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Literature Review on Underlying Causes That Can Create a Serial Killer
Literature Review on Underlying Causes That Can Create a Serial Killer
Sayrey-Sothea El
University of Houston
Dr. Bravo
Serial killing or serial murder involves the murder of more than one person, usually with a “cooling off” period between the murders. These crimes usually have no apparent motive and involve strangers who are murdered over extended periods of time. The U.S. has a higher percentage of serial killers than any other country in the world, with nearly 25% of all serial killings worldwide taking place in America (Pace, 2019).
Based on FBI investigations, many serial killers suffer from a combination of personality disorders which are often inconspicuous. The three major categories of personality disorders include Paranoid, Schizoid, and Psychopathic. Many psychologists believe that serial killers fall into the last category. Psychopathy is a mental disorder in which a person has an antisocial, sadistic or psychopathic disposition with poor impulse control. A person who suffers from a form of psychopathy may display superficial charm and intelligence while hiding deep-rooted problems with their behavior and emotions. According to the FBI Behavioural Science Unit, serial killers have an innate ability to manipulate others, give them someone to talk to, and trust them with sensitive information.
Serial killing is one of the most complex and challenging forms of crime to investigate as there is rarely any forensic evidence left behind in cases that do not involve sexual assault or armed robbery; police rely heavily on knowledge about typical patterns to link cases together and identify likely suspects for questioning.
The standard theory is that serial killers share a long term obsession with violence, however few cases of serial homicide have been directly named as such, some of which include: John Reginald Halliday Christie (killed at least 12 people); Charlie Lyke (39 victims); Henry Lee Lucas and Ottis Toole (17 victims); Aileen Wuornos (7 victims) (Deepak & Ramdoss, 2021). Theories about the “Mackenzie painting” are based on the observation that all five of the known cases of serial homicide involve small town American males that were around 20-30 years old.
In the United States, there has been a slight increase in the number of serial killers since the mid-1990s. The increased publicity and media coverage of these cases may be responsible for this increase. Additionally, in areas that have experienced serial killings, such as the so-called ‘killing fields’ along Route 40 near Green River, Utah and Nevada, it has also become more likely that there will be a killer or killers available to police before any bodies are found.
The first notable US serial killer is usually considered to be H.H. Holmes, who killed 11 people over 18 months between 1896 and 1897 in Chicago. Holmes is also believed to have had a hand in the highly publicized murder of his own wife, who disappeared from the home the couple shared. Holmes was never tried for his crimes due to a hung jury, and later escaped from jail. He was eventually captured, confessed to his crimes and was hanged in Philadelphia on May 7, 1896.
The United States has produced many notable serial killers, including Richard Trenton Chase (“The Vampire of Sacramento”), David Berkowitz (“Son of Sam”), Patrick Kearney Mitchell (“The Milwaukee Monster”), Ted Bundy and Aileen Wuornos. Some killers have become infamous because of the gruesome circumstances of their crimes, the total number of victims, or the length of time during which they eluded capture. Others, such as those who have committed mass killings or those whose crimes have earned them a place in popular culture, are noted for their fame. Some serial killers have even been researched and written about to such an extent that they have become synonymous with murder itself. Theodore Robert Bundy is one example. He was a serial killer who was active in several states throughout the 1970s and confessed to killing thirty women. He once said that he could “go out and kill anybody between one day and six months from now.
One of the best-known cases involving a string of serial murders was that of Ed Gein. Gein was convicted and executed in 1957 for the murder of a total of two women and a teenage girl. He was known to have been obsessed with the concept of body parts, particularly skulls and femurs, which he would retain from his victims. Another local man, Driver Ed Kearney (a pharmacist) confessed to Gein that he had killed two women and an illegitimate son for insurance money, but later recanted the confession. Another man also confessed to killing several people in a similar way but later recanted as well.
Also of note is Ottis Toole who murdered five females in Florida between 1974-1976. Toole was a drifter who worked for victims and stole their money, jewelry, and personal effects. He kept the skull, skins, bones and hands of all five women. He was arrested in 1977 after police traced a stolen money order from one of his victims to his mother’s home in Fort Myers (Toates & Coschug-Toates, 2022).
