The phenomenon of serial murders has always interested psychologists, psychiatrists, forensic scientists and even ordinary people. After all, it seems especially interesting that people who often seem absolutely normal to others are capable of committing a cruel, outwardly unmotivated murder. Recently, there has been a clear trend towards an increase in crimes of this kind. In Russia, the average rate of serial murders is very low, while the largest number of such crimes occurs in the United States, and as you move from north to south, their statistics are inexorably growing. The United States of America can rightly be called the leader in the number of known serial killers. Such names as Theodore Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy are known all over the world. They have their fans and admirers, and the “cult of maniacs” is especially flourishing in the USA, where you can buy bags, T-shirts and even watches with images of “star” serial killers. It is worth taking a closer look at this phenomenon from a psychological point of view, to understand what pushes people to commit sometimes monstrous and even grotesque crimes.

Definition of the term "serial killer". Types of serial killers.

One of the most famous FBI profilers, Robert Ressler, introduced the concept of "serial killer" into criminology. He is called the modern Sherlock Holmes for the incredible insight with which the expert calculates and describes the maniac, having read the case file or the results of the crime scene inspection. In the 1970s, Robert Ressler's main goal was to compile portraits of alleged criminals. Ressler tried to penetrate the killer's subconscious, to understand what drives him, what are the motives for his crimes. Based on his observations, he compiled psychological portraits of criminals.

During his work on one of the cases in 1970, he introduced the concept of "serial killer". By his definition, a serial killer is a criminal who commits more than 3 murders in more than 30 days, with periods of emotional cooling, and the motivation for the murders is most often based on the achievement of psychological satisfaction by the killer.

So, introducing the term "serial killer" Robert Ressler continued to analyze the behavior of this kind of criminals. He tried to identify general patterns in the formation of serial killers, in their development and in their further actions. Ressler determined that each maniac has his own individual "handwriting", not like the others. This also applies to the choice of weapons, the scene of the crime, the victim, the method of murder, the time of day, and many other factors.

Thus, he singled out two main types of serial killers: organized non-social and disorganizedasocial.

Organized non-social type of serial killer.

Key Features:

• Has high intelligence. The intellectual level of some representatives of this type can reach 145 IQ points, which is recognized as the threshold of genius (the intelligence of one of the serial killers, Edmund Kemper, is recognized as equal to 150 IQ points, now he is very successfully working in cooperation with the police and helps them in calculating criminals).
• Self-controlled, self-possessed.
• He takes care of himself, his appearance, housing and car (if any).
• Sociopath. Rejects and despises society. Reduces acquaintance only with a narrow circle of people.
• Can be charming, make a favorable impression on others. Usually, people around such a serial killer are very surprised to learn that this person has committed crimes. Has normal relations with the opposite sex, is often characterized by friends and acquaintances as a good family man and father.
• Personalizes the victim, prefers to act with cunning rather than violence (like Theodore Bundy, who charmed dozens of young girls and they calmly followed him, unaware that they were following a serial killer).
• It has a certain image of the victim, a feature in appearance, in clothes. Some cases of murder of a particular person are known. This allows the police to catch the maniac "on live bait."
• He plans the crime in advance, thinks through all the details, such as the place of the murder, the murder weapon, the actions by which he can hide the evidence, and so on.
• Often binds the victim, with the help of intimidation conquers her.
• He does not kill immediately, first he brings to life all his sadistic fantasies, and the victim may die during torture (as in Robert Burdella). However, the purpose of the attack may initially be murder (as in David Berkowitz, for example).
• Takes steps to eliminate evidence that may incriminate him in the commission of a crime. Can dismember the corpse and get rid of it in parts, hide the body of the victim in an inaccessible place. He is even able to give the body a certain pose as a kind of sign if he wants to say something with this murder.
• May return to the scene of the murder. (Gary Ridgway, for example, often returned to the scene of the crime for refresher, sometimes even to rape the victim's remains.)
• Can make contacts with the police, cooperate.
• He focuses on interrogations, thinks over the line of defense. May have sincere respect for a competent and intelligent investigator, often "play" with him.
• Improves throughout the entire period of the murders, becoming less and less accessible to capture, and is able to control himself so much that he is able to stop killing altogether in order to remain uncaptured (“Zodiac”, for example, stopped killing when he felt that the police were getting close to him, just like "The Shooter from Taxarkana").

The classic example of an organized non-social killer is Theodore Bundy. This charming young man became one of the most famous serial killers in the history of mankind, largely due to his external attractiveness, intelligence, charm, ability to give the impression of a favorable person and education.

Disorganized asocial type of serial killer.

Key Features:

• Possesses low or below average intelligence. Often mentally retarded.
• Mentally ill, inadequate. Despised or not accepted by society due to apparent oddities in behavior. Lives at the expense of relatives or the state, may be registered in a psychiatric clinic. This type of killer cannot make contact with people, especially with the opposite sex.
• Survived a difficult childhood with abuse.
• Socially maladjusted. Rejected by society.
• Untidy, doesn't take good care of himself. He also doesn't take care of his home.
• The crime is committed spontaneously.
• Does not think over the details of the murder, does not try to destroy the evidence.
• Kills near the place of residence or work.
• The victim is depersonalized.
• The murder weapon is often not prepared by him in advance, so improvised means are used in the attack.
• Tries to preserve the memories of the victims. Can keep a diary in which he describes the murders committed. It can also store video, photo or audio recordings of murders.
• May write a sympathetic or mocking letter to victims' families. Quite capable of writing to the police.
• He does not comprehend himself and the crimes that he commits.

The classic example of a disorganized asocial killer is Richard Chase, a schizophrenic nicknamed "The Sacramento Vampire". His psychological profile was compiled by the aforementioned Robert Ressler, who, based on the results of an inspection of the murder scenes, was able to accurately describe Chase. Despite the obvious mental disorders that should have led Richard to a specialized clinic, he ended up in prison, where he committed suicide, fearing a "Nazi conspiracy."

Motives for serial killings.

Serial killers also differ in their motives for committing crimes. There is a special classification that allows you to "break" maniacs into certain groups, however, you should not assume that each of the serial killers belongs to only one type or has only one motive for committing crimes.

So, the classification of serial killers based on the motive for committing a crime is as follows:

1. Hedonists. They commit crimes for pleasure. Murder is considered a way to satisfy their needs, they see the victim as an object necessary in order to deliver pleasure. Psychiatrists distinguish three types of hedonists.

• Sexy. They kill for sexual pleasure. In this case, the victim can be alive or dead, it all depends on the preference of the killer and the fantasies that play a big role in the implementation of the crime. The killer may derive pleasure directly from rape, or from torture, from strangling the victim, from beating, from manipulating weapons that usually have contact with the body (for example, a knife or hands), and so on. It all depends on the fantasy of a particular serial killer.

• "Destroyers". They can rob their victims, but the main motive for committing a crime is to cause suffering to another person, to abuse the victim. Moreover, the suffering is delivered by such killers without sexual manipulation, this is their fundamental difference from sexual rapists. They may experience sexual pleasure, but at first glance it is impossible to notice. They can masturbate over the body of the victim, but these are quite rare cases. The desire to destroy the victim is determined by the need for sexual domination, but outwardly nothing indicates this, and therefore such murders are often mistaken for robbery, vandalism or hooliganism. It should be noted that a serial murder is a murder with a non-obvious motive, thus, in relation to the “destroyers”, this non-obviousness is expressed most clearly.

Examples: Clifford Olson, Vladimir Ionesyan.

• Mercantile. Material and personal gain are the main murder motives for this type of serial killer. Mostly they are women, and they kill mainly with the help of poison or potent drugs that cause death in large doses. However, among such criminals, there are quite often men who can use other methods to kill.

3. Visionaries. They commit murders “at the instigation” of God or the Devil, hear voices, suffer from hallucinations.

The type of mask of normality can also be indicated by the place where its wearer meets his future victims. For example, Ted Bundy met girls on college campuses, that is, in a crowded place. Jeffrey Dahmer chose victims in bars and clubs or at gay parades. But Henry Lee Lucas was looking for victims on the highway or next to forests.

The serial killer's "mask of normality" is closely related to his modus operandi. Achieving mental stability in a single act is achieved by fulfilling the exact set of all circumstances in which the elements of the psyche of a serial killer find a way out from within. Due to the fact that the characteristics of these deformed elements are stable, then the way they are brought outward will be the same. This explains why the serial killer's modus operandi is stereotyped. It acts as the optimal form of achieving the state of "mask of normality".

Now it is necessary to explain one often widespread speculation that, allegedly, every serial killer wants to be caught, which is why he eventually makes a fatal mistake for himself, which leads to his capture. In fact, this phenomenon has its own explanation through the use of the term "normality mask" and some of the provisions associated with it.

The state of mental stability that occurs after a single release of unconscious energy gives rise to a clear relationship between the need to achieve a state of "mask of normality" and the need to commit crimes. The fact that it is possible for a killer to achieve a state of mental stability with the help of an instantaneous release of energy contributes to the atrophy of his mental defense mechanisms. A criminal has access to a simple way to release unconscious energy, and therefore complex ways to release it become unnecessary. Social stereotypes that are at the conscious level of the psyche begin to degrade as a result of the atrophy of defense mechanisms. Since the sphere of the conscious is deformed, the unconscious determines the entire perception of the world of a serial killer, and the unconscious is a thirst for the realization of desires without taking into account the peculiarities of acceptable social behavior. Thus, the perception of the world at the unconscious level leads to the fact that environmental factors are no longer taken into account. The serial killer does not deliberately provoke the police into interrupting his criminal activity, he is simply disoriented in the world of social prohibitions.

Some similar personality traits of serial killers.

While serial killers may differ in many significant ways, they all share certain similarities.

So, most serial killers are white men in their 20s and 30s, and they commit their crimes near their home or place of work. 88% of serial killers are male, 85% of them are white, the average age ranges between 28-29 years. 62% of serial killers kill only people they don't know, another 22% kill at least one stranger. 71% of maniacs commit their crimes in a certain area, while a much smaller number of them travel long distances to kill.

