My Serial Killer Theory :)

[Errata]

Well said Pcdunn, I also read that book and that is where I got the 4% from. A terrific, if not scary, read.

If you look up the work of Kevin Dutton you'll be shocked to learn that he purports many advantages to being a psychopath and has written a book about their wisdom...

This gave me a whole new perspective that I, quite frankly, find disturbing...

These people are everywhere and this idea opens up a whole new can of worms...


Greg

Like everything there is a scale that we all fall on. Some of us just hit a little higher than others.

Dr. Stout did a lot of fine research, but the 4% number is very soft. Some research indicates that it's as high as 20%. Some says it as low as .01%. The truth is we have no idea. We see sociopathy as a binary state. And it isn't. There is a scale. And we know there's a scale, but we still tend to think that anyone who "passes" is a sociopath, and those who don't are not. It is possible that the sociopaths who are so high on the scale that their brain is rewired are in the .01%. And that 20% of the population scores slightly above "normal" on the test. I've never seen the actual research so I don't know what they are measuring.

I have a "friend" whose sociopathy is so severe he is considered a "null". He pretty much doesn't feel anything other than anger and amusement. I amuse him. Better than the alternative. He's not law abiding, but he's not violent. He doesn't experience anger enough to lose perspective that hurting someone will land him in jail. He's a cool guy I gotta say. If I ever need an honest opinion, I ask him. He's not mean. He doesn't get pleasure from hurting people. He's just not afraid to lose someone either. He sees all relationships as an exchange of benefits. Which they are. He has never made a bad business decision. It's uncanny. We've been on the outs, we make up. He's never threatened me, and I've never been afraid of him. I've been afraid FOR him more than once when his adventures in crime have gotten beyond what I considered acceptable.

And I had to explain to him that there are places he can steal from that I'm okay with, and places I'm not okay with. He doesn't understand why I laugh when he rips off Wal Mart, but get pissed off when he takes his neighbors packages. It's the same to him. And I've learned over the years how to present an argument, because "wrong" doesn't play with him. I have to tell him that if he steals from his neighbor and she finds out, she's going to be angry at him, and that will make his life difficult, but if he steals from Wal Mart, no one will be angry, so no one will be personally gunning for him. But he knows that's not why I'm mad, so I have to explain to him that I hate Wal Mart, but his neighbor is a nice old lady. He accepts my first argument, but requires my second so he knows what makes me mad.

It's not all serial killers and dictators. A lot of these guys are just living normal lives. Even being a sociopath or a psychopath does not predict a serial killer. There is literally nothing where we can say "If someone is (blank) then they are a serial killer. Nothing fills in that blank. Except "serial killer". If someone is a serial killer, then they are a serial killer.

We all want to know what makes these guys tick. But know your motives. If you want to find out in order to eliminate it, dangerous ground. Back away slowly.

[Ausgirl]

Another common component to the early lives of all these four men is bullying.

Dupas had few friends at school. He was a 'soft' kid, overweight and a bit weird, which made him a prime target for merciless bullying.

Damher had a core group of friends, who thought him odd but in an acceptable way. Others bullied him, his friends mention this frequently.

Percy was also bullied, first about his lack of interest/ban from sports, then moreso after he was caught outdoors wearing stolen lingerie by some fellow students.

Kemper was bullied due to his height. This comes from Kemper, as well, and I don't have nay backup for that, but all the really tall kids I know were teased about it, and were targets for aggressive idiots, so I'm thinking it's probably not a lie.

I can't find any instances of overt aggression in the schoolground for any of these men, despite that they were all soon ro become (or already were..) sociopaths and murderers. Instead, it's they who are the victims.

I find this interesting. And I wonder how those daily, innumerable wounds to their egos contributed to their later behaviour, if at all.


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Errata, Kemper -was- on his best behaviour in the hospital, he was made an orderly, and assisted with officework. It's late and I can't be bothered digging it up now, but there's mention this earned him a level of trust and regard with the staff which in turn helped him at time of release. I will find it, next I'm on.

Oh and I didn't count Dahmer as a postmortem mutilator in that particular instance, because he mutilated people while still alive, this is certain, whereas its generally believed the others did most of their 'sadistic' mutilation after death. Which is not to say they weren't sadistic, at all. Just not in that particular degree.

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[Errata]

Errata, Kemper -was- on his best behaviour in the hospital, he was made an orderly, and assisted with officework. It's late and I can't be bothered digging it up now, but there's mention this earned him a level of trust and regard with the staff which in turn helped him at time of release. I will find it, next I'm on.

Oh and I didn't count Dahmer as a postmortem mutilator in that particular instance, because he mutilated people while still alive, this is certain, whereas its generally believed the others did most of their 'sadistic' mutilation after death. Which is not to say they weren't sadistic, at all. Just not in that particular degree.

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I'm sure he was on his best behavior. Wouldn't you be? One of his jobs in the hospital was to assist one of the doctors, and he was clearly bright enough to excel at his job. And people did and do like the guy. Some biographies say he manipulated everyone to let him out. But more than half of the doctors at the hospital opposed his release, so obviously the manipulation story wasn't entirely true.

He had an administrative parole. His time was up, he was going. And because he hadn't hurt anyone in the hospital, there was no mechanism to keep him. Still isn't one in most states. He was going to be released unless he posed an imminent threat to himself or others. Since there had been no violence since the murders that put him there, they could not keep him. Even if every single member of the staff knew he was going to kill again, it wouldn't have mattered. Just like if a guy gets released from prison after 20 years, and you know he's going to kill again, you can't keep him in jail. He served his time. The only reason Kemper got "paroled" instead of released is because nobody declared unfit can be released free and clear. Which I have issues with on a personal level but neither here nor there. Nobody who ever left that hospital was "released". They were all paroled, they were all required to follow up with a doctor for a certain amount of time before they were clear. Which Kemper did.