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Why do some countries have more serial killers?

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Now, let's be clear before we start. Murder is murder. The victim is just as dead, regardless of the reason. This thread is specifically about a certain type of killer. My own nation is 2nd in the world for the highest number of this sort of killing. I am going to stick, therefore, to my own country, because the country at the top of this particular tree has a similar media approach to this type of murder, and if I stick to my own back yard, I can't be accused of attacking anyone.

Serial killers as we call them have their own category, because the reason and/or method is not comparable with others. They aren't related to gangs, drugs, revenge, theft. An undetected serial killer may operate for years without detection and may leave sizeable gaps between killings. Motive is often but not always sexual, and there is often something ritualistic about it, a repeated detail in the style of the killing.

Notorious serial killers in England, for example, include the most infamous Victorian dubbed Jack the Ripper, who killed prostitutes with a signature removal of organs, The 'Brides in the Bath' killer who drowned his wives in the bath, John Haig, dubbed the 'acid bath murderer' because that's how he disposed of his victims. The Moors Murderers, notable for killing children and burying them on the Yorkshire Moors.

Whilst the Bride's in the bath killer did so for financial gain, typically serial killers have more obscure motives. Dennis Nielsen invited homeless people into his home and killed them because he didn't want them to leave, apparently. He would sit with the bodies next to him on the sofa, until they got into such a state he had to get rid of them. The story goes that he wanted to stop, so he moved to a flat, reasoning he wouldn't have anywhere to bury the bodies, but the compulsion was so great, he did it again. He was caught because he tried to dispose of the bodies by cutting them up small enough to force down the drain. The drain got blocked and fingers were found in it.

Something about these crimes catches the public's attention. Weird, compulsive, horrific, but it makes a good story. There is a theory that it is this narrative element, this style of notoriety that is, in part, a possible cause for some nations being more likely to have an increased number of serial killers.

We make movies of their crimes. We write novels with fictional killers following the serial pattern. We produce endless documentaries speculating about motive, psychological profiles, why them, why that method, why those victims.

Have we, unwittingly celebrated these types of murders to the extent that the notoriety becomes the attraction for latent killers in this vein? Do we make the 'game' of the killer being one step ahead into another motive for an unhinged mind?

Both nations at the top of this unpleasant tree have similar literature, films and TV shows on the subject. In comparison with nations where this particular type of murder is non-existent, or extremely rare, there isn't this level of obsession, but is that BECAUSE there are so few, or the reason WHY there are so few?

RE: Why do some countries have more serial killers?
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RE: Why do some countries have more serial killers?

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Well, it's true to say that most serial killers are male and more of their victims are women, I haven't personally observed a difference in interest between sexes. Most of the presenters of serial killer documentaries here are male, when there IS a presenter, but most presenters of serious documentaries in general here are male, since we still haven't got out of the predilection for older white men as the default for presenting. Often it's 'talking heads' style, usually with authors on the subject, people who write biographies of the killers and psychologists. Mix of male and female, with more males as the authors, more females as the psychologists.

I couldn't say about podcasts, l don't listen to them myself. My husband and I have the same level of interest. Not over the top, but we do like the odd documentary and we both love a good murder-mystery.

The theory, I think, is based on the idea that some serial killers crave the notoriety. So it isn't so much that watching the docs gives people ideas, but more that it tells those who might be inclined that they will be remembered if they do it. For some, that can be a desirous outcome. To be known as the person who baffled police, to have that infamy. It might not be a primary motivator, but it might push someone over the edge from thoughts to deeds. You should be safe, but if you disappear off FB and here, I'll check the Aussie papers, just in case.

RE: Why do some countries have more serial killers?

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oooh... finally... a thread i can sink my knife into muwahahahahaha

no, seriously, though... i am fascinated by serial killers... mainly their minds - their brains are what interests the most. oh to see inside and root around...

RE: Why do some countries have more serial killers?

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Yes, what makes them tick. I feel bad enough if I accidentally send a spider down the plughole, so I have no idea how anybody can kill someone for pleasure.

RE: Why do some countries have more serial killers?

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I think as you say "what makes them tick" is what causes the fascination. I imagine they are almost all psychopaths, and those of us who are not cannot wrap our minds around their thought processes, specifically their lack of empathy with a fellow human being.
Jailhouse interviews with serial killers can be very revealing. Often they are just so arrogant and think of themselves in Godlike terms.
To address your topic, maybe studying what causes psychopathy would lend an answer to why it is more prevalent in some areas than others.
But then the vast majority of psychopaths do not become serial killers. I watched something recently that said most CEOs of companies and leaders of countries are also psychopaths. These guys get where they are because they aren't concerned about other peoples feelings so are more successful at climbing the corporate or political ladder.

RE: Why do some countries have more serial killers?

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Interesting, I had heard that about CEOs as well.