Hervey Cleckley identifies 16 main behavioral characteristics of a psychopath - a serial killer (which, rather, belong to the type of organized non-social killers):

• Charm and intelligence.
• Absence of hallucinations and other signs of irrational thinking.
• Absence of neuroses and psychoneurotic experiences.
• Unreliability.
• Deceit and insincerity.
• Lack of remorse and shame.
• Unmotivated antisocial behavior.
• Biased judgment and inability to learn from your mistakes.
• Pathological self-centeredness and inability to love.
• Weak affective reactions.
• Distracted attention.
• Indifference in building interpersonal relationships.
• Indecent behavior with or without alcohol.
• Threats to commit suicide are rarely carried out.
• Sex life is messy.
• Lack of goals in life and inability to follow a certain order.

Serial killers are also distinguished by low social fitness, dissatisfaction with their place in society, impulsiveness, infantilism, narcissism, isolation, aggressiveness, suspicion, and vindictiveness.

To one degree or another, narcissism is inherent in all of us, but in serial killers it is expressed to an incomparably greater degree. In their book on mental disorders, Theodore Milon and Roger Davies classify pathological narcissism as one of those societies that promote the slogan "every man for himself" and individualism. In individualized societies, the serial killer's thoughts about himself will be as a gift to this world from above, while in a collectivist society, his thoughts about himself will be as a gift from above to the collective.

The narcissist is more anxious than guilty. He lives restlessly, constantly experiencing dissatisfaction. The narcissist lacks the ability to empathize. He views other people as objects called upon to maintain his high self-esteem or to receive some other benefit for himself.

It happens that serial killers leave some "trophies" from their victims, usually they are body parts. They may eat them to merge and assimilate with the dead. Killing itself is a way to achieve a sense of dominance. The murdered do not cause any sympathy in narcissists, they are characterized by disharmonic infantilism. They are not able to put themselves in the place of another person, they concentrate exclusively on their experiences, and their behavior is determined only by their own interests.

Narcissists have very primitive psychological defense mechanisms. They cannot adequately perceive the possibility of being abandoned, abandoned.

At the same time, the narcissist believes that all people are like him, they are just as selfish, and therefore he perceives the murder with approval. He believes that everyone would kill if they had the opportunity or character. He imagines himself more perfect because he does not hide his emotions and does not hide his desires. If he is caught, he will blame the society, the people around him and the culture for everything that happened, but not himself.

Since the serial killer is narcissistic, he cannot make contact with the people around him, which leads to the emergence of affectively saturated ideas, for example, the opinion that all the people around him and society as a whole are hostile towards him. Such thoughts form isolation and suspicion, as a result of which all the actions of others seem to the serial killer as a threat to his personality. Thus, by committing an act of violence, a serial killer believes that he is protecting his honor.

Serial killers do not recognize social norms and values, they can comply with laws or follow instructions, not because they understand their necessity, but because their violation will be punished.

Characterization of Jeffrey Dahmer as an example of a mixed-type serial killer

For consideration, I decided to take one of the most famous serial killers in the history of mankind and use his example to analyze in detail what factors can influence the formation of deviant behavior. Delving into the tragic biography of this man, I will simultaneously characterize the facts that undoubtedly gave rise to the formation of the identity of the serial killer in Dahmer.

Jeffrey Dahmer was born in 1960 in West Ellis, Wisconsin, USA. His mother was a teacher and his father was a chemist. This fact is very important, since most serial killers come from dysfunctional families (like Henry Lee Lucas or Eileen Wuornos), but here we see an example of an intelligent family. The child is very strongly affected by the treatment of parents, especially if he was already born with some traits inherent in a serial killer. Eileen Wuornos, for example, was beaten and raped by her father as a child, therefore, as an adult woman, she killed men who vaguely resembled her father. Henry Lee Lucas was subjected to cruel treatment by his mother, who worked as a prostitute and often forced little Henry to watch the process of her "work". He also told how his mother bought him a donkey, and after Henry became attached to the animal, killed the animal in front of a frightened child. Such traumatic events cannot but affect the emerging psyche of the child, especially if he was already born with some kind of deviation.

So, back to Dahmer. As a child, he was very fond of animals, however, his parents constantly moved, which forced them to abandon the animals to which little Dahmer became attached. This greatly affected his psyche, later it will be clear exactly how.

Geoffrey was also considered a very unsociable and withdrawn child who had little contact with others, which made him alienated first from classmates, and later from army comrades, from relatives and friends. As I mentioned earlier, alienation plays a very large role in shaping the personality of a serial killer, as it gives rise to suspicion and hostility to the whole world around. It also provokes the development of infantilism, the inability to empathize with other people, which contributes to the commission of crimes. It also had a significant impact that Dahmer's mother was very ill after she gave birth to Jeffrey, he saw this and blamed himself, which gave rise to feelings of guilt and inferiority in him. He felt useless to his parents, thus, anxiety developed in him, which also contributes a lot to the formation of deviant behavior. There are three phases in the development of psychologically alienated individuals:

• The occurrence of an alarm reaction.
• The accumulation of negative unconscious experiences, which are mostly hidden.
• Exhaustion, which manifests itself in the form of violent actions in relation to the social environment, subjectively perceived as hostile.

Rejection also leads to a lack of security, to the formation of a neurotic personality, respectively, and to the fear of death. This is a very important observation, which, in my opinion, explains why it is very difficult for serial killers to commit suicide, even though sometimes they really want to. The same Dahmer, for example, often tried to commit suicide, but he did not have the courage. Or serial killer Anatoly Slivko, who often described suicide attempts in his famous diary, repeatedly wanted to throw himself under a train, but could not overcome himself.

When Dahmer was about 10 years old, he began to collect animal corpses on the road, dismember them and dissolve body parts in acid. It should be noted that he did not kill animals, but, on the contrary, he loved them very much, he even often quarreled with friends because they mocked stray dogs. This is very unusual for a serial killer, since almost all maniacs mock animals as children, such as Henry Lee Lucas or Edmund Kemper. Although, of course, such a "hobby" for a boy is also very disturbing, it is unlikely that it is a sign of a child's commitment to chemistry.

While at school, Dahmer continued his experiments with animals, and later he admitted that the autopsy of animal corpses gave him a feeling of power, superiority and dominance, from which he enjoyed. At the age of 14, he kisses a neighbor boy and realizes his homosexual orientation. But he does not have the opportunity to tell anyone about this and is very shy about his desires. The Dahmer family categorically did not accept homosexuality, especially Jeffrey's father, whom he respected very much. This situation also affected Dahmer's psyche very strongly, the feeling of alienation from others aggravated, unconscious experiences accumulated, demanded a way out, which Jeff carried out by dismembering the bodies of animals hit on the road. He also began to drink alcohol, which seemed to bring him relief, to help him avoid feelings of alienation and homosexual fantasies. Alcohol, however, only contributes to the release of sexual aggression, facilitates the onset of affect and increases it.

Thus, we see before us a number of factors that undoubtedly greatly contributed to the transformation of a quiet boy into a youth with unbridled sexual desires for unconscious men. Such desires could arise from the desire to control the situation in life, however, taking into account Dahmer's complete inability to dominate others, such needs were reflected in his sexual preferences.

In fairness, it is worth noting that Dahmer was aware of all the abnormality of his desires, tried not to think about them, using the only abstraction method available to him - alcohol. However, alcohol gave temporary relief, and, even as we understand now, only aggravated the situation.

At the age of 18, Dahmer killed his first victim. It happened exactly at the time when his parents divorced and parted, leaving Geoffrey alone in an empty house. This behavior of the parents only increased the feeling of alienation, uselessness, Dahmer fantasized a lot during that period. It should be noted that fantasizing is a very important part of the modus operandi of a serial killer, because it is during it that he imagines what he will do with the victim when she gets in his way. Dahmer fantasized that one day he would drive a car, meet a hitchhiker, pick him up and take him to his house, where they would have a great time together. Such fantasies miraculously came true, but ended in a completely different way. After Geoffrey and his new acquaintance had a drink, he began to get ready to leave. Dahmer wanted the hitchhiker to stay but didn't know how to stop him. He was drunk, and alcohol, as mentioned earlier, releases sexual aggression, which can manifest itself in completely unexpected forms. Geoffrey grabbed a hand dumbbell and killed his new acquaintance with a blow to the head. Thus, there was a simultaneous outburst of the unconscious energy that had been accumulating in him throughout all this time. After the first murder, a serial offender may sincerely repent and regret what he did. This is exactly what Dahmer felt in the first time after the crime. However, as mentioned earlier, for a maniac, murder is akin to a drug - it releases that energy that cannot find any other way out, except for this one-time surge. Ted Bundy admitted that the first murder caused him an acute sense of guilt, however, over time it went away.

After the murder, Dahmer experienced a real shock, not expecting this from himself. However, there was enough discretion left in him to understand the whole illegality of his actions, and therefore take measures to eliminate the evidence. He dismembered the body of the victim and hid it in the forest. Here we see the typical behavior of an organized non-social serial killer. Nevertheless, it cannot be said that Dahmer did not experience any negative emotions during the dismemberment of the body, on the contrary, it was very unpleasant for him to do this. So much so that he resorted to the help of alcohol.

For the next 9 years, Dahmer was able to control his desires, perhaps the defense mechanisms of the psyche had not yet completely atrophied. At first, Dahmer found an outlet in the army, which he really liked. Then in religion and in reading. But nothing could replace that feeling of relaxation and calm that came after the first crime, and therefore, in the period from 1987 to 1991, he killed 16 more people.

In court, both the prosecution and the defense were well-known psychiatrists who gave their opinions on the basis of the conversations they had with Jeffrey Dahmer.

Psychiatrists appointed by the defense.

Doctor Fred Berlin believed that Dahmer was not able to realize his actions during the commission of crimes, since he suffered from paraphilia, or rather, necrophilia, which is classified as a mental personality disorder, and therefore a person suffering from this ailment should be sent to a psychiatric hospital. He stated that Dahmer could not avoid thoughts of murder, and necrophilia is not at all the choice of the accused himself. Prosecutor McCann, during an interview with a psychiatrist, forced him to admit that Dahmer was a liar, which in itself indicated that he was capable of assessing the wrongfulness of the actions he committed. The ability to successfully lie is a sign of a psychopathic personality, which, in turn, indicates that the serial killer has a well-defined mask of normality and belongs to the type of organized non-social killers. For a person to be declared insane, the court must answer the two questions before them: "Did the defendant have a mental personality disorder?" and “Could the accused be aware of the whole wrongfulness of his actions during the commission of crimes?”. If the answer to the first question was an unconditional "Yes", that the court should answer the second question, and only then decide whether the accused should be sent to a psychiatric hospital or to prison.

