Paper Summary:

This paper looks at the root of evil which manifests itself in serial killing. It also analyzes the morality of serial killers by studying the behaviorial patterns of Bundy, Berkowitz, Gacy, and Toole. It examines the lack of moral development in serial killers, specifically those which fall into the category of psychopaths.

From the Paper:

"The lack of morality displayed by serial killers is something that is easily identifiable through hindsight. Once their malicious and brutal "secret lives" have been brought to the forefront, it is quite easy to say that these men (and sometimes women) have no concept of morality. If this lack of morality is so obvious, why then do we not notice it prior to their murderous rampages? The most likely answer to this question is that the majority of serial killers can be classified as psychopaths. According to John E. Conklin (1997, 564) a psychopath is "a person who has a specific cluster of personality traits; is asocial, aggressive, highly impulsive, and unable to form lasting bonds of affection with others; and feels little or no guilt for antisocial activities." Clecky (1976) has outline 16 major characteristics of psychopaths, which include: intelligent, rational, calm, unreliable, insincere, without shame or remorse, having poor judgment, without capacity for love, unemotional, poor insight, indifferent to the trust of kindness of others, over-reactive to alcohol, suicidal, impersonal sex life, lacking long term goals, and inadequately motivated antisocial behaviour. Due to their high levels of intelligence, psychopaths are capable of being very manipulative, and thus are able to feign the appropriate emotions necessary to blending in with society. Psychopaths make a conscious effort to distance themselves socially, and share intimacy with only those whom they can control psychologically. Thus, the immorality of psychopaths often goes unnoticed by the general public. It is not until a serial killer is captured that their personality is scrutinized closely enough to recognize the symptoms of psychopathology. These symptoms may even continue to hide after the killer has been apprehended. When Ted Bundy was first arrested he quickly made friends with his captives, and was granted special privileges which eventually lead to his ability to escape. Thus the very symptoms of psychopathology are what make it so difficult to detect prior to a serial killer's conviction."

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