Two Articles on the Motives and Mind of a Serial Killer

The mind of a serial killer can be very interesting in being able to find out what makes them want to do what they do. Knowing if someone was abused as a child and if this makes them more likely to become a serial killer or not become a serial killer is something I was very curious to learn about. Something that happens in a person’s childhood can affect the way they act when they become adults. I found two sources talking about childhood abuse and serial killers. The first source was an internet article entitled â€Å"Serial Killer Motives† found on the website How Stuff Works and was written by Shanna Freeman. The second source I found was a video entitled â€Å"Inside the Mind of a Serial Killer† which is found off of the website Big Think. This†¦show more content†¦When I read this text I do not have any emotional connection, which is why I believe this article does not use pathos. Both sources state the facts as to why someone would become a serial killer based on their childhood abuse or neglect. The video talks about specific serial killers that demonstrated this affect. An example exhibiting this affect is Tommy Lynn Sells. The speaker in the video was able to have a conversation with Sells to find out if this really was his motive for â€Å"killing about 70 people† (YouTube). From there, the speaker was able to draw conclusions that people can kill based on childhood experiences. The article states more facts and does not really give examples of serial killers that killed because of abuse or neglect as a child. Providing examples of people who did kill because of this motive gives an advantage to the video. From knowing this information, a person is then able to look up more articles regarding a specific person and find out the background of what occurred to them as a child. Showing what could have trigged them to have done what they did. The video talked about if a person was abused as a child, they would be more l ikely to choose their victims to get back at a parent who abused them. If you were constantly abused by your mother, the video says,† you would be more likely to kill women than men to get back at your mother symbolically† (YouTube). In the example used, Tommy LynnShow MoreRelatedEssay The Making of a Serial Killer, An Annotated Bibliography1410 Words   |  6 PagesAnnotated Bibliography: Brogaard, Berit. The Making of a Serial Killer. Psychology Today. Sussex Directories, Inc., 7 Dec. 2012. Web. 03 May 2014. Berit Brogaard, D.M.Sci., Ph.D., is a Professor of Philosophy and the Director of the Brogaard Lab for Multisensory Research at the University of Miami. She earned a medical degree in neuroscience and a doctorate in philosophy. 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