Psychology of Serial Offenders - Research Paper Example

? Psychology of Serial Offenders Psychology of Serial Offenders Criminal activities in the society continue to increase as people are labeled with names of their past mistakes. For instance, persons who have committed crimes previously in their lives tend to be labeled as ‘criminals’. Consequently, individuals tend to turn and act according to the labels given to them. The paper tries to evaluate how labeling theory contributes to criminal activities. In addition, it also examines how individuals are psychologically affected when the society labels them in a particular way. People need to feel loved and appreciated in order for them to change from bad habits (Schur, 2001). Therefore, the society should treat people in a better way instead of labeling them. This way, persons will not feel stigmatized despite their past actions. Instead, they will even desire to change in and become better persons. Therefore, indeed labeling theory has a significant effect on the psychology of an individual. Background Most of the crimes in the world are usually owed to poverty or lack. Although it is true that individuals may commit some crimes such as theft due to lacking some materials possessions, other crimes such as murder cannot be owed to lack or insufficiency of wealth. Serial killers are mostly defined as individuals who kill more than three people within a very period. For instance, records kept of serial killers show that they killed upto three victims per day. Serial killers do not just murder their victims. Most of them rape or sodomize their victims before putting them to death. There have also been cases of killers who mutilate the bodies after the victims have died. It is for these reasons that serial killers are thought to be psychopaths who have no conscience at all. Scholars assert that serial killers mainly murder out of psychological reasons such as labeling by the society (Cote, 2002). The desire to kill in these individuals is mainly nurtured in their minds. In addition, killers are also known as not being afraid of punishment. Although some of the serial killers still plead guilty after being caught, most of them end up confessing all their crimes and giving the exact number of the murdered victims. Therefore, serial killers are not individuals who commit a crime with fear or conscience. In addition, they are also not individuals who will have regrets after committing their crimes. Instead, scholars assert that these individuals derive fun and pleasure from these inhuman acts. The Labeling Theory and Crime The labeling theory states that people can create an individual’s bad character when they stigmatize them (Bryant, 2012). For instance, when an individual has been charged with criminal activities, people in the society are likely to label him or her as a criminal. The labeling theory asserts that; when an individual has been labeled in a certain way in the society, they tend to start acting according to their label (Cote, 2002). In addition, when people feel they are being treated like criminals they become frustrated and filled with anger. Therefore, the only way to vent this anger is by murder, as a way of taking revenge on humans. The theory also asserts that persons that have been labeled do not have peace inside themselves. Therefore, in order to ensure that other persons are also not peaceful too, the individuals prefer to take their lives by killing them. Therefore, the key causal factor arising from labeling theory is frustration. Individuals become frustrated due to stigmatization in the society. The labeling theory asserts that when an individual has been labeled, a number of factors in him become affected and thus, he starts engaging in criminal activities. This is because; labeling significantly affects the psychology of an individual. Labeling theory and the Social Psychology of an individual The social psychology of an individual refers to his social attributes. While some individuals are born while antisocial naturally, labeling affects the social attributes of a person (Cote, 2002). For instance, in the case of Ted Bund, a well-known serial killer in the US, he was very anti-social in his college days and entertained very few friends if any. Therefore, the antisocial behavior in him was natural. However, in other individuals, the labels that they have been given by the society affect their social psychology behaviors (Matsueda, 1992). This is because, when an individual feels that people take him as a criminal, he will not be able to socialize freely with the rest of the society. Therefore, this brings in the issue of anti-social behaviors in a person who might not have been anti-social initially. Social Psychology theories assert anti-social individuals tend to be heartless and without any conscience. This is because; they are not used to associating with other people and thus; they are not acquainted with human feelings. From these theories, we can obtain causal factor for serial killers. Serial killers lack a sense of belonging due to stigmatization and being labeled. They always feel as if no one loves them and thus, most are even reported to kill with the desire of finding love. For instance, one reported female serial killer, was found to have been having a key objective of finding love yet, no one seemed to offer it to her. The anti-social behavior of most serial killers is also associated with the issue of a low self-esteem (Schur, 2001). When a person has been labeled with an unpleasant title in the society, they end up having a low self-esteem. This goes to an extent where when a person sees people laughing, he feels that he is the one being laughed at, due to the label given to him. Study shows that the issue of low self-esteem makes most serial killers to become obsessed with the desire to have power and feel in control. It is for this reason that the victims of serial killers are mostly younger or weaker. Therefore, the need to feel superior and in control makes them to commit cruel acts to other persons. This could be either sexually or even in the general issues of life. This is because; they feel insufficient in the real life. Therefore, they create a fantasy world whereby they control everything that revolves around them. This control goes to the extent of controlling the lives of people that are around them. The feelings of a low self-esteem in these individuals also arise from the labels given their families as were being brought up (Cote, 2002). Persons brought up in abusive families where they were labeled as being lazy, ugly, violent or stupid grew up having a low self-esteem due to the labels. This is because; the individuals felt unwanted since no one showed them love while they grew up. Therefore, they tend to feel worthless and neglected even after they have grown up and matured. Therefore, such persons have inbuilt anger towards people and thus, when they become adults, they tend to be violent and overly assertive as a way of regaining what they lost while they were young (Matsueda, 1992). The anger is also added by the fact that they still feel rejected and unwanted in life since in most cases, the labels still remain after they have matured. Therefore, the only way that these persons can vent out their anger is by killing innocent people and molesting them. Gradually, serial offenders start obtaining some sense of satisfaction from committing these crimes. There has even been a case where a serial killer had a low self esteem to an extent that he felt more accepted by dead bodies than by humans and thus, he preferred to live with dead bodies than to live with human beings. In such cases, serial killers obtain pleasure from killing instead feeling guilty. In addition, they