OMEGA, VOI.

29(1) 29-45, 1994

THE SERIAL MURDERERS MOTIVATIONS:

AN INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEW

DANA D. DEHART
University of Louisville
JOHN M. MAHONEY
Virginia Commonwealth University

ABSTRACT
A serial killer is defined as an individual who murders two or more victims
over an extended period of time, ranging from days to years, with the crimes
often being sexually motivated. Although there is a growing popular empha-
sis on the phenomenon, there is a paucity of rigorous research in the area. The
present article reviews existing motivational theories of serial murder and
proposes additional explications from a range of disciplines. Suggestions for
future research are presented and integrational approaches are encouraged.

The recent deluge of media attention to the phenomenon of serial murder has led
many to believe that the serial murderer is a new breed of killer [1, 2; 3, p. 471;
these crimes, however, have existed throughout the ages. Historical examples
include fifteenth-century child murderer Gilles de Rais, seventeenth-centuryserial
killer Jack the Ripper, and Wisconsin necrophile and cannibal Ed Gein who was
apprehended in the nineteen-fifties.
The present article is intended to offer a summary and expansion of diverse and
often conceptually-elusive motivational explications of serial murder. Contem-
porary theoretical perspectives concerning serial murder will be drawn from a
variety of disciplines, and integrational approaches will be emphasized.

A RECENT SURGE?
The misconception that serial murder is unique to contemporary times may be
the result of a recent surge in the incidence of serial killings. Jenkins notes that

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doi: 10.2190/75BM-PM83-1XEE-2VBP
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30 / DEHART AND MAHONEY

only two cases of murders of ten or more victims are known in the United States
between 1950 and 1970, in contrast to 39 known multiple murder cases since 1970
[4]. In the late 1980s, the Federal Bureau of Investigation estimated that there
were about forty-five multiple murderers active in the U.S. at any one time [5],
and estimates of the number of annual US. serial murder victims range between 1
percent and 25 percent of the total number of homicide victims, with some sources
estimating as many as 5,000 serial murder victims each year [4,6, 71.
Despite the social impact of serial murder, many rudimentary aspects of the
phenomenon remain unresolved, and existing research containing serial murder is
not easily accessible. Although a number of theorists have addressed etiological
and motivational aspects of serial murder, a psychological literature search of
serial murder currently yields only two citations [6,8]. Considering the paucity of
research, further theoretical and empirical exploration appears warranted.

A DEFINITION OF SERIAL MURDER

For the present authors purposes, a serial murderer is defined as an individual
who murders two or more victims over a period of time which entails breaks or
cooling off periods [5, p. 61 between some victims; the length of these intervals
may range from a few days to several years.
Serial murder, in part, is defined by the nature of the killers motivations. The
murderers motive, often sexual in nature, has an intrinsic locus and commonly
involves gratification derived from the act of murder itself. Those individuals who
murder in a serial fashion, yet whose primary goals are extrinsically derived, seem
to be a more heterogenous than homogenous group. Investigation of such killers
may be accomplished more fruitfully from an extrinsic primary goal perspective.
For instance, murderers who kill as a result of jealous rage (an extrinsic goal) are
likely to be psychologically different from those individuals who murder for
material gain (another extrinsic goal). The present authors focus on intrinsic
motivation is paramount for exploration of the origins and development of
killers motivations. For these reasons, such extrinsically-motivated murderers are
excluded from the present definition of a serial killer.
Jesse (cited in 161) has discussed six motivations for murder, including elimina-
tion, jealousy, gain, revenge, ideological conviction, and lust of killing. For the
purposes of the present definition, motives of elimination and of jealousy are not
among the serial killers goals. The killer is not attempting to work for the cause
of some group. Neither does the killer seek to eliminate or retaliate against a
specific victim who intentionally or unintentionally provokes conflict or who is a
physical threat. The serial killer who wants revenge does not pursue revenge
against an individual; the murderer generalizes his or her hatred to an entire
category of individuals and retaliates by victimizing that group somewhat ran-
domly [9]. The ideological conviction of the serial killer is, again, intrinsically-
derived; the killer acts to achieve his or her own ideals, not to work toward goals
 SERIALMURDER / 31

sought by exterior sources [101. The killers behavioral orientation is expressive,

rather than instrumental, with the murderer seeking enhancement of a personal
psychological state rather than material gain [ 101.