Many serial killers move from area to area to find new victims. Some are quite organized in their efforts to find new victims or avoid being caught by the law. Some killers perform violent acts to attract their victims, while others choose a method of killing that is less personal. Most serial killers are male but women are also known to be serial killers and some have been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole. We know what causes a person to become a serial killer but how many of these individuals will commit serious violence and murder? It’s estimated that there are around 400-500 active serial killers in the United States alone and they kill approximately 3000 people every year (Call, 2019). This number is based on the FBI definition which is any person who has killed three or more people within a year or killed one victim up to four times during the same time frame.
References
Call, C. (2019). Serial entertainment: A content analysis of 35 years of serial murder in film. Homicide studies, 23(4), 362-380.
Toates, F., & Coschug-Toates, O. (2022). Understanding Sexual Serial Killing. Cambridge University Press.
Deepak, S. A., & Ramdoss, S. (2021). The life-course theory of serial killing: A motivation model. International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology, 65(13-14), 1446-1472.
Pace, A. N. (2019). Serial killers in popular media: A content analysis of sensationalism and support for capital punishment.
stress among secondary schools teachers in singapore
Literature Review on Stress faced by Secondary School Teachers in Singapore
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Course
Course Instructor
Date
Introduction
In the contemporary settings, stress has become a common element in the humans’ daily lives. Issues such as financial crisis, autocratic employers and work overload pose as examples of stress that one faces daily. The contemporary society is characterized by high reliance on industrialization and technology thus giving teachers a stressful period in their line of work. It is universally accepted that the modern society has placed a critical obligation on the teachers’ shoulders. The aforementioned statement is attributed to the fact that the society considers teachers as the entity responsible for molding students thus preparing them for the challenges presented by the world. Consequently, with all these responsibilities placed on teachers they are usually susceptible to suffer from stress. From the above statements one comes to a conclusion that teachers’ stress can be correlated to the negative exposure of emotions like anger and frustration while undertaking their daily tasks (Lambert & McCarthy, 2006). In accordance with the views highlighted by Child (2004) in his work, he opines that the commencement of multiple innovations in the school setting act as a stressor in the teachers’ lives. Factors incorporated into the school setting such as more administration and time consuming systems of assessment act as the leading causes of tension in teaching (Kyriacou, 2009). This review will highlight on several domains of stress in relation to secondary school teachers in Singapore and provide an efficient way of tackling the stress. The paper shall focus on one workshop and expound on it to reveal its beneficence to handling stress.
Icebreaker exercise
First and foremost an exercise termed as the ‘icebreaker’ has to be conducted for the effective highlighting and execution of the critical problem namely stress in secondary school teachers. This review supports the establishment of the training manual for the Stress Management and Relief for Teachers workshop. This training manual shall be implemented in Singapore for the mainstream secondary schools. The workshop will be executed as a 4 hour programme during the regular break in school terms. The Stress Management and Relief for Teachers workshop play a more important role than the mere issuance of techniques for relieving stress in the workplace. The adoption of the aforementioned training manual reveals a new framework for managing stress other than merely treating the symptoms related to the stress (Townsend & Avalos, 2007). The underpinning of the SMART workshop is emotional intelligence. Once an individual is able to manage the stress in the workplace it acts as an advantage to the worker, since they increase their output (Menlo, 2009).
What is stress?
The first act in the complex process of better management of stress involves the effective identification of stress in the workplace (Keeves & Watanabe, 2003). The term stress is derived from the Latin language (strictus) to depict strictness. Stress has managed to become part of every individual’s daily communication and conversation. According to Selye (1974) stress is correlated to the pace of an individual’s life. With regard to the aforementioned statement anything horrible or interesting which is responsible for enhancing intensity in one’s life can affirmatively be responsible for stress. According to Hiebert there are three models of stress that one is to consider when highlighting the issues on stress. The first consideration is the environmental model also referred to as the stimulus event. Secondly, is the individual’s response and the final aspect is the boundary between the environs and the individual.
The Stressors
Generally, stress is discussed in a negative context and yet it can also possess positive values. Stress can be considered as a potential opportunity when it offers several potential achievements. According to Robert and other authors (2004) he expounds on a term referred to as ‘Eustress’. In simple terms Eustress is any form of stress which bears positive outcomes. Other authors opined that stressors may manifest themselves in environmental form. Under this domain the stressors which are environmental factors are responsible for accruing stress in an individual’s workplace. Generally, there are prerequisites to a teacher or any other worker experiencing stress reaction (Li & Hong Kong Institute of Educational Research, 2008). The stressors are further categorized into four distinct categories namely; organizational level stressors, group level stressors, individual level stressors and extra organizational stressors (cite). The impact the stressors have on individuals vary, with some having positive effects (self-motivation) while others having the negative or counterproductive effects.