also feel that they are not losing anything since they are acting according to the labels that they have been given (Link et al. 1989) Labeling Theory and the Personality of an offender Each individual in the society has a unique personality from that of another individual. However, the labels given to a person can affect his or her personality causing him or her to change. Although people assert we may build our personalities by watching the actions of other people, or spending most of our time with other people, the labels given to a person also significantly affect the personality that the person develops (Cote, 2002). The personality theory can also be explained hand-in-hand with the evolutionary theory which states that the behaviors of persons can also be inherited from those of their relatives, parents or guardian. This theory explains the fact that persons who were brought up by abusive and violent parents who gave them abusive labels were likely to pick up such habits as they grew up. Some serial killers have been brought up in families where each family member has at least one record of a crime committed once in their life. Therefore, the whole family has been labeled by the society as a family full of criminals. Hence, it is unlikely that the individual will grow up to be something else other than a criminal (Schur, 2001). The psychology of an individual tends to be fixed in such a way that crime is the identification of the family since everyone else in the family has done it. On the other hand, an individual from a family with a multitude of criminal records could also become a serial killer by nature. This is where by, psychologically, the individual inherits the criminal attributes form his family. Labeling Theory and the development of an serial offender Development theories explain the growth and development of an individual and the way in which he learns different ideas of life as he grows up. The theories state that individuals should be instilled with the right moral values as they grow up (Bryant, 2012). This way, they will be able to distinguish between right and wrong, as they become adults. When an individual has been labeled with bad names as they grow up, they tend to act according to these names by accepting the label (Matsueda, 1992). Most serial killers start their bad habits by exhibiting poor moral values in the society. However, immediately the society labels them according to these acts, they worsen their behaviors. For instance, a serial killer like Ted Bundy started his immoral behaviors by small theft cases and watching of pornographic films. The society then started whispering behind his back and calling him a thief. This case of labeling caused Ted to commit worse crimes than even stealing. An individual that has been brought up well and developed with proper parenting styles without any form of labeling will not engage in such habits as watching pornography once they have grown up (Matsueda, 1992). Labeling can also occur when a person has engaged in action such as watching pornography. In this case, once the society finds that a person watches pornography it labels him a ‘sexual pervert’ instead of helping him to change his behaviour. With time, the person will end up accepting that indeed he is a sexual pervert and give to the habit (Bryant, 2012). This causes many sexual criminal cases in the society. Therefore, most serial killers end up owing their inhumane behaviors to pornography once they have been convicted. This is because; pornography is a habit that raises sexual fantasies in an individual. For instance, Ted Bundy was serial killer who only killed women and young girls. When he was convicted, he claimed to have been pushed to such actions by the pornographic films that he watched. Pornography affects the psychology of an individual since; individuals create a fantasy world that they intend to turn into reality by raping young girls. Therefore, development theories play a very important role in the creation of a person. This is because; it is the labels that a person is given while growing up that determine his eventual character (Schur, 2001). Therefore, poor development in an individual may cause them to grow up having a heartless and stone heart. Labeling Theory and the Humanist Theory Humanist theory is a theory that asserts that people have a character in them that distinguishes them from animals and other creatures. When a person has committed a crime once and is labeled by the society as being inhuman, he eventually accepts the label and becomes a criminal. Therefore, from the humanist theories, we can get a causal factor of serial killings. Scholars simply state that serial killers have no humanity in them. They do not see it a big deal to take people’s lives and have their hand soiled with blood. This can be mainly said to arise from the labels given to individuals. The labels cause mental and social problems to arise in people since; although they might try to convince themselves that they are human, the label given significantly affects them (Schur, 2001). Therefore, they end up losing their psychological human nature and thus, they choose to be heartless and inhuman. Labeling Theory and Behaviorism Labeling Theory asserts that the labels placed on a person by the society will significantly affect his behaviour. This is because; most individuals tend to behave according to the labels given to them. If the society has labeled an individual as a criminal, then the individual will most likely act as a criminal despite his will to change his criminal behaviour. Behaviorism states that the behaviour of an individual will be shaped by his response to his environment (Link et al. 1989). This shows that; is an individual is in an environment where labeling of people is common, then he is likely to act according to the labels given to him. On the other hand, if the environment does not label people, then the behaviors of an individual will not be because of the labels given to him. In conclusion, it is clear labeling theory has a significant impact on the criminal acts of an individual. Although individuals may be willing to change their behaviors, labeling cause an individual to act otherwise. In my opinion, the society is the society is also a contributor of the criminal activities in the society. This is because; once a society insists on secluding and stigmatizing a person due to their past acts, they cause the person to act according to the labels even if he or she was willing to change. The society should help an individual to change instead of labeling or stigmatizing them. In addition, persons who have been identified with past criminal records should not be secluded for the rest of the people in the society. Instead, the society should engage them in productive activities to prevent them from going back to their criminal activities. Showing love to such persons will also help to increase their self-esteem thus, reducing such issues as rape and murder. References Cote, S. (2002). Criminological theories: Bridging the past to the future. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Bryant, L. (2012). The Labelling Theory. Retrieved June 13, 2013, from http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/labelling_theory.htm Link, B. G., Cullen, F. T., Struening, E., Shrout, P. E., & Dohrenwend, B. P. (1989). A Modified Labeling Theory Approach to Mental Disorders: An Empirical Assessment. American Sociological Review, 54(3), 400-423. Matsueda, R. L. (1992). Reflected Appraisals, Parental Labeling, and Delinquency: Specifying a Symbolic Interactionist Theory. American Journal of Sociology, 97(6), 1577-1611. Schur, E. M. (2001). Labeling deviant behavior: Its sociological implications. New York: Harper & Row Read More