Thread: Serial Killers

I think they're pretty cool guys. I'd enjoy having a drink with anyone who has no qualms with just killing a *****.

In biological terms, I would imagine serial killers have certain parts of their brains that function differently. Frontal cortex damage is probably a pretty consistent feature amongst the most violent - this part of the brain is in part responsible for overriding our base emotions and making moral decisions instead of emotional reactions.

Interestingly, 25% of death row inmates have profound frontal cortex damage.

Every serial killer would certainly make an interesting case-subject for seeing just how differently the human brain can be wired in childhood. Childhood trauma is often behind these faulty brain channels.

I saw an interesting interview with James Gilligan (James Gilligan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia), who has spent much of his life working with the most violent offenders in society, and one common thread between all of them is that they all suffered abuse as a child, beyond anything that Gilligan would even have thought to apply the term "child abuse" to, that's how horrific a childhood that these killers have had.

Contrary to what a lot of people think, schizophrenia has nothing to do with it - schizophrenics are far less violent than the average person.

Sweet thread, In Winta! Very fresh...I would like to listen to some of these interviews and ponder before I comment, but I think these need be added!

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErB0R4wlB64]Jeffrey Dahmer Interview - Extended Footage - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4u2F1lh6Fc]The Night Stalker Serial Killer Richard Ramirez Interview - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzTCaS36de0]John Wayne Gacy 1992 prison interview Serial Killer - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyJ0CSSpccA]Serial Killer Interview 1 - YouTube[/ame]

Enjoy.

^thats the nature of the american media, make a sick killer into a celebrity.

Dexter is a personal hero of mine.

Originally Posted by Rubato

I find the fascination with serial killers more interesting than the serial killers themselves, nobody likes a murderer but once they've done it enough in a few interesting ways they seem to become glorified.

morbid curiosity is perfectly natural, and any inquisitive mind should take an interest such abnormal psychology that serial killers have - it's incredibly interesting to see just how wrong the human brian can go.

i watch dexter but to be honest i dont root for him. i watch out of morbid curiosity...

serial killers should be executed. i dont care if they want to study why one believes his neighbors dog is speaking to him, or their childhoods. i had a bad childhood i dont run around shanking people.

Originally Posted by downlow

serial killers should be executed. i dont care if they want to study why one believes his neighbors dog is speaking to him, or their childhoods. i had a bad childhood i dont run around shanking people.

if we execute them all we'll never understand anything about them. Thankfully the people in charge of the justice system think beyond petty vengeance. Moral judgments are frankly a waste of time and do nothing but hinder understanding.

It's also worth asking, who is actually to blame? If someone takes a huge blow to the head as a child, severely damaging their frontal cortex, how could they possibly be blamed for their behaviour thereafter? If someone is born with some kind of brain defect, how is it their fault that they become killers?

Killers need to be removed from society for the safety of society, but murdering them is letting down their victims and letting down all future victims of violent crime.

Originally Posted by sugarcane

if we execute them all we'll never understand anything about them. Thankfully the people in charge of the justice system think beyond petty vengeance. Moral judgments are frankly a waste of time and do nothing but hinder understanding.

It's also worth asking, who is actually to blame? If someone takes a huge blow to the head as a child, severely damaging their frontal cortex, how could they possibly be blamed for their behaviour thereafter? If someone is born with some kind of brain defect, how is it their fault that they become killers?

Killers need to be removed from society for the safety of society, but murdering them is letting down their victims and letting down all future victims of violent crime.

youre such a bleeding heart. so if some jagoff rapes and murders a bunch of preteen boys we should study him? we have scientific data on jagoffs who have done it already.
from what i have read in my short life its not injury or birth defect that causes this but environment. is that to blame? yes. is that an excuse for their actions? **** no.
please expound on your last paragraph for i dont think there is a victim dead or alive who wants to see a sick piece of sh!t get treated semi-well.

ive worked with violent criminals and guess what? they feel like i do. youre torturing, raping and killing innocent people. prepare to die!

sure, the death sentence in the states. and lulz how you dont truly understand the american penal system and execution.

Originally Posted by downlow

youre such a bleeding heart. so if some jagoff rapes and murders a bunch of preteen boys we should study him? we have scientific data on jagoffs who have done it already.
from what i have read in my short life its not injury or birth defect that causes this but environment. is that to blame? yes. is that an excuse for their actions? **** no.
please expound on your last paragraph for i dont think there is a victim dead or alive who wants to see a sick piece of sh!t get treated semi-well.

ive worked with violent criminals and guess what? they feel like i do. youre torturing, raping and killing innocent people. prepare to die!

labels labels labels! In what way am I a bleeding heart? Did I mention anywhere about forgiveness? no, I certainly did not.

this is a very typical response to this, and one of the horrible flaws in human methods of thinking - he is against punishment, so he must be for forgiveness. Another one of many false dichotomies that are rife in our cultures today.

If everyone in the world thought along your lines there DL, progress in any department would never be made because you can't study anything because that makes you a sympathiser of some kind. Thankfully that isn't the case, and violence is becoming more well understood all the time.

As for your example, if someone rapes and kills a bunch of preteen boys, then don't you think it might be helpful to find out why? what was the cause?

If you refuse to even look for an answer to that, then the blood of further victims is on your hands. understanding is the key, and it's an understanding of serial killers that allows them to be caught.

As for frontal cortex damage - it's no excuse for their actions but it goes a long way to explaining their behaviour. If you have a damaged frontal cortex you simply do not have the mental capacity to control your behaviour. If you cannot control your behaviour, how could you possibly be blamed? This isn't an excuse, this is just biology.

Now, that is not saying these people should be freed and be forgiven, but it shows how a death penalty is completely wrong, unjustified and counter-productive.

Originally Posted by Rubato

are we talking about the death sentence now? honestly I don't see the point of a justice system if you're not at least going to try to take the moral highground, an eye for an eye doesn't exactly set a good example.

a very good point

a good point? i forgot sick ****s who do these things deserve everyone to take the moral high ground.