INFERRING MOTIVE
Motives, by definition, are inferred constructs. Several methodological con-
straints are relevant to inferences made about the serial killers motivations.
Because information about the crimes often must be garnered from a serial killers
personal narrative, reliability of the data may be suspect. That is, in the case of
serial murder, as with any deviant behavior, there exist substantial reasons for the
murderer to dissimulate his or her account. Some killers deny any involvement in
the crimes, while others gradually reveal the nature and extent of involvement
apparently to buy time while awaiting judicial processing. Additionally, mur-
derers may alter or exaggerate claims for egocentric or status reasons. Due to these
reliability and validity problems in assessing the killers report, motivational
inferences may be complicated.
Furthermore, if researchers choose to distinguish between one-victim mur-
derers and serial murderers, ambiguities in scientific and legal classification of
serial killers may diminish the validity of data. For instance, even though a serial
may be intended, the murderer might fail to actually kill a second victim, and
hence, would not be legally adjudicated as a serial murderer. Alternatively,
the serial killer may be found guilty of only one murder, though many more
victims existed.
It should be borne in mind that any given person may have more than one reason
for committing serial murder, and that only general similarities among killers can
be drawn because each killer is unique. With these caveats in mind, we will
explore some hypotheses regarding underlying motives of the serial killer.

PROFILES OF THE KILLER

Holmes and DeBurger describe differences among serial killers with respect
to the murderers behavioral background, victimology, modus operandi, and
geographic mobility [101. Based on such differences, the researchers have
specified four general profiles of serial murderers, with each of these types
deriving from a differing motivational orientation.
Visionary serial killers are typically motivated by psychotic delusions or hallu-
cinations. Herbert Mullin, for instance, was a paranoid schizophrenic who heard
voices commanding him to kill thirteen people in order to avert natural disasters
[ll].In contrast, mission-oriented murderers consciously seek to rid society of
an undesirable group of people. Jack the Rippers murder of prostitutes, for
example, might be construed as mission-oriented murder. Holmes and DeBurger
also describe the hedonistic serial murderer, who kills for thrills, pleasure, or
32 / DEHART AND MAHONEY

contentment, and the powerlcontrol serial murderer, who compensates for a lack
of social or personal mastery by exerting control over victims [12-141.
These researchers have proposed general profiles of four types of differentially-
motivated killers, yet from what sources do the motivations arise? In the quest for
hedonism, power, or ideological commitment, how has the serial killer come
to defy social mores in order to achieve personal goals? While Holmes and
DeBurger provide a convenient nosology of motives, a more extended classifica-
tion is suggested by examination of theories of deviance and aggression.

MOTIVATIONS FOR MURDER

Personal Motivational Models

PsychophysiologicalApproaches
The possibility of a biological or genetic basis for serial murder is an unresolved
issue at present, however, several biologically-based theories of the phenomenon
have been proposed.
Paleopsychology -A recent and controversialmodel, paleopsychology,postu-
lates that human aggression derives from the hierarchical functioning of socio-
biological, ego-psychological, sociological, philosophical, and spiritual influ-
ences on the individual (151. This phylogenetic model asserts that behaviors
involving human violence reflect the consequences of a neurologically-regressed
pattern of behavior. Baileys paleopsychological model is an extension of the
concept of the triune brain, first advanced by MacLean [16].
According to MacLeans triune brain principle, the human brain consists of
three distinct structural components. The most fundamental and primitive struc-
ture of the brain is the neural chassis, or Reptilian-complex (R-complex), which
regulates maintenance functions in the body, such as breathing and conscious-
ness. The limbic portion of the brain, which encloses the R-complex, regulates
subsequently-evolved neurological functions, such as emotions, hunger, pain
avoidance, and pleasure seeking. The most advanced component of the triune
brain is the cerebral cortex, which, according to MacLean, contributes the human
capacity for rational thought and logical analysis.
Bailey [15] has theorized that human action is heavily linked to the functioning
of the limbic system and the R-complex [15]. According to Bailey, the behavioral
impulses from the more primitive structure of the brain are stronger and more
urgent than those of the cerebral cortex; yet, the relative influences of biology,
culture, and rational thought may differ depending upon the state of the organism
and upon situational factors. Bailey asserts that most individuals engage in phylo-
genetic regression and progression, and that humans actually have a preference for
regressive activities. The human neocortex acts as an inhibitory filter for powerful
 SERIALMURDER / 33

