Many of them show early signs of cruelty that builds on itself
The science behind serial killer psychology is still developing, so it’s safe to say that there is no one easy answer as to how they “work.” That said, we have learned a fair amount over the past six or so decades.
Serial killers appear to be a combination of genetics and parenting; i.e., nature and nurture. In short, no, they don’t just wake up one day and start killing. Likewise, they aren’t just snapping after a large number of slights against them. Rather, the killings are the culmination of long development that goes back to their early childhood.
There are actually a number of different types of serial killers, but the most famous ones and the ones that most people think of are what are called “sexual” serial killers. Killing, for them, is a sexual act, one generally rooted in a need to control and dominant other people.
Again, their sexual “deviance” can typically be traced back to childhood, along with other indicators (the so-called “dark triad” indicators—fire starting, cruelty towards animals, and late-age bed wetting). Many people are born on the psychopathy spectrum, and only a very small percentage of them become criminally violent. And of those, only a few become serial killers. What makes the difference? Who knows. It does seem that parenting plays a role. Most serial killers have been found to have missing parental figures, extremely abusive parental figures, or both.
So, an extremely unlucky combination of genetics and parenting. And even then, they don’t just snap and start killing overnight. Most progress up from smaller crimes—breaking and entering, petty theft, up to rape, and so on. These crimes seem to be motivated on fantasy fulfillment, trying to find sexual gratification through controlling and dominating other people. For instance, the thefts are often of sexually charged items (women’s panties, etc).
Each of these crimes eventually becomes insufficient. Like a drug addict, they need bigger and bigger hits to get the same gratification. Eventually, killing emerges as the ultimate hit. These kills give them an extreme thrill, and subsequent killings are merely trying to recapture that thrill while refining their process. These kills are frequently the most emotionally stimulating moments of their lives, and many killers admit to returning to the sites of their kills, often to masturbate to the memory.
Like many addicts, most won’t give this up without intervention. They get increasingly desperate and reckless, which typically leads to them getting caught.
late-age bed wetting
That seems like such a weird indicator. I wonder how that’s connected.
It’s linked to both feelings of shame and night terrors from an overactive amygdala, last I heard on the topic.
To possibly [over] simplify. They make a decision that killing other humans is okay with them based on their ‘reasoning’ platform. The basic “sensationality” of thier reasoning platform is what seperates them from other ‘multi-killers’ like nationally sponsored ones, pay for hire ones or more availably as an example “law enforcement”.