So, the fact that Dahmer was able to hide his double life for all these 13 years spoke of him as a rather intelligent person. Dr. Berlin, however, believed that in order to be abnormal, it is not at all necessary to have low intelligence. In his opinion, Dahmer could be an excellent liar, an actor and an excellent ability to hide his emotions, but this did not at all mean that he did not have a mental illness.

Doctor Judith Becker paid great attention to Dahmer's childhood. She explained how Jeffrey was affected by the fact that the Dahmer family had to abandon those animals to which he became attached. In her opinion, Dahmer killed his victims and kept parts of their bodies at home because he was afraid of being abandoned, because he was looking for company, even if the corpses of the lovers he killed acted as his "comrades". This feeling of abandonment also formed in Jeffrey during the time when his father and mother constantly cursed, which subsequently led to the divorce of the Dahmer couple. Jeffrey did not have close friends, he did not talk to anyone about his problems, did not communicate closely, and was mostly alone. Dr. Becker's conclusions were ill-founded from a scientific point of view, and therefore her testimony was not considered too carefully. In the end, she diagnosed Dahmer with necrophilia, which answered yes to the first question posed to psychiatrists.

Doctor Carl Walstrom described Dahmer as "a thirty-one-year-old white male with severe and very advanced mental disorders, whose personality is primitive, rigid, and avoidant." He also emphasized that Jeffrey had fantasies and delusional obsessions, such as, for example, creating zombies by pouring acid into the subcortical region of the brain. Fantasizing is a sure sign of a disorganized asocial killer. Dr. Walstrom believed that Dahmer had a mental personality disorder, and therefore he should be placed in a psychiatric clinic, where he would be given the necessary assistance.

Psychiatrists appointed by the judge.

Doctor Samuel Friedman believed that Dahmer killed because he needed company. He spoke kindly of Geoffrey, describing him as "a pleasant young man in all respects, with a sense of humor, beauty and charm, who was and remains a bright and, in principle, a good person." Friedman told how Dahmer himself tried to understand what was wrong with him and why all this happened. Geoffrey told the psychiatrist in detail about himself, hoping that he would understand the root cause of such deviant drives in him. “I hope that something can be done to heal this man, who definitely has intelligence and charm,” Friedman said of Dahmer. Despite his sympathy, he recognized Geoffrey as sane, because he could resist his desires if their immediate implementation could lead to exposure. He planned the crime, and could abandon it if it threatened him. Planning crimes, according to Friedman, is a clear indication that Dahmer does not have a mental personality disorder.

Psychiatrists appointed by the prosecution.

Doctor Fred Fosdel believed that Dahmer did not have a mental personality disorder and was sane at the time of the crimes. He described Geoffrey as a calculating and cold-blooded killer who only killed for his own sexual gratification. Under cross-examination, Dahmer's lawyer asked the psychiatrist if he considered him a necrophile, to which Fosdel replied in the negative. He believed that this was not his main sexual preference. The psychiatrist could not adequately explain in his favor the fact that Dahmer tried to create a zombie slave for himself, which is fundamentally an unhealthy idea. So he eventually had to accept the fact that Jeffrey had a mental personality disorder, however, he continued to claim that he was sane.

Doctor Park Dietz, one of the most famous and respected forensic psychiatrists, gave, in my opinion, the most reasonable characterization of Dahmer as a serial killer. So, he believed that Dahmer did not have a mental personality disorder, since he thought over his crimes, drugged his victims with sleeping pills before killing him, which indicates his complete sanity at the time of the crimes. He also noted the fact that Jeffrey himself used alcohol to kill, since the process of killing did not bring him any pleasure at all. Dietz agreed with the earlier assertion that "we don't choose our sexual preferences", however, he believed that Dahmer was quite capable of controlling himself. He noted that we all have desires, but we can restrain them, the same happens with those who suffer from various kinds of paraphilias. Dietz immediately ruled out the idea that Dahmer was a sadist, as he "did not torture his victims and did everything to prevent their torment." He also mentioned Dahmer's latest crimes, which, of course, were ill-conceived and spontaneous, and he explained this by his alcohol intoxication, and not by progressive insanity. It seemed very important to Dietz that Dahmer used a condom to copulate with a corpse, which clearly indicated the fact that he was aware of everything that was happening at that moment.

So, we reviewed all the testimony of forensic psychiatrists at the trial of Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer, which allowed us to look at his mental disorder from different points of view. But there was another one that cannot be ignored, I'm talking about the opinion of the already mentioned Robert Ressler, who compiled it on the basis of many hours of conversation with Dahmer. Ressler believed that Dahmer had a mental personality disorder, while he could be aware of everything that was happening at the time of the murder, but could not resist his deviant desires. He formed such an opinion on the basis of some facts that many psychiatrists in court kept silent about. The fact is that Dahmer had another fantasy, in addition to creating an obedient slave with the help of a lobotomy. Jeffrey wanted to create a kind of “altar” at home from the body parts of the victims he killed, in the center of the “altar” he planned to place a large black chair (reminiscent of the one that Darth Vader, one of the Star Wars heroes, Dahmer found this hero extremely attractive because of the strength and power that he possessed). The influence exerted on Dahmer by this hero was very great. In this case, there is a clear example of imprinting, that is, Dahmer saw the behavior of the hero Darth Vader and subsequently tried to copy him in crimes. This, along with the idea of ​​creating an "altar", is the fantasy of an abnormal person with deep mental disorders. Ressler believed that Dahmer committed the first murders as an organized, non-social serial criminal, but later he turned into a disorganized, anti-social serial killer, and this clearly indicated that Jeffrey should have been committed to a psychiatric hospital. Among all other points of view, this one seems to be the most rational, since many inconsistencies can be explained by it.

It is worth adding that Jeffrey Dahmer was found sane and guilty of all 17 murders and sentenced to 17 life terms (the remains of a much smaller number of victims were found in his apartment, but Dahmer confessed to all the murders, even those in which no one suspected him ). In prison, Dahmer became a Catholic and was baptized, which, by the way, emphasizes in him by no means a psychopathic personality. He gave several interviews in which he spoke about how he repents and that he does not care if he lives or dies. Based on the world fame of his crimes, killing Dahmer in prison was only a matter of time, which he undoubtedly knew about. However, he refused solitary confinement, was placed with other prisoners and had frequent contact with them.

We saw before us an example of an unusual serial killer, the controversy about which has not subsided so far. Characterizing his personality allows us to see some of the factors that can shape a serial killer. An analysis of his actions can help us understand what drives the criminal during the commission of crimes and analyze his actions. And already from the analysis it is possible to trace what exactly pushes smart and educated people to outwardly unmotivated murders. Although, of course, Dahmer's personality is presented as something very complex, not entirely understandable even to experienced psychiatrists and criminologists. I just tried to streamline the opinions of the most famous forensic psychologists of our time about him. And some of the provisions of this analysis can help in the calculation and characterization of other serial killers.

Conclusion

In this work, I tried to get closer to understanding what drives serial killers, what are their personal characteristics, the combination of what factors can form deviant behavior and analyze the case of one of the most famous serial killers of our time.

The phenomenon of serial murder is not fully understood, but criminology is developing at a rapid pace, especially in the United States, where the percentage of serial murders is the highest in the world. However, there are specialists in the United States who can identify a serial killer from the crime scene, the murder weapon, the victim, and many other factors. Among them are Robert Ressler, John Douglas, Robert Keppel, Kim Rossmo and many others.

Nevertheless, it is very difficult, almost impossible, for a simple layman to recognize a serial killer, especially one who has a well-defined mask of normality. As Ted Bundy said, “We are serial killers, your fathers, your sons, we are everywhere.” Therefore, each of us should be careful and know at least the basics of the behavior of a serial killer.

Bibliography

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4. Psychiatric Testimony of Jeffrey Dahmer.
5. Of men and monsters: Jeffrey Dahmer and the construction of the serial killer – Richard Tithecott, 1998.
6. The psychology of lust murder: paraphilia, sexual killing and serial homicide - Catherine E. Purcell, Bruce A. Arrigo, 2006.
7. The Milwaukee murders: nightmare in apartment 213-the true story - Do Davis, 1991.
8. Massacre in Milwaukee: the macabre case of Jeffrey Dahmer - Richard W. Jaeger, Marv Balousek, 1991.
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12. Psychological features of convicts who violate the regime and problems of individual influence - Kudryakov Yu.N., Golubev V.P., 1989.

of the fourth article 32 of the Federal Law of February 16, 1995 “On Communications”: determination of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation of October 2, 2003 No. 345-O // Ros. gas. 2003. 10 Dec.

Mashkov Sergey Aleksandrovich - PhD in Law, Associate Professor of the Department of Criminalistics, Forensic Examinations and Legal Psychology, Baikal State University of Economics and Law, 664003, Irkutsk, st. Lenina, d. 11; e-mail: [email protected]

Information about the author

Mashkov Sergey Alexandrovich - Candidate of Law, Associate Professor of the Department of Criminal Procedure, Forensic Science and Juridical Psychology, Baikal National University of Economics and Law, 11 Lenin st., Irkutsk, 664003; e-mail: [email protected]

A. A. Protasevich, L. V. Teleshova

PECULIARITIES OF THE PERSONALITY OF THE CRIMINAL IN THE CONTEXT OF CRIMINALISTIC CHARACTERISTICS OF SERIAL MURDERS

The article is devoted to the concept of the personality of a serial killer in the context of the forensic characteristics of serial murders as a special category of crimes against a person. The analysis of certain categories was carried out: foreign and domestic serial killers, as well as female serial killers. A comparative analysis of serial killers from the times of the USSR and modern Russia has been carried out.

Key words: serial murder, identity of a serial killer, female serial killers, forensic characterization of a serial murder.