impulses from the lower brain, and aggression results from deficient or failed
neocortical inhibition of basal impulses. The serial killers behavior, in Baileys
view, arises from a basic reliance upon the functioning of the repetitive and
unemotional processes of the R-complex, and from reliance upon the emotion-
oriented limbic system. The serial killer, then lacks or fails to respond to
behavioral constraints imposed by more advanced neocortical functions.
Bailey posits that the murderers brutal aggression is an atavistic expression that
is reptilian, protoconscious, automatic, and instinctual in nature. Such extreme
phylogenetic regression may have origins in 1) abnormality of the murderers
neurological structure, such as genetic abnormality or brain damage, 2) predis-
posing developmental or environmental factors, such as learned behavior or
prolonged physical stress, or 3) immediate situational elicitors, such as intoxica-
tion or recent trauma.
Sensation seeking - Another physiologically-based theory that may explain
the serial murderers motivations is that of sensation seeking. The sensation-
seeking hypothesis is similar to paleopsychology, in that impulsive behaviors are
said to relate to reduced cortical functioning. Certain individuals, called sensa-
tion seekers, are posited to have lower levels of cortical arousal, and hence would
have lessened inhibition over lower-brain functioning [171. Sensation seekers
purportedly attempt to augment this low level of arousal with a profusion of
stimulus-laden activities. Thus, according to a sensation-seeking perspective, the
serial killers state of physiological arousal is such that a high level of stimulation
is required for gratification-the killers antisocial behavior is dictated by
stimulus starvation. The murderer seeks the thrill of murder because such activity
is stimulating; the excitement of pursuing the victim and the subsequent elusion of
authorities serve as motives. There are some circumstances in which serial killers
even seem to engage in narcissistic games with civil authorities in order to
outwit these potential captors in the search for the killer. The still unidentified
Zodiac Killer, for example, teased authorities with generous correspondence,
mocking the efforts of law enforcement personnel and including clues regarding
the killers identity [ll].
Hormonal variations - Another provocative perspective on aggression also
relates to sensation seeking, but focuses on psychopharmacological variations
within the individual. Numerous researchers have found that normal and enzy-
matic activity corresponds with sensation seeking, dominance, delinquency, and
other excessive behavioral tendencies [18-21]. Particularly, testosterone and a
related enzyme, monoamine oxidase (MAO), have been linked to unprovoked
violence and victimful crimes [19, 22-26]. Some researchers posit that these
chemicals relate directly to aggression, while others hypothesize that testosterone
and MA0 merely mediate a relationship between antisocial behavior and
sensation-seeking tendencies [18, 201. Still others suggest that the influence of
such chemicals on neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, mediates aggressive
34 / DEHART AND MAHONEY

behavior [27]. MAO, for instance, affects the serotonin concentration surrounding
axon terminals. Because MA0 metabolizes excess serotonin between synapses, a
deficiency of MAO. could result in serotonin surplus, thereby increasing the
number of false nerve transmissions taking place. Such discharges may
facilitate antisocial behavior, in that serotonin has been empirically linked to
irritability, impulsiveness, and aggression [28,29]. Several researchers, however,
have considemd that ,MA0 activity may simply reflect existing levels of neuro-
transmission, and thus relationships between aggression and MA0 or MAOs
hormonal associate testosterone may be spurious correlates to neurotransmitter-
aggression relationships [30]. Nevertheless, heavy concentrations of MA0
occupy the brainstem and portions of the limbic system [31-331. Hence, hormonal
theories of violence are not incompatible with Baileys paleopsychological
model of lower-brain-mediated aggression, but the causal linkage remains
ambiguous [15].
Some theorists have expanded upon hormonal models of aggression via the
organization-activation hypothesis [34, 251. This hypothesis states that embryo-
logical or neonatal steroid activity influences formation of certain neurological
structures. These permanently-altered structures then respond differently to adult
hormonal infusion. According to these researchers, both adult hormonal activity
and the behavioral responses to such steroid variation are affected by social
contexts within which neurological operations take place. Hence, neonatal experi-
ences of certain individuals, combined with learning history and certain adult
hormonal variables, may provide a context for murder.

