Psychology and Crime

Psychology and Crime - The case of Jeffrey Dahmer

[Name of the Author]

[Name of the Institute]

Introduction1

Discussion1

Psychological history of Jeffrey Dahmer's life1

Psychological factor analysis of Jeffrey Dahmer's life\3

Social Disconnection3

Inferiority Complex3

Family relations of Jeffrey Dahmer4

Lack of positice feedback from the society4

Combined effects of the Psychologically troubled factors on Dahmer's life and attitude6

Case details6

Arrest and investigation7

Trial7

Conclusion8

References9

Introduction

This paper is an exploration of the case of Jeffery Dahmer. Jeffery Dahmer was an American serial killer and sex offender. His case was notoriously infamous because of the involvement of cruel factors of rape, dismemberment, necrophilia and cannibalism in his murder victims. He was charged with murdering 17 men and boys between the years of 1978 and 1991. The case Jeffery Dahmer became a test bed for psychologists because of the ruthless nature of the crimes he committed, his personal history, his declaration of committing crime in insanity and the scenario of his death. This paper attempts to explore the case in the respect of law and psychological history of the criminal. It will also divulge in the psychological history of the criminal and implement different psychological theories on the criminal's personal history. This paper will ultimately help to study the causes of the crimes that the criminal committed (Cyriax, O. 2009).

Discussion

Psychological history of Jeffrey Dahmer's life

Jeffery Dahmer, born on 21st May, 1960, was the product of a troubled marriage between Joyce Annette (Mother) and Lionel Herbert Dahmer (Father). His life was one socially disconnected life. There is no information about Jeffery Dahmer having any friends, lovers or contact other than his immediate family. There is also no evidence of him being involved in any sports or having any hobbies.

Case studies of Jeffery Dahmer explain that he was born as an extremely shy child. He was dejected in the school by the other kids. There is evidence that he was extremely interested in animals from very early age. He was seen playing with snakes, toad, rabbits and fish. Most of his childhood was spent in a wooden hut near his home. In this shed he did some extremely gruesome actions to animals and their dead bodies. He also kept a heap of bones of animals in this shed. At the age of ten he bleached chicken bones. He collected insects and preserved them in formaldehyde, in pickle jars. In the woods near his home he killed squirrels and raccoons and leave their bodies to rot. He then bleached the remains of the animals to preserve them.

From the age of eleven, Jeffery Dahmer started drinking and heavy masturbation. By the time he graduated from high school he was a regular drinker and user of marijuana. His only friend at the age of 16 was his marijuana supplier. The focus of his pornography and masturbation at the age of 17 were male magazines and the insides of the animals. His preoccupation with the insides of the animals became the driving force behind the murderous and cannibalistic crimes.

The summer of 1978 marked the beginning of Jeffery Dahmer's criminal ...