification. During cross-examination, Dahmer's lawyer asked the psychiatrist if he considered him a necrophiliac, to which Fosdel replied in the negative. He believed that this was not his main sexual preference. The psychiatrist could not adequately explain in his favor the fact that Dahmer was trying to create a zombie slave for himself, which is fundamentally an unhealthy idea. Therefore, he eventually had to admit that Jeffrey had a mental disorder, however, he continued to claim that he was sane.

Doctor Dietz Park, one of the most famous and respected forensic psychiatrists gave, in my opinion, the most reasonable characterization of Dahmer as a serial killer. So, he believed that Dahmer did not have a mental personality disorder, since he thought over his crimes, drank his victims with sleeping pills before killing, which speaks of his complete sanity at the time of the crimes. He also noted the fact that Jeffrey himself drank alcohol for the murder, since the murder process did not bring him any pleasure at all. Dietz agreed with the early assertion that "we do not choose our sexual preferences," nevertheless, he believed that Dahmer was quite capable of controlling himself. He noted that we all have desires, but we can restrain them, the same happens with those who suffer from all sorts of paraphilia. Dietz immediately ruled out the idea that Dahmer was a sadist, since he "did not torture his victims and did everything to prevent their torment." He also mentioned Dahmer's recent crimes, which were undoubtedly ill-considered and spontaneous, and he explained this by his alcohol intoxication, and not progressive madness. It seemed very important for Dietz that the fact that for copulation with a corpse Dahmer was protected with a condom, which clearly indicated the fact that he was aware of everything that was happening at that moment.

So, we looked at all the testimony of forensic psychiatrists at the trial of Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer, which allowed us to look at his mental disorder from different angles. But there was one more, which cannot be ignored, I am talking about the opinion of Robert Ressler, already mentioned by me, who composed it on the basis of many hours of conversation with Dahmer. Ressler believed that Dahmer had a mental personality disorder, while he could be aware of everything that was happening at the time of the murder, but he could not resist his deviant desires. He made such an opinion on the basis of some facts that many psychiatrists kept silent about in court. The fact is that Dahmer had another fantasy besides creating an obedient slave using a lobotomy. Jeffrey wanted to create a kind of "altar" at home from the parts of the bodies of the victims he killed, in the center of the "altar" he planned to place a large black chair (reminiscent of the one that Darth Vader, one of the heroes of "Star Wars" had, Dahmer found this hero extremely attractive because of the strength and power that he possessed). The influence this hero had on Dahmer was very great. In this case, there is a clear example of imprinting, that is, Dahmer saw the behavior of the hero of Darth Vader and subsequently tried to copy him in crimes. This, along with the idea of \u200b\u200bcreating an "altar", is the fantasy of an abnormal person with deep mental disorders. Ressler believed that the first murders Dahmer committed as an organized non-social serial criminal, but later he turned into a disorganized asocial serial killer, and this clearly indicated that Jeffrey should have been placed in a mental hospital. Among all other points of view, this seems to be the most rational, since many inconsistencies can be explained by it.

It is worth adding that Jeffrey Dahmer was found sane and guilty in all 17 cases of murder and sentenced to 17 life sentences (the remains of a much smaller number of victims were found in his apartment, but Dahmer confessed to all the murders, even those in which no one suspected him ). In prison, Dahmer became a Catholic and was baptized, which, by the way, emphasizes in him a by no means psychopathic personality. He gave several interviews in which he talked about how he regrets and that he does not care whether he lives or dies. Based on the worldwide fame of his crimes, the murder of Dahmer in prison was only a matter of time, which he undoubtedly knew about. However, he refused solitary confinement, was placed with other inmates and had frequent contact with them.

We saw in front of us an example of an unusual serial killer, the controversy about which still continues. The characterization of his personality allows us to see some of the factors that can shape a serial killer. Analysis of his actions can help us understand what drives the offender during the commission of crimes and analyze his actions. And already from the analysis it is possible to trace what exactly pushes smart and educated people to seemingly unmotivated murders. Although, of course, Dahmer's personality is presented as something very complex, not entirely understandable even for experienced psychiatrists and criminologists. I just tried to streamline the opinions of the most famous forensic psychologists of our time about him. And some of the points of this analysis can help in the calculation and characterization of other serial killers.

Conclusion

In this work, I tried to get closer to understanding what drives serial killers, what are their personality traits, the combination of which factors can form deviant behavior and analyze the case of one of the most famous serial killers of our time.

The phenomenon of serial murder is not fully understood, but criminology is developing at a rapid pace, especially in the United States, where the percentage of serial murders is the largest in the world. However, there are specialists in the United States who can figure out a serial killer based on the crime scene, the murder weapon, the victim, and many other factors. Among them are Robert Ressler, John Douglas, Robert Keppel, Kim Rossmo and many others.

Nevertheless, it is very difficult for a common man in the street to recognize a serial killer, almost impossible, especially one with a well-expressed mask of normality. As Ted Bundy said, "Serial killers are us, your fathers, your sons, we are everywhere." Therefore, each of us should be careful and know at least the basics of serial killer behavior.

List of references

Mask of Sanity - Hervey Cleckley, 1982.
Harry Guntrip - Personality Structure and Human Interaction, New York, International Universities press, 1961.
Sexual Homicide patterns and Motives - Ressler, R.K., Burgess, A.W. & Douglas, J.E, Lexington Books, 1990.
Psychiatric Testimony of Jeffrey Dahmer.
Of men and monsters: Jeffrey Dahmer and the construction of the serial killer - Richard Tithecott, 1998.
The psychology of lust murder: paraphilia, sexual killing and serial homicide - Catherine E. Purcell, Bruce A. Arrigo, 2006.
The Milwaukee murders: nightmare in apartment 213-the true story - Do Davis, 1991.
Massacre in Milwaukee: the macabre case of Jeffrey Dahmer - Richard W. Jaeger, Marv Balousek, 1991.
Sexual Homicide: patterns and motives - Robert K. Ressler, Ann Wolbert Burgess, John E. Douglas, 1995.
Mass Murder: the scourge of the 21 st century - David Lester, 2004.
The personality of the offender - individual crime prevention: comparison and conclusions - Antonyan Yu.M., 1989.
Psychological characteristics of convicts violating the regime and problems of individual influence - Kudryakov Yu.N., Golubev V.P., 1989.

