Collect Examples- Action Oriented

Charles Manson was abused and neglected by his parents in his childhood.

Ed Gien wanted to go through a sex change so he cut off body parts of the women he killed.

Jeff Dahmer was withdrawn after he had a hernia surgery.

Ted Bundy was socially awkward and obsessed over his ex fiance.

Gary Ridgway had a history of bed wetting and was called a disgrace by his family.

John Wayne Gacy had an abusive father and had a blood clot in his brain at age 16.

Edmund Kemper had a history of cruelty to animals and performed bizzare sexual rituals with his sister's dolls.

Andrei Chikatilo had a long history of bed wetting and was unable to sustain an erection.

All of these are examples of serial killers who possesed some time of psychological explanation to why they became serial killers.

Tagxedo- Artistic

Prezi- Visual

http://prezi.com/-4xw-bv-ajve/untitled-prezi/?kw=view--4xw-bv-ajve&rc=ref-34377053


I made this prezi about multiple serial killers. I included what may have been a factor in them murdering their victims.

Explore Opinions- Input

"For example, some people have suggested that brain injury is important. In the 1970s, John Wayne Gacy killed 33 young men across Chicago. He had previously suffered a serious brain injury after being knocked unconscious by a swing. However, the ‘brain injury’ argument doesn’t necessarily hold true when you investigate other serial killers. Ted Bundy murdered 30 young women during the same period yet he exhibited no signs of brain injury whatsoever. This is one of the main problems with this approach." -Professor Hepper

"The causes of psychopathy remain a mystery. We don’t even have a satisfactory answer to the question of whether psychopathy is a product of Mother Nature or a feature of upbringing." - Berit Brogaard

"Accessible research material tells us violent sexual events during childhood have serious adverse affects on an individual’s development. More than one known serial killer was forced to dress up as a girl as a form of punishment. The witnessing of violent sexual acts between family members and/or parents had some of the most damaging effects." -Hestie Gerber

"Fifty serial killers who murdered for the primary goal of attaining sexual gratification, termed lust killers, were studied to determine the prevalence of childhood abuse." -Heather Mitchell

"Not to say that the aftermath of serial killers is trivial but the real controversy among theorists lies on how and why serial killers take the step from fantasy to reality. We are all made up of tiny individual genes that make up our personality traits defining who and what we are. Many believe that murderers do not grow into the shell of a killer but have predetermined genes that make up the chemical balance of our brain, body, thoughts, ideas, and most importantly actions." -Unknown

Annotated Bibliography

Davis, Jeff. "Criminal Minds." Criminal Minds. CBS. 22 Sept. 2005. Television.

Criminal Minds is a television show that aires on CBS. The show is based in Quantico, Virgina, with a team that is apart of a subsection of the FBI, the BAU. They get together with local police stations across the United States to track serial killers. Their goal is to track and profile an unsub, in the end leading to the capture of the "bad guy."
This show was helpful to my research, because after watching a few episodes and watching them profile serial killers, I got a better understanding of similarities that serial killers have in common. They have to quickly profile a serial killer using psychological techniques to prevent the next kill from happening. This show is fiction is you can't answer if it's reliable or bias because its a television show about murders.
This source is fitting in with my research, because it gave me more aspects to look at and study about why serial killers kill.

Larson, Erik. The Devil in the White City. New York: Crown, 2003. Print.
The Devil in the White City is about a serial killer in Chicago. He was one of the first documenated American serial killers. He used the fair to lure his victims into their death. He has over 200 bodies, but not all are confirmed. He would remove the skeletons of his victims and sell them to medical research for extra side money.
This book helped me with research by providing me a specific example of a serial killer. It didn't really explore the psychology of him so I didn't gain any new information for my topic. This is a fiction book so it's not bias or reliable.
This source only fit with my research, because it was about a serial killer. It wasn't that useful. 