A.A. Protasevich, L.V. Teleshova

THE FEATURES OF OFFENDER "S IDENTITYIN THE CONTEXT OF THE CRIMINALISTICS CHARACTERISTIC OF SERIAL MURDERS

The article is dedicated to the concept of the identity of a serial murderer in the context of criminalistics characteristic of serial murders, as a special category of offenses. The analysis of the separate categories: foreign and domestic serial murderers, and female serial murderers. There is the comparative analysis of serial murderers of the Soviet Union and modern Russia.

Keywords: serial murder, the identity of serial murderer, female serial murderers, criminalistic characteristic of serial murder.

The identity of the criminal - a serial killer with a great degree of probability can be called the central element of the forensic characteristics of this type of crime, because it is this element that determines the entire uniqueness of the phenomenon of serial murders. The identity of the offender is the primary source of all the main differences between the category of serial murders and the forms of multiplicity of crimes.

The category of "personality" is revealed in many scientific disciplines, first of all it is psychology, but the concept of "personality of a criminal" is not purely psychological in nature, it has absorbed the features of a forensic and criminological nature. Thus, it seems that the identity of the offender will be correctly determined using the basics of general and legal psychology.

Based on the foregoing, we define personality as a system of socially significant qualities of an individual, a measure of his mastery of social values ​​and his ability to realize these values.

The personality of a criminal is understood as a set of negative social and socially significant properties and qualities of a person, which, in interaction with external circumstances (situation), led him to commit a crime.

It is believed that, as a rule, the perpetrators of murders are characterized by immoral inclinations, impudent and cynical behavior in everyday life, addiction to alcohol. Victims of killers are also often characterized negatively, sometimes by their actions they actually provoke a crime. This characteristic refers to simple murders, since in no textbook on forensic science the reader will find the forensic characteristics of serial murders singled out in a separate chapter. And whether this statement is true for characterizing the personality of a serial killer, this is what we will try to find out.

When analyzing the category of "personality of a serial killer", it is necessary to distinguish between the concepts of "personality of a serial killer" and "portrait of a serial killer". Under the identity of a serial killer, as we have already defined, we mean a set of negative social and socially significant properties and qualities of a person, and under the portrait of a serial killer, we will understand a holistic set of characteristics, which includes: a psychological portrait, criminological and forensic characteristics.

The psychological portrait is conditional, as it reflects only the psychology of a person and may contain the following features:

Race (and sometimes nationality);

Age;

General characteristics of the personality and the prevailing motivation for crimes;

Level of education, professional qualifications, intelligence, occupation;

Individual personality traits (habits, hobbies, inclinations, skills, etc.);

District of residence;

Area of ​​the place of work (study service);

Socioeconomic level;

Features of origin (parental family) and personal life history;

Marital status, stability of family life, presence of children;

Attitude towards certain types of activity (to serve in the army, to sports, etc.);

The presence of mental or other pathology;

Behavior before, during and after the commission of the crime;

Presence of similar and other criminal experience and probability of recidivism , .

The portrait, in addition to those mentioned, may include other signs that reflect significant and informative features of the criminal in determining the directions of the search work.

The peculiarity of the psychological portrait is that it is compiled based on the materials of criminal and operational cases, that is, it contains signs of an alleged unknown criminal.

A criminological characteristic is a set, a system of traits or properties that characterize a person who has committed a crime.

Properties that form a criminological characteristic:

1) socio-demographic properties of the offender's personality;

2) criminal law;

3) social roles and statuses: in the socio-political sphere; in the sphere of civil relations; in production; in the family household; in the field of leisure;

4) moral and psychological properties;

5) mental properties: level of mental development (intelligence); abilities, skills, abilities, habits; features of the flow of emotional processes; emotional properties, volitional properties; needs.

The forensic characteristics of the person who committed the crime is compiled in the complex of the forensic characteristics of a certain type of crime as a whole. For each type of crime, there is a characteristic of the offender, consisting of common features inherent in most of the perpetrators of this type of crime, these include gender, age, nationality, social status, financial situation, attitude to certain social groups, and so on.

As can be seen from the above, all three characteristics in their composition have several items of the same name. The difference lies in the fact that each of the listed characteristics is compiled for different purposes, in the presence of different amounts of information about the identity of the offender and at different stages in the investigation of the crime.

When characterizing the personality of a serial killer, it is important to distinguish between the portrait of a foreign and a domestic serial killer. Comparative analysis is possible.

Table 1

Comparative analysis of portraits of foreign and domestic serial killers

Foreign serial killers__Domestic serial killers

White race __ Slavic race_

Mature age (close to 30 years old and Age categories: under 20 years old, 20-

older)__35 years_

Intelligence level:

Organized non-social type: high, medium;

Disorganized antisocial type: low_

Professions that satisfy their need for violence_

Family situation:

1. Incomplete families; domineering mother suppresses father; were victims of domestic violence as children; parents are alcoholics, drug addicts, the killers themselves do not have these addictions.

2. Families are outwardly prosperous, parents pay much attention to the intellectual and physical development of the child, ignoring the emotional sphere_

Symptoms of the McDonald triad: cruelty to animals,

arson, bedwetting_

Social manipulation skills_

Antisocial personality without obvious mental disorders, but with anomalies of character and behavior (psychopath, sociopath)_

As can be seen from the table, a comparative analysis of the main indicators of the characteristics of the considered type of persons in Russia and abroad coincide. Various characteristics are formed under the influence of certain factors, for example, such as the standard of living and social well-being in the territory where the offender lives, the time and circumstances that accompany the murders, etc.

JulieB. Wiest in his book "Creating cultural monsters: serialMurderinAmerica" ​​(Creating cultural monsters: serial murder in America) analyzes the biography of 15 serial killers, we will try to present the data collected by the author of the book as clearly as possible.

Total number of serial killers in the study: 15;

Gender: men - 14, women -1.

Race: white race - 12; African Americans - 2; Mexican - 1.

Age at the time of the first murder: up to 30 years - 8; from 31 to 50 years - 7.

Intelligence level: low - 2; medium - 9; high - 5.

School performance: poor - 12; average - 1; good - 2;

Level of social adaptation: adapted - 5; unadapted - 11.

Labor activity at the time of detention: permanent job - 10; intermittent work - 4; unemployed - 1;

Marital status: married / married - 3; single/unmarried/divorced - 12; the presence of children - 8; absence of children - 7.

Service in the army (for 14 men): served - 5; did not serve - 9.

Interest in military/law enforcement work: had - 3; did not have - 12.

From the data presented, it is possible to compile an average portrait of a foreign serial killer according to the specified criteria:

A serial killer is a white male over 30 years of age with an average or high level of intelligence, with a permanent job or business, single or divorced, not in the military and with no interest in law enforcement. This description was compiled for a portrait of a foreign serial killer, however, no significant difference between foreign and domestic serial killers has been established. And such a description in no way corresponds to the characterization of a serial killer, which was given at the beginning of the article and served to describe a simple killer.

We should not forget about the need to analyze the personality of serial killers - women. When we hear the expression “a serial killer is a woman”, a certain contradiction arises: a serial killer is a person who committed murders, one after another, who took the lives of many people and a woman who gives and protects life, an object of admiration and poetic chanting. Nevertheless, the fact remains that the history of forensic science knows cases of women committing serial murders, cases, at first glance, rare, but not exceptional. The hallmarks of "female" serial murders are the mechanism of committing crimes and the motive. Let's try to understand these features.

To begin with, it is necessary to conduct a complete collection of information on cases of serial murders committed by women, based on their

Despite the fact that the number of such crimes is not large, an attempt was made to include in the analysis all known cases for which there is enough information to conduct such an analysis. The following results were obtained about the work carried out:

Distribution by state

2) European countries 16.5%;

3) Russia (USSR) 16.5%;

4) Mexico 10%.

By way of killing

1) poisoning 52%;

2) suffocation 14%;

3) torture 14%;

4) use of firearms 5%;

5) use of edged weapons 5%;

6) the dominant method of 10% is not traced.

Based on

1) selfish 48%;

2) personal dislike 9.6%;

3) revenge 9.6%;

4) adherence to the political regime 9.6%;

5) jealousy 5%;

6) unidentified 18.2%.

By sexual orientation

1) 96.7% are heterosexual;

2) 3.3% are homosexual.

Family status

1) 64.5% were married;

2) no data 35.5%.

An interesting result is the dynamics of the number of victims of female serial killers for the period after the times of arbitrariness over servants and subjects and the Second World War (Fig.). The number of victims is gradually decreasing and becoming stable (with the exception of a jump to the level of 46 victims of Jenny Jones, the maximum number of alleged victims, the minimum number of 11 people were used to build the graph), regardless of the factors of the political, economic and social environment of different countries of the world. This makes it possible to predict the retention of the established level in terms of the number of victims of female serial killers.

Dynamics of the number of victims 1949-2010

The analysis gives us the opportunity to build a generalized portrait of a female serial killer: a woman who is or was married, has children, the preferred method of committing murders is poisoning, the crime is committed for selfish motives, family members, children, lovers and people from other countries are almost always victims of poisoning. immediate circle of contact.

As mentioned earlier, the "handwriting" of female serial killers is characterized by a distinctive way of committing a crime - poisoning. Why do 52% of female serial killers choose this method? The answer seems obvious: the impossibility of using physical force to achieve a result. In fact, everything is not so simple, because the victims very often became their own children and elderly parents, who were significantly inferior in their physical strength to young healthy women. Here, the method of committing a crime is in close connection with the motive; in 48% of cases, a mercenary motive for committing a crime was established: receiving insurance payments, eliminating heirs, personal enrichment, etc. In this case, the death of the victims should not arouse suspicion and attract undue attention. The symptoms of poisoning are similar to the symptoms of common food poisoning.

Next in frequency of occurrence are such methods of murder as torture (14%) and strangulation (14%), here the use of physical violence against the victims is already clearly visible. The victims are children, the elderly, prisoners of the concentration camp - which is quite understandable, the choice of a weak victim is also characteristic of male serial killers.

It is impossible to consider all serial killings as a simple sum of murders committed by women and murders committed by men.

mi. There is some area of ​​intersection associated with the sexual self-identification of killers, as well as killers who have committed crimes in a way that is not typical for their gender, age, social status (such murders are marked in the diagram as “X”).