Living a double life, the serial killer skillfully wears a mask of normality that allows him to commit crimes without arousing the slightest suspicion. Most serial killers have extremely sophisticated social manipulation skills - the ability to get others to do whatever suits them. With a keen sense of society’s needs to comply with external norms, serial killers are able to demonstrate socially acceptable, often even exemplary behavior.
For example, Gehry Schaefer lived and worked among religious and family-oriented people in rural Vermont, was a member of a sect whose members build their lives on a fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible, was an outwardly respectable parishioner and at the same time raped and killed girls in his district.

John Wayne Gacy is a homosexual killer. At eighteen, he was involved in political activities in Chicago, where he worked as an assistant to the local party boss at the polling station in support of the Democratic candidate, with the same pride that he had during his leadership of the community club at his school. And although his father constantly bullied and scolded him for doing social work as a child, Gacy remained an active member of the Democratic Party, even as an adult. He gained fame as one of the most active volunteers - fighters for order in the city, was named Field Marshal of the Parade of Purity held in Chicago. For several years, he had to coordinate the efforts of over seven hundred subordinates (Gacy was the head of a large construction company). In the same period of his life, he committed no less than thirty-three ritual murders of young men and buried the bodies in soft soil under his house. Being married, he constantly met with young people who worked at his construction sites. In the construction business, Gacy was involved in a variety of legal and illegal deals - from securing favorable prices for timber to organizing robberies and drug trafficking.

During a search of Gacy's house, police found photographs of the owner shaking hands with the mayor of Chicago, Richard Daly, and with Rosalyn Carter, the wife of President Jimmy Carter.
The mayor of Chicago was counting on his ability to collect votes at the polling station. To this end, Gacy went to wash the windows of helpless elderly women, conveyed complaints from voters in his area to bosses from the Democratic Party. He was even included in Rosalyn Carter's escort team on her visit to Chicago during the 1976 election campaign. So great was his need for social approval. However, the need for the killings was even stronger, the disclosure of which shocked the entire society and caused a storm of indignation on a national scale.

Another "star" of the double life is the illegitimate Ted Bundy. He was gallant and handsome. Prepared for scientific activity in the field of law, was a bachelor of psychology. He was on duty on the Seattle suicide hotline and was involved in politics. Wrote an anti-rape guide for Washington State and even received an absentee Ph.D. from the state's accreditation committee. Thanks to this degree, he was able to open a private practice as a psychotherapist. Bundy was needed by local politicians and university administrators to enlist his help in dealing with students on a major campus. The woman, with whom Bundy was close, after learning that a criminal named Ted was wanted, turned her suspicions to the police. But there they did not believe her, citing the fact that Bundy was not very much like a murderer. Everyone who knew Bundy didn't believe he was a murderer even after he was arrested. And how was it to be believed! After all, these were not just the murders of young women, it was also sophisticated torture, torture, humiliation of victims and abuse of corpses (Bundy dismembered the bodies of still living victims, performed oral sex with severed heads and anal sex with corpses). On such, as many believed, Bundy could not go.

Even the most experienced detective Bob Keppel twice fell for Bundy's deceptive appearance and stopped developing it, although he had information about his involvement in the murders. The FBI and police continued to question his guilt until Bundy was arrested in Florida for the rape and murder of a girl. By the way, he was detained by accident and not for this crime, but for violating traffic rules. And only later it turned out that he had committed the murders of at least 35 students, starting in 1974. He was arrested four years after the first murder - in December 1978. And only death by court order stopped his bloody bacchanalia.

Why, with undoubted intelligence and resourcefulness, serial killers do not reach noticeable heights in their professional careers? This is due to their asociality, as a result of which they have problems in the process of study and at work. According to the FBI, killers with high intelligence are particularly resourceful and sophisticated in torture in sexual crimes. All researchers are unanimous that serial killers have an inherent ability to manipulate people. When they need it, they know how to be charming and inspire complete confidence in the victim, who meekly follows the killer wherever they go. And finally, one more feature noticed among serial killers: they are all partly megalomaniacs and somewhere deep down they want their "greatness" and "unusualness" to be noticed. During the investigation, they willingly describe the details of the crime committed and even confess to crimes that they did not commit. For the same reason, they sometimes, as if in defiance of the police, behave too impudently and in the end they get caught. Some of the killers are prone to mysticism and feel called to fulfill the great mission of freeing mankind from "degenerates". Among the latter, they include, in particular, prostitutes, homosexuals. Not so long ago in the United States were identified a kind of "sects" of serial killers, practicing satanic cults and professing an ideology that merges with neo-Nazism.

According to the psychiatric classification, serial killers are psychopaths (in the English-language literature they are called sociopaths). A psychopath (sociopath) is an asocial personality without obvious mental disorders, but with anomalies of character and behavior.
It makes sense to say a few words about the psychopathic personality. This type is of particular interest to criminologists, psychologists, criminologists. The vast majority of multi-recidivist criminals (who are said to stay in prison) are psychopaths. The American prison psychiatrist Dr. Hare R.D., who has devoted a quarter of a century to the study of psychopathic criminals, identifies the personality traits and behaviors that collectively form the syndrome of psychopathy. The key symptoms in the sphere of emotions and interpersonal relations are:
grandeur and superficiality;
self-centeredness and pretentiousness;
lack of remorse and guilt;
lack of compassion and responsibility;
superficiality of emotions;
deceit and dishonesty.
Psychopaths are characterized by impulsivity, uncontrollable behavior, constant need for thrills, problem behavior in childhood and antisocial behavior in adulthood.
It should be borne in mind that one (or more) of the listed signs can be found in any person and do not indicate psychopathy. A specialist makes a proper diagnosis when all the symptoms appear in a complex (in the form of a syndrome) and when each of them reaches a certain degree of severity.

An in-depth consideration of the question of the psychopathic character is not part of our task. We turned to him only to illustrate the psychological background of the serial killer's behavior. Some of the characteristics of the psychopathic personality, in particular the need for thrills, help to understand the seemingly inexplicable cruelty and sadism of serial murder.

1.2 Prerequisites for the formation of the personality of a serial killer

Personal alienation can be viewed as a psychological prerequisite for criminal behavior.

Psychological and criminological studies indicate that a significant part of criminals is at a certain socio-psychological distance from society and its moral and legal values. They are alienated from society as a whole and from small groups (family, work collective, friends, etc.) or have significantly weakened ties with them. Psychologically, alienation is like a person's withdrawal from interpersonal interaction, which has significant psychological and social consequences, including those of a criminogenic nature.

