WHAT IS THE KILLER BELOW?

WHAT IS THE KILLER BELOW?

A serial killer is someone who kills at least three victims one by one in a series of successive murders with some sort of psychological satisfaction as his main motive. This need for psychological gratification distinguishes serial killers from other types of killers who usually kill for things like money or revenge. Due to the element of psychological instability in serial killings, many serial killers are finally put in a mental hospital if and when caught they show features that their thoughts are indeed disturbed.

Though many people thought that serial killings as a new crime appeared in the 20th century, serial killings were a long time ago. Documents from China, for example, indicate that serial killers had been in action before the 20th century and some of the famous serial killers such as Erzsebet Bathory and Jack the Ripper appeared before the 20th century. Nevertheless, it is true that the number of serial killings has increased in the 20th century, perhaps due to increased population or due to social and cultural shifts.

In general, a person does not start his life as a serial killer. The change from a normal person to a serial killer may start from childhood, but this change takes place gradually, starting with small, burning incidents then likes to torture animals and then likes to violence to humans. The reason why a person develops into a serial killer is never known even though many of the serial killers are showing signs of trauma and violence in their childhood.

Psychologists believe that all serial killers show some form of antisocial personality disorder as well as other psychiatric conditions that cause their view of the world to be fundamentally different from others. Many psychologists then divide serial killers into "organized" serial killer groups (who take advantage of their high intelligence to plot their crimes) and "disorganized" serial killers who commit their crimes in a more disorganized way and under existing intelligence norms.

A serial killer can also be classified by the type of murder he does. Some serial killers commit their crimes because they are driven by some kind of vision, for example, while others do so because of pure hedonistic pleasure. Some serial killers, like Jack the Ripper, are serial killers carrying missions, using their crimes to send a message, and some killer kill to gain feelings of power and control.

When caught there is a serial killer in a society, community members can be very depressed because they are afraid of being a potential target, especially if the cases that occur show the victim randomly selected. Security and legal parties may employ psychological staff and other experts who can be deployed to the scene to apply their knowledge in the investigation so that the killer is expected to be arrested as soon as possible.