Jeffrey Dahmer

The case of Jeffrey Duhmer was both interesting and disturbing in the sense of what criminals are capable of committing. This particular case follows several specific victims of an elaborate sexual predator and in turn murderer. My opinion of the case itself was a rather disturbed reception while trying to grasp just how a human could possible not only murder, but dismember and partake in cannibalism with so many victims. This left me with a sense of shock, and discomfort while further reading about his multiple victims including two brothers Konerak Sinthasomphone, and Anoukone Sinthasomphone victims three years apart. This further discomforted my reaction as I was reminded with the imperfect legal system we possess, as that the officers in terms of discretion, in correlation with the probation system allowed Jeffrey to remain undetected and to go on killing after making bail. In terms of the psychological aspects of the case it’s clear a question of mental health and insanity came into question. There were also multiple experts discussing whether or not he was “legally” insane in terms of the M’naughten rule, irresistible impulse, and the Durham rule, all main factors when trying to prove legal insanity. I found it peculiar that only the defense claimed he was actually insane, (or had a disorder) whereas the prosecutor’s experts did not. (A further divide between the two fields.) There also were aspects of behavioral psychology, trying to determine if he had any mental diseases and so forth, again a sense of debate between both sides. The articles I dug into related specifically to his upbringing and child years. Recently media has coined the term of individuals committing mass murder “strange.” “Shy” “quite” and so on, so I wanted to dig deeper to determine if social factors or the classic nature Vs. Nurture debate had anything to do with his mental state. The links then demonstrated that his mother had problems with depression, and his father was relatively out of the picture. The particular links also described Jeffrey as “strange” and very antisocial even from the age of four were he began breaking up animal bones, and impaling dead road kill on stakes. As a result of seeing death at such a young age, this fostered the psychodynamic contribute to his psyche fostering the false impression of associating death with pleasure. This in correlation with his anti-social attributes lead his desire to “create a zombie” in attempt to build a social relationship while at the same time destroying the very mental/physical attributes he saw in himself which he may have disagreed with, but pursued none the less. Overall the bibliographical background really worked as a gateway into understanding further his eventual killings. The last two links are one further explaining the process of testifying to his mental state in a court setting, and a snippet of an interview video which I included simple out of interest. Video is worth a watch as that he explains even though people look at his upbringing as an explanation, that his parents are not to blame for his action, and that he “does not see himself as split personality.” Very interesting 5min video!!
Links:
http://www.criminal-psychology.net/site/?p=460
http://www.criminalprofiling.com/Psychiatric-Testimony-of-Jeffrey-Dahmer_s115.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErB0R4wlB64

