Main description:

Criminal profiling has been with us for several decades and the narrative is heavily focused upon the 'nature vs. nurture' debate as opposed to trying to understand the psychological, biological, and social factors of the individuals that commit some of the world's most despicable and heinous crimes. Serial killers and serial offenders are the monsters who haunt our nightmares and although they exist silently among us, we are still no closer to fully understanding them as individuals. What made Ted Bundy kill young middle-class women? What made Peter Sutcliffe kill women from different social strata? What made Thomas Hamilton commit a mass murder against innocent school children? These are the pertinent questions that are constantly stymied by simply discussing the 'nature vs. nurture' debate. This book seeks to move the boundaries of this debate to provide a more dynamic approach to the art and theory of the discipline of profiling serial killers and prolific and repeat offenders.

Dark Psychosis: Profiling Serial Killers & Prolific Offenders focuses on the darkest psychological traits of the individual perpetrators whether they are resultant from nature, nurture, or a combination of both. This book can be used as a resource for students, amateur sleuths, and those with a general interest in criminal psychology and criminal profiling.

Contents:

Introduction and About This Book: xi; The Formation of Serial Killers 1; Chapter 1: Introduction 3; Chapter 2: Early Life Experiences 7; Chapter 3: The Triad of Evil and the Development of a Serial Killer 10; Chapter 4: Power, Modus Operandi, and Victimology 14; Chapter 5: Biological Factors 18; Chapter 6: Brain Abnormalities and Serial Killers 23; Chapter 7: The Western World and Its Modern-day Obsession With Fame and Celebrity Culture 28; Chapter 8: Dangerous Ideologies and Subcultures 35; Chapter 9: Socio-economics: Society and Serial Murder 41; Chapter 10: Medical Monsters 46; Chapter 11: Killer Couples and Folie a Deux 49; Chapter 12: Are They Just Psychopaths? 54; Pen Profiles of the Offenders 57; Cayetano Santos Godino 59; Dr Harold Frederick Shipman 80; Peter Sutcliffe, The Yorkshire Ripper 109; Albert DeSalvo, the Boston Strangler 141; John George Haigh, the Acid Bath Murderer 174; Dennis Nilsen 215; John Wayne Gacy 248; Peter Kurten, the 'Vampire of Dusseldorf' 284; Thomas Hamilton, the Dunblane Massacre 312; Derrick Bird 339; Raoul Moat 362; Conclusion 397; Further reading and research used for the commission of this book 401