Researchers identify the following aspects of personality alienation that are significant for understanding the socio-psychological “causes of criminal behavior.

1) Alienation makes it difficult for a person to assimilate social norms that regulate behavior. Since these norms have not been assimilated by the individual, have not become an integral part of her inner world, they are "alien" to her, not obligatory for execution. It is no coincidence that many criminals do not understand why, in fact, they were punished, although they know which law they violated. Hence their disagreement with the punishment, which sharply reduces its educational impact.

2) Alienation of the individual in early childhood due to the family's failure to fulfill its main function - the inclusion of the child in the structure of society through the internalization of moral and legal norms by the mechanism of imitation of the parents - can lay the foundations for an asocial personality isolated from the socially positive microenvironment - the family, educational and labor collectives, other small groups. In the absence of compensatory upbringing, this can lead to maladaptive illegal behavior, largely provoking a relapse into crime.

3) Alienation of a person can lead to the formation of a stable antisocial attitude in her, manifested in a negative or even hostile attitude towards the environment, which, according to the mechanism of projection, can provoke aggressive behavior in such persons.

4) Alienation of a person, isolation from the socially positive microenvironment prompts him to search for a microenvironment where he could find recognition and support. Such a microenvironment is antisocial groups consisting of the same alienated and maladjusted individuals. Prolonged stay in such groups leads to the criminalization of the personality with its subsequent degradation.

5) The severing of human ties with the normal microenvironment leads to a violation of social control, non-compliance with established norms of behavior. Getting stuck in an antisocial group, which is a reference for a person, forms his excessive attachment to this group, identification with it, and a willingness to commit any group crime.

6) Isolation, isolation from others, withdrawal into oneself turns into moral impoverishment, lack of empathy, that is, the ability to feel, experience the emotional states of another person, empathize with him, which contributes to the commission of especially serious violent crimes.

Studies show that vagabonds are the most alienated, and among them alcoholics. Another category of the alienated is those sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. Many of them used to be quite well adapted to society, but during their stay in places of imprisonment, the ability to adapt is significantly lost. Practical workers of correctional collectives have long drawn attention to such a seemingly paradoxical phenomenon: certain repeat offenders who have been repeatedly convicted, who do not have stable family and other emotional ties, after their release, again strive to return to the "zone."

According to scientists, in general, psychological alienation of the individual can be defined as developing most often as a result of emotional rejection by parents (mental deprivation), from indifference, socio-psychological distance between the individual and the environment, isolation from the values \u200b\u200bof society, non-inclusion in emotional contacts. Mental deprivation and the resulting alienation can be seen as a cause of criminal behavior. By themselves, these factors do not fatally lead to the commission of crimes. However, they form a general undesirable orientation of the personality, its unconscious attitudes, which predetermine the criminally punishable forms of responding to specific conflicts.

Anxiety acts as a psychological basis for criminal behavior.

Along with the alienation of the individual, anxiety, which is an objectless fear, fear in general, is not less, but perhaps even more criminogenic. Most often, anxiety is based on some unconscious threat sources associated with the deprivation of the need for security. As a personal property, it manifests itself in a constant feeling of self-doubt, powerlessness in front of external factors, in the exaggeration of their power and threatening nature. Such a permanent state can lead to disorganization of behavior, a change in its direction. In some cases, anxiety can actively stimulate criminal behavior when a person begins to feel the need for protection from people or phenomena that he subjectively perceives as threatening or destructive.

The extreme form of expression of anxiety is the fear of death, which, like anxiety, develops in the event of the rejection of the child by the parents. Rejection as an extreme form of rejection leads to a lack of a sense of security, to the development of a neurotic personality, which is characterized by the fear of death.

The following phases are distinguished in the development of psychologically alienated individuals:

the occurrence of an anxiety reaction;

the accumulation of negative unconscious experiences, which may be latent;

a state of exhaustion, manifested in violent actions against a social environment, subjectively perceived as hostile.

The criminality of anxiety lies not only in the fact that it includes anxiety, a feeling of insecurity, vulnerability, but also in the fact that it determines the specific perception of the environment as alien and hostile. According to the mechanism of emotional transfer, such a person considers the norms and prohibitions of this environment as alien, as a result of which he gets out of the action of social control. Maladaptive behavior and a corresponding attitude towards the world develop. Unconsciously projecting his hostile, aggressive aspirations, impulses onto the outside world, the person perceives the environment as well.

Thus, the presence of anxiety, an unconscious feeling of the illusion and fragility of one's life, fear of death qualitatively distinguish a criminal from a noncriminal and are the main psychological causes of some forms of criminal behavior. "In other words, a person commits a crime so that his ideas about himself, his place in the world, his sense of self, self-worth do not collapse, his biological and social being does not disappear."

In the quiet town of Pomichna in the Kirovograd region, a distant relative of a legendary intelligence officer raped women, dismembered their bodies and carried them to a landfill in sacks. It was a locksmith at the local elevator. Never noticed anything reprehensible.

What turns outwardly normal people into ruthless maniacs? Is it possible to "calculate" them until the victims' count has gone to dozens?

There are people who are excited by fantasies - the desire to destroy, to rape. For the majority, a certain psychological barrier is triggered. However, not all. Imagine that a person biologically prone to violence or murder watches films about maniacs and murderers on TV every day. He gets a push, it becomes easier for him to cross the line of what is permitted.

A 15-year-old resident of Kiev cut off his mother's head, tried to distort her features on a gas stove. I couldn't. Then for three days he literally sliced \u200b\u200bthe mother's body and flushed it down the toilet. During the investigation, he said that it was extremely interesting for him to watch horror films.

Recently, a young man was detained in Kiev who raped and killed women, mocking them to their satisfaction. He said: "I saw enough militants and broke her neck like there." But in addition to the fracture of the cervical vertebrae, more than a hundred knife wounds were counted on the girl's body.

Subjects of the cultural and social environment (and we include the media) have tremendous opportunities for socio-psychological impact - both in a positive and negative direction. According to official figures, the number of rapes has decreased. In fact, there are fewer reports of rape because the victims are afraid of disclosure, they are bribed. Violence has become commonplace.

The sexual behavior of the 50-60s is incomparable with the behavior of the 80-90-2000s. But the overwhelming majority of serial murders have been and are being committed, as a rule, on sexual grounds.