Chapter 12 of the “Minds on Trial” book talks about Jeffrey Dahmer. Before reading this book, I didn’t really have any idea who Jeffrey Dahmer was. The only thing that I knew was that he killed a lot of people and ended up getting killed in prison. After reading chapter 12, I can say that he had a couple things that were wrong with him. The chapter explains how Jeffrey ended up as a serial killer. It all started at a young age when Dahmer killed a boy around his age. The chapter then explains how Dahmer had a troubled youth. First when he was raped at the age of 8, however, he and his father deny this. His troubles really didn’t continue in high school. Dahmer apparently had troubles when he figured out that he was gay. People just described him as a little off. He then went to Ohio State for a couple of years and then dropped out and joined the army. He then found a job at a candy making factory and had a steady job. He continued killing men by drawing them in by offering to take pictures of them and drugging them. However, he would then kill them, dismember them, eat them, and preserve them. This was all a little sketchy. Through the middle of the chapter it talks about how he almost got caught, however, the cops didn’t realize that the boy he was with was actually a minor. Even when they did find out, the court system didn’t even put him in jail because they thought “Jail would do more harm than good.” It wasn’t until an older man escaped from Dahmer after Dahmer showed him a skull. The man escaped and found the police. When the police raided Dahmer’s apartment, they found skulls, body parts, and preserved body parts. When the trial started, the case was all about whether or not Dahmer was criminally insane or not. In the end, the court found that he was sane, and sentenced Dahmer to 957 years.
The aspects of psychology that are present in the case are first off the use of all the different types of psychology. Such as the social aspect of the case, such as how he had to grow up after being raped as well as dealing with being gay in a time were homosexuality wasn’t excepted. Another aspect of psychology that was shown in the case is all the different types of mental illness that they said that he had. These include Necrophilia, paraphilia, pedophilia, exhibitionism, transvestism, and voyeurism. Another aspect is how the judge sentenced Dahmer to probation rather than jail time, because of his view on Dahmer’s psychological being. The final aspect of psychology in the Dahmer case is when they talk about whether or not Dahmer is actually criminally insane or not.
One of the sources that I am going to talk about is the only interview that Jeffrey Dahmer. The thing that I found interesting about the interview was the very first part of the interview when Dahmer talked about how he first got into the dismembering of animals and how it led to the dismembering of humans. It was odd, because it all started when he dismembered pigs in his high school class. It struck me because I actually dissected pigs in class. This all led to him getting darker things and how it led to darker and darker thoughts. This all led to him picking up a hitch hiker, and this led to the killing of people. That is when, in his words, the nightmare became a reality.
The second source that I want to talk about is a website that talks about how the insanity plea can be used in the court system. It explains what exactly pleading guilty means in a court case. The reason that I decided to look up this court case was because Jeffrey Dahmer’s whole defense case was based on insanity; the reason being that people thought that no one could possibly be in the right mind if he ate people, and preserved their bodies. Also, the major list of problems that people thought was wrong with him. Also, in the end, he was found able to face trial, because they viewed that he planned the murders ahead of time. Therefore he was sentenced to 957 years in prison.
The third and final source that I would like to talk about is the “7 myths of a serial killer.” This website talks about the major myths of a serial killer. These myths include that serial killers are loners; they only want sex, and so on. These turn out no to be true. In the case of Dahmer, not only did he enjoy the sex, but he also enjoyed the dismemberment of the bodies. In Dahmer’s own words, he says that he was able to keep his dark side inside. Also, in the chapter in the book, they talk about how he was a little off in high school, but he never showed full aggressive signs to the public.
http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Criminally+insane
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPMBfX7D4WU
http://www.all-about-forensic-psychology.com/serial-killers.html

This chapter in the book was an account of a man named Dahmer, who sexually assaulted, raped and killed multiple men. Before reading this I had never heard of Dahmer or this story. It was very interesting to hear both the defense and plaintiff and psychologists debate whether Dahmer was sane or not. I was also amazed, although saddened by the fact that he was able to successfully murder so many people without any suspect by the FBI or even the police earlier. Also, the fact that Dahmer thought he deserved to be in jail for life was also astonishing. Many different psychologists, researchers and lawyers had many good points proving and disproving Dahmer’s sanity.
Many people defended Dahmer, and believed in his insanity. Dr. Smail spent the most time studying Dahmer, and felt as if he was competent to stand trial, but more than likely had schizophrenia or an affective disorder. Wahlstrom, a psychiatrist who also looked at Dahmer and looked at Dr. Smail’s findings had some other insight. He believed that Dahmer ate his victims in order to “connect” with them or “gain something” from them, which were psychotic acts. Dr. Berlin and Dr. Becker believed that he suffered from necrophilia, a sexual fetish to corpses and believed that Dahmer was unable to control his actions. The force driving him by the disorder was too strong for him to be able to stop himself.

On the other side of the trial, others believed that he was sane and had no reason to commit these terrible acts of crime. Dr. Fosdal saw no mental disorder that could have been a driving force causing Dahmer to commit these crimes, and that he was not driven by a “zombie”. He also believed that he seemed competent in trials, and that he was putting on more of an act that he was insane. Dr. Dietz downplayed Dahmer’s necrophilia and that it was not bad enough for him to do the things he did. He also pointed out like many teenage boys with their girlfriends, he had no sexual urge strong enough to commit these acts. Dr. Palermo, believed that Dahmer was a “sick man” but not psychotic. Dr. Friedman saw hope in Dahmer. Although he still claimed overall that he was sane, he saw hope in Dahmer that being put in a mental institution for life could reconstruct him and make him a better person.