 "Ted Bundy - Born To Kill? (Documentary)." YouTube. YouTube, 20 July 2011. Web. 03 Apr. 2013.

This documentary was a case study on the famous serial killer, Ted Bundy. He killed from 1974-1979. He brutally raped and killed women all across the United States. Ted Bundy shocked the world. This documentary explores Ted Bundy from start to finish. By watching it, readers learn about Bundy's childhood, teenage years, and brutal attacks. Many psychological issues of Bundy are explored in this documentary.
This documentary was helpful with my research, because I'm studying psychological issues surrounding serial killers. Watching a documentary about Ted Bundy helped me understand the general idea of environmental and behavioral issues of serial killers. This text is reliable, because filmmakers used criminologists, family members of Bundy, and psychologists to explain Bundy's life. The text isn't biased, because it's only about one serial killer.
This source is fitting in with my research, because it gave me a better understanding of different psychological issues that serial killers have.

Giannangelo, Stephen J. Real-life Monsters: A Psychological Examination of the Serial Murderer. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2012. Print.

The author looks at almost every psychological issue that surrounds serial killers. He includes multiple different case studies on specific serial killers and explores all different points of views on what could be contributed to them killing multiple people. He writes about what a serial killer is, traits of a serial killer, how they choose their victims, and personality of serial killers. His main focus is on the environmental and mental issues that surround each serial killer.
This book was helpful with my research, because it gave me specific examples of disorders and trauma serial killers have face and have in common. I started to gather new information based on what the author believes. This text is reliable, because it gives sources to where his information came from. The book isn't biased, because the author is stating an opinion. He's just stating facts that he has learned from studying the psychological of a serial killer.
The book is fitting in with my research, because the title is my topic. I learned new information from this book that I never would have found on the internet. I learned about multiple serial killers and have a better understanding of what caused them to tick.

Velez, Edwin. "Sei." Hudson Reporter. N.p., 17 Mar. 2013. Web. 03 Apr. 2013.
"Does child abuse lead to a life of crime?" is about one of the main factors that psychologists believe make a serial killer kill, which is child abuse. This article talks about children who get beat, smacked, starved, etc and how they are at a higher risk of becoming a serial killer. It doesn't mean they will be one but they are at a higher risk. The article states that almost every serial killer the author researched, was abused as a child.
This article was helpful with my research, because I learned more information on what most researchers of this topic find, that almost every serial killer was abused as a child. This text is reliable, because it uses an expert as one of it's sources. This article is not biased, because it's not flat out saying thats the number one cause of a serial killer, it's just giving more information on that factor that may contribute to the making of a serial killer.
This article fits in with my research, because my main findings in almost every source mention child abuse as a big factor in serial killers. It gave me another source to use for my claim that almost every serial killer has been abused as a child.

Sanderson, Sertan. The South African RSS. N.p., 14 Mar. 2013. Web. 03 Apr. 2013.
"Crimes of Passion and Passion for Crimes," is about the 10 serial killers in South Africa. There is a description about each serial killer. Each description includes what they did to their victims and how they lured them away. This source doesn't particularly explain any psychology of a serial killer, but I still learned a lot of information reading about 10 different serial killers.
This article was helpful with my research, because even though it wasn't specially related to my topic, I did learn what may built up in each serial killer to kill. Some had a long history of anger, others had mental disorders. It gave me another look on other factors causing serial killers to kill. This article is reliable, because of the specific details the author shared about each serial killer. The article wasn't biased, because their wasn't an opinion. The author was just explaining information about 10 different serial killers in South Africa.
This article fits in with my research, because I got to learn different perspectives of other people on this topic. I also learned about more serial killers and tried to find similarities between the South Africa ones and the American ones.

