Analysis of Jeffrey Dahmer using Crime Theories The field of criminology has been used over the years to systematically study the causes of crime. In criminology, explaining why people commit a crime is very important. However, the explanations of crime are just as complex as the society is deemed to be. Various theories have regularly been used to explain crime in the past as criminologists seek the most effective solutions to reduce the levels of crime. They attempt to explore the conditions that led to criminal behavior and the factors within the society that contributed to its existence. One of the most examined types of offenders is the serial killer. The term ‘serial killer’ has been known to strike both fear and curiosity in equal measures. …show more content…
However, his childhood is reported to have key factors that influenced his criminal behavior. One of these key factors includes his mother’s suffering from a mental illness, the rocky marriage of his parents, and the feeling of neglect once his younger brother was born. At the age of six, he had surgery for a double hernia that is thought to have emotionally affected him. His personality changed dramatically from an outgoing boy to a much withdrawn and uncommunicative one, as he got older than before. He lost interest in hobbies at the onset of his adolescent years and found it even more difficult to maintain social relationships having moved out of home thrice by the time he was eight years (Schechter, 2012). He found solace in dead animals and started drinking heavily during the high school years. It is during these high school years that he became an alcoholic. He was forced to drop out of the army as a result of his alcoholic behavior. It is reported that Dahmer was sexually abused by his father at a young age (Hickey, 2012). His fascination with dead animals continued throughout his teenage years. He would dissolve the dead animals in chemicals and occasionally leave out their heads on a stake. Such features relevant to Dahmer included his inability to develop his social skills, in addition to the impulsive behavior that led to the development of sexual offenses. By the time he was 13 years, he had been arrested …show more content…
The rational choice theory describes event decisions as part of a criminal’s thought process prior, during and after committing the crime. According to Hall (2012), event decisions involve preparation, target selection, commissioning the act, escape strategy, and the aftermath. Jeffrey Dahmer used this process to perfection. He would start by selecting the most attractive person in a bar, lure him to his house, and commit the crime before disposing and keeping some parts of the victims’ body. According to Miller et al. (2014), people freely choose behavior based on their rational calculations. With all other things being equal, the choice made by a person will be directed towards achieving the highest level possible of individual pleasure. Crime, according to the rational choice theory, is chosen for its benefits and will always occur if the benefits outweigh the costs. Of all the incentives that drove Dahmer, the sexual fantasies reigned supreme. His sexual impulses dramatically resurfaced whenever he was drunk. He became more and more desperate for companionship that would make him feel superior and in control. Cornis et al. (2014) states that the motives of many serial killers are based on the combination of psychological rewards. These rewards, such as sexual excitement, were what drove Dahmer into committing crime after crime. Dahmer obtained the greatest pleasure from possessing his
According to available information, Jeffrey Dahmer led a virtually pretty normal childhood. He was born May 21 1960 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to his parents’ Lionel and Joyce Dahmer. When he was six years old his brother David Dahmer was born and the family moved to Ohio. During the move Jeffrey became more shy and withdrawn. When he was ten years old his mother was admitted to the hospital for her anxiety. This put a strain on his parents marriage. Also, when he was around 14 or 15 years old, he started to have more thoughts about violence and sex, but “didn't know how to tell anyone about it so he didn't” (Jeffrey Dahmer). Throughout high school, he saw his
Right after he graduated from high school, in June 1978, Dahmer picked up a hitchhiker named Steven Hicks and took him to his parent’s house where he had currently lived. Jeffrey continue to get the young man drunk, but when Steven tried to leave, Dahmer struck him in the head with a barbell and caused him to die instantly. He cut up the corpse of his first victim and packed the body parts in plastic bags and buried them behind his parent’s home. Dahmer later dug up the remains, crushed the bones with a sledgehammer and scattered them across a wooded ravine. After the killing of Steven Hicks, Jeffrey’s alcohol intake had spun out of Ohio State University after one quarter term. His father ended up remarrying and insisted that his son go join
Jeffrey Dahmer was a notorious serial killer in the late 70’s throughout the early 90’s. What made him stand out from most serial killer’s was what he did to the bodies of his victims. During this research paper, I will cover his childhood life, what led to his lifestyle of killing and cannibalism and also the crimes that were committed during his murderous acts. I will also compare what theories relate to Jeffrey Dohmer and what could possibly be the reason why he did what he did.
Born May 21, 1960 his parents are, Lionel and Joyce Dahmer. He was considered a happy child till the age of 4 when he received a double hernia surgery. As a teen he had no friends and when he was 14 he was having compulsions toward necrophilia and murder. And said his parents divorce caused his thoughts into action. As a kid he had no friends, and was very unresponsive to family and teachers. After his parents got a divorce he took his thoughts into action.