The psychological aspects of sanity, insanity, competency and mental disorders were all involved in this case. Whether he was sane or insane all really depended on his competency during trial, and any mental illnesses he may have had. If he had a mental disorder severe enough to distort his thinking, he could be considered insane. On the contrary, if he seemed very competent in trial and did not appear to have a severe mental disorder, he could be deemed sane. I personally feel that if he seemed competent in trial, but also appeared to have some severe mental illnesses that completely distorted his thinking. However, I think it was the right decision to give him life in prison.

http://www.criminalprofiling.com/Psychiatric-Testimony-of-Jeffrey-Dahmer_s115.html Talks in depth about the specific mental sexual disorders Dahmer may have had. By looking briefly at his childhood and family history, along with each individual murder case it showed how he indeed could be proved to be insane with some serious mental illnesses.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0197213/bio Is a mini biography of his life, talking about his childhood, about his murders and the timeline of his life. It gave a better visual of his lifetime and the events in the order they occurred.

http://www.all-about-forensic-psychology.com/serial-killers.html This article talks about serial killers and myths people think about them. Some of these include “serial killers are loners”, “are all white males”, “are only motivated by sex”, “they can’t stop killing” and many others. It talks in depth about the misconceptions about serial killers and how they are wrong. This related to the Dahmer’s case dealing with a serial killer and how he didn't really meet any of the typical stereotypes.

This chapter discusses serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer and his murderous rampage in the eighties and early nineties. It goes over his killings, his modus operandi, his run-ins with the law and criminal record, and his eventual arrest and trial. Many statements from expert witnesses were excerpted and his sentencing and death ends the chapter. I really liked reading this chapter because of things I have previously learned about the Dahmer case. It did a good job of explaining some of his murders and his modus operandi and it also does a good job of discussing the psychologist and psychiatrist’s expert opinions. It is a fascinating case to learn about because of how inconceivable his acts were. I believe he got everything he deserved in the end.

The main aspects of the Dahmer case that are relevant are the question of his sanity and if he suffered from mental disorders. A few of the experts concluded that he was insane, a few concluded that he wasn’t but that he indeed suffered from conditions like necrophilia. Another aspect of psychology in this case that wasn’t mentioned as much had to do with his sentencing. If he was insane, should he have been sent to a mental institution or to prison?

http://crime.about.com/od/serial/a/dahmer.htm - this link breaks down the main aspects of the Dahmer case. It highlights his childhood, preteen years, and high school years. This link also explains the support that he always received from his father and the good legal counsel that he always had.
http://www.murderpedia.org/male.D/images/dahmer-jeffrey/docs/jeffrey-dahmer-silva-et-al.pdf - This link is an article discussing serial killing and sexual serial homicidal behavior. It discusses the Dahmer case and its background. It then goes on to discuss the possibility of Dahmer having the Asperger’s disorder and that disorder’s prevalence with sexual issues. It also discusses thing that the Minds on Trial chapter talked about, like his alcohol abuse. It continues with incorporating environmental factors on aggression.
http://www.crimerack.com/2012/04/jeffrey-dahmer-case-file/ - this link discusses most of the killings that Dahmer committed in more detail. It discusses how old each victim was and what he did to each of them. It also talks about the excuses Dahmer would use while talking to his victims, to the police, and to his neighbors.

