Despite being relatively rare, serial killers nonetheless appear in society, presenting a danger to regular people. Their reasoning and brutal methods are frightening and, thus, require a great deal of attention from the side of law enforcement. In order to better understand their practices and attempt to put a stop to their actions prematurely, there was a need for proper classification and consequent analysis. According to Meadows (2004), serial killers can be classified into four groups: visionary, mission-oriented, hedonistic, and power-oriented killers. Their killings may differ in reasons; however, the fact of murder overlaps across the classification. Another attempt to classify serial killers serves for a more accessible data analysis, which allows for reliable case comparison across law enforcement organizations. It consists of eight standardized profiling dimensions describing the reasoning behind killing: social environment, family background, personal relationships, contact with agencies, offensive behaviors, self-concept, attitudes, and recall of events.
Three serial killers were chosen for this discussion – Henry Lee Lucas, Ted Bundy, and Kenneth Bianchi. Each of them resembles several unique features; however, they all share the similarity of kidnapping their victims and sexually abusing them before killing them. The first dimension that shows common traits is the troubled childhood, e.g., family background. Lucas’s mother was a prostitute who displayed and motivated inappropriate behavior; the unknown father’s identity troubled Bundy; Bianchi was adopted, with his genetic parents refusing him (Simpson, 2017). Another dimension picturing commonality is offensive behaviors – Lucas was repeating his mother’s behavior in public; Budny spoke to unseen presences and displayed overall disturbing behavior; Bianchi was prone to anger outbursts and attended a psychiatrist (Simpson, 2017). Lastly, they all share hedonistic attitudes, such as a tendency to rape their victims.
References
Meadows, R. J. (2004). Understanding violence and victimization. Prentice Hall.
Simpson, P. L. (2017). Serial Killing and Representation. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Web.