Serial Killers In The Last Twenty Years example essay topic

In the Mind of Serial Killers We can all agree that serial killers are unpredictable scary people but when it comes to why they kill, everyone has a different view. In my research paper I will get into the mind of a serial killer and try to figure out what exactly sets them into uncontrollable rage. John Wayne Gay, Jeffery Dahmer, Henry Lee Lucas, Charles Manson, Timothy McVeigh, Ann Rule, Angel Resend ez, David Berkowitz, Albert De Salvo, Ott is Toole, Eddie Gein, and Herbert Mullin, what do all of these serial killers have in common and why did they kill? This is the question I am going to answer in my paper. I am going to examine several killers and their childhoods, mental disorders, and types of killings they performed. I choose this topic because I believe it is important to know why serial killers have been around for hundreds of years.

If there were more studies on them then I believe we may be more able to prevent their vicious killings. If there are several things in common between several different serial killers then it would be safe to say that those things can be predictors of what is to come. If for example, I researched all of the serial killers in the last twenty years and they were all beaten as children and had alcoholic parents, then it would seem that beating children and having alcoholic parents is certainly a common factor and may predict their future. So in my paper I will come up with a detailed profile and common themes between the serial killers in the last twenty years. The idea of getting into the mind of a serial killer can either be frightening or fascinating, or both. Everyone is affected by the senseless killings of these serial killers.

I can't imagine a person that was not affected in some way or another by the Charles Manson murders or the Timothy McVeigh bombing. Although you may not know somebody that was killed by a serial killer, you have been affected. My audience for this paper would be anyone that has a respect for freedom and the right to live. You may not want to hear all the gruesome details and that is okay, but I believe it is important that we become more aware of why we can't stop these things from happening. We have been able to reduce crimes such as rape and theft by making ourselves more aware of how and why those people do what they do. We have been informed on how to protect ourselves from them, serial killers however, strike at random and it's hard to watch out for them.

It seems like all that we know about serial killers is the basic "serial killer profile", white male in mid twenties, lives alone and is shy and doesn't have many friends. When and if the police finally catch the person, half the time the profile was way off. I hope you find my paper interesting and informative. May we all be more aware of our surroundings and hope we are never victims of such madness. My research strategy for this paper is to study several serial killers in depth, through the internet and books.

I am hoping to have some kind of interview but I'm not sure who I would do it on. So far I have read a lot of books filled with information on serial killers in general. I have also looked at a bunch of internet sites. I have not verified the sites yet though to make sure they are accurate and reliable. I plan on going back to the library and gathering some more information. There are several different types of books on serial killers.

I need to weed through the books to see which ones will be the most beneficial to me. Working

Bibliography

1. B ardsley, Marilyn. Court TV's Crime Library. "All For Love" 8/20/01 Access date: 10/10/03 web killers. html 2. Moss, Jason. Last Victim: A True-Life Journey into the Mind of the Serial Killer. Warner Books Incorporated. Upper Seattle River, New Jersey: Jan. 2000.
3. Line decker, Clifford L. The Man Who Killed Boys. Random House Publishing. Need han Heights, Massachusetts: March 19924.
Schechter, Harold. The A to Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers. Pocket Books Publishing. Revised ed. San Francisco: Oct. 1997.