Pelisek, Christine. The Daily Beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast, 25 Mar. 2013. Web. 03 Apr. 2013.
"Hunting for Long-Gone Serial Killers: Inside the Dead Man Talking Project," is about Carol Burke, a lady who tries to open up cold case files and close them. She tries to find serial killers who have killed up to 20-30 years ago, and give justice to the families who are still wondering what happened to their loved ones. She used old DNA, old evidence, and a database full of people. 
This article was helpful with my research, because I learned how people try to find serial killers. I learned about the aspects that I have to look at to get closer and closer to finding a serial killer. This source is reliable because it's about a real person trying to close real cases. False information was not in this article. The article isn't biased, because their is no opinion to be biased about. It's just about a lady trying to get justice for loved ones.
This article fits in with my research, because to find a serial killer, there are many aspects to study. A big area they study is the psychology of serial killers. They need to look at behavioral, cognitive, and biological issues that some serial killers have.

Morgan, James. Science Omega. N.p., 05 Mar. 2013. Web. 03 Apr. 2013.
"Inside the Mind of a Serial Killer- a Pyschologists Perspective,"  is about the extreme behavior serial killers have that most humans don't carry. The topic of serial killers is fascinating and interesting to psychologists, because there are many things and information about them that is unknown. Many questions surrounding serial killers are unanswered. 
This article was helpful with my research, because it explained specific examples of the psychology of serial killers. They study their brain, damage, child abuse, and mental diseases that could be associated with serial killers. This article is reliable because it uses an experts opinion who specializes on that topic. The article is biased toward the fact that they think environmental trauma is a huge factor in why serial killers do what they do. They have sources to support their claim. 
This article fits in with my research, because it's exploring the same topic that I'm researching. It gives me more examples that I didn't find previously. They are trying to figure out why serial killers do the scary thing that they do.


"Child Criminology: Early Signs of a Killer » This Blog Rules | Why Go Elsewhere?" This Blog Rules Why Go Elsewhere Child Criminology Early Signs of a Killer Comments. N.p., 02 Sept. 2001. Web. 03 Apr. 2013.
"Child Criminology: Early Signs of a Killer," is about the early signs serial killers have. It gives examples of what to look for in children that could possibly mean they were born to kill. This author states that it's the childhood that starts the making of a serial killer. The author states that most serial killers were abused as children. Warning signs include hatred toward parents, animal abuse, and abusive parents.
This article was helpful with my research, because it explains the signs in children that relate to serial killers. It gives specific examples of warning signs that parents should be aware of if they want to prevent their child from being a serial killer. This source was kind of reliable, there wasn't many sources that were stated so we don't know where the author got his information from. This article is biased because the author states child abuse is the number one cause of a serial killer. He doesn't have sources to back up that strong opinion.
This article fits with my research because it's specifically looking at signs that are in the psychology field of serial killers. All of the information in this article turns to something in the behaviorist field of psychology.

The Devil in the White City- Letter to Author- Writing

"The Devil in the White City," takes place in Chicago, IL. The book is based on true events that took place. It's about a serial killer H. H. Holmes, who lured his victims and murdered them. He was one of the first documentated serial killers. He built a hotel with murder in his mind, and killed many victims there. His body count was over 200.

Dear Erik Larson,
I have been researching the topic of the pyschology of serial killers. I have been exploring enviornmental and mental trauma of serial killers to try and understand why they do what they do. I have studied numerous serial killers to try and find similarites between serial killers. I have learned about many disorders that I never knew existed. One thing I did find in common between almost every serial killer I studied was they were all abused as children in some way. This book helped me learned about a real life serial killer and what maybe could have led up to the murders he commited. I will never fully understand why they do what they do.

Action-Oriented Activity- Propose a Field Trip

A field trip experience that could be beneficial in learning about psychology of a serial killer are is visiting a psychologist who specializes in studying criminals for a living. The psychologist could discuss the process of examining a criminals and the every day life of a psychologist who specializes in criminals. The psychologist would provide examples of specific examples of cases he/she studied and how they came about the right answer. Students would be able to ask questions. Hopefully this local field trip would give students a better understanding of psychological issues surrounding criminals.