Human Rights vs. Violent Crime - Essay Example

Human Rights vs. Violent Crime (Serial Killers) Originally called "crimes in series" by the British police, the termserial killer has an additional relation to those movies called "serials" that would always end with "cliff hangers" incomplete endings with the audience wanting more. (Seltzer) This study will analyze the responses of eleven subjects who were asked to comment on the question, “Should Serial Killers be put to death or Studied?” This question is being asked in order to understand how American’s perceive this type of violence and this researcher is looking for what the respondents actually feel towards the violence of serial killing and the criminal and not necessarily for an actual answer to the question. The responses to the question will help to gauge whether or not American’s feel that these particular criminals deserve the same rights as any American or if they are in a separate and distinct category. It is difficult to understand the nature of a serial killer. The repetitive character of their murderous acts for no "justifiable" reason is a conundrum to most of us, A motive a juror can understand such as; jealousy, greed, revenge, and the like are emotional and perhaps human justifications for a crime. As Female #8 responded, “They all seem about the same to me, no conscious, no morals, no reason to let them live in prison for the rest of their lives. Nothing more to learn about them other than they are probably born that way and have no hope to be change or cured, kinda like child molesters.” In this way it is similar in nature to an addiction to drugs or alcohol. This behavior is always a mystery to the non-addict. However as Feamle #10 expresses and overall feeling of the group, “Since there is no cure of hope of changing any of these people we should not waste energy on them or money keeping them in prison.” There are certainly similarities in the pathology in the repetitive nature of the serial killer and the continuation of the cycle of addition. In looking at a general view of a serial killer as a psychopath one sees that "Psychopaths are people who have severe antisocial impulses. They act on them without apparent regard for the inevitable and devastating consequences these actions may bring to themselves and others" (Simon 22). While psychopaths / Serial killers do exert a certain amount of control over their actions, they remain fated to commit them time and time again. This is a sentiment echoed repeatedly throughout the interviews. Biologically speaking there is certainly a link with human beings, albeit a primitive one. A prevailing theory of psychopathic behavior is that they are functioning on the level of instinct-response. In face Female #1 expresses this exact concept: In my opinion serial killers are some kind of throwbacks to caveman days, they are missing something in their brains that makes them feel no emotions like remorse or fear or anything, probably especially not even love. I think scientist have studied this to death and come up empty. Serial killer should just be executed as soon as their case is resolved. (#1 female) That they are more directly connected with what is coined the "reptilian brain" or more precisely the brain stem. This is where the fight or flight response is also housed and is, evolutionarily speaking, the older most primitive part of the brain system. When face to face with a serial killer it is often noted in interviews that looking into their eyes is like looking at the unblinking eyes of a snake (Robinson). One would tend to think that serial killers must certainly be insane and fall under the purview of the plea "not guilty by reason of mental defect." But the test for this criterion is competence and the ability to distinguish right from wrong. The accused can be deemed incompetent to stand trail only if he or she cannot understand the nature of the charges against them or are unable to participate in the preparation of their own defense. They must also be unable to distinguish right from wrong (Egger). This is not the case with the serial killer. They are usually of above average intelligence and understand the concepts of right and wrong, they merely choose to ignore them. As Female #4 states: I have heard that they are highly intelligent and it is possible that they could offer some benefit if they were studied. But I’m sure that the families of the victims would probably not agree unless the study was painful in some way. (#4 Female) In general those surveyed viewed serial killers as having less rights than other human beings, in fact criminals in general were perceived as fair game for not only execution but any experimental procedures, as male #6 states: I think that we should allow prisoners in general, especially murderers to be used as guinea pigs and experimental subjects anyway. Certain murderers, like serial killers, give up their rights as human beings as far as I’m concerned and there is no problem treating them like animals. (#6 male) In fact female #5 goes even further and states, “They should be shot by the police before they even get to prison. But if that doesn’t happen then they should be given a fair trial and gassed.” So as one can see the general sentiment is not high for these criminals. Further, male #3 bluntly states, “they should be put down like a rabid dog, no studying, not extensions of execution. They should be removed from the earth completely so that they can’t breed or reproduce or spread any copycat crimes to others.” However there was one who was against the death penalty in general, Female #2 who stated, I don’t believe in capital punishment for any reason so I