Jeffrey Dahmer was born on May 21, 1960 in West Allis,Wisconsin. He and his parents, Lionel Dahmer and Joyce Annette, were an average american family who strived for the best. Jeffrey’s father was a graduate student who wanted to pursue a career as an analytical chemist. His mother worked as a teletype machine instructor. However, Jeffrey Dahmer’s mother was not a stable women. She had a history of psychological problems which meant that her son was susceptible to mental illness due to genetic factors. Growing up, Jeffrey had trouble with interacting with his peers. He also had a peculiar fascination with dead animals and “according to his father, his son was ‘oddly thrilled’ by the sound the bones made and instantly developed a fixation for playing with and collecting animal bones (“Jeffrey Dahmer” Wikipedia).” As he got older, he developed an addiction to alcohol. He started drinking heavily during high school which negatively affected his grades. Another issue that Dahmer faced in his early life was
In high school, Dahmer was labeled as a weird kid who was very isolated and who showed bizarre behaviors. While in high school, Dahmer began to drink a lot and even went to school with alcohol on his person. Dahmer did well in school, however,
Jeffrey Dahmer was born on May 21, 1960 to parents Lionel and Joyce Dahmer (Davis, 1998). While living in his birthplace of Wisconsin, Dahmer was described by his father to be “’[v]ery exuberant, he liked to wrestle, liked to run around, ham it up for the camera and he liked to play with kids and get together with them’” (Harris, 1996). As Dahmer entered adolescence, his father earned a Ph.D. in chemistry and the family began to move around Ohio (National Center for Crisis Management, n.d.). After the move, his parents fought often and eventually divorced. During this period, Dahmer became “withdrawn and uncommunicative” (Jeffrey Dahmer, 2017) and
Jeffrey Dahmer, also commonly known as the Milwaukee Cannibal, is one of America’s most notorious serial killers. In the span of nearly 15 years, between the years 1978 and 1991, it is estimated that Dahmer was responsible for the death of fifteen to seventeen young men (Radford University). As his nickname suggests Dahmer was known for drugging his victims, then raping them, then disembodying them, and if the mood fit him, cooking and eating his victims. Dahmer’s unique case resulted in him being psychologically analyzed and diagnosed by at least seven different psychologists during his trial (Palermo & Bogaerts, 2014). This paper seeks to explore the diagnostics given to Jeffery Dahmer and prove, through the use of available information, their accuracy.
Within the various fields of criminology, the examination of the reasoning behind why individuals commit crime is important in modern debates regarding how crime should be controlled and prevented. Over the years, numerous theories have developed and continue to be explored – both individually and collectively. Some of the most significant theories with regards to the criminal behaviour of Jeffrey Dahmer include: rational choice theory, attachment theory, differential association theory, biosocial theory and social control theory. This assignment will focus solely on social control theory and how it relates to the case of Jeffrey Dahmer.
He turned to violence and killing and he did it in a way where he was able to gain the attention that he craved from his victims. By leading his victims to his house with empty promises, they were forced to talk with him and hang out with him. But by the time that Dahmer was finally able to gain the attention that he craved but it was too late, his mind was already gone. His mind was filled with the dark fantasies that he wanted to enact on other men. It was too late to turn back, Dahmer never learned how to conform to society, he only learned how to deviate from it. Therefore turning him into the violent psychopath that he had become.
Further, they reflect antisocial attitudes, values, and belief because they indicate a disturbing lack of regard for the sanctity of life. Dahmer had no friends and certainly did not use his leisure time to participate in prosocial behaviors. Additionally, he began abusing alcohol in high school and continued doing so throughout much of his life. This drinking caused several negative events in his life including being kicked out of the army and out of a Florida
His background and early life mentioned earlier proves his actions of aggression and impulsivity. His diagnosis is ASPD comorbid with substance abuse, and accompanied with sadistic, necrophilia, and obsessive features. The sadistic and obsessive feature comes from his sexual pleasure to harm and control others. Also his obsessive features can be linked with his canabalism. “Dahmer reported that he felt an intense need of consuming the flesh of the dead body in order to incoporate the other in his own self, and he experienced this as a sexual sense of closeness and unification” (Martens,2011, pg.504). His necrophilia feature has been present sense his early adolescence. His low self-esteem, and unsocial behaviors may have easily led him down the path to developing ASPD and his other features. Jeffery’s mother also “suffered from hysteria, depression, suicidal
Being fascinated by death, Dahmer decided to join the Army after not being able to make it at a university. He wanted to be a military policeman but instead settled with being a medical orderly. This is when Dahmer expanded his knowledge on the human anatomy. He was later discharged for alcohol abuse. After not being able to find a job he moved in
Psychology”). He had become very distant, and started to show a very low tolerance to frustration. Dahmer also showed signs of two different paraphilias: sadism and necrophilia, along with cannibalism.
Dahmer’s first victim started off as a fantasy, however it later became a reality. Dahmer’s need to find fulfillment and pleasure lead to act out his fantasy. Dahmer’s need to control was his motive. The concept of sexual preference and race, didn’t matter, only attractiveness. The dismemberment of the bodies and eating the flesh and internal organs of other human beings felt it gave him a permanent part of them and doing so gave a sexual satisfaction. Thus, leading the urges to spiral out of control. The idea of killing was not the main objective it was just the means he had to take to obtain fundamental control. The lack of control of his environment as a child got mixed with the control of his sexuality. The only way he could gain power to influence or direct people 's behavior was by fulling those fantasies.