Examining British and Polish Serial Killers: What Ties Bind - Research Proposal Example

Research Examining British and Polish Serial Killers: What ties bind? Research Question In this research I will try to answer the question whether Wilsons theory about the most vulnerable groups of victims of serial killers can be applied to Poland. According to his theory the most vulnerable groups are elderly people, women involved in prostitution, gay men, and runaways. Wilson, an expert criminologist and ex-prison governor in his book “Serial Killers: Hunting Britons and Their Victims 1960-2006,” looks at every serial killer in Britain from 1960 to 2006 and analyzes their killing in the context of changes in social attitudes, across cultures and the criminal justice system. Wilson argues that not everyone is at risk of attack; according to him there are vulnerable groups of people that are more likely being targeted and becoming victims of a serial killer. Wilson in his book looks at all British serial killings and killers, but he is very specific by defying ‘British,’ to be included in his list the killer had to be British born and raised, and to have murdered in Britain. After analyzing all of the circumstances of the killings, victims and killers, Wilson comes up with a list of vulnerable groups of people that are at higher risk of becoming victims of a serial killer. That list includes the elderly, women who are involved in prostitution, gay men, runaways / throwaways, and children. I am comparing the crime of the United Kingdom and Poland because both countries have very similar number of murders; however the population in the United Kingdom is over 20 million more than Poland. Also the population of the UK is very different from the Polish population, where in Poland 98% of the population are Polish, in comparison much more people migrate to the UK from all over the world, thus the population is very diverse. Another factor contributing to comparing both countries is the fact that I happen to be Polish student in the United Kingdom that is fascinated with murder rates and trends in both countries. In comparing murder in Britain and Poland I picked Wilson’s book “Serial Killers: Hunting Britons and Their Victims 1960-2006,” and Gierowski’s & Jaskiewicz-Obydzynska book “Killers and their victims: Psychological profile,” because in both cases authors follow the same criteria when describing murders and murderers. In this dissertation I will compare characteristics of Polish serial killers, their victims and circumstances of the killings to British serial killers and their victims. I will use Gierowski’s and Jaskiewicz-Obydzynska’s findings about Polish serial killers and compare them to Wilson’s findings. This will show whether or not there are particular groups in Polish society who are especially vulnerable to attack by serial killers. By comparing findings from Britain and Poland I will be able to shed light on what is universal about serial killers. Findings from this study will contribute to a growing body of literature specifically concerned with violent crime such as murder. The findings from this study will increase our knowledge about the serial killers in United Kingdom and in Poland, and will also potentially answer the question whether or not serial killers from different populations share the same characteristics, thus can we generalize about serial killers. Research Aims How Polish serial killers are different from the British serial killers, if they do. Are the most vulnerable groups of victims the same in Poland as in Britain? Can we generalize about all serial killers? For example, can we say that Wilson’s theory is universally applicable? Literature Review According to statistics from the Polish Police Department there are around 1000 killings in Poland every year. In 2004 there were 980 murders were 91 percent of perpetrators were convicted. In 2008 there were 759 murders in Poland and that number is steadily going down since 2004. The same statistics show that the most murders in Poland are committed within the family members by family members. Usually it happens under the influence of alcohol where the wife or the husband attacks their spouse. In the United Kingdom the violent crime rate is 10 times higher than the United States crime rate. In 2003 in the UK violent crime rate was 4,100 per 100,000 citizens. There were 289,500 violent crimes reported between only July and September of 2003. While there were 759 murders in Poland in 2008 it is estimated that United Kingdom had 859 murders in 2006. Population of United Kingdom according to official statistics as of 2008 is 60,943,912. Polish population is estimated to be 38,500,696 as 2008. Jozef Krzysztof Gierowski and Teresa Jaskiewicz-Obydzinska researched cases of serial killers in Poland. They put analysis and outcome of their research in a book called “Killers and their victims: Psychological profile.” Gierowski and Jaskiewicz-Obydzynska analyzed 193 cases of serial killings in Poland that happen between 1975 and 2000. They are trying to answer questions that many ask: Are we all capable of killing? Who is a serial killer? How can you tell if someone is capable of killing? How is more likely to become a victim of a killing? Are particular groups vulnerable? Gierowski and Jaskiewicz-Obydzynska talk about the stereotype that people have in their minds when thinking about not only a serial killer but any killer. Society often pictures a serial killers as a muscular gangster from Tarantino’s movies and intelligent but cruel Hannibal Lecter. In real word there are not many serial killers that fit this description. Famous serial killers were actually using psychological mechanisms that many people are not even aware of. They were manipulating people around them creating an image of themselves that no one would ever even suspect them of being aggressive individual that is capable to kill with cold blood. Many famous serial killers were creating, not always consciously, an image themselves as a good citizen, quiet neighbor that would always keep to himself not bothering anyone. That would make him not suspicious to the