Tiffy

When one thinks of the words serial killer, what exactly comes to mind? Questions may form as in what caused them to do it or how could they do it. Images may form in your mind of what a serial killer may look like, sound like, or even dress like. Thinking even deeper on this frightening sight of a serial killer may keep you on edge. In all reality, according to the Vancouver Sun a serial killer is defined as, someone who commits more than three murders over a period that lasts more than one month. For the most part, serial killers commit murder for some sort of mental benefit. In my point of view this means that a serial killer does not share a certain type of look, sound, or clothing type but what they do share is motivation and leading behaviors. One theory (diathesis-stress model) suggests that all serial killers have a propensity to act and think a certain way due to environmental stressors. Through a combination of other factors such as self-esteem and self-control coupled with social skill issues, the person then retreats into serial killer mode. From there the killer believes that they can correct their problems through killing which starts serial killing.

After realizing that the act of a serial killer comes from stress of the environment mixed with a combination of other mental and emotional stressors another question may arise. What are the different types of serial killers? Serial killers may be divided into four categories visionary killers, mission-oriented serial killers, hedonistic killers, and power/control killers. Visionary serial killers are categorized as being out of touch with reality and are noted as hearing voices in their head; mission-oriented serial killers state that their life's mission is to kill certain kinds of people; hedonistic serial killers gain their thrills from the joy of the act and these are the majority of serial killers; power/control serial killers seek more satisfaction through bloodlust and having complete...