The Psychology of a Serial Killer
"If I was killed in prison, that would be a blessing right now.”
These words were spoken by Jeffrey Dahmer - a serial killer who sexually assaulted, murdered, and performed necrophilia and cannibalism on his 17 victims, all males.
There is something that we miss observing here. You see, Dahmer knew he was doing wrong, and he felt ashamed about it. He was conscious of his acts and had certain levels of conscience. This is a line that separates a serial killer from a psychopath. Dahmer's 'mask of normalcy' made him an even more dangerous criminal compared to psychopaths. It is quite a slippery slope when thinking about these strange phenomena - that are bound to happen in our very own country, state, city, or even neighborhood - and it makes us easy to fall prey to thinking that all of them are the same, be it a psychopath or a serial killer.
In 1980, a Canadian forensic psychologist by the name of Robert Hare created a list of 22 traits, called the Hare Psychopathy Checklist, that can be referred to diagnose psychopathy, which is still in use today. Some of these traits include superficial charm, pathological lying, deception, showing no remorse, impulsivity, and being unable to accept responsibility. There is a line of distinction between a psychopath and a serial killer. A psychopath might or might not be a serial killer and vice versa, even though the two often overlap in our society. Unlike the common thought, anyone who is diagnosed with psychopathy does not necessarily mean that they have the capacity to kill, and vice versa. A serial killer is not necessarily a psychopath, and Jeffrey Dahmer is a perfect example of this condition.
Ever since the ’60s, a renewed and revised version of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist has been created - a longer, 40-point version instead of the original 22. People that meet the 25-35 range are considered to be psychopathic. Other infamous serial killers like John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, and Richard Ramirez scored around the 25 - 35 range, but you see, Jeffrey Dahmer only matched 13 of the traits. No matter what this seems like, this makes Dahmer much more dangerous than the others (not that it is comparable). Watch his interviews and you’ll know that he knew he was doing wrong - he seems modest, remorseful, and self-reflecting. No matter how messed up this might sound, his sanity-masked-insanity makes him more dangerous.
The other serial killers found it impossible to uphold this mask of normalcy and struggled to comprehend what they did was indeed wrong and immoral. Not Dahmer. The inability of a normal person to identify the obvious abnormal psychopathic traits of Dahmer makes him an even more lethal killer. People’s first response to a deranged psychopath is to link it to his/her childhood. This is partly because it gives people a reason as to why a person became a monster - people in general don’t like to be in a state of uncertainty, and if they don’t get an explanation, they make one. People like this “cause-and-effect” pattern as it makes the evil easy to predict, prevent, and in some cases, kill. Lo and behold, the urges of serial killers do not operate in this way, which in turn makes the person’s childhood unhelpful in explaining anything. Talking about Dahmer, he wasn’t raised in the most affluent household, but he was, in no way, physically/sexually abused or taken advantage of that would in any way describe why he grew up to inflict such horrific crimes on people.
Dahmer went up to the stand and said this during his sentencing:
"This has never been a case about trying to get free. I never wanted freedom. Frankly, I wanted death for myself. This was a case to tell the world that I did what I did not for reasons of hate, I hated no one. I knew I was sick or evil or both. Now I believe I was sick. I know how much harm I have caused. I tried to do the best I could to make amends after the arrest but no matter what I did, I could not undo the terrible harm I have caused."
This quote in and itself is more mind-boggling and horrifying than anything else. It pushes us down the rabbit hole to ponder “then what is this sickness that makes people become serial killers and develop the urge to kill?”
Experts suggest that this “urge to kill” is something that rises deep from within the self rather than from the external as most of us tend to think. Dahmer said that this urge in him started when he was around 9 years old and he found a dead crab on the beach. He then started dissecting other small animals and later on those animals changed into bigger animals, i.e., human beings. He claimed that he liked the way the insides of the body looked. He said he didn’t hear any voices in his head talking to him about killing or anything of that sort, neither did he do it as an impulse or revenge or anger. He would go out on planned, secret, missions to befriend strangers and earn their trust, and then inflict horrific atrocities on them. After his first murder in 1978, he claimed that he tried to get his urges in check and he did, to an extent, as he went six years without committing any murders, but could only keep himself for so long.
Psychologists widely describe the personality trait of a person using the five-factor model which divides the human persona into five pillars: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience. The combination of these traits that describe a psychopath is a person low in agreeableness and conscientiousness, but high in neuroticism. Meaning, this person has very low feelings of empathy towards others and does not want their actions to be limited by the rules and laws set by society. They also show a high probability of mood instability and emotional disturbances.
Now we must talk about some really horrific things, traits, and the psyche of a psychopath and a serial killer. It is widely believed that the main difference between a functioning psychopath, one who is or has been highly successful in the crimes he has done, and an unsuccessful psychopath, one who hasn’t committed any crime based on his psyche, is the level of conscientiousness. It is the main differentiator. Let us suppose a diagnosed psychopath named John. John is a narcissist, does not care about others’ feelings, and has little to no empathy. This makes him a dangerous person to be employed or be in a healthy society free to go. But say he also has a high level of conscientiousness. This makes him realize that his actions will cause trouble to society and that he needs to control his urges. This would most likely take him away from the path of becoming a criminal. Conscientiousness is also a big differentiator between serial killers. Serial killers with a high level of conscientiousness are called organized killers. They tend to lead methodological lives, have skilled employment, be socially proficient, and have high levels of intelligence. This makes them many folds dangerous than serial killers with a low level of conscientiousness. Their crimes are well-planned, they know how to act in a social setting to not get caught, and are aware of everything with a handful of skills and knowledge to commit the atrocities that they do. They do not leave shreds of evidence behind and are extremely hard to get caught.
The difference between psychopaths and serial killers is that with psychopathy, conscientiousness can be a positive trait, but with serial killers, there are no positives. It makes them a lot deadlier as it is a perfect skill for them to help them ignite their fire and urge to kill and get away with it. Dahmer was one of them. A serial killer with a considerable amount of conscientiousness.
Jeffrey Dahmer committed numerous gruesome crimes in his apartment, including hiding the bodies of his victims in various stages of decomposition. Despite the evidence of his wrongdoing, Dahmer always had a plausible explanation for any unusual occurrences or strange odors that were noticed by others. He specifically targeted racial minorities and homosexuals, knowing that law enforcement was less likely to investigate crimes against these groups. Dahmer's actions raise the question of how to identify individuals who are capable of committing such horrific crimes while maintaining the appearance of normalcy.
The intrigue surrounding psychopaths and serial killers often stems from the fear that anyone we know could be capable of committing heinous crimes. It's unsettling to think that our neighbors, friends, or even family members could be hiding violent desires beneath a facade of normalcy. For all we know, you could be a psychopath, whose hidden fantasies of inflicting pain on others are hiding behind a mask of normalcy. In the words of Ted Bundy,
"We are your sons, we are your husbands, we are everywhere.”