Such a formula can express the ratio of some paired features that characterize serial killers for any significant criterion, in our case, such a criterion is the method of committing a crime, for example, gender: male, female; level of well-being: poor, well-to-do; the process of growing up: in a complete, incomplete family; whether there was violence in the process of upbringing: yes, no, etc. And in almost every case, we will be able to observe the formation of the area of ​​intersection that we encountered in deciding the place of serial killers with violation of gender identity among serial killers in general. Cases relating specifically to this area are often misleading in the investigation of crimes, and even at the stage of initial investigative actions. An unfounded prejudice about the identity of a serial killer and its significant features can lead to new victims and the loss of precious time. The identity of a serial killer as a key element of the forensic characteristics of this type of crime requires a more extensive analysis, building a clearly organized structure and system of research areas, as well as a competent and adequate synthesis of the data obtained.

An interesting question is about changes in the personality of serial killers in chronological dynamics, as well as in the context of political and geopolitical changes. A striking example is the comparative analysis of serial killers of the USSR and modern Russia. In tab-

Person 2 presents a comparative description of serial killers from the times of the USSR and modern Russia.

table 2

Comparative characteristics of serial killers of the USSR and Russia

Criterion USSR Russia

Socio-demographic characteristics of the criminal's personality Family man, a full-fledged member of Soviet society, age: 30-45, gender: male, "loners" A group of young people, mostly from single-parent families, without a permanent place of work or a predominant type of activity, age: 14 -30, gender: male

Dominant motive sexual self-assertion

Method of committing Violent acts of a sexual nature, strangulation, numerous stabbings Beat victims with hammers, bats, strangulation

Characteristics of traces of the crime Localized on the body of the victim and in close proximity to it, some carried away trophies Localized on the body of the victim, photo-video filming, storage of video recordings of the crime

Method of hiding traces Hiding corpses Demonstration of corpses, body parts of corpses, video recordings

Characteristics of the victim's personality Women, children Unfavorable strata of society, women, children

As can be seen from the table, such an element of forensic characteristics as the "personality of the offender" has changed in most points. The dynamics of quantitative indicators (the number of serial killers, the number of victims, etc.) is not as important as the qualitative characteristics (method and mechanism of committing crimes, motive, etc.).

Analyzing serial murders committed in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus since 2000, one can identify a number of trends in the personality of the offender, and these changes are striking. Serial killers have become "younger", i.e. the age at which they begin to commit crimes, which later turned into a series, has decreased significantly. If earlier serial killers were mostly people of mature age, now it can be

young people whose age ranges from 14 to 30 years. Most of these young people grew up in dysfunctional families, secondary education, specialized secondary education, average intelligence level (members of the Blood Magic gang, Dmitry Karimov, Artem Anufriev, Nikita Lytkin). But there is also a diametrically opposite situation: children grew up in complete, prosperous families, in abundance, without knowing the need, received a decent education, and nevertheless committed cruel, sophisticated murders (Dnepropetrovsk maniacs).

If we look for trends in serial murders over the past five or six years, we can note that serial crimes are committed by a group of persons (two or more persons), using the means of video and photography of their crimes, often these materials are posted on the Internet information and telecommunication network on special sites that promote violence, cruelty or hostility against certain groups of the population. By performing such actions, the killers seek to show off their "feats", perhaps to indicate their civic position.

The authors of the article analyzed the portraits of foreign serial killers, serial killers of the USSR and modern Russian serial killers, including female serial killers, and the time has come to compare them with the characterization of the killer given at the very beginning of the article, which is usually included in the forensic characterization of murders and found in most forensic science textbooks. Whether serial killers fit the description of a wild, poorly educated, loner with immoral behavior and an addiction to alcohol, apparently not. This is the reason for the need to consider serial murders as a special category of crimes against the person, and paying special attention to such an element of the forensic characteristics of serial murders as the personality of the offender.

List of used literature

1. Bogomolova S., Obraztsov V. "Psychological profile" in the service of the US police // Notes of criminalists. M., 1994. Issue. 4. S. 292-305.

2. Enikeev M.I. Fundamentals of general and legal psychology: a textbook for universities. M. : Yurist, 1996. 631 p.

3. Criminalistics: textbook / ed. A.G. Filippov. M. : Vyssh. education, 2007. 448 p.

4. Petukhov V. On the development in Russia of psychological portraits of persons committing serial crimes against a person // Zapiski criminalistov. M., 1994. Issue. 4. S. 305-309.

5. Protasevich A.A. Search portrait of a criminal as an integrative system. Irkutsk: Izd-vo IGEA, 1998. 108 p.

6. Repetskaya A.L., Rybalskaya V.Ya. Criminology. General part: textbook. allowance. Irkutsk: Izd-vo IGEA, 1999. 239 p.

Protasevich Alexander Alekseevich - Doctor of Law, Professor, Honored Lawyer of the Russian Federation, Dean of the Faculty of Judicial Investigation, Baikal State University of Economics and Law 664003, Irkutsk, st. Lenina, 11; e-mail: [email protected]

Teleshova Lyubov Vyacheslavovna - post-graduate student, Department of Criminalistics, Forensic Expertise and Legal Psychology, Baikal State University of Economics and Law, HR Inspector of the Dean's Office of Correspondence Education of the Faculty of Forensic Investigation, 664003, Irkutsk, st. Lenina, 11. Email: [email protected]

Information about the authors

Protasevich Alexandr Alekseevich - Doctor of Law, Professor, Head of Judicial-Investigation Faculty, Baikal National University of Economics and Law, 11, Lenin St., Irkutsk, 664003; e-mail: [email protected]

Teleshova Lyubov Vyacheslavovna - Post-graduate student, Department of Criminal Procedure, Forensic Science and Juridical Psychology, Baikal National University of Economics and Law, inspector of the correspondence course of the Judicial-Investigation Faculty,11, Lenin St., Irkutsk, 664003; e-mail: [email protected]

Many modern psychologists study the behavior and motivation of killers. It was revealed that people go to crime if they do not receive satisfaction of physical and psychological needs. But, you see, you can meet few people who would be happy with everything, while they do not go to commit murder. What separates criminals from ordinary people?

Motivation of the killer and the common man

It should be noted that the majority of criminals who decide to take the life of another person. were previously convicted. According to foreign studies, almost 75 percent of all convicts are sociopaths. This type includes individuals who always enter into various conflicts and do not learn from punishment. They are deprived of loyalty to society, parents. This is what makes them different from ordinary people.

In addition, more and more often you can meet people for whom murder acts as a motive. At the same time, the offender can be pushed to commit an act and benefit, revenge, envy or jealousy. Of course, every person can experience such emotions and experiences from time to time. But the killer not only tries to solve the problem that has arisen in this way, but also receives satisfaction from violence, as well as a kind of psychological relaxation.

Features of the value-normative system

It was found that there are significant differences between murderers and law-abiding people at the level of awareness of rights, duties and norms. For example, agreement with the criminal law and the practice of its use is more pronounced among ordinary people, although the awareness in the legal field in these two categories is approximately at the same level. The level of assimilation of values ​​and norms among killers is lower. Therefore, the urge that keeps the perpetrator from other negative acts is the fear of an undesirable result.

Psychological traits that distinguish a killer from an ordinary person

Killers tend to have poor social adaptability and a sense of dissatisfaction with their position. Most often, they are dominated by such a personality trait as impulsiveness. It is expressed in a decrease in self-control, rash acts and emotional infantilism. Unlike ordinary people, they do not understand the value of another person's life. What distinguishes them from other criminals is their emotional lability, an exceptional perception bias.

Thus, an ordinary person is distinguished from a murderer by psychological traits of character, attitude to norms and rules, and motives of behavior.

Such a delay in time is undoubtedly due to the fact that the peak of serial murders committed in different countries falls on the beginning of the 20th century, the 70s and the present. It seems almost unbelievable that people who often seem completely normal to those around them are capable of committing a brutal, outwardly unmotivated murder. Many people wrote about the fact that the reasons for the appearance of serial killers come from their childhood. Harold Schechter David Everit V. Bukhanovsky believes that people who need violence become serial killers ...

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Course work

Subject: Psychological features of the personality of a serial killer

Introduction 1. Prerequisites for the formation of the personality of a serial killer 2. Motives for crimes committed by serial killers 5. Prevention of crimes characterized as serial murders Conclusion Literature

Introduction

The topic of serial killers and the nature of their behavior has been of interest to many different people from scientists to filmmakers over the past few decades. Although the term "serial killer" itself is relatively recent,in 1976 and was first used to describe the personality of Ted Bundy,serial killings have been committed before. One of the earliest, documented, are the crimes committedGilles de Rais in the period from 1439 to 1440. At the same time, the first works on the study of the psychology of serial killers were written only in the 70s of the last century by the most famous profiler - the FBI legend, Robert Ressler. Such a delay in time is undoubtedly due to the fact that the peak of serial murders committed in different countries falls on the beginning of the 20th century, the 70s and the present.

The main goal of my work is to find an answer to the question of whether it is possible to prevent such crimes and identify such criminals before they commit murders.

To achieve this goal, I will try to summarize and analyze the material accumulated by the analysis of the psychology of serial killers to date. Also, my task is to identify the general characteristics of such personalities, which can manifest themselves directly in appearance or communication, and to develop recommendations that will help people protect themselves and their loved ones.

1. Prerequisites for the formation of the personality of a serial killer

The phenomenon of serial murders is of extreme interest to psychologists, psychiatrists, and forensic scientists. It seems almost unbelievable that people who often seem completely normal to those around them are capable of committing brutal, outwardly unmotivated murder. In the last 10 years, there has been a clear upward trend in crimes of this kind.

Before proceeding with the study, I will give the definition of a serial killer given by Robert Ressler: “a serial killer is a person who has committed three or more separate, separated by periods of emotional rest, murders with particular cruelty of people falling under the image of the victim that has developed in the mind of the criminal.”

The first who tried to investigate the emergence of the motives of rapists and murderers, as is usually the case in matters related to psychology, was Z. Freud. In his work, he writes: “childish perversion can become the foundation for a perversion that has the same meaning and remains for life, absorbing the entire sexual life of a person, but it can also be interrupted, remaining in the background of sexual development, in which it then, however, takes a certain amount of energy.

An example of the first of the options described, when childhood perversion became the foundation for subsequent actions in adulthood, is the biography of Albert Fish.