Constantly watched scenes of violence on TV screens lead to the fact that the psychological barriers that hindered biological motivation are gradually being removed. From day to day, a person sees or reads how to hunt for their victims.

Factors influencing crime

Drugs and alcohol. Alcohol facilitates the onset of affect and enhances it, releases sexual aggression. The climate is influencing. Residents of hot countries are subject to constant nervous excitement, outbursts of aggression and incontinence, they are also characterized by excessively early sexual maturation. In cold climates, people devote a significant part of their strength to obtaining what nature itself gives to the southerners. In Europe, as you move from north to south, the number of violent crimes increases dramatically. In the southern states of the United States, there are 15 times more murders than in the northern ones. The climatic factor is not decisive, but it is very significant.

Heredity

A hereditary predisposition to crime may never be realized without a certain set of external factors. And nevertheless ... In the 18th century in America there lived a certain man of "light morals" - Max and his wife Ada - a drunkard and a thief. Max left behind many children. Researchers have traced several generations of his descendants. Only three daughters before marriage were women of "easy virtue", there were very few criminals in the second generation, but in the fourth it reached 24 people, in the fifth - 60. Then the number of women of "easy virtue" increased from 14 to 90, vagabonds - from 11 to 74. In the third generation, syphilitics and walking women accounted for 69 per cent of the total number of family members. In the sixth and seventh generations, the number of criminals decreased, which allowed researchers to put forward a hypothesis about the possible natural degeneration of the anomalous branch and its premature extinction. In this family, infertility has risen from nine cases in the third generation to 22 in the fifth, and the infant mortality rate in recent years of the study has reached 300. Family members spent a total of about 120 years in prison, and in the fifth generation all women were already “lung behavior ", and men are criminals.

It is possible to cite many such cases when children, without yet having any life experience, show excessive aggressiveness and a tendency to sadism. Sometimes mothers come to psychologists or psychiatrists, asking to cure the child, otherwise they threaten to strangle him with their own hands. The sooner you start working with these children, the more chances they have of becoming normal. Typically, either their parents (or one of them) or someone of their kind suffered from mental illness or drunkenness.

Serial killings are more likely to be sexually motivated, but they happen on the basis of missionary work, persuasion and profit.

For example, Onoprienko and Chikatilo are united only by the multi-episode nature of the crimes and the large number of victims. Everything else separates. Chikatilo killed on sexual grounds. And Onoprienko went “to work” in the hope of profit. Yes, he had sexual motives from time to time. But from the very first woman he contracted gonorrhea, and sexual violence was not his goal. Dreaming of killing 360 people, he cultivated cruelty in himself. Unfortunately, we do not know everything about his adventures. Onoprienko's wife said that he once brought her a handful of gold jewelry. He did not tell what he did abroad. Perhaps later, when he wants to renew his interest in himself, he will talk about it. He has nothing to lose.

Between 40 and 60 percent of the perpetrators of a crime suffer from some kind of mental disorder. Abroad, they are classified as limited sane. In relation to the crime committed, these people are sane. But in connection with the existing disorders, in addition to serving a sentence, they must also be treated. In Italy, England, Canada and other countries there are special penitentiary institutions for this. In our country, due to poverty, no. But people with mental disabilities must be treated and receive full treatment even behind bars.

Serial crime is relatively stable. In Russia, for example, there is one serial killer for every million and a half normal people.

Statistics

The study of sexual crimes committed over three years showed that their maximum occurred on Friday and Saturday, at least on Thursday. In January, the number of crimes was twice as high as in December, and in the following months there was a clear alternation of a decline in even months and an increase in odd ones, with stabilization at a relatively low level in November and December. The maximum rise was in the spring, the minimum - in the fall, and in the spring and summer these figures are in the middle. This probably reflects the connection between sexual crimes and the biorhythms of human sexual activity.

Alcohol is the main trigger for rape. At the same time, about 10 percent. the victims themselves were intoxicated.

Almost everyone has a predisposition to violence of varying severity. A group of normal men were shown slides of rape scenes, accompanied by a tape recording. Many of the subjects responded instantly by developing sexual arousal to both the rape process and the victim's reaction of resistance and fear. None of the group of subjects not only never participated in rape and other crimes, but did not even think about it, and in sexual life did not show sexual aggressiveness.

Foreign experts divide ruthless killers into three well-differentiated "specialties": mass murderer, connecting rod killer and serial killer.

A mass murderer kills several people in a row in one place.

The connecting rod commits numerous murders in various places, also in a relatively short time.

A serial killer kills for months and even years before being arrested. In contrast to the first two types, which in the majority suffer from mental illness, the serial is a psychopath "in his right mind." He is well organized, which makes it difficult to identify and arrest him.

Portrait of a serial killer

Russian scientists have identified the following forensic features of serial murders.

1. Multiple episodes of crimes. Serial crimes are multiple, identical and homogeneous.

2. Multiple crimes. Individual episodes of the series include several types of crimes at once: violence, premeditated murder, bodily harm or the threat of their infliction. Often in combination with crimes against property - robbery, robbery, theft.

3. High rate of recurrence. Two-thirds of serial killers have had previous convictions, many more than once. Most often for rape, crimes against property, murder and grievous bodily harm.

4. Actual remission-free serial criminal violence. On average, after being released from prison, the next crime related to the previous series was committed 7.4 months later.

5. Extreme danger and severity of recurrence of serial crimes. Relapse, as a rule, is characterized by an increasing severity and severity of crime.

6. Early age of the onset of the series (average 23.8 years). As a rule, a criminal biography begins immediately with a series, less often with a different corpus delicti at an earlier age.

7. Aggravation of violence from conviction to conviction. Researchers note the following dynamics of convictions: property crimes - sexually motivated crimes - premeditated murders with torture of victims.

8. Of the psychosocial personality traits of serial killers, one can distinguish mainly a low level of education, an idle lifestyle (did not work and did not study), family maladjustment (mainly bachelors and divorced).

The way of taking life in all episodes is stereotyped and stereotyped. In most episodes, criminal episodes are preceded by a state of alcoholic intoxication. About a third of murderers commit crimes while sober.

Criminal episodes are characterized by unjustified cruelty, painful and multiple injuries, mockery, including over a corpse. In almost every series of murders, specific individual traits are noted that make it possible to highlight the sadistic handwriting of one or another criminal.