Psychological Models

Psychodynamic approaches -The classical psychodynamic model reflects the

principles elaborated by Freud [36, 371, who believed that human behavior is
instinctual, irrational, and unconscious. Freud classified human instincts into two
broad categories: 1)life (sexual) instincts, and 2) death (aggressive) instincts. The
energies that provide impetus for these instincts purportedly arise from the Id. The
Id is Freuds term for a basic and unstructured component of personality which
functions upon the pleasure principle, that is, upon the reduction of pain and the
enhancement of pleasure.
Death instincts, or Thanatos, are postulated to be driven by self-destructive
energies, which are kept in check by survival-drivenlibidinal energies of Eros, the
collective life and sexual instincts. Because, according to Freud, Eros blocks
direct expression of death instincts, some of the natural Thanatotic energy is left
undischarged. In the course of self-preservation, the individual may use uncon-
scious defense mechanisms, such as projection or sublimation, to dissipate
undesirable Id impulses. Alternatively, the individual may direct destructive
energies outward, with Thanatos being displaced and expressed as aggression
toward others.
 SERIALMURDER / 35

In the normal individual, psychic energies from the Id are controlled

by the rational Ego and the morally-ingrained Superego. In certain indi-
viduals, however, the Ego may lack restraint, and the Superego may fail to
develop. If the weak Superego cannot adequately balance irrational Id impulses,
the individual becomes what Freud called a moral invalid, or, in contemporary
terms, a psychopath or sociopath. Increasing levels of Thanatotic energy that are
free from socially desirable constraint, or that become too great for a weak
Superego to suppress, are finally expressed in cathartic eruptions of self-destruc-
tive or aggressive behavior. *
Other individuals, called overcontrolled aggressors [38], have extreme inhibi-
tions against acting aggressively, and fail to vent Thanatotic energy with sufficient
frequency. The energy builds to extreme levels; hence, cathartic energy release for
overcontrolled aggressors is often quite brutal [36].
Thus, according to psychodynamic theory, either lack of or excess constraint
of the Id could predispose an individual to severe aggressive outbursts which,
for the serial killer, might take the form of murder. After these cathartic
explosions of aggression, cyclic processes of energy accumulation and discharge
would continue, giving rise to the serial nature of such murderers aggressive
activities.
Although the libidinal energy of Eros is usually expressed independently of
Thanatotic energy, sometimes these energies coexist, as ambivalence, or fuse, as
sadism. From a psychodynamic perspective, the sexual nature of the serial killers
motivations would derive from the blending or fusion of Erotic and Thanatotic
energies. Support for this theoretical perspective is exemplified in the statements
of serial killers such as Joseph Kallinger and Edmund Kemper, who describe
mutilation and murder as titillating and climactic components of their aberrant
behavior [9,39].
Furthermore, past researchers have alluded to the prevalence of contact
weapons utilized in serial murder. This physical aspect of the offenses has been
attributed to the greater intimacy of contact weapons, exemplifying the sexual
component of the killers motives [40-421. Psychodynamic theorists note the
sexual symbolism of certain weapons, such as knives, comparing these to
phalluses in physical dimension and penetrative ability. Joe Kallingers descrip-
tions of murder are particularly concordant with these interpretations. I had only
one thing in mind, Kallinger recalled, ., .the pleasure of soft spots . . .the hand
thrust the knife into the left side of her neck, once, twice, three times. I had an
orgasm [39, pp. 283,2981.
Freud believed that this blend of sexual and aggressive energies begins as an
unbound force, but is then invested, or cathected, in the instinctual object, that
consists of the material or procedural elements requisite for need satisfaction. In
identification, symbolic objects are substituted for the actual instinctual objects.
Such identification would, theoretically, be the source of some serial killers
victim choice. According to Freud, individuals harbor intense hostility toward
36 / DEHART AND MAHONEY