The fact that the reasons for the appearance of serial killers come from their childhood was written by many, Harold Schechter, David Everit, V.V. Guldan, A.O. Bukhanovsky.

Indeed, in most cases, compared with the childhood of most serial killers, Oliver Twist's early years in a poor Victorian house can seem like an extended vacation at Disneyland.

Bukhanovsky believes that serial killers are people who need violence like a drug, they suffer from a disease of addictive behavior, but in order for the mechanism of the generator of pathologically increased excitation to activate, predisposition is necessary. He identified three reasons for the tendency to this behavior. Firstly, a special state of the brain (due to dysfunctional heredity or pathological pregnancy). Secondly, improper upbringing (cruelty of parents, their unwillingness to see a personality in a child, emotional disunity in the family). Thirdly, adverse social circumstances.

I will start with the second factor highlighted by Bukhanovsky, since a number of biographies are available in the public domain.

In the childhood of serials, the following facts are usually observed:

1. unwanted child, usually late (Ramirez, Berkovits, Gacy, Tsyuman, Slivko, Irtyshov);
2. incomplete seven I, and most often both parents are alive, but either divorced or simply do not live together (Chikatilo, Berkovits, Bandy, Onoprienko, Irtyshov, Spesivtsev, Kemper);
3. deprived of parental attention (Ramirez, Dahmer, Gacy, Tsyuman, Lukas, Slivko, Onoprienko, Kemper, Miyazaki.);
4. were sexually abused by adults (Gacy, Irtyshov, De Salva);
5. were bullied by their peers (Chikatilo, Dahmer, Lukas, Kulik, Irtyshov, Kemper);
6. one of the parents was a domestic tyrant (Chikatilo, Gacy, Tsyuman, Lukas, Golovkin, Mikhasevich, Kemper, Gein).

In the literature, the following signs of a serial killer appearing in childhood are distinguished:

1. enuresis (Chikatilo);
2. cruelty to animals (Lucas, Kulik, Kemper);
3. child masturbation (Berkowitz, Kulik, Miyazaki.);
4. pyromania (Berkowitz, Lucas).

According to Hellman and Blackman, urinary incontinence indicates emotional disturbance, love of arson indicates a lack of respect for society and its rules, and cruelty to animals indicates a disregard for life and a propensity for violence - the necessary components in order to turn out to be a killer. These factors are known as the early signaling triad and are signs that are still often mentioned in the scientific literature.

As for the attitude towards animals, there is also a completely opposite sign - love for animals (Chikatilo, Dahmer), perhaps, depending on this sign, one can judge the type of serial maniac. For example, Dahmer and Chikatilo had a well-defined "mask of normality" in contrast to Lucas, Kulik, Kemper, this phenomenon will be discussed further. Unfortunately, there are not so many biographical data of the childhood of serial killers in the public domain that it would be possible to speak in detail about the revealed pattern.

Regardless of the presence of the facts and signs described above, it cannot be said that a person who grew up under these circumstances will necessarily become a serial killer, however, it can be said with certainty that all serial killers showed all or part of these signs in childhood , as well as some of the above facts were observed in their childhood.

Let me turn to the first factor pointed out by Alexander Olimpievich – the presence of brain pathology. Professor Bukhanovsky said in an interview: "I do not know a single serial killer in Russia, or in the United States, or in Germany, who has not been officially diagnosed with one or another psychiatric diagnosis."

All of them, of course, as already mentioned, suffer from such a property of the psyche as sexual imprinting, which provoked sexual perversion in them.

Imprinting, unlike a conditioned reflex, is responsible for the rapid formation of extremely stable traces in the psyche, sometimes even after a single experience.

If a certain stimulus acts at critical moments in the formation of personality, it is easily imprinted in the psyche, acquiring extraordinary brightness and durability in comparison with other stimuli. This impression further strongly determines the behavior of a person in certain situations.

In fact, imprinting is a transitional form between instinct and conditioned reflex. G. Horn's monograph presents the results of experiments to determine the part of the brain that is responsible for imprinting. An animal was injected with a substance labeled with a radioactive isotope, and this substance was tracked in RNA on radiographs. There is also another method: 2-deoxyglucose is introduced into the body and activity is determined by its accumulation in the body. Both methods proved that the medioventral hyperstriatum is the area responsible for the formation of imprinting.

Unfortunately, comprehensive studies of the brain of serial killers could not be found, so we had to accumulate those pieces of information that are publicly available.

LaBelle and other researchers note that those who commit homicides—whether adults or teenagers—often have no previous mental illness. However, scientists say that in fact, a mental illness may well take place, it just has not been diagnosed and treated. One study found that 89% of adult killers had no previous psychiatric treatment or diagnosis, but 70% of these people subsequently developed a dissociative disorder along with various mental illnesses.

A group led by Alexander Bukhanovsky examined four patients aged 9 to 15 years with a childhood variant of the "Chikatilo phenomenon". And all patients from childhood showed signs of brain damage, minimal brain dysfunction. This circumstance became a prerequisite for the emergence of the "Chikatilo phenomenon" and was one of the main conditions for its development. All children suffered from hyperexcitability syndrome in infancy, which later transformed into hyperkinetic disorders.

Psychiatrists at Harvard University believe that a small percentage of people who commit violent, unexplained murders may experience seizures before committing acts of violence. These seizures can temporarily overwhelm the inhibition against killing. Dr. Ennelise Pontius believes that later, when they come to their senses, these people are frightened by the perfect atrocity: "Suddenly, they find a dead body nearby and do not understand what happened and why." Pontius, who has worked with hundreds of murderers, suggests that seizures originate in the brain's limbic system, causing a "limbic psychotic response."

The following tables, compiled according to forensic psychiatric examinations, clearly illustrate the nature of mental disorders and psychiatric diseases characteristic of serial killers.

Table 1. Distribution of surveyed by the nature of violations of sexual desire (%).

The given data indicate that in forensic psychiatric practice the most common violations of sexual desire on the object, among them pedophilia and homosexuality predominate.

Table 2. Distribution of forms of sexual pathology in various nosological groups (%).

Obviously, in the case of those associated with psychosis, schizophrenia and epilepsy dominate, it is noteworthy that both of these diseases are of a genetic origin, while in cases with perversion, healthy people lead (which contradicts Bukhanovsky's opinion, in this case I tend to believe that either disease is not diagnosed correctly, or the study was not accurate enough).

As for the third factor voiced by Professor Bukhanovsky - unfavorable social circumstances, here I would like to draw attention to what should be understood by the term unfavorable social circumstances.

At each age stage of socialization, it is possible to identify the most typical dangers, the collision with which a person is most likely to face.

• In the period of intrauterine development of the fetus: unhealthy parents, their drunkenness and (or) disorderly lifestyle, poor nutrition of the mother; negative emotional and psychological state of parents, medical errors, unfavorable ecological environment.
• At preschool age (0-6 years): illnesses and physical injuries; emotional dullness and (or) immorality of parents, ignoring by parents of the child and his abandonment; family poverty; inhumanity of employees of children's institutions; peer rejection; antisocial neighbors and/or their children.
• At primary school age (6-10 years): immorality and (or) drunkenness of parents, stepfather or stepmother, family poverty; hypo- or hyper-custody; video viewing; poorly developed speech; unwillingness to learn; negative attitude of the teacher and (or) peers; negative influence of peers and (or) older children (attraction to smoking, drinking, stealing); physical injuries and defects; loss of parents rape, molestation.
• In adolescence (11-14 years old): drunkenness, alcoholism, immorality of parents; family poverty; hypo- or hyper-custody; video viewing; computer games; mistakes of teachers and parents; smoking, substance abuse; rape, molestation; loneliness; physical injuries and defects; bullying from peers; involvement in antisocial and criminal groups; advance or lag in psychosexual development; frequent family moves; divorce of parents.
• In early youth (15-17 years old): anti-social family, family poverty; drunkenness, drug addiction, prostitution; early pregnancy; involvement in criminal and totalitarian groups; rape; physical injuries and defects; obsessive delusions of dysmorphophobia (attributing to oneself a non-existent physical defect or defect); misunderstanding by others, loneliness; bullying from peers; failures in relationships with persons of the opposite sex; suicidal tendencies; discrepancies, contradictions between ideals, attitudes, stereotypes and real life; loss of life perspective.
• In adolescence (18-23 years): drunkenness, drug addiction, prostitution; poverty, unemployment; rape, sexual failure, stress; involvement in illegal activities, in totalitarian groups; loneliness; the gap between the level of claims and social status; Military service; inability to continue education.
• In adulthood (23 and older): sexual failures, stress; a sharp change in social status, changes in physical capabilities.

It seems to me that the professor in this case had in mind some of the shocks experienced in one of the periods. On the other hand, it is possible that he meant some specific event in the life of a person, which served as a direct catalyst for the manifestation of his nature, and which occurred immediately before the commission of crimes, in this case, only the age period from 18 to 45 years should be considered, since it is according to studies, 81.7% of serial murders are committed at this age.

Table 3. Distribution of serial killers by age.

Summing up this chapter, Professor Bukhanovsky should be quoted: “The very desire to kill is not a disease, it is a sign of a disease. You cannot treat a person with a headache if he has a brain tumor. If you just give a person a pill, this is called the paramedic approach, you are working for the process. And you have to work for the result. And work not with a symptom, but with a personality. Studying the history of its development, the system of education, the structure of the family, the environment - because any addiction grows from early childhood.

1. Motives for crimes committed by serial killers

Many murderers explain their actions by “bloodlust” (this is how Albert Fish motivated the crimes committed). In essence, this means that the maniac commits murder simply for the sake of killing. This is not a cause, but rather a consequence, a result, however, it is worth considering that there are cases when the cause is incredibly difficult to detect. And yet there is no crime without a motive. You should start with the fact that almost any murder committed by a maniac has a sexual connotation. Even if it is not immediately noticeable.

In motives, needs are specified, which determine the direction of motives. One person cannot have countless needs, but the richness of the motivational sphere is manifested in their diversity and complementarity. Interacting with each other, they strengthen or weaken each other, enter into mutual contradictions, which can result in immoral and even criminal behavior.

Individual actions, and even more so the behavior of a person as a whole, including criminal ones, are mainly directed not by one, but by several motives that are in complex hierarchical relationships with each other. Among them there are leaders who stimulate behavior and give it a personal meaning.