These are, perhaps, the main reasons for serial murders. As you can see from the above examples, often different reasons overlap, prompting the maniac to kill. Ruslan Khamarov This serial killer is an interesting representative of the category of "homeworkers" of the former USSR. He was born in 1973 in Berdyansk. This city of the Zaporozhye region of Ukraine with a population of 120 thousand people ...

.... No. 1. 22. Petin I.A. The main condition for the formation of the criminal orientation of human behavior // Legal psychology. 2007. No. 3. 23. Pisarevskaya E.A. Criminological characteristics of the personality of a violent criminal: the example of Novokuznetsk, Kemerovo region // Actual problems of state and law. Novokuznetsk, 2005.24. Polyanskaya V.A. Directional distortion ...

PSYCHOLOGY FACULTY

COURSE WORK

BY DISCIPLINE

"Legal Psychology"

on the topic:

"The psychological characteristics of the personality of a serial killer"

Performed:

M&P student, group (TP-542)

PhD in Psychology, Associate Professor

Moscow - 2009

Introduction

Theoretical analysis of the psychological characteristics of the personality of a serial killer

1.1 Psychological personality traits of a serial killer

1.2 Prerequisites for the formation of the personality of a serial killer

1.3 Motives for crimes committed by serial killers

Comparative characteristics of serial killers depending on the motive of the crime being committed.

2.1 Psychological analysis of the personality of sexual maniacs

2.2 Psychological analysis of the personality of serial killers - cannibals

2.3 Comparative psychological characteristics of serial sex maniacs and serial killers driven by the thirst for cannibalism

Conclusion

Literature

Introduction

For some time now, the theoretical analysis of the scientific foundations of the recognition and disclosure of serial murders has attracted the attention of both domestic and foreign specialists. The interest shown by scientists and practitioners to this problem is due to the global trend of growth of this type of crime, their special social danger, enormous difficulties faced by operational-search and investigative practice in identifying and exposing serial killers.

Based on the analysis of Russian and foreign literary sources and investigative practice, various points of view are considered regarding the determination of the characteristic features of the personality of serial killers and the crimes they commit. It should be noted that the concept of serial murders cannot be extended indefinitely, as some authors do, referring to these acts the most diverse types of many episodic, multiple crimes that have a very wide range of motivational coloration.

Serial killings can be defined “as repeated, intentional, motivated actions aimed at killing others, committed at intervals in time”.

All repeated murders (and not only these crimes) are due to one or another motive. The only question is what the motives behind the serial killers are. The cited definition does not answer this question. The indication that the criminal acts of serial killers are committed at intervals in time does not change anything either. The time interval is typical for any criminal acts committed repeatedly. There are no one-time criminal actions within the criminal behavior of one person. Each action is separated from other actions by certain time intervals.

By analyzing the signs of various types of serial killers, attempts are being made to create "a kind of average portrait of such a criminal." The portrait is formed by generalizing concepts.

To generalize a concept means to move from a concept with a smaller volume, but with more content. For the formation of any new concept by generalization, it is necessary to reduce the content of the original concept, i.e. exclude specific or individual characteristics of generalized concepts.

In the light of these provisions, it is not difficult to conclude that a general portrait (profile, characteristics) of a serial killer will be less informative compared to portraits of certain types (types) of criminals who commit serial murders. This, however, does not give any grounds for concluding that it is impossible or unnecessary to develop this general portrait. Such portraits have been developed for a long time and are effectively used in practice, since with all the originality of the less general types of portraits of these persons being generalized, they are all characterized by a complex of similar signs (a dysfunctional childhood, the impossibility of voluntary termination of criminal activity, a tendency to criminal fantasies, the choice of victims of the same type, etc.) ).

One of the main hallmarks of serial murder is the unity of motive. Psychologists and criminologists have long proven that the basis of the behavior of a serial killer is not one, but an interweaving, a complex of motives (originality of intentions, the desire to experience pleasure at the sight of suffering and humiliation of victims, etc.). In addition, it would be more accurate to say not about the unity of the motives of behavior of various types of serial killers, but about the similarity of the motives of the behavior of the same criminal when he commits a series of crimes, which serves as one of the important criteria for recognizing in practice that a number of murders were committed by one and by the same face.

In modern conditions, the most important in practical terms is a typological approach to the study of serial killers, contributing to the identification of specific personality traits of certain groups of criminals of this kind ("gangsters", "missionaries", "gerontophiles", etc.), the characteristics of their criminal, up to - and post-criminal behavior and related traces. The usefulness of such research is beyond doubt. Their results are important for practice, not only from the point of view of optimizing the process of recognizing the seriality factor in investigated crimes, but also for differentiating psychological profiles (search portraits), for carrying out a more purposeful search for serial killers.

Object of study - personality traits of a serial killer.

Subject of study– content, characteristics and features of the motivation of the personality of a serial killer.

The purpose of this work - compile and analyze a psychological portrait of the personality of a serial killer, identifying the most characteristic features, conduct a comparative analysis of the personality of a sexual maniac and a murderer - a cannibal

The tasks of the work include:

Review and analyze the personality traits of a serial killer

Identify the most characteristic personality traits of a serial killer

Identify the prerequisites for the development of a serial killer personality

Identify the main motives for the commission of the crime by the murderer

Compare 2 types of serial killers: sex maniacs and serial killers - cannibals

Approaches:

Theoretical approach (familiarization with literary sources on the history of the study of the issue, consideration of theories of various authors)

Research methods: content analysis

Chapter 1

Theoretical analysis of the psychological characteristics of the personality of a serial killer

1.1 Psychological personality traits of a serial killer

Psychological personality traits are understood as a relatively stable set of individual qualities that determine typical forms of behavior.

When studying the phenomenon of serial killers (that is, persons who have committed three or more separate, separated by periods of emotional rest, murders with particular cruelty of people who fall under the image of a victim that has developed in the mind of the criminal), the researcher objectively arises the need to rank the factors that determine the specifics of the psychological the status of a representative of this category of criminals. Among them is the time period during which the serial killer was acting.

What helped Chikatilo, Golovkin, Onuprienko, Holmes, Bundy and others to act for years, shedding rivers of blood? Undoubtedly, some elements of the investigation of these crimes caused difficulties for investigators and operational workers, but there is no direct fault of law enforcement officials in this. Indeed, how can one be suspected of murdering a person if he is perceived positively by everyone around him.

