Serial KillersEssay Preview: Serial KillersReport this essayWith the combination of a very powerful media and a society fascinated with gruesome, sadistic crimes, modern serial killers have been put in the spotlight. We are enraptured with serial killers so much, that we pay seven dollars to go see a movie where everyone except the bad guys gets strangled, mutilated, or shot- and enjoy it in some sick way. The media goes out of its way to glamorize murder and terrify the public. We support killers like Charles Manson on Death Row with our tax dollars. In fact, we support them with more than that.. Serial killers are becoming as popular as rock stars.
I can say that I am fascinated with the serial killer. But since when did we condone the practice of serial killers? Why arent they put to death promptly after being convicted, instead of being kept alive for the media to interview? You have to wonder who is making money in this. When we allow people like this to dominate our media, its like were saying its all right to murder. Did society and the media forget that the victims of those serial killers are us and our families? Its not the serial killers that affected the twentieth century so much, but the spotlight that allowed them to grow.
The question of whether or not man is predetermined at birth to lead a life of crime is a question that has been debated for decades. Are serial killers born with the lust for murder, or are their desires developed through years of abuse and torment? Many believe it is impossible for an innocent child to be born with the capability to commit a horrible act such as murder. But at the same time, how could we have corrupted society so much as to turn an innocent child into a homicidal maniac? Forensic psychologists have picked apart the minds of serial killers to find an answer as to what forces them to commit such perverse acts. Their ultimate goal is to learn how to catch a serial killer before he commits his first crime.
Lorenzo Pomeroy is a psychology professor in the University of Texas at San Antonio. He holds a doctorate in Forensic Psychology and can be reached at [email protected]
Read More: The Case of James Taylor, author of The Power of Mental Illness