Fame and Fortune on serial killers

This article researched the possible link between culture of celebrity and modernity is possibly linked to becoming a serial killer. This seems to be a little far fetched, but the research has to do with the nurturing argument of becoming a serial killer. The researcher studied many cases were a person comes into a sum of money or gains noticeable status in the community to see if serial killer trains in personality and in action start to develop. They studied many age groups as well as diverse cases such as Hitler and Hollywood celebrities. They concluded that modernity is just a context and does not dictate whether someone becomes a serial killer. Also, that celebrity culture, power and money are not valid indicators to becoming a serial killer. The researcher was led to believe that more "nature" arguments support the idea of becoming or being a serial killer. This research paper was interesting because it is the first time that I have read about these kind of factors influencing someones life path in such a negative way that they become killers. At first I was a little hesitant about how these factors were relevant, but I really enjoyed reading about it. The researchers hypothesis made a lot of sense and it was a very interesting paper. To read it, visit: http://cmc.sagepub.com/content/5/2/168.full.pdf+html

Written by Courtney Milonja

Personality Disorders

This scholarly article looks at how people with psychological disorders such as antisocial, schizoid, paranoid, emotionally unstable and histrionic personality disorders are all more likely to be serial killers if not properly nurtured as a young child. People who do in fact suffer from these disorders and are serial killers are very difficult for forensic psychologists to analyze. They tend to be deceptive and either have incredible illusions or are completely disconnected with social norms. This article suggests the treatment that the serial could follow to improve his or her condition and try to make them acknowledge that their actions are completely immoral and irrational. People with personality disorders who seek treatment require an enormous amount of time and patients. The first step in treatment is usually to get the persons trusts and start working at issues such as ethnocentrism and their usually disconnected view of the world. This paper also tested drugs such as Lithium and other anti psychotic medications to view their affects. According to one of the main researchers,  "the principles of the treatment are the same as in any chronic condition. In other words, the basic conditions cannot be changed, but there is an attempt to relieve the symptomatology" (Morana, Stone, Abdalla-Filho, 2006, pp. 74). The article conclude by saying that the best treatment option for serial killers is to keep them in custody for the length of the treatment so that they can be under surveillance. Most treatment is seen as ineffective because of the high rate of recidivism. It was proven in this paper with the rates of recidivism decreased if the patient stayed in the treatment facility. To read the full article visit:  http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rbp/v28s2/en_04.pdf

Written by Courtney Milonja

Not criminally responsible versus guilty, but mentally ill

In this research paper, the authors George B. Palmero and Richard D. Knudten explore the insanity plea in court and study the particular case of Jeffrey Dahmer. They researched and questioned the plea of not criminally responsible in court to study the frequency and success of court battles on serial killers in American courts. Their research found that families and victims much prefer the title guilty but mental ill than not criminally responsible. This is because the sentence acknowledges the fact that the person is guilty, whereas when declared not criminally responsible for your actions, the sentence tends to be a little less severe. In their research paper they had many questions that could not be answer such as the nature vs nurture debate on killers and serial offenders, the legitimacy of the pleas in court related to mental illness and if in the generations to come pleading not criminally responsible will be abolished. Their research paper was complete on certain levels, but too ambitious concerning many of their research questions. It was interesting to read about the differences between the their definitions of not criminally responsible versus guilty but mentally ill. I was hoping for a more complete conclusion on their part, but it was still a very interesting paper they produced in the end. To read the full research paper visit :http://ijo.sagepub.com/content/38/1/3.full.pdf+html

Written by Courtney Milonja