All over Singapore, teachers are subjected to long working hours and to top it up there is no guaranteed job security. It is also evident that the nature of the job is transforming, the requirements of the employers and education ministry also changing thus leading to a highly competitive work domain. Due to the aforementioned facts the job is becoming more complex thus creating stress to the teachers. When a teacher strives to attain the required experience and the subjection to the current working environment, the individual is susceptible to suffer from stress. In turn this sort of stress adversely affects the teacher by causing physical problems to the individual, for example cancer (Price, 1970).
Why be concerned with stress?
It is universally accepted that stress experienced at the workplace acts as a source of multiple problems in a human’s circulatory system. This can lead to serious heart problems, for example heart attacks (Boey, 2010). Ultimately, when an individual is subjected to stress his/her body experiences adverse effects of the stress. The SMART workshop adopts both the overt and covert tendencies of individuals in the process of eliminating stress in the workplace. This strategy is developed to tackle the specific stressful situations that have been mentioned by the teachers. The workshop’s focal points are two conventional tactics to stress management namely; a psychological practice intended to highlight the negative perceptions attributed to stress and another psychological practice which reduces the physical level of stress thus aiming to eradicate stress mentally and physically.
In the psychological context, the key to coping is not found in the stressor but rather the coping mechanism (Kyriacou, 2000). The aforementioned author has the belief that it is the actual stress assessment and managing manner that has an impact on the magnitude of the reaction of the stressful impetuses. The SMART workshop accommodates cognitive restructuring practices to aid individuals to manage the stress through altering their stress evaluation and perception of stress induced acts (Palmer & Cooper, 2010). The process of cognitive restructuring involves the attainment of cognizance of any form of cognitive distortions and negative thought practices, challenging the detrimental thoughts and replacing them with more beneficial habits (Varvogli,& Darviri, 2011).
The SMART workshop’s psychological strategy is based on the ‘Relaxation Response’. This strategy is easy to learn since it is made up of abridged meditative stress interpolation mechanism developed by Benson (a Harvard physician). Previous application of the ‘Relaxation Response’ yielded positive results in reducing levels of stress of nurses in Taiwan (Tsai & Crockett, 1993).
After the actual implementation of the SMART workshop its generic core shifts from managing stress to improving an individual’s well-being (Emmett, 2008). Individuals who advocate for the well-being practice claim that the existence of positive evaluation and emotional states of employees tend to improve their quality of life and overall performance. Under such circumstances employees tend to have ‘optimal states’ which translate to happier and productive workers (Blömeke, 2013). Acording to Warr (1987), he asserts that there subsist five fundamental components that contribute to an individual’s mental well-being: namely, independence, aptitude, integrated operations, affective well-being and ambition.
Conclusion
In order for the successful advancement of quality of the education in Singapore, the state has to place its education system at the pinnacle of its priorities. The society considers teachers as the builders of the nation, thus the authorities should improve the working surroundings in the school settings.
References
Blömeke, S. (2013). Modeling and measuring competencies in higher education: Tasks andchallenges. Rotterdam: SensePublishers.
Boey, E. K. (2010). Teacher empowerment in secondary schools: A case study in Malaysia.München: Utz.
Emmett, R. (2008). Manage your time to reduce your stress: A handbook for the overworked,overscheduled, and overwhelmed. Macmillan Audio.Keeves, J. P., & Watanabe, R. (2003). International handbook of educational research in theAsia-Pacific region. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic.
Kyriacou, C. (2000). Stress-busting for teachers. Cheltenham: Thornes.
Kyriacou, C. (2009). Effective teaching in schools: Theory and practice. Cheltenham: NelsonThornes.
Lambert, R. G., & McCarthy, C. J. (2006). Understanding teacher stress in an age ofaccountability. Greenwich, Conn: IAP.
Li, Z., Shiu, L., & Hong Kong Institute of Educational Research. (2008). Developing teachersand developing schools in changing contexts. Hong Kong: China University Press.
Menlo, A. (2009). Meanings of teaching. S.l.: Information Age Pub Inc.
Palmer, S., & Cooper, C. L. (2010). How to deal with stress. London: Kogan Page Ltd.
Price, L. W. (1970). Organizational stress and job satisfaction of public high school teachers.Townsend, T., & Avalos, B. (2007). International handbook of school effectiveness andimprovement. Dordrecht: Springer.