parental figures. The child, who wishes to destroy the parent, may displace
this hostility. The potential killer would then stalk those who were irrationally
identified with the hated parental figure. Kemper, for instance, admitted that
the individual whom he really desired to murder was his mother, and for
a long while, Edmund stalked and killed the coeds at a university where
his mother taught. After finally mustering the courage to actually murder
the ultimate victim-his mother-Kemper promptly turned himself in to
authorities.
According to psychodynamic theory, compulsive behaviors such as serial
murder arise from childhood psychosexual fixations. Because psychodynamic
theorists believe that personality is established early in life and is unchanging, it is
suggested that there is no cure for the serial murderers erratic pattern; the only
treatment for such killers is isolation.
Development and learning-theory approaches: Conditioned Qsion of sex and
aggression - Another motivational model of sexual homicide emphasizes the
principles of conditioning, through which a cognitive fusion of sexuality and
aggression may result from traumatic sexual experiences. The individual learns to
anticipate sexuality as an accompaniment to violence, and the two types of
experiences may be viewed as inseparable. Former police officer and Sex Beast
Girard Schaefer, who may have been responsible for more than twenty Florida
murders, claimed that his sister used to beat him in order to ensure secrecy after
forcing him to engage in sexual activity with her. This trauma, although extreme,
provides a lucid example for the case of violent sexuality as a conditioned
response.
The potential serial killers association between sexuality and aggression is
cultivated and reinforced as violent fantasies result in intense sexual excitement.
As Holmes and DeBurger have noted, there usually exists, before and after the
murder, a homicidal fantasy that rewards, reinforces, and restimulates to further
homicide [lo, p. 501. The courtroom statement of Peter Kurten, describing his
thoughts during confinement, illustrates this pattern.

I thought of myself causing accidents affecting thousands of people, . . .

smashing bridges and boring through bridge piers, . . . using schools
and orphanages for the purpose, where I could carry out murders by giving
away chocolate samples containing arsenic. I derived the sort of pleasure
from these visions that other people would get from thinking about a naked
woman [43].

Presumably, the conditioned response can be reversed either by counter-

conditioning or by constructing a conscience for the serial killer via the judi-
cious application of avoidant conditioning to violent stimuli [44]. Author Anthony
Burgess provides an account of such conditioning in the popular novel A CZock-
work Orange [45]. Burgess young thrill killer Alex is apprehended by authorities
 SERIALMURDER / 37

and subjected to the experimental Ludovico Technique in order to dampen

Alexs taste for violence. After the conditioning, Alex, a helpless pawn and model
patient, is set free into society. Like the fictional Ludovico model, the present
conditioning model suggests that any deviant pattern of behavior, including serial
murder, can be reversed. Thus, the serial killer can be cured, and, in theory, can
be returned to society.

Developmental and learning-theory approaches: A social learning model -

One of the most controversial theoretical models of serial murder is based upon
the work of Bandura, who has argued that observing violence leads to violent
actions on the part of the observer [46]. Subsequently, this theory has provoked a
barrage of public concern about media portrayals of aggression, especially that of
sexual violence. Several researchers who have exposed males to violent rape
scenarios which depict victims as aroused suggest that viewing such material may
create less negative attitudes about rape, more of a proclivity to personally commit
rape, and more aggression toward females [47,481. Whether media portrayals
actually teach violent behaviors to normal individuals has not been definitively
established, but displays of aggression might serve as social prompts for a
persons existing urges to commit violence, or may weaken that persons inhibi-
tions against acting on such feelings.
Thus, from a modeling approach, the availability of information about murder
may provide potential killers with insight regarding the crime and procedures
to avoid detection. Additionally, media attention might provide impetus for
copycat killings, and depictions of violent sexuality and aggression may
increase viewer proclivity to commit such acts due to disinhibition, violence-myth
propagation, and perceived reinforcement.