In addition, as established by research, it is the leading motives that are unconscious in nature. For this reason, criminals in many cases cannot intelligibly explain why they committed this crime.

Introducing the term "serial killer" Robert Ressler continued to analyze the behavior of this kind of criminals. And he developed a classification of serial killers based on the crime:

1. Hedonists. They commit crimes for pleasure. Murder is considered a way to satisfy their needs, they see the victim as an object necessary in order to deliver pleasure. Psychiatrists distinguish three types of hedonists.
   1. Sexy. They kill for sexual pleasure. In this case, the victim can be alive or dead, it all depends on the preference of the killer and the fantasies that play a big role in the implementation of the crime. The killer may derive pleasure directly from rape, or from torture, from strangling the victim, from beating, from manipulating weapons that usually have contact with the body (for example, a knife or hands), and so on. It all depends on the fantasy of a particular serial killer. Examples: Jeffrey Dahmer, Kenneth Bianchi, Dennis Nielsen, John Wayne Gacy.
   2. "Destroyers". They can rob their victims, but the main motive for committing a crime is to cause suffering to another person, to abuse the victim. Moreover, the suffering is delivered by such killers without sexual manipulation, this is their fundamental difference from sexual rapists. They may experience sexual pleasure, but at first glance it is impossible to notice. They can masturbate over the body of the victim, but these are quite rare cases. The desire to destroy the victim is determined by the need for sexual domination, but outwardly nothing indicates this, and therefore such murders are often mistaken for robbery, vandalism or hooliganism. It should be noted that a serial murder is a murder with a non-obvious motive, thus, in relation to the “destroyers”, this non-obviousness is expressed most clearly. Examples: Clifford Olson, Vladimir Ionesyan.
   3. Mercantile. Material and personal gain are the main murder motives for this type of serial killer. Mostly they are women, and they kill mainly with the help of poison or potent drugs that cause death in large doses. However, among such criminals, there are quite often men who can use other methods to kill. Examples: Herman Magette (Henry Howard Holmes), the Gonzalez sisters, Mary Ann Cotton.
2. Power-hungry. The main goal for this type of serial killer is to control the victim, subjugate her to himself. Moreover, they also experience sexual pleasure from domination, but their difference from hedonists is that they are driven not by lust, but by the desire to possess the victim. Often these serial killers were abused as children, leaving them feeling helpless and powerless in adulthood. Examples: Theodore Bundy, Paul Bernardo, Sergey Golovkin.
3. Visionaries. They commit murders “at the instigation” of God or the Devil, hear voices, suffer from hallucinations. Examples: David Berkowitz (received instructions from the devil who "contacted" him through the neighbor's dog), Herbert Mullin.
4. Missionaries. They kill for a specific purpose, most often they try to improve the world, change society for the better. The victims of this type of murderers are mostly prostitutes, homosexuals, people of different religions. Moreover, such criminals are most often not mentally ill. They believe that by their actions they can change the world for the better. Examples: Ted Kaczynski, Sergei Ryakhovsky.

Ressler also determined that each maniac has his own individual "handwriting", not like the others. This also applies to the choice of weapons, the scene of the crime, the victim, the method of murder, the time of day, and many other factors. Thus, he identified two main types of serial killers: organized non-social and disorganized anti-social.

Organized non-social type of serial killer.

Key Features:

• Has high intelligence. The intellectual level of some representatives of this type can reach 145 IQ points, which is recognized as the threshold of genius (the intelligence of one of the serial killers, Edmund Kemper, is recognized as equal to 150 IQ points, now he works very successfully in cooperation with the police and helps them in calculating criminals).
• Self-controlled, self-possessed. He takes care of himself, his appearance, housing and car (if any).
• Sociopath. Rejects and despises society. Reduces acquaintance only with a narrow circle of people.
• Can be charming, make a favorable impression on others. Usually, people around such a serial killer are very surprised to learn that this person has committed crimes. Has normal relations with the opposite sex, is often characterized by friends and acquaintances as a good family man and father.
• Personalizes the victim, prefers to act with cunning rather than violence (like Theodore Bundy, who charmed dozens of young girls and they calmly followed him, unaware that they were following a serial killer).
• It has a certain image of the victim, a feature in appearance, in clothes. Some cases of murder of a particular person are known. This allows the police to catch the maniac "on live bait."
• He plans the crime in advance, thinks through all the details, such as the place of the murder, the murder weapon, the actions by which he can hide the evidence, and so on.
• Often binds the victim, with the help of intimidation conquers her. He does not kill immediately, first he brings to life all his sadistic fantasies, and the victim may die during torture (as in Robert Burdella). However, the purpose of the attack may initially be murder (as in David Berkowitz, for example).
• Takes steps to eliminate evidence that may incriminate him in the commission of a crime. Can dismember the corpse and get rid of it in parts, hide the body of the victim in an inaccessible place. He is even able to give the body a certain pose as a kind of sign if he wants to say something with this murder.
• May return to the scene of the murder. (Gary Ridgway, for example, often returned to the scene of the crime for refresher, sometimes even to rape the victim's remains.)
• Can make contacts with the police, cooperate. He focuses on interrogations, thinks over the line of defense. May have sincere respect for a competent and intelligent investigator, often "play" with him. Improves throughout the entire period of the murders, becoming less and less accessible to capture, and is able to control himself so much that he is able to stop killing altogether in order to remain uncaptured (“Zodiac”, for example, stopped killing when he felt that the police were getting close to him, just like "The Shooter from Taxarkana").

A classic example of organized killers are: Theodore Bundy, Anatoly Slivko, Andrey Chikatilo.

Disorganized asocial type of serial killer.

Key Features:

• Possesses low or below average intelligence. Often mentally retarded. Mentally ill, inadequate.
• Despised or not accepted by society due to apparent oddities in behavior. Lives at the expense of relatives or the state, may be registered in a psychiatric clinic.
• This type of killer cannot make contact with people, especially with the opposite sex.
• Survived a difficult childhood with abuse.
• Socially maladjusted. Rejected by society.
• Untidy, doesn't take good care of himself. He also doesn't take care of his home. The crime is committed spontaneously. Does not think over the details of the murder, does not try to destroy the evidence.
• Kills near the place of residence or work.
• The victim is depersonalized.
• The murder weapon is often not prepared by him in advance, so improvised means are used in the attack.
• Tries to preserve the memories of the victims. Can keep a diary in which he describes the murders committed. It can also store video, photo or audio recordings of murders. May write a sympathetic or mocking letter to victims' families. Quite capable of writing to the police.
• He does not comprehend himself and the crimes that he commits.

The classic example of a disorganized asocial killer is Richard Chase, a schizophrenic nicknamed "The Sacramento Vampire". His psychological profile was compiled by the aforementioned Robert Ressler, who, based on the results of an inspection of the murder scenes, was able to accurately describe Chase. Among compatriots and citizens of the former USSR, Spesivtsev and Mikhasevich can be attributed to them.

3. Personality traits of a serial killer

In this chapter, it is certainly worth paying tribute to our Russian scientists, of course, Professor A.O. Bukhanovsky, O.A. Bukhanovskaya and R.L. Ahmedshin.

It was Professor Bukhanovsky and a group of his colleagues who found out the following: changes are taking place in the brain of serial killers. By examining the so-called Chikatilo phenomenon, psychiatrists have come to the conclusion that a propensity for violence and social aggression can be detected even in early childhood. In principle, scientists have previously assumed that serial killers are united by a certain set of psychopathologies, but it was only recently possible to identify and systematize these psychological changes.

First of all, it is a specific state of the brain. There are two hierarchical lesions here: one affects the surface of the brain, which is associated with the conscious activity of a person. This is the cerebral cortex, where the frontal, most recent formations and temporal formations are primarily affected. That is, a lesion of the forehead and temple is detected. These are areas of the cerebral cortex that are responsible for the highest forms of mental activity, where the formation of a strategy of behavior, stability of behavior takes place. The temporal region is responsible for personality, worldview, morality, and ethics. And the second defeat is at the level of deep structures. These parts are called "ventricles of the brain". In potential maniacs, they are dramatically enlarged, which means that the brain matter around them has decreased. Both the first and second changes can be detected using nuclear magnetic tomography. “In addition, we found in the examined maniacs,” Bukhanovsky says, “that zones are localized in the third ventricle of the brain, including those responsible for instinctive desires. Here, the areas responsible for prognostic functions and conscious activity are affected. We prove that this occurs more before the birth of a person, we find signs of impaired development after birth.Not only the brain suffers - the skeleton of the skull suffers, the so-called sinuses. On these sinuses lies the frontal lobe, the so-called ethmoid phase, the ethmoid bone. It is sharply enlarged. The frontal bone, which forms the superciliary arches , is also increased. Why? Because the substance of the brain is smaller. " Naturally, the professor's research makes us recall the works of Cesare Lombroso, who first drew attention to the typicality of some external signs of criminals. According to Bukhanovsky, the brilliant Lombroso simply did not have modern research capabilities, so he could not draw the right conclusions. But it was he who laid the foundations in this area. Of course, today it is clear that a person with a set of pathologies does not necessarily become a criminal. But these pathologies speak volumes: for example, in many serial criminals, Bukhanovsky's group discovered a congenital cyst - a tumor located in the areas of the brain that are responsible for hobbies. This is a sign of abnormal brain development. The brain is developing, but at the same time it does not function quite correctly. That is, in order for a serial killer to arise, he must have the "wrong" brains.

What distinguishes, at first glance, two normal people who grew up in approximately the same conditions, but one of them became a murderer, and the other did not? The difference in this case will be the psychological characteristics of the personalities of these people.

The psychological characteristics of a person are understood as a relatively stable set of individual qualities that determine typical forms of behavior.

Obviously, serial killers have a certain ability that allows them to live fully in society without arousing suspicion. This feature was first identified by H. Cleckley in 1976, he called it the "mask of normality." In his work, he understands the “mask of normality” as the ability of psychopaths to appear as an absolutely normal, mentally complete person. This feature allows the individual to use feigned behavior aimed at complying with the standards accepted in society, to hide their true qualities.

