AMERICAN CRIMINAL MINDS OF THE 20TH

CENTURY

Diseases that affect the human brain, and the family problems can make a human become a

monster.

STRUCTUREIntroduction1. Monsters or Victims?2. Studying the Serial Killer Brain

• 2.1. Antisocial Personality Disorder vs. Psychopathy• 2.2. Organized vs. Disorganized Killers• 2.3. The Holmes and Holmes Serial Murder Typology

3. Joe Ball - "The Alligator Man"4. Joseph Christopher: "The Midtown Slasher"5. Donald Henry Gaskins: "The Meanest Man in America"ConclusionBibliography

F I R S T C H A P T E R : M O N S T E R S O R V I C T I M S ?

A serial killer has difficulty in actually processing, understanding and using emotional material

Androgens (hormones), may have a direct influence on physiological mechanisms governing behavior or organize the developing human brain to make particular behavioral responses more likely

SECOND CHAPTER: STUDYING THE SERIAL KILLER BRAIN

A N T I S O C I A L P E R S O N A L I T Y D I S O R D E R V S . P S Y C H O PAT H Y

People with personality disorder:• - have a long history of arrests • - are often involved in physical fights• - act impulsively

Psychopathy - a severe form of personality disorder

Psychopaths:• have the antisocial behaviors mentioned• have additional traits such as lack of remorse or guilt

for their actions

O R G A N I Z E D V S . D I S O R G A N I Z E D K I L L E R S

Organized killer - leading an orderly life, high intelligence, socially competent, and more likely than the disorganized killer to have skilled employment

Disorganized killer - reflecting an overall sense of disorder and suggests little, preplanning of the murder ,socially incompetent and have below-average intelligence

T H E H O L M E S A N D H O L M E S S E R I A L M U R D E R T Y P O L O G Y

Visionary - kills because 'commanded' to do so by voices or visions

Mission-Oriented - The murderer has a goal (to rid the world of certain type of person)

Hedonistic - kills for pleasure

Power/Control Oriented - the criminal act is based on the desire to show total control over other human beings

T H E T H I R D C H A P T E R : J O E B A L L - " T H E A L L I G AT O R M A N "

Serial killer from Texas

Murdered 20 women during 1930s

Had a saloon named Sociable Inn where he kept five alligators

Joe killed himself after he was exposed

THE FOURTH CHAPTER: JOSEPH CHRISTOPHER: "THE MIDTOWN

SLASHER"

Racist from 1980s

Killed 30 black people in 4 months with a 22 caliber

gun

Was convicted to 60 years of prison

in 1985

THE FIFTEEN CHAPTER: DONALD HENRY GASKINS: "THE MEANEST

MAN IN AMERICA

A killer from South Carolina

Brutal, detached, pedophile, cannibal, and psychopath.

He killed both family members, close friends and strangers

He confessed to over 181 murders

Was executed on September 6, 1991, at 1:10AM.

Was the fourth person to die in the electric chair after the death

penalty was reinstated in South Carolina

CONCLUSION

In the end, all we can conclude is that serial

killers are human black holes. Killing others is not

an attempt to fill the void, but to spread the void.

They are an embodiment of the darkness, desire,

and power that we must repress within ourselves

BIBLIOGRAPHYDouglas, John. The Mind Hunter. New York: Pocket Books, 1996. Print

Marquis, de Sade. Justine, Philosophy in the Bedroom, and Other Writings. New York: Grove Press, 1990. Print

Osterburg, James and Ward, Richard. Criminal Investigation ed.6, New York: Anderson Publishing, 2010. Print