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Osvaldo Sarduy
Professor Ferrer
ENC1102
7 November 2017
Introduction
A serial killer is defined as a person who murders three or more victims in a period of
over four weeks, with periods of time between each murder. This topic is of much relevance to
me due to the fact that I am pursuing a career in the police department and the FBI. In my
opinion, serial killers are the anomalies of the human race in the way they perceive, which is
why I take special interest in them. Therefore, my combined interests in law enforcement,
investigation, and psychology pave the way for my research on serial killers and their origins.
Not only does this research ultimately lead me to an answer, but it might provide law
enforcement some insight as to the origins of some chronic offenders, ultimately possibly
helping our society. The question I seek to answer with my research is: Are serial killers most
likely born, learned, or brought about by traumatic experiences? And how so?
Some notable research has been done on this topic and others similar to it. The first of
these that I examined was the academic article by Shirelle Phelps, titled “Dahmer, Jeffrey Lionel
(1960 – 1994)”. This article reviewed Jeffreys life, his crimes, his sentencing and eventual death.
In pursuing the cause for his serial killing, this article was helpful providing clues about his life
might have pointed to the possible cause of his crimes. The second source of importance was the
eBook by Robert D. Keppel and William J. Birnes, titled “The Psychology of Serial Killer
Investigations : The Grisly Business Unit”. This book provided information on the psychology
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behind a serial killer and the investigation process that detectives
have gone through in famous
cases. This eBook was of help in my paper providing insight into the thought process or
psychology of a serial killer; this revealed cues as to why their crimes were committed. The last
source of importance to this research was the academic article written by Jennifer L. Murray,
titled “The Role of Sexual, Sadistic, and Misogynistic Fantasy in Mass and Serial Killing”. This
article spoke of several mass and serial murderers, their crimes, and the relationship of all this to
sexual fantasies. This article was an excellent addition to my research because it provided some
valuable insight to the source of serial killing which directly answered the research question as
well. After lengthy research on previous studies and writings, I hypothesize that if an individual
lacks superego development due to traumatic experiences with their parents(as a child), then this
