Evaluating La Donna Beatty’s “What Makes a Serial Killer”

In exploring the concept of the calamityal killer, La Donna Beatty looks toward the military force of modern society, biology, and family. In addition, she observes the affirmable cor apprisals amidst the de-institutionalization of the American affable health placement as well as crapulence. Howalways, as with any attempt to map the prospect of the modern day sequential killer, she is remaining nighly with theories and inconclusive statistics. Given the encompassing range of factors which contri barelye to human expression and experiences, the depend continues while evidence, both free and contradictory, builds.I expect that La Donna would largely agree that while she sets out to explore What Makes a Serial Killer, she comes no next to a conclusive definition than where she began. time the facts she provides be compelling, her personal interpretations and conclusions are at times based on hallucination rather than consistently proven logic. Beatty begins her d e barely of theories by touching on the most popular of modern theories for the prevalence of emphasis in American society wildness in the media.While she does briefly track it later, upon initially rendering this issue, Beatty does non look at the large number of mickle who are also exposed to media violence but do non grow up to be consecutive killers. interpreted a step farther in relation to criminal impulses, just as not every person who is exposed to red-faced video games or movies sprains violent, those who do become violent do not continuously become serial killers. In fact, only a small percentage could ever be classified in this manner.This does not, of course, shame the possibility of media violence as pitiful a child already addicted to such behavior and like very much of the evidence in defining serial killers, the line of works with the argument do not nullify the possibility of about effect. Such media violence naturally leads into the subject of personal experiences with violence. I agree with the assertion that the high incident rate of domestic do by in the childhoods of serial killers proves too common to be simple coincidence.Combined with the visibility of violence in society, such violence in the home could be volatile in the future killers behavior. However, some of Beattys joinings are more pressure than naturally conclusive. In particular she notes, with 79 percent of the population believing that slapping a twelve-year-old is either necessary, normal, or good, it is no interview that serial killers relate tales of physical abuse (Beatty).In this, Beatty is drawing a connection that does not truly exist in her initial argument. While she should halt as rank to show the extreme types of parental attitudes serial killers may conduct experienced as children she instead shows the general publics sprightlinessings of parental discipline. The issues of alcoholism and de-institutionalization of the American ment al health system can be addressed together for the assumptions at the initiation of Beattys fallacies on these issues.As with the problem of media violence, Beattys sources fail to look at the freeer issues of the human rights of the mentally ill or the inconsistencies of the argument that the de-institutionalization of mental hospitals unleashed a fluctuate of violence. While restrictions of unlawful and forced waistcloth may create issues, as in the notable cases of Richard Chase and Edmund Kemper, it is impossible and potentially cruel to re-evaluate a system that is create to serve a broad spectrum of people where these kinds of violent men are not the norm.In her discussion of alcoholism, Beatty presents an even more illogical idea when she supposes that had Jeffrey Dahmer been treated for alcoholism he may not have become an infamous murderer. I cannot say with certainty that he would have killed had he gotten his alcoholism under control. Certainly, sobriety would have br ought some self-control but it would be oversimplifying a complex issue and broad range of crimes by calling it a case of alcoholism gone badly.Taken individually, no theory presented by Beatty has all the same to clearly define a serial killer class or unsoundness in our society. More likely, it is a faction of factors, some presented in Beattys stress and others of a more personal consequence that may never consistently present itself in every killer. However, in the search for the reason behind their compulsions should we look for a solution? Should we attempt to find a way to stop those situations that damage these individuals, devising their pain so intense that it demands fucking(a) revenge (Beatty)?Even Beatty seems at a loss to decide between lettered prevention and/or treatment and the veracity of such men as Ted Bundy who she quotes at the end of her essay. Bundy certainly did not feel himself capable of being saved but, unspoken, is the movement of whether he co uld be prevented. Like Beatty and Bundy, I have no answer but remain open to the theories that though they may not ever make it possible to stop everyone of these killers, can help us understand how they can veer so far from the beaten moral path.