Chapter 12 was a quick look into the life of Jeffery Dahmer. I had heard of this man before and knew he was a serial killer, but I had not heard any details of the crimes he had committed. This chapter did an excellent job in showing me exactly who Jeffery Dahmer was. The chapter starts off by covering Jeffery Dahmer’s murders and how he tended to lure young men into his apartment, drug them, kill them, and, at times, eat their remains. The chapter states that Dahmer admitted to killing at least 17 young men. After summarizing Dahmer’s “work”, the chapter moves on to discussing the differing opinions of all the psychiatrists/psychologists involved in his case. It seems the experts were split on whether or not Jeffery Dahmer was mentally ill. I don’t really know my opinion on this case but I can say that I am shocked that any of the psychologists could say with certainty that Dahmer did NOT have a mental illness. It surprised me that many of them thought he was rational and had the “assets of youth and intelligence.”

The aspects of psychology relevant to this case are clinical psychology (the debate on whether or not Dahmer had a diagnosable mental illness) and social psychology (how Dahmer’s acts are going against social norms). I also think his case touches a bit upon biopsychology in that if he did, in fact, have a mental illness, psychologists could medically look to see what medications may be helpful.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/jeffrey-dahmer-hero-tracy-edwards-charged-homicide/story?id=14853608
The first article I found was about the man who escaped from Dahmer and was hailed as a “hero” because of the eventual arrest and conviction of Dahmer. The man who had been taken back to Dahmer’s apartment and held at knifepoint for four hours before escaping and leading the police to the murderer’s apartment was recently charged with a homicide of his own. Almost 20 years later to the exact day that he was almost murdered by Dahmer, Tracy Edwards was being charged with homicide after pushing a man of a bridge in Milwaukee. Edwards hasn’t had the cleanest record since he was hailed as a “hero” and if we look at this from a psychological point of view, we might wonder if the incident with Dahmer had an effect on Edwards’ life. Are victims of almost murders more likely to commit murder themselves? It’s obvious that Edwards’ run-in with Dahmer 20 years early most likely caused severe psychological problems leading to a criminal life of his own.

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/dahmer/20.html
The second article I found was a very in depth look at Jeffrey Dahmer’s crimes and his court proceedings. What I found most interesting from this site was what the prosecutors were saying to convince the jurors that Dahmer was not mentally ill. It was said by the prosecution that Dahmer was able to control his urges very well because when he was in the army and when he attended Ohio State university he never committed any murders. The prosecutor described Dahmer as a light switch and told the jurors that he was able to turn his desires on and off at his own will. This was proof that he was not mentally ill and that he deliberately knew what he was doing.

http://www.nytimes.com/1992/02/16/us/milwaukee-jury-says-dahmer-was-sane.html?src=pm
The last article I found was a newspaper clipping from the day Dahmer was convicted of the murders. In the article it is stated that “Had the jury found him insane, he would have been sentenced to a mental institution from which he could have petitioned for release every six months.” I can definitely see how scary this may be to the public and to the jurors after sitting in court and listening and viewing the grisly crimes Dahmer had committed. The fact that the jurors found Dahmer guilty may touch a little bit on the topic of social psychology in that they were making their decision based on what other jurors were doing and possibly what they felt the public wanted and expected from them.

Terms: jury, murder, conviction, prosecution, social psychology, clinical psychology, insane, Jeffrey Dahmer, mentally ill, biopsychology

