Everyone wants to get inside of a Serial Killers mind to get the complete understanding why they do what they do. We have so many theories that could give different understandings as to the thought process, the background that could have affect that person. What motivates them to kill innocent people and the patterns they choose to keep when killing. We have so many serial killers though out history those that kill only men, those who kill women, even those who kill by zodiac signs. Throughout this paper, we will get the complete understanding as to what is a serial killers motive.
One of the biggest theories for a serial killer will be the power-control theory. Power-control theory is getting that understanding that social control is social stratification within a family. (Dolding, n.d.) With this it all comes down to how the person was raised as a child and their gender plays a huge role in this as well. Looking at different serial killers you should notice that they did not have the best upbringing. Serial killer’s look to be the one in power and in control of a situation, they prey on the weak and that is something they enjoy. If we consider a serial killer’s background it will show they have suffered from abuse or lack of attention form their parent, or their parents did not parent. Like for example Jeffery Dahmer would take road kill and dissolve their bodies to get to the bones because he was fascinated by bones. Now during this his parents did not see anything wrong with it and they were to concern with their own life to watch Jeffery. Power-control theory talks about the structural conditions that affect the nature and effectiveness of parenting. (Edelstein, 2016)
Social Control Theory is about how anyone can commit a crime if they have motive and have the will power to commit it. Ted Bundy is a good example of Social control theory because once he found out that his sister was his mother he resented his family. He committed crimes because he did not know how to deal with the negative attachment to his family. His motive all started with his family and he went on to be the U.S most notorious serial killer’s.
Social Structure Theory is all about socioeconomic troubles that lead those into crime but under this one is multiple theory’s such as Social Disorganization theory (Hall, 2011). This theory is focused on the environmental condition, such as high school dropout or bad neighborhoods. so, if we apply this to Jeffery Dahmer he did not have the best child hood and he was also the outcast in high school or even at times the class clown, he was seeking the attention form others. He did not have the best parents but he did not come from a terrible neighborhood. So, what was Jeffery’s motive to kill he found men that where lost or seeking an attention that he could provide for them.
Strain theory talks about discord in their goals that they have set for themselves and the must attain this goal. (Hall, 2011) An example would be a man named Richard Ramirez who just wanted to steal from a woman and she did not have anything for him to steal so he killed her. After this he had killed a total of 12 people in this lifetime. His motive started as simple as burglary and it lead to killing. Just like Dahmer goal was to see bones inside of animals that later lead to seeking the understanding of human bones. They both started with a goal that lead them to more serious crimes that they continue. With this theory, their motive is that they committed the crime once and did not get caught so why not commit the crime again.
Cultural Deviance Theory is about developing their own subcultures, and they do not conform to societal rules. (Hall, 2011) So, for me this is a theory we can find in a serial killer they surround themselves with things or people who make them think what they are doing is okay and they continue to commit crimes. Like for example Jeffery Dahmer keeps bones of those he kills, so he is reminded of his kills and this can trigger him to kill more people so we can grow his collection. We also have Anomie theory that can apply to serial killers and their motives. One theory most might refer to would be general strain theory because people believe that if someone in their family was evil or killed then there offspring might follow in their footsteps and commit crimes just as bad as their relative. The one example I found for this was about John Wayne Gacy who grow up in an Irish catholic family and he had a bad relationship with his father who used to abuse him. John still wanted to get this father approval even though his father was hurting him. When you think about it this just should Gacy that abusing someone was okay and might be the only way his father would truly love him. His motive was to gain the approval of his father which he never received. (Hall, 2011)
Another important thing that relates to theories in criminal justice and serial killers are whether they are organized or disorganized. (Edelstein, 2016) So, Jeffery Dahmer is one of the most organized serial killer’s because he had a routine and he would find victims at bars and pubs and then invite them to his house to have some drinks. He had planned his crimes before he commits them, this would help him achieve his outcome that motived him to keep performing his crimes. (Edelstein, 2016)Ted Bundy was also and organized serial Killer. The reason behind this was because they could go out and interact with people and get people to trust them enough to go out places with him they were not social awkward. Now this leads us to those disorganized seral killers, such as Herbert William Mullin. He was a sloppy serial killer he committed crimes without planning and covering his tracks. (Edelstein, 2016)
Profiling serial killer’s is just like the theory labeling because we are just trying to get an understanding as why they choose to kill people. They have the motive to choose victim that full under their requirements. They can also just have a fantasy that they want to act out and get some memorabilia from the crime they just committed. Modus operandi is about how the behavior of a serial killer is escalating because now they have grown this fascination with their crimes they start to change behavior but also start to make mistakes. The you have those serial killers that have a signature which is left behind to show every time they kill it was them. Some serial killer’s might even stage crimes but not because they are trying to be hidden something but it might just be a part of their motive. Now this can be considered labeling theory because we are profiling and giving this serial killer a title that will stick with him forever. (Knutsson, 1977) For example, we have a serial kill that would kill people based on their zodiac sign and the media started to call him the Zodiac killer. We have now give this criminal a label but we also have given him even more motive to commit more crimes.