This phenomenon is called the "mask of normality". "The mask of normality" [Shechter H., Everit D. Encyclopedia of serial killers. M., 1998. P.153] - the name of the scientific work of Hervey Cleckley dedicated to the psychopathic personality (1976). In H. Cleckley's work, under the "mask of normality" he understands the ability of psychopaths to appear as an absolutely normal, mentally full-fledged person. Semantic analysis of this term defines it as feigned (artificial) behavior aimed at compliance with the norms accepted in society. The main emphasis of this definition is reduced to the presence of an element of conscious volitional control over behavior on the part of the bearer of the "mask of normality". Without a doubt, most serial killers are characterized by increased intellectual potential, which determines to a certain extent the presence of artistic abilities, but these characteristics do not explain how you can lead a double life for a long time. In other words, the "mask of normality" cannot be explained by deliberate tricks to create a positive image by the criminal, since such attempts will sooner or later become understandable to the people around him.

The manifestation of the true psychological status of a serial killer should have been determined by the mechanisms of mental defense, primarily by the mechanism of repression and sublimation. Repression refers to the process of removing psycho-traumatic thoughts and feelings from consciousness. Sublimation is the transfer of negative personality characteristics into a socially approved sphere. The manifestation of these mechanisms of protection of the psyche would alert the people surrounding the serial killer. However, this does not happen.

Considering the above, we will single out two aspects of the problem under study:

1. In their non-criminal life, in the opinion of an outside observer, most serial killers are highly socially adapted individuals.

2. If such socially adapted behavior of serial killers was the result of pretense, then the people around them would intuitively feel it, or, in any case, they would not be able to characterize serial killers, certainly positively.

Psychological personality traits are understood as a relatively stable set of individual qualities that determine typical forms of behavior.

Considering the above, we will single out two aspects of the problem under study:

1. In their non-criminal life, in the opinion of an outside observer, most serial killers are highly socially adapted individuals.

Based on these two points, it can be argued that the phenomenon of the "mask of normality" is not determined by its semantic meaning. The nature of the "mask of normality" of serial killers is completely different from the one that is defined today.

In order to determine what is the root cause of the formation and existence of the "mask of normality", it seems rational to turn to some of the provisions of psychoanalysis.

The topographic model of the human psyche includes three levels:

1. The unconscious is the deepest and most significant area of \u200b\u200bthe human psyche. The main content is a set of instincts and repressed memories.

2. Preconscious - the level of "available memory", the totality of facial experiences restored by volitional effort. The main content is the experience unclaimed at the moment.

3. Conscious - the level of "real memory". The main content is the experiences being realized at the moment, orientation towards the attitudes of society.

Instincts and vital needs that are in the unconscious are blocked at the level of the preconscious due to the prohibitions localized in the conscious area. To prevent blocked instincts from reaching critical mass, they are excreted in small portions. These findings are called psyche defense mechanisms. These include, in particular, the aforementioned displacement and sublimation mechanisms. It is the defense mechanisms that determine socially approved behavior, although they naturally lead to minor conflict moments that determine a slightly reduced perception of a person by others.

As practice shows, serial killers in general are not characterized by such insignificant conflicts, which leads to the formation of those around them of an ideal spouse, a wonderful father, a wonderful neighbor. Since we cannot observe the consequences of the functioning of the defense mechanism, we are fully entitled to assume that the discharge of the energy of the unconscious occurs in serial killers in a completely different way than in normal people. The most logical position seems to be that such a release of energy occurs immediately at the time of the commission of crimes. In other words, the psyche of a serial killer is focused not on the gradual withdrawal of unconscious energy, but on a one-time surge that bypasses the sphere of the preconscious and conscious. That is why the vast majority of serial killers cannot reconstruct their condition at the time of the murders. It seems that such an outburst of unconscious energy is not analogous to the replacement mechanism, since the latter reduces the output of primitive instincts to socially acceptable, while in the case of an outburst of unconscious energy, there are no socially acceptable limits.

Summarizing the above, we believe that the phenomenon of the "mask of normality" of a serial killer is explained by the fact that the peculiarities of his psyche allow him to dump the entire burden of unconscious tension in a single-handed act, which leads to the disappearance of the prerequisites for the functioning of the mechanisms of protection of the psyche. A serial killer does not pretend to be a normal person, after committing a crime, deprived of the burden of instincts, he is an example of a mentally healthy, absolutely balanced person. Self-actualization [Self-actualization is usually understood as the development of an individual's own concept of ethical stereotypes. It should be noted that, unlike the ethical stereotypes obtained in the process of human socialization, actualized stereotypes are a more optimal form of prohibition. Optimality is explained by the lesser severity of the conflict between the unconscious and conscious spheres, observed in the case of the analysis of self-actualized ethical stereotypes] in the process of murder, in this case, there is a form of psyche balancing.

Some provisions of tantra yoga are devoted to achieving harmony through mastering objects of the external world. Naturally, it is difficult to establish a direct relationship between these provisions and the material in this article, however, at the conceptual level, there is a clear parallel between self-actualization1 in the process of committing murders and development along the path of tantra yoga. It should be noted that the actualization of the personality does not have to be ethically positive, since the element of positivity is reflected in the optimization of mental capabilities in general or in a particular area. In the second case, we observe a typical form of self-actualization characteristic of serial killers.

It is possible that at first glance this conclusion will be unacceptable, but think about what its emotional or rational component does not accept. A scientific position cannot be ethical or unethical, it can only be scientific or unscientific.

By the "mask of normality" of a serial killer, we mean a state of mental stability that arises as a result of a momentary release of unconscious energy.

In the methodology for constructing the psychological profile of an unknown criminal, the following types of "mask of normality" can be distinguished, classified according to the degree of adaptation in the society of its carrier:

1. A pronounced "mask of normality" - its bearer, in the eyes of the observer, is harmoniously inscribed in society. Representatives of this group of criminals are A. Chikatilo, H.H. Holmes, T. Bandi, A. Slivko, P. Bernardo, G. Mikhasevich.

2. A moderately expressed "mask of normality" - its bearer, in the opinion of an observer, is inconspicuous in society. Representatives of this group of criminals are D. Dahmer, S. Golovkin, A. Azimov, V. Kulik.