society or the police, because society and police when looking for killers usually base their judgment on stereotypes. That is not the only tactic that serial killers use in manipulating not only their victims but also the justice system. Many of the famous serial killers according to Gierowski and Jaskiewicz-Obydzynska, use authority to earn trust of their victims. Serial killer Kenneth Bianchi and his accomplice Angelo Buono were posing as police officers, other serial killer Henriquez, was so good at playing cop that he was even helping the department investigate his own case, posing as a cop. One of the most famous serial rapists and killers in Poland that was named ‘Inkasent’ by the press, was introducing himself as a gas company worker. He would knock on old ladies door and say that he was sent to check the installation in the kitchen, because there might be a leakage. They would let him inside without suspecting anything, and he would then rape them, kill and rob anything valuable that he was able to find. ‘Inkasent’ was able to get into their apartments so easily just because they trusted him, being sent from the company, than if he was coming as a stranger. This case is also a good indication that Wilson’s theory holds water in Poland. The vulnerable group in question here is old ladies, a group that Wilson points out in his book are also vulnerable in the UK. Gierowski and Jaskiewicz-Obydzynska in their book point out that in many cases serial killers are sexual deviants who were victims of sexual or physical abuse as young kids. They are fantasizing about sexual acts and creating their own world where they feel safe and comfortable. In many cases they believe in their fantasy so hard that they cannot even separate the real world from their fantasies, and they simply start executing their fantasies in the real world. Another Polish criminologist Brunon Holyst in his book “Criminal Psychology,” points out that usually serial killers are people with mental problems who were victims of some sort of abuse as kids and poses anti social characteristics. In many cases as adults these people become psychopaths, who then commit all of these heinous crimes. A lot of times serial killers kill without specific reason, they just feel the urge and have to do it. They are being impulsive and they just kill random person. First cases of Polish serial killers were documented in early 1920’s of the 20th century. First known famous serial killer was Karl Denke, who became famous because he would kill, cook and eat his victims. Other famous Polish serial killers were Karol Kot, Zdzislaw Marchwicki, Leszek Pekalski, Stanislaw Modzelewski and Bogdan Arnold. The latest known Polish serial killers were ‘Lomiarz’ and ‘Inkasent’ who were active in the 1990’s. It is unknown how many serial killers are in Poland these days, but we know that there are many serial rapists who are still out there. Brunon Holyst in his book argues that in cases of serial rapists there is a very thin line to become a serial killer and anything can trigger a rapist to kill his victim. He even argues that serial rapist is already a serial killer who is not killing yet. The crossover between rapists and serial killers is another good indication that Wilson’s theory is universal. Women are a vulnerable group preyed on by both rapists and serial killers. From the research done on serial killers in Poland from 1975 to 2000 by Gierowski and Jaskiewicz-Obydzynska average Polish serial killer is an average man whose intelligence is little below average, in many cases with mental problem and anti social characteristics. Among Polish serial killers many of them were very emotional with low self esteem and had problems to fit in since they were young kids. In many cases they were raised in homes were one or both parents were alcoholics, they witnessed a lot of violence at home and often they were also victims of that violence. Many of them were also raised in foster care. Arkadiusz Czerwiński and Kacper Gradoń in their book “Serial Killers” write with details what serial killing is. They described the most famous Polish serial killers (Marchwicki, Pękalski, Mazurkiewicz), analyze their behavior, characteristics, and motives that led to crime. They also apply different criminological theories and tell the difference between mass murder (that is killing many people at a time) and serial killing (that is a repetitive behavior in a long period of time). Because serial killers are icons, just like vampires,Czerwinski and Gradoń try to talk about the serial killers in every possible aspect. Beside writing about Polish serial killers they also included deep biographies of other killers, such as Fish, Gacy, Ramirez or Berkowitz. Jan Gołębiowski is another author that writes about serial killers. In addition he also does criminal profiling. In his book “Criminal Profiling” he writes about psychology of different serial killers, including the most famous from Poland. Gołębiowski describes physical and psychological characteristics that together make up a “profile”. The author tries to tell whether the offender and their victims knew each other, if there was any relationship, how the offenders chose their victims, what was the motive and how they could act in the future. One of the most famous serial killers Leszek Pekalski confessed to more than 50 murders, even though he was convicted only for one. Nobody suspected that this young and quiet man raised in foster home could be this beast raping and killing young women. When asked why he was killing he said that because he was lonely and none of the women he killed wanted to be his wife. In addition to these books I will also try to use my contacts. My neighbor from Poland works at a police station so I will ask him to provide me with more information about serial killers. For example I would need more information about the type of victims and where the crime occurs. Another person that could help me is my aunt who is a psychologist in one of main police stations in Warsaw. I believe she would tell me more about psychology of the offenders, in this case Polish serial killers. Another person