Developmental and learning-theory approaches: Conditioned conscience -

Behaviorists have explained aggression as a conditioned response, either as a
result of direct or vicarious reinforcement [46]. Such theorists have also explained
aggression as a function of deficient conditioning, with normal behavior being
viewed as a result of conditioned conscience. Through consistent social appli-
cation of punishment, individuals are postulated to eventually anticipate the nega-
tive ramifications of deviant behavior. The resultant anxiety response, perceived
as conscience, inhibits aggressive behavior. According to such theories, the
serial killer fails to internalize social mores, and hence, lacks inhibitions against
aggression.
Learning cultural norms must supersede exposure to those norms, hence, failure
to demonstrate ordinary social conditioning may result from the killers personal
alienation. Accordingly, there are indications that serial murderers may be
profoundly isolated individuals, who often display symptomatic manifestations of
alienation, such as normlessness, meaninglessness, powerlessness, isolation, and
self-estrangement [49].
38 / MHARTANDMAHONEY

Sociological Approaches

Containment Theory
A sociological approach which is similar to conditioning models is that of
containment theory [50]. Social control theorists argue that various cultural
institutions serve to keep individual behavior constrained by social norms.
These institutions also cultivate within the individual a buffer against aggressive
impulses.
As noted, the serial murderers isolation may inhibit socialization, and therefore
prevent the developmentof internal buffers. External buffers may not be sufficient
sources of social control, as Norris [13] explains, citing the potential serial
murderers apparently improved and normal adjustment patterns in correctional
facilities. Norris states that because the institution provides the individual with an
imposed rigid structure for existence, the lack of that persons internal control is
not problematic, This external structure allows the individual to function within
the cultures desired constraints and to appear superficially suitable for release
into the larger society. When the individual achieves freedom from such external
control, however, his or her internal framework fails to suffice, thus, isolation and
alienation once again lead to the potential killers preoccupation with a self-
focused mindset.
Rituulkution - Fromm noted that two major strategies exist for addressing
alienation: an individual may withdraw completely and have minimal interaction
with others, or that individual may ritualize behavior [51]. Ritualization is a way
in which individuals can react to social forces at a personal level by allowing ritual
to become the substitute for social interaction. Such ritualization may provide a
framework of predictability for the individuals existence.
Fromm [51] and Maccoby [52] have noted an association between ritualiza-
tion and a necrophilous tendency to eliminate distinctions between the living
and the nonliving. Accordingly, some theorists point to a disregard for the distinc-
tion between the living and the inanimate as the source of the serial killers
deviant activity. Such a cognitive deficiency may combine with newfound
hedonic and individualistic emphases of Western societies to cultivate the serial
killer [9, 10, 121.
Conflict Theory
Leyton views serial murder as a consequent of social class conflict and frus-
tration [9]. From a conflict theory perspective, the murderer perceives the
outcomes of his or her social interaction to be below desired levels. Conse-
quently, the potential killer searchers for alternatives. The individual may
choose to isolate himself or herself from the disturbing environment, to attempt
to resolve the conflict in some way, or to rebel against the perceived source(s)
of conflict.
 SERIALMURDER / 39