R.L. Ahmedshin does not agree with H. Cleckley, who will define the nature of this phenomenon as feigned behavior. Akhmedshin believes that in this state of affairs, serial killers could not be characterized unambiguously positively by those around them, since people would feel a lie, and therefore the person would be unpleasant to them. He believes that the nature of the “mask of normality” lies in the fact that the peculiarities of the psyche of a serial killer make it possible to relieve the entire load of unconscious tension in one act of will, which leads to the disappearance of the prerequisites for the functioning of the mechanisms of protection of the psyche. A serial killer does not pretend to be a normal person, after committing a crime, deprived of a load of instincts, he is a model of a mentally healthy, absolutely balanced person.

Under the "mask of normality" serial killer R.L. Akhmedshin understands the state of mental stability that occurs as a result of a momentary release of unconscious energy.

As a rule, the following types of "mask of normality" are distinguished, classified according to the degree of adaptation in the society of its carrier:

1. A pronounced "mask of normality" - its carrier, in the opinion of the observer, is harmoniously inscribed in society. Representatives of this group of criminals are A. Chikatilo, H.H. Holmes, T. Bundy, A. Slivko, P. Bernardo, G. Mikhasevich, D. Damer, A. De Salvo ..

2. Moderately pronounced "mask of normality" - its carrier, in the opinion of the observer, is inconspicuous in society. Representatives of this group of criminals are S. Golovkin, A. Azimov, V. Kulik, Ts. Miyazaki, E. Gein.

3. Little pronounced "mask of normality" - its carrier, in the opinion of the observer, is characterized by antisocial properties. Representatives of this group of criminals are E. Kemper, G. Lucas, O. Kuznetsov, R. Speck, M. Dutroux

It can be seen from this classification that, due to a certain conventionality of the classification basis, the classified groups, at first glance, are also quite arbitrary. The pronounced "mask of normality" of a serial killer is manifested primarily in cases where the offender meets the victim in public places. So, Ted Bundy met his victims in busy areas of college campuses. Also evidence of the high "mask of normality" of the offender is the establishment of the fact of the victim's voluntary consent to go somewhere with a serial criminal. The vast majority of crimes committed by A. Chikatilo can serve as examples.

4. Similar personality traits of serial killers

While serial killers may differ in many significant ways, they all share certain similarities. So, most serial killers are white men in their 20s and 30s, and they commit their crimes near their home or place of work. 88% of serial killers are male, 85% of them are white, the average age ranges between 28-29 years. 62% of serial killers kill only people they don't know, another 22% kill at least one stranger. 71% of maniacs commit their crimes in a certain area, while a much smaller number of them travel long distances to kill.

Table 4. Distribution of serial killers depending on gender, race, age

Hervey Cleckley identifies 16 basic behavioral characteristics of a psychopath - a serial killer (which, rather, belong to the type of organized non-social killers):

1. Charm and intelligence.
2. Absence of hallucinations and other signs of irrational thinking.
3. Absence of neuroses and psychoneurotic experiences.
4. Unreliability.
5. Deceit and insincerity.
6. Lack of remorse and shame.
7. Unmotivated antisocial behavior.
8. Biased judgment and inability to learn from your mistakes.
9. Pathological self-centeredness and inability to love.
10. Weak affective reactions.
11. Distracted attention.
12. Indifference in building interpersonal relationships.
13. Indecent behavior with or without alcohol.
14. Threats to commit suicide are rarely carried out.
15. Sex life is messy.
16. Lack of goals in life and inability to follow a certain order.

Serial killers are also distinguished by low social fitness, dissatisfaction with their place in society, impulsiveness, infantilism, narcissism, isolation, aggressiveness, suspicion, and vindictiveness.

Nevertheless, it is very difficult, almost impossible, for a simple layman to recognize a serial killer, especially one who has a well-defined mask of normality. As Ted Bundy said, “We are serial killers, your fathers, your sons, we are everywhere.” Therefore, each of us should be careful and know at least the basics of the behavior of a serial killer.

1. Prevention of crimes characterized as serial murders

Thanks to a huge research work, Alexander Bukhanovsky managed to establish how mental disorders are formed that can turn a person into a maniac. At first, the child repeatedly scrolls through the scene he has seen in his head, experiencing only curiosity combined with horror. Over time, this becomes a habit, then he begins to invent scenes of violence on his own, feeling like a director. This is expressed in sadistic drawings. For example: a stump, an ax, blood, a decapitated chicken. Then, in fantasies, a person (girl, woman) became the object of violence. At the same time, there was an impoverishment of interests: patients lost interest in studies, left home, or completely closed in on themselves, only formally submitting to circumstances. It was at this stage that they developed aggressive behavior. Bukhanovsky is confident that early diagnosis and therapy of the childhood version of the "Chikatilo phenomenon" is not only possible, but also a real form of preventing criminal behavior in patients in the future. Despite such a hopeless picture, it is possible to get rid of the tendency to sadism. According to Professor Bukhanovsky, given the complexity of the origin of serial sexual sadists, the main principle of therapy is the complexity of therapeutic measures. The patient must be treated with medical, psychotherapeutic and physiotherapeutic methods. True, one cannot count on a quick result here, it may take several years.

Among the factors contributing to the increase in the number of serial murders, Alexander Olimpievich singles out excessive coverage in the media of the details of already committed crimes, which undoubtedly provokes people prone to violence to commit criminal acts. Here is what he said in a recent interview: “The demonstration of naturalistic scenes, cruelty and sadism can lead individuals with a specific predisposition to the emergence of imprinting with the subsequent formation of negative actions. Television violence has recently literally overwhelmed the viewer, and not only German. Daily observation of the depreciation of human life negatively affects the subconscious of children and adolescents. A hero who evokes a feeling of sympathy in the viewer often breaks the law and commits violence. This is present even in cartoons for the smallest and irrationally enters the worldview, forms life values.

Analyzing the above, we can draw the following conclusions:

1. The work of child psychologists in schools and kindergartens will definitely, with the proper qualifications of a specialist, and the attention of parents and teachers, help in identifying potential serial killers. And their proper treatment can prevent many crimes. Therefore, it is necessary to centrally, at the state level, approach the problem of providing children's institutions with psychologists, and naturally, with the same attention to their training, use the methods developed by our own scientists to improve their skills in identifying a tendency to violence.
2. The introduction of certain limits for the media, temporary for television and radio broadcasting, or even possibly censorship for print publications, would undoubtedly bear fruit. It is no coincidence that a sharp increase in crimes of a pronounced sexual nature, associated with sadism and murder, has occurred in the past 2 decades, this is due precisely to the fact that today a person sees violence with all the needs from a TV screen, computer display or reads about a crime in print in excessive amount. According to the German magazine Hörzu, a person only watches 25 hours a week of continuous violence from the TV screen. Naturally, protecting the broad masses from violence will lead to a decrease in the number of violent crimes. The recent attempt by the legislator to do this in the form of introducing age restrictions is not as effective as we would like, on the other hand, any restrictions that may be imposed on the media run counter to the Constitution, with its principles of information availability. This is a complex problem, and its solution is still far away, but at least the fact that work has begun on it is encouraging.
3. The law enforcement agencies of our country should be obliged to use the already developed methods and experience of our scientists in their work. I consider it extremely unfair that in the West the works of Bukhanovsky and his colleagues are widely recognized and widely used, while at home, as it often happens, unfortunately, his work is not used as widely as we would like, after all, his ubiquitous developments would save many lives.

Conclusion

In this work, I tried to get closer to understanding what drives serial killers, what are their personal characteristics, the combination of which factors can form a maniac. The phenomenon of serial murders is not fully understood, but criminology is developing at a rapid pace, especially in the United States. It is understandable because the US population is 5% of the world's population, while 74% of all serial killings take place in the US. There are specialists in the United States who can identify a serial killer by the scene of the crime, the murder weapon, the victim, and many other factors. Among them are Robert Ressler, John Douglas, Robert Keppel, Kim Rossmo and many others. We should also be proud of our specialists. In particular, Rostovskiy, who achieved 100% identification of seriality, and of course Professor Bukhanovsky and his daughter Olga, who proved that a tendency to violence can be detected by studying the psychology of a person. Unfortunately, domestic law enforcement agencies do not pay due attention to these works, but Western experts highly appreciate such studies.

In conclusion, I would like to note the fact that, despite the revealed predisposition, maniacs are not born, they become. Society itself gives birth to them, we are all guilty of this phenomenon. Everyone who turns a blind eye to the bullying of neighbors' children or wives, to cruelty towards someone else's child at school, and even those who walk past homeless animals, are all guilty. I will quote a rather hackneyed, but clearly illustrating the state of affairs in modern society, the phrase of Edmund Burke: “For evil to flourish, it is enough that good people do nothing”

Literature

1. May A., Bauchner H. Fever phobia: The pediatrician's contribution // Pediatrics, 1992. Vol. 90. P. 851–854.
2. Robert K. Ressler, Ann Wolbert Burgess, John E. Douglas, Sexual Homicide: patterns and motives, 1995 G .
3. Sexual Homicide: patterns and motives - Robert K. Ressler, Ann Wolbert Burgess, John E. Douglas, 1995..
4. Akhmedshin R.L., "On the nature of the "mask of normality" of serial killers",Izvestia magazine 2(20), 2001, ed.: "Izvestiya AltGU".
5. Baidakov G.P. Legal and psychological and pedagogical aspects of individual educational work with convicts // Personality of the offender and individual impact on them: Sat. scientific tr. - M.: VNII MVD USSR, 1989. - S. 100 - 113.
6. Guldan V.V., Pozdnyakova S.P., “Personality of criminals and individual impact on them” M., 1989, pp. 17-28.
7. Malygina Vita, Belopolskaya Victoria, Kozhevnikova Maria, “Specialists of the mysterious “profile”, Psychologies No. 13, 2007-02-00.
8. Steven Juan, Oddities of Our Brain, ed.:Ripol Classic, 2008
9. Stroiteleva Elena, "The Teaching about Chikatils", interview with A.O. Bukhanovsky, electronic edition of "Izvestia" article dated June 12, 2001.
10. Freud Sigmund, "The Beaten Child: On the Origin of Sexual Perversions," Venus in Furs, ed. RIC "Culture", 1992

Electronic resources

1. http://www.serial-killers.ru.
2. http://ru.wikipedia.org .

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