would have to say no to this. Not sure about the study part, but if it can help to prevent or find out about serial killers before they start that would be something to consider. (#2 female) Interestingly, Male #7 thought more about his response . Initially thinking it was all right to study them, as long as they were executed in the end, but then surmised a fascinating point: But you have to wonder how valuable the study part is when the serial killer has no motivation to cooperate or contribute honestly to the research. He could just as easily lie about his responses as easily as he had murdered someone without the least regret. So in reality I would say that it could be just a waste of time studying any of them other that just what you would know already. (#7 male) It appears that this survey sample as well as many researchers and therapists condemn those with antisocial personality disorder as doomed, if intervention was not applied in childhood than there is no hope for the victim of the disorder. It is even questionable whether or not early intervention would have been of help at all. The overall viewpoint of those surveyed is that serial killers are not really human beings and that their violence condemns them to a life without rights. Society on the other hand has a different viewpoint and treats all citizens with the same right as far as criminalization is concerned. So while the survey results showed a split between execute (56%) and study(44) in actuality the reaction is the same. Whether execute or study the respondents almost all felt that the rights of serial killers were non-existent and they could be treated as non-human because of their violent behavior. Works Cited Egger, Steven A. Serial Murder An Elusive Phenomenon. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1990. Robinson, David L. Brain, Mind, and Behavior: A New Perspective on Human Nature. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1996. Simon, Robert I. Bad Men Do What Good Men Dream A Forensic Psychiatrist Illuminates the Darker Side of Human Behavior. Washington D.C.: American Psychiatric Press, 1996. Seltzer, Mark. "Serial Killers (1)." Differences 5.1 (1993): 92-128. Appendix I Notes from surveyed subjects #1 female: “In my opinion serial killers are some kind of throwbacks to caveman days, they are missing something in their brains that makes them feel no emotions like remorse or fear or anything, probably especially not even love. I think scientist have studied this to death and come up empty. Serial killer should just be executed as soon as their case is resolved. #2 female: I don’t believe in capital punishment for any reason so I would have to say no to this. Not sure about the study part, but if it can help to prevent or find out about serial killers before they start that would be something to consider. #3 male: “they should be put down like a rabid dog, no studying, not extensions of execution. They should be removed from the earth completely so that they can’t breed or reproduce or spread any copycat crimes to others. #4 Female; I have heard that they are highly intelligent and it is possible that they could offer some benefit if they were studied. But I’m sure that the families of the victims would probably not agree unless the study was painful in some way. #5 Female: They should be shot by the police before they even get to prison. But if that doesn’t happen then they should be given a fair trial and gassed. #6 Male: I think that we should allow prisoners in general, especially murderers to be used as guinea pigs and experimental subjects anyway. Certain murderers, like serial killer, give up their rights as human beings as far as I’m contender and there is no problem treating them like animals. Never let them out and study the h*** out of them #7 Male: I think you should have the best of both, studied them for a specific amount of time and then execute them. But you have to wonder how valuable the study part is when the serial killer has no motivation to cooperate or contribute honestly to the research. He could just as easily lie about his responses as easily as he had murdered someone without the least regret. So in reality I would say that it could be just a waste of time studying any of them other that just what you would know already. #8 Female: There is no point in studying them. They all seem about the same to me, no conscious, no morals, no reason to let them live in prison for the rest of their lives. Nothing more to learn about them other than they are probably born that way and have no hope to be change or cured, kinda like child molesters. They don’t seem to be able to change either so you have to wonder about letting them out of prison too. #9 Female: I think it would be a good idea to keep them alive without ever having a chance at parole and study them. Sure you could kill them but then there may be the hope that by learning what really causes them to behave that way there may be a chance to help others as well. #10 Female: I thin that in general the death penalty should be used in cases like serial killers and other murders that have no hope of redemption or rehabilitation, which is most of them probably. Since there is no cure of hope of changing any of these people we should not waste energy on them or money keeping them in prison. #11 Male: Yes, I do believe there is some benefit in trying to study them, but you have to have safeguards in place or you can wind up with a Hannibal Lechter type of situation where given enough time they might be able to find a way out and become a threat again. But yea, experiment on them and if they wind up dying, oh well you get the same result. Read More