that could help is my friend from Krakow who is pursuing PhD in law. As far I as I know she took some criminology courses, thus she should have some knowledge in the topic. Methodology According to the definition a serial killer is a person who murders usually three or more people over a period of more than 30 days with a "cooling off" period between each murder, whose motivation for killing is largely based on psychological gratification. Often a sexual element is involved with the killings. The murders may have been attempted or completed in a similar fashion and the victims may have had something in common, for example occupation, race, appearance, gender, or age group. Serial killers tend to share the following general characteristics: The majority are single, white males. They are often intelligent, with IQs in the "bright normal" range. Despite their high IQs, they do poorly in school, have trouble holding down jobs, and often work menial jobs. They tend to come from unstable families. As children, they are typically abandoned by their fathers and raised by domineering mothers. Their families often have criminal, psychiatric and alcoholic histories. They often are mistrustful of their parents. It is common to find that as children, they were abused—psychologically, physically and/or sexually—by a family member. Many spend time in institutions as children and have records of early psychiatric problems. They have high rates of suicide attempts. From an early age, many are intensely interested in voyeurism, fetishism, and sadomasochistic pornography. More than 60 percent wet their beds beyond the age of 12. Many are fascinated with fire starting. They are involved in sadistic activity or torturing small animals. The National Center for the Analysis of the Violent Crime reports that 76% percent of all the serial killers worldwide are in the United States, while in Europe we find 17% of all the serial killers. In the United States over a period of 30 years there were 357 serial killers; in the United Kingdom there were 58 serial killers. Many researchers have found similar things that serial killers have gone through as a child, such as: a history of sexual and physical abuse. They often either had no father figure because the father left prior to the age of 12 or the father was domineering and abusive. As children most of the killers committed delinquent acts such as setting fires, theft, and cruelty to animals. Where not all researchers agree to all the above profiles there are many that believe these are the dominate traits. Not everyone will fit in everywhere. Some of the other traits they found in many of the serial killers that they interviewed and studied are bed wetting even after the age of 12, fire starting and animal abuse. Gierowski and Jaskiewicz-Obydzynska in their research discovered that average killer in Poland in time period 1975 to 2000 was 34 years old. Among serial killers there were many victims, but the most killed were women, and they are a group of population that are more likely than any other group to become a victim of a serial killer in Poland. Wilson’s theory about vulnerable groups of victims of serial killers can be definitely applied not only to Poland, however; there might be groups that are more vulnerable than other to become a victim of a serial killer. Also in Poland only men are known to be serial killers. There are no known cases of women being serial killers. There are cases of women committing a murder but usually it is their husband or boyfriend that they kill after years of physical and mental abuse. Polish serial killers are usually heterosexual males in their thirties and early forties who are sexually dysfunctional and have low self-esteem. Their attacks, whether it is a young or elderly woman or a child, are almost always sexual in nature. Their killings are usually part of an elaborate fantasy that they live out by killing strangers that do not mean anything to them. Confidentiality The research instruments developed for this study do not ask for any identifying characteristics that would enable anyone to identify the participants. All of the identifying characteristics provided by the respondents will be removed by the research team during the initial stages of the research prior to administering the interview. During the transcription process the transcriber will remove any identifying characteristics that are provided by respondents as part of the interview. For every respondent there will be a pseudonym provided in order to replace their real name. Audiotapes and social demographic information will be coded with a numbering system to help conceal the identity of the respondents. Any official records containing any identifying characteristics of the respondents will be kept locked in a cabinet in the principal investigator’s office to which only the principal investigator will have access. All transcripts and audiotapes of the interviews will be kept in a separate locked cabinet in the office of the principal investigator to which only the principal investigator will have access. All transcripts and tapes will be destroyed within a week after the final draft of the research project is approved by the principal investigator. For all the respondents participating in this study, other than the possibility of them being identified, there is no known potential harm greater than what is faced in everyday life. Subjects are expected to indirectly benefit from this study due to general feeling of reward for being able to contribute to this study. Timetable Topic selection Source search Material gathering Thesis statement and outline Rough draft writing Interviews Data analysis Rough draft writing Material gathering/Source search/Data analysis Rough draft revisions Final copy Bibliography Czerwiński, A. & Gradoń, K. (2001) Serial Killers Muza: Warszawa Gierowski, J.K. & Obydzyńska, T. (2002) Killers and their victims: Psychological profile Wyd. Instytutu Ekspertyz Sądowych, Kraków Hołyst, B. (2004) Criminal Psychology LexisNexis Wilson, D. (2007) Serial Killers: Hunting Britons and Their Victims, 1960 to 2006 Waterside Press Read More