3. Little expressed "mask of normality" - its bearer, in the opinion of the observer, is characterized by antisocial properties. Representatives of this group of criminals are E. Kemper, G. Lyukas, O. Kuznetsov, R. Speck, M. Dutrou

It can be seen from this classification that due to a certain conventionality of the basis of the classification, the classified groups, at first glance, are also rather arbitrary. However, let us consider the refutation of this provision using the example of the first group of criminals.

The pronounced "mask of normality" of a serial killer manifests itself primarily in cases when the offender gets to know the victim in public places. For example, Ted Bundy got to know his victims in busy areas of college campuses.

Also, evidence of the high "mask of normality" of the offender is the establishment of the fact of the victim's voluntary consent to go somewhere with a serial offender. Examples are the overwhelming majority of crimes committed by A. Chikatilo.

Naturally, the above classification is rather arbitrary, as any classification in which a person acts as an object is conventional, but it seems that in this case the classified groups are quite clearly distinguished. So, if we consider the relationship between the degree of manifestation of the "mask of normality" (MN) of a serial killer and the place of acquaintance with his victims, we will see a fairly clear isolation of representatives of all three classification groups.

The definition of the "mask of normality" factor is extremely important for building a psychological profile of an unknown criminal. Analysis of the biographical and psychological characteristics of serial killers makes it possible to assert with confidence that there is a relationship between the "mask of normality" parameter and the parameters of marital status, an element of dominance in family relations, educational level, social activity, communicativeness in communication, and the presence of a criminal record. So, in particular, a criminal with a high degree of "mask of normality" is characterized as a positive family man, often without dominance in family life, with the exception of a number of areas (Chikatilo, in general, obeyed his wife, but he determined priorities in his sexual life). A high "mask of normality" often corresponds to a high educational level and the absence of a criminal record, an exception here may be convictions for embezzlement.

The positive perception of the offender by others is also due to a high degree of contact, understood as openness and a high degree of social activity, which creates the illusion of awareness of the criminal's personal life among others.

The "mask of normality" of a serial killer is closely related to the modus operandi of the perpetrator. Achievement of a state of mental stability arising as a result of a one-time release of unconscious energy is possible only with a unique set of circumstances, in which each element of the deformed psyche finds an outlet into the environment. It is easy to understand that due to the stable characteristics of these deformed elements, the way they are pulled out will also be stable. This explains the stereotyped modus operandi of a serial killer. Modus operandi acts as an optimal form of achieving the state of "mask of normality", such an approach to modus operandi allows explaining some elements of the theory of criminal programs developed by E.G. Samovichev [Modestov N.S. Maniacs ... Blind death. M., 1977]. There is a certain mystical element in this theory, but this does not determine its unscientific nature, rather, on the contrary, it directs it to the formation of the idea of \u200b\u200bthe incompleteness of modern scientific knowledge.

The theory of E.G. Samovicheva is one of the few aimed at explaining the nature of serial murders. One of the functions of this theory is to explain the fact that most serial killers come to the attention of law enforcement agencies, making an unexpected blatant blunder. Thus, V. Kuzmin was detained by random passers-by while trying to take with him a future victim - a child; Burov's killer was accidentally identified by the victim's relatives; the maniac Kashintsev was caught red-handed (sleeping next to a strangled woman); N. Dzhumagaliev was detained only because he began to show his friends the remains of the victim in a drunken state. The volume of the article is limited, however, based on the investigated materials of the investigation, we can conclude that, on average, three out of five serial killers were accidentally caught. Foreign practice also has a large number of such examples, starting with Kh.Kh. Holmes and D. Dahmer and ending with T. Bundy and G.L. Lucas. Indeed, very often the exposure of a criminal is not the result of the activities of law enforcement agencies, but, at first glance, is provoked by the criminal himself.

E.G. Samovichev explains such a provocation by the laws of the completion of a criminal program, conditioned by the factors of rigid determinism of the continuum of human existence.

It seems that using a new explanation for the serial killer's "mask of normality" phenomenon can be used to analyze the completion of a criminal program at a less abstract level. The situation in which a serial killer makes a fatal mistake can be illustrated by a number of provisions:

· The state of mental stability arising from the simultaneous release of unconscious energy causes the emergence of a rigid relationship between the element of mental stability and the need to commit crimes.

· Often (in relation to a specific serial killer, this number is individual), the crimes committed lead to the fact that the defense mechanisms of the psyche atrophy. Indeed, why are complex ways of withdrawing a part of the unconscious energy necessary when a simple one-time release is available?

· Atrophy of defense mechanisms against the background of more and more frequent use of a one-step release of energy leads to the final degradation of social stereotypes based on the conscious level of the psyche.

· Due to the deformation of the sphere of the conscious, the perception of the world occurs according to the canons of the unconscious, the motto of which is the realization of needs without taking into account the peculiarities of the external world.

· The perception of the world at the level of the unconscious leads to the fact that the factors of the external environment (social disapproval, the possibility of criminal law consequences) are not given special importance. As a result, the serial killer does not deliberately provoke law enforcement agencies to interrupt his criminal program, he simply becomes unable to take into account the very possibility of the influence of law enforcement agencies on his fate, due to disorientation in the world of social prohibitions.

The results of an empirical study of the personality of serial criminals in comparison with law-abiding citizens, obtained over the past two decades, indicate the presence of some distinctive features in the structure of personality.

Noteworthy is the study of the value-normative system carried out by A.R. Ratinov and his collaborators, which revealed significant differences between serial criminals and law-abiding citizens in the level of development of legal consciousness, in relation to various legal institutions of society.

Thus, the maximum solidarity with the criminal law and the practice of its application is expressed among law-abiding citizens and, to a much lesser extent, among serial criminals, although their legal awareness is about the same, and in part (knowledge of the articles of the Criminal Code) has an inverse relationship.

The degree of assimilation of legal values \u200b\u200band norms as "friends" among criminals is much lower than among law-abiding citizens. The main motive that keeps criminals from further illegal actions is the fear of undesirable consequences, and not agreement with the established norms and rules for their observance, as is typical for law-abiding citizens.

There were revealed significant differences in the estimated attitude towards law enforcement agencies and their activities among the surveyed groups. Criminals assess the punitive practice as excessively harsh, especially for those types of crimes for which they themselves have been convicted, treat the judiciary with caution and distrust, which is not typical for the overwhelming majority of law-abiding citizens.

