There are five theories of serial murder, mainly the offence cycle, fantasy addiction model, medical model, narcissistic personality theory and evolutionary model. A common feature of each theory is the indication of low self esteem. The expression of low self esteem can be either overt or covert. It depends on the killer's psychological disposition in upbringing and individual experience. Very often, an investigation into the childhood of practically every serial killer reveals an appalling history of abuse and neglect. As their ill-fated attempts in society fail, they take excessive measures to meet their aims and their warped sense of security becomes a form of addiction. This provides them with a transitory sense of security and complete control over the victim. The covert manifestation of low self esteem are far more difficult to identify as the killers appear overly confident. However, this facade is in response to deep seated feelings of rejection and inadequacy. Rather than acknowledge their poor ego strength, they develop the belief that they are superior to other human beings and feel that the world owes them something.
The offence cycle theory defines a predictable sequence that repeats itself in the thoughts and actions of a serial killer. Murder becomes an addiction and is consider to be the only means of survival. The addiction builds cumulatively and like other debilitating and life threatening disease, is progressive. The serial killer commits his crimes for purely psychological gain and there is always some sexual component to these crimes. Hypersexuality is a mood altering experience in the same way heroin or cocaine addiction is mood altering. The sexual behaviour is a psychotropic agent and is utilised as a coping mechanism.
The fantasy addiction model gives rise to deviant fantasies that drive the act of murder. They fantasies about causing injury and torturing their victims. They feel no guilt but possess strong feelings of severe insecurity and general anger towards all others. They kill for the thrill of it and have no interest in having a dead body in their hands other than to fantasise about power and control over it. Fantasy also blurs the distinction between what is real and what is not. The fantasy itself is the primary cause of the feelings of isolation the serial killer experiences. This isolation leads to self hatred and anger against the world. This in turn serves to provoke violent acts which lead to greater isolation and therefore, greater reliance on fantasy. It is a vicious, self destructive, self perpetuating cycle which thrusts the serial killer further and further outside the realm of what society deems to be normal.
A highly organised killer appear to have no problem with self esteem. Rather than alerting suspicions, he comes across as a trusted person. These killers are so self confident that they exhibit features of narcissistic personality disorder. The diagnosis of a personality disorder can progress to such careless extreme that the person completely isolates himself from meaningful contact with others and evolved to a dangerous level of antisocial behaviour. Beyond the typical manifestations of antisocial behaviour, the serial killer is driven by an excessive need for attention. Id a serial killer is narcissistic by nature,he may believe in a "manifest destiny" to kill. Because he regards himself as being above all, he has the right to decide who may live and who should die. In short, he enjoys playing God.
The medical model is a significant and viable platform from which to approach the study of serial murder as it links the types of violence exhibited to various patterns of abuse. Traditionally, the serial killer is regarded as being either sociopathic or psychotic. During the commission of their crimes, serial killers sever themselves from whatever sense of reality they are clinging to. They are unable to make the distinction between right and wrong because for them there is no such thing as right and wrong. Their only concern is what is going to satisfy their need to kill. Root causes include genetic defects, brain damage and chemical imbalances. The psychophysiological mechanisms that prevent most people from acting on impulses without forethought are absent within the serial killer.
The evolutionary model is used to identify killer who is both self sufficient and self seeking that the need of a social environment no longer exits. Victims are not considered to be people but object. He kills in order to see the end product of his work and collect the trophies of his labour, thus often keeps parts of victim's bodies for masturbatory purposes and the need for recognition, the desire to create a legacy of fear and most significantly, the overwhelming compulsion for committing crimes that not only defy all of conventional human logic but also shock and intrigue.
The first murder committed by a serial killer is an experience of euphoric physical and psychological arousal. Murder is a psychological high. The extreme of cruelty which the killer imposes upon his victim excites him to a state of sexual arousal. Necrophilia can best be described as sexual arousal stimulated by a dead body. The stimulation can be either in the form
of fantasies or actual physical sexual contact with the corpse.
Forensic science has provided some of the best tools for identifying and convicting serial killers but it cannot predict the determining causes of serial murder. Are serial killers themselves the victims of society? How can one measure true prevention, the type that precedes the commission of the crime? The motivations that drives a person to commit murder are cultivated in the darkest places of the mind but they do not grow without prolonged exposure to abuse and abandonment. Rejection, in its various form has turned people against one another.This circumstance is the darkest truth of all.