Some theorists posit that the serial killer simply withdraws into isolation, and
that antisocial activity stems from the negative ramifications of this isolation.
Leyton, however, contends that the serial murderer chooses the path of revolution.
Class oppression, says Leyton, results in the killers rebellion-a social statement
in the form of murder-through which the killer is able to tenorize the community
as a whole, and to achieve identity and celebrity. Rebellion is often based upon the
killers inferences of collective liability, in which the killer holds an entire class of
people responsible for perceived injustices perpetrated by a fraction of class
members. From a conflict-theory perspective, the aggressor acts in order to
redress a perceive grievance and to maintain social control despite the unjust7
actions of this societal class.
Though Leyton refers to conflict as the serial murderers motive, Ressler,
Burgess, and Douglas contend that conflict acts only as an aspect of victim
selection-a justification for killing [141. Justifications differ from motives in that
justifications are typically attributions made after the action, whereas motives are
inferred as existing before the action. The issue of whether victim selection is a
result of the killers motives or of the killers need to justify murder is difficult to
resolve. Research concerning other types of sex criminals, for example, has
indicated that many rapists describe punishment rapes as apparent justifica-
tion-yet, that the victim was often being punished for an action that took place
afrer the rapists decision to commit rape [53].Justifications, in which the mur-
derer accepts responsibility for the act but denies that the crime was wrong, may
arise from a murderers cognitive dissonance [54] over aggressive impulses.
Alternatively, the killer can excuse the behavior by acknowledging the reprehen-
sible nature of aggression but denying full responsibility for his or her actions.
Justifications and excuses may serve to ease the killers own dissonance, or may
be fabricated in order to appease other individuals. The latter case is termed
aligning action, by which the deviant attempts to avoid stigma via an account
stated in culturally-appropriate terms [53,55].One way in which criminals do so
is by denying the victim. Victims are described as dirty women, sluts, or
whores, thereby pseudo-legitimizing the deviance and somehow rendering the
murder more acceptable.
Urbanization and Serial Murder
There are some indications that urbanization may play a contributing role in the
cultivation of sociopathic behavior. Calhoun for instance, demonstrated that sheer
population density can induce aberrant behaviors in rodents, noting that densely-
populated environments increase the number of social adjustments that the indi-
vidual must make each day [56]. Calhoun concluded that the resultant stress from
social interaction in these environments leads to an increase in pregnancy disorders,
disruption of maternal behavior, and higher infant mortality rates. In Calhouns
study, the normal behavior of lab rats was replaced by cannibalism, sexual devia-
tion, pathological social withdrawal and disorientation, and exaggerated sexual
40 / DEHART AND MAHONEY

and social aggression. According to some theorists, however, apparently dysfunc-

tional behaviors would actually lead to restoration of optimal population density
via the elimination of some individuals from the overcrowded environment [57].
Milgram also addresses asocial manifestations of adaptive responses to over-
crowding. He contends that the profusion and diversity of inputs experienced in
dense environments may induce a sense of stimulus overload [58].The individual
may be unable to process all inputs fully, and must cope by establishing a
cognitive filtration of inputs. In such environments, low priority inputs may be
disregarded, social relationships may become more superficial, and the individual
may respond selectively to the needs of others. This might result in impaired
cognitive functioning, inattentiveness to social norms, reduction of social respon-
sibility, and indifference to the discomfort of other persons. This hypothesis
of social apathy and empathic deficiency is consistent with Fromms charac-
terization of mechanized society as the ultimate death and decay [58]. Thus,
from these sociological perspectives, a recent increase in serial murder may have
been impelled by cognitive and social dysfunction which derives from the
negative characteristics of urbanized culture.
Although institutions might develop to compensate for some social functions
that become neglected in an impersonal society, some individuals may continue to
experience alienation and isolation. Increased mobility and division of labor allow
for exposure to a plethora of divergent and contradictory value systems, thereby
rendering internalization of a single normative system less likely and exaggerating
the potential killers sense of failed integration into society.
Another way in which urbanization and technology may contribute to the
problem of serial murder is through facilitation of the serial killers elusive
abilities. Social dysfunction may proliferate due to a lack of cohesion and
intimacy in urbanized environments, that would, presumably, hinder external
monitoring of deviant behavior. In addition, serial killers now benefit from
increased geographic mobility, and the dense depersonalizationof urban contexts
intensifies anonymity. The serial killer, then, may stalk and murder a victim and
escape unscathed in this society of strangers [4, lo]. Ironically, technological
advances that possibly facilitate the serial killers random victimology are also
responsible for the increasingly rapid detection of serial murder provided by
breakthroughs such as the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program VICAP, a
nationwide computer network which helps to link police forces exploring similar
cases of violent crime [59].