Tsai, S. L., & Crockett, M. S. (January 01, 1993). Effects of relaxation training, combiningimagery, and meditation on the stress level of Chinese nurses working in modernhospitals inTaiwan. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 14, 1.)Varvogli, L., & Darviri, C. (April 01, 2011). Stress management techniques: Evidence-basedprocedures that reduce stress and promote health. Health Science Journal, 5, 2, 74-89.
Warr, P. B. (1987). Work, unemployment, and mental health. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Literature Review on Globalization
Literature Review on Globalization
Gillespie,B and Leflaive,X 2007, “Innovation, globalization and the environment”, OECD Observer,no.261,pp.38-40
Sachs,J 2010,”Globalisation in the era of environment crisis”, International Trade Forum, no.1,pp.7-10.
Globalization is a precedure of interaction and integration between the people, companies, and governments of different countries. This procedure has an impact on many aspects such as, the economy, politics and the environment. Thus, globalization has become a debatable issue recently; so much work has been done to date in order to identify the link between globalization and the environment.Two different articles reveal contrasting perspectives on globalization and the environment. Brendan Gillespie and Xavier Leflaive from the OECD Observer, in their article” Innovation globalization and the environment” examine the various viewpoints of globalization. While, Jeffrey Sachs, Professor of Health policy and Management of Columbia University and special adviser on the Millennium Development Goals to UN Secretary, offers a biased view of globalization. Both articles provide useful information to aid the readers to have better comprehension of this issue.
Gillespie and Leflaive emphasise that environmental solutions, while necessary for the planet, can also be a valuable part of international economic development. All countries must work together to achieve a positive result. The responsibility of initial action lies with OECD nations, as they have most contributed to this problem, and they can afford solutions to it. Those governments must encourage private enterprise, while monitoring their own activities for green credibility. They conclude by remarking on the difficulties of encouraging people to be environmentally responsible.
Jeffrey Sachs begins this essay by pointing out the huge damage that humans have done, and are doing, to the planet and its other inhabitants. Destruction of water sources and the atmosphere, and therefore food resources occurs. Demand for food and use of chemicals is now so great that it is destroying other species and soon will be unsustainable. Governments and people need, now, to agree on technologies for power, water and food.
The article by Gillespie and Leflaive Provides a useful insight into the impact of globalization and solutions for it. This article would appeal to scientists and politicians, who would find it rich in information. It is well researched because it has many references and they are reliable references for example, information is drawn from the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. In addition, the authors have divided their article into many sections and this might help the readers to follow the ideas more easily. Moreover, they have used relevant examples, such as, “hybrid cars are being marketed”, and “eco-friendly houses are being built”. (p.39). The well organised and range of the key points in the article make it easy for the readers to find crucial information. As globalization is a very significant topic in this era the authors make a few suggestions, for instance, people should recycle and switch lights off. Throughout, the article, the authors have achieved their purpose successfully. However, there are some aspects which have weakened the article. The first weakness is that the authors failed to list the names of OCED countries, it would have been better if they had listed them for more clarity. Another, weakness is the picture which was included, as it did not add any value to the article if there was a graph instead of the picture it may have made the article more understandable. The authors present irrelevant information about Europe without any clear purpose for it.
In contrast, Sachs’s article seeks to persuade readers that globalization has a negative impact on the environment, in other words the author has a narrow view of globalization. The writer has the authority to write in this field as he is a Special Adviser on the Millennium Development Goals to UN Secretary. Sachs warns of the risks of the globalization effect on the environment. He supports that by giving some examples such as, the effect on the ozone, the use of CFCs and the anthropogenic effect. In addition, the author coins a new term for example, “anthropocene”, however, the explanation of it is sufficient(p7).Sachs uses a number of technical words to explain the ideas in the article” fertilizer, chemical, nitrous oxide”(p9).Furthermore, the author’s evidence is reliable as quotes from the UN Frame- Work Convention on Climate Change. Overall, it is a comprehensible article and its ideas are clear and well organized. However, it would have been better if the author had explained the meaning of “chlorofluorocarbons” (p7). Readers who interested in gaining a broader understanding of globalization may notice the lack of references.
To sum up, whereas, Gillespie and Leflaive look broadly at globalization and the environment in terms of effects and solutions. Sachs focuses more narrowly and he has a pessimistic view of globalization. Both articles are relevant to the 21st century and the authors have achieved their purpose successfully. The two articles could be helpful for students or science enthusiasts who require a broad view of the controversial debate on globalization.