The study of the specifics of the value-normative system of the personality of a serial criminal is still not enough to reveal his psychological essence and, accordingly, to identify the causes of criminal behavior. That is why an attempt to study the psychological characteristics (traits) of criminals and their individual categories, undertaken under the leadership of Yu. M. Antonyan, is a significant contribution to the development of criminal psychology.

Yu.M. Antonyan found that criminals from non-criminals at the statistical level differ in very significant psychological characteristics, which determine their illegal behavior. In other words, the concept of a criminal's personality can be filled with this psychological content. Since these psychological traits are involved in the formation of the moral character of a person, there is reason to assert that criminals differ from non-criminals in general by their moral and legal specifics.

The results of the study make it possible to give a psychological portrait of the examined serial criminals and to highlight their characteristic personality traits.

First of all, criminals are distinguished by poor social fitness, general dissatisfaction with their position in society. They have such a trait as impulsiveness, which manifests itself in reduced self-control of their behavior, rash actions, emotional immaturity, and infantilism.

Moral and legal norms do not have a significant impact on their behavior. Such people usually either do not understand what society requires of them, or understand, but do not want to fulfill these requirements. Since such persons have violated or deformed regulatory control, they assess the social situation not from the standpoint of moral and legal requirements, but on the basis of personal experiences, grievances, desires. In a word, they are characterized by a persistent violation of social adaptation.

They are also characterized by violations in the field of communication: the inability to establish contacts with others, the inability to take the point of view of another, to look at oneself from the outside. This, in turn, reduces the possibility of adequate orientation, produces the emergence of affectively saturated ideas associated with the idea of \u200b\u200bhostility from the surrounding people and society as a whole. All this taken together forms such traits as self-absorption, isolation, isolation, on the one hand, and aggressiveness, suspicion, on the other. As a result, the correct assessment of the situation becomes even more difficult, since the behavior is controlled by affective attitudes, and the actions of others are viewed as dangerous, threatening individuals, which leads to illegal ways of getting out of the situation.

To a large extent, the traits inherent in all criminals are expressed in serial killers. At the same time, they have pronounced homogeneous personal properties.

Serial killers are most often impulsive people with high anxiety and strong emotional excitability, who primarily focus on their own experiences, and in their behavior are guided only by their own interests. They have no idea about the value of another person's life, the slightest empathy. They are unstable in their social connections and relationships, prone to conflicts with others. Serial killers are distinguished from other criminals by emotional instability, high reactivity of behavior, exceptional subjectivity (bias) of perception and assessment of what is happening. They are internally disorganized, their high anxiety gives rise to such traits as suspicion, suspiciousness, vindictiveness, which in most cases are combined with anxiety, tension, irritability.

Wednesday is felt by serial killers as hostile. In this regard, it is difficult for them to correctly assess the situation, and this assessment easily changes under the influence of affect. An increased susceptibility to elements of interpersonal interaction leads to the fact that the individual is easily irritated during any social contacts perceived as a threat to him.

Such people have rigid (rigid) ideas that are difficult to change. All the difficulties and troubles that they face in life are considered by them as the result of someone's hostile actions. They blame others for their failures, thereby relieving themselves of the burden of responsibility.

Serial killers are the most sensitive to the sphere of personal honor, they have painful vanity combined with an overestimated (inadequate) self-esteem. The constant affective experience that the less worthy have significantly more benefits than they are, makes them want to defend their rights, and they can play the role of "fighters for justice." Therefore, they can commit a "just" murder not only during robberies, when, as it were, values \u200b\u200bare redistributed, but also out of revenge or jealousy, when personal honor is allegedly upheld, and even when committing hooligan actions.

Serial killers are characterized by emotional disturbances, psychological and social alienation, difficulties in establishing contacts, isolation and lack of communication. These persons also experience difficulties in assimilating moral and legal norms. Most often, they commit crimes against a person or a situation in connection with the accumulated affect, without seeing (or not wanting to see) another way of resolving the conflict.

Serial killers tend to endow other people (by the mechanism of projection) with traits, motives inherent in themselves, namely: aggressiveness, hostility, vindictiveness. This leads to the fact that they begin to perceive others as hostile and aggressive. Because of this, by committing an act of violence, the serial killer believes that he, in this way, protects his life, his honor, as well as the interests of other people. Thus, these persons are distinguished not only by a high susceptibility in interpersonal relationships, but also by their distorted assessment. Violent actions on their part usually take place according to the principle of "short circuit", when even an insignificant reason immediately causes destructive acts.

The average psychological portrait of a serial killer is as follows: age 35 - 37 years old, previously convicted once or twice, including for a violent crime, addiction to alcohol abuse, impulsive manifestations of aggression and conflict, convicted of premeditated murder, often with a special cruelty. By nature, he is closed, autistic (immersed in himself), pessimistic, has difficulties in communication and adaptation, the feeling of guilt is overestimated, sensitive, irritable, prone to affective reactions, suspicious, anxious, closed on the sensory perception of reality, with a low, often suppressed background of mood ... General aggressiveness is generally reduced, but with an innate tendency to verbal aggression, the level of eroticism is overestimated, the level of intelligence is below average, mental activity is reduced, logical thinking is often blocked by affective experiences. Shyness, self-doubt are revealed, low self-esteem is combined with an overestimation of personal suffering in order to avoid or reduce responsibility for what they have done.

He is inclined to neglect moral and legal norms, is focused primarily on obtaining personal gain. Internally undisciplined, behavior is often motivated by random drives, individualist, neglecting collective interests. The level of self-control is reduced, tends to adapt to the conditions of especially severe imprisonment. The need for constant restraint and self-control often triggers anxious, neurotic reactions.

A psychological examination carried out by the staff psychologist of the colony V. V. Popov showed that almost all convicts are characterized by the presence of severe psychotraumas caused by a committed crime, arrest, imposition of a death sentence, and the expectation of whether the execution will be carried out or not; long, in some cases even up to five years, being on death row.

The most difficult experiences for serial killers serving life sentences are caused by the following circumstances:

Feeling of guilt towards victims and their families - 32.8%;

Feelings of guilt towards themselves and their families - 37.2%;

Lack of communication with relatives, rupture of relations with them - 56.3%;

Loss of freedom - 46.9%;

Experiencing personal insolvency, the inability to change anything in their position - 42.2%;

Restriction of communication with other convicts - 17.2%;

Lack of prospects for release - 59.4%;

Change in the usual way of life, monotony of life in the colony - 43.8%.