lntegrational Models

The BSUs Motivational Model

Researchers from VICAPs Behavioral Science Unit (BSU) have developed a

motivational model of sexual homicide which integrates psychosocial forces and
 SERIALMURDER / 41

physiological factors that might lead to serial murder [14,60,61]. According to the
model, the source of the serial killers deviance is an ineffective social environ-
ment, in which the child is not provided with adequate social bonding or guidance.
The formative events of the child may be riddled with unresolved trauma, causing
sustained emotional or physiological arousal in the child in the absence of appro-
priate structure. The child may develop a diminished emotional response, from
which Fromms [51]ritualization and necrophilia may emerge. Alternatively, if
the trauma ceases, the child may develop behavioral responses in order to main-
tain the level of arousal to which he or she has become accustomed. This process
would then result in a need for arousal analogous to that of the sensation seeker.
Children who experience such trauma may then develop antisocial or asocial
personality traits and distorted cognitive processing as coping mechanisms.
According to BSU researchers, the behavioral manifestations of these coping
responses could intensity alienation by distancing social contacts. Additionally,
the individual may create defensive responses within other persons, thereby elicit-
ing antagonistic feedback which would propagate the negative development of the
potential killer. Eventually, the individuals development would be so distorted
that escalating aggressive and violent responses would evolve.
Norris DiseaseModel
Another motivational model of serial murder which integrates biological factors
with environmental influences has been described by Norris 1131. In addition to
innate genetic or neurological anomalies, Norris notes a number of environmental
factors that may contribute to the phenomenon of serial murder. Child abuse and
negative parenting, Norris states, may lead to the individuals loss of sense of self;
initial antisocial or asocial personality characteristics may arise from this defi-
ciency. Further damage to the individuals functioning may result from chemical
imbalances induced by alcohol and drug use, prolonged malnutrition, and poison-
ing from environmental toxins. Norris posits that head injuries, which, like mal-
nutrition, may result from sustained abuse, could cause damage to aggression-
related neural regions, thereby intensifying the potential killers dysfunctional
behavior. Norris explains that the serial murderer suffers from a painful disease
that is generationally-transmitted, either genetically or socially. The physical
discomfort is beyond the killers own control, and the serial murderer actually
wishes for death in order to end his or her own suffering.
Norris presents some provocative case studies in support of this argument for
biological and environmental interaction in the origins of serial murder. He states
that most serial killers who are given PET or CAT scans show damage to the limbic
region of the brain, and that evidence of cobalt or lead toxicity are regular features
in chemical analyses performed on serial killers. Furthermore, the familial relation-
ships of serial killers such as Joseph and Michael Kallinger (father and son), Angelo
Buono and Kenneth Bianchi (cousins), and Henry Lee Lucas and Bobby Joe Long
(alleged distant cousins) would support Norris contention that serial murder is a
42 / DEHART AND MAHONEY

chromosomally-related disorder. However, Norris does not provide rigorous

explanations of the research from which his conclusions are derived. Hence,
theorists should exercise caution in embracing Norris conclusions. Nevertheless,
he has offered a provocative hypothesis that deserves further exploration.

CONCLUSIONS
One of the more disturbing aspects of serial murder is that virtually everyone is
at some risk. Even cautious and circumspect persons are not safe from a serial
killer; the victims need not provoke or even be acquainted with the killer. Such
physical and emotional threats imposed by serial killers increase the urgency of
coherent theoretical and empirical analyses. BSU researchers have noted that
understanding the psychosocial nature of serial murderers may aid in identifica-
tion and apprehension. A number of motivational theories are relevant to explora-
tion of serial murder, but readers are cautioned not to place excessive explanatory
potential on any one theory. Individuals differ, and the motivational dynamics of
these killers are, in all likelihood, diverse. Integrational approaches, such as those
of Norris and of the BSU team, seem to be the most theoretically fecund. These
frameworks allow for a number of contributing motivational factors and allow
flexibility for individual differences, yet are relatively comprehensive, delineated,
and articulate. Continued empirical and theoretical investigation of serial murder
would benefit from interdisciplinary approaches which allow for consideration of
genetic, neurological, psychological, and social influences upon the serial killer.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We would like to thank Anita Barbee, Richard Crandall, Jenny Fuller, Mary
Gulley, Douglas Smith, and several anonymous reviewers for their comments on
drafts of this manuscript.

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Direct reprint requests to:

Dana D. DeHart
Department of Psychology
University of Louisville
Louisville, KY 40292