I have heard and read about Jeffery Dahmer in some of the other psychology classes I have taken in the past, but I have never gotten the chance to view the whole story or the legal aspects behind it. Everyone who has read this chapter on Dahmer can probably all agree that this man was crazy!
Sexual assault is one thing, but to sexually assault, kill, and then use the dead corpse to pleasure you and also feed you is a whole different story. I think the worst part about this whole case is the fact that they had stopped Dahmer on multiple occasions and let him go when they should have questioned him. This definitely shows that there is a problem in our legal system. I don’t understand how someone could fool a police officer into believing the stories that Dahmer told them. You would think that his behavior would have raised at least a little bit of curiosity in the police officers. It almost makes me a bit worried to think about if something were to happen like this today, if they would raise anymore question today than they did back then. I am also confused on why after a neighbor contacted the police and FBI multiple times to report on a man that Dahmer was seen with, and even after that man went missing, the police and FBI still didn’t care to listen to the women. I am sure that woman was saying I told you so after they arrested one of the craziest killers in our history.
The next topic of discussion is: should Dahmer have gotten the insanity plea? It was interesting reading the many different sides to this issue. Some believed he wasn’t aware of his actions and he was simply lonely and was looking for a relationship he could share. Some people also used his past as a way to try and figure out a reason for his actions. I thought it was interesting that as a child people described him as a little odd. Collecting bugs and killing them? Seems a little odd to me…
I thought it was really interesting when Dietz talked about how Dahmer “committed all of the killings in private; used condoms when having sex with the corpses; gave up on the idea of freeze-drying the corpses due to the cost of necessary equipment; crushed the sleeping pills used to debilitate his victims before luring them back to his apartment; and had plans to untimely destroy the evidence of his crime by using acid to completely obliterate the various body parts he collected (Ewing & McCann 2006).” I believe this shows that Dahmer was not insane. If he had all the knowledge to think of all this complex ideas and ways to try and get away with his massive killing, then he should definitely be able to stand trial.
One of the aspects of psychology in this case is the idea of cognitive psychology and trying to figure out how his brain worked. Any “normal” human brain wouldn’t think up such a plan to sexually assault, murder, eat, and kill other humans. Clinical psychology can also be used in this case to wonder if Dahmer was suffering from any type of mental disorder. They talk about this when they describe Dahmer having different types of paraphilia.
One of the websites I looked at was to help me understand more of what paraphilia is, because I haven’t really heard this term used before. After reading more on paraphilia I definitely believe that this is something Dahmer could have suffered from. I think having sex with dead corpses is something that could make this idea true.
Another website I looked at had to do with the insanity plea. Although I remember talking about in previous classes, I forgot all the different aspects of it. I learned the difference between competency to stand trial and the insanity plea. Basically the difference is competency to stand trial deals with the defendan’ts current mental state at the time of the trial, whereas the insanity plea has to deal with the defendants mental state at the time when the crime was committed.
The last website I visited was more of a biography of Dahmer. I was curious after they talked briefly about his childhood and I was wondering if there was any other interesting facts that might have led to the assumption that Dahmer might have struggled with a mental problem as a young boy. I learned that Dahmer underwent surgery at the age of 6 along with the brith of his younger brother were the start of some changes in him. Dahmer was rather friendless as a young child and after high school didn’t care much about his studies. Dahmer definitely lacked a social life and this could play into the role of his strange behavior in some way. This is where the study of social psychology might be helpful in figuring more out about Dahmer.

Key words: Insanity plea, compentancy to stand trial, paraphilia, cognitive psych, clinical psych, social psych, legal system

http://www.psychologytoday.com/conditions/paraphilias
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/crime/trial/faqs.html
http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/jeffrey-dahmer.html

This article was extremely disturbing for me. I was aware of the crimes Jeffery Dahmer had committed, and the basics of how sick his crimes were. What I didn’t realize was the depth of his crimes. I knew that he engaged in necrophilia, and that he would eat parts of his victims. The part that stuck out the most to me -probably just because I wasn’t aware- was that he worked as a phlebotomist and would occasionally drink the blood. Taking all of his other crimes into account I can honestly say I was disturbed with every page, but that one fact stood out most to me. This case mentions many different types of disorders and paraphilias, including necrophilia, exhibitionism, and pedophilia. Dahmer had committed crimes involving these paraphilias, even before he was found to be a murderer.
The first article I found discussing Jeffery Dahmer was more about his victim that was so close to escaping, Konerak Sinthasomphone. It goes into more depth about the fight that the women put up to try to get the young boy away from Dahmer. The part that bothered me the most was that the police sided with Dahmer. Granted, I have no clue how I would have reacted in the position of the police officers. However, it chills me to the bone that despite the pleas of the women who lived next door, the police sided with a killer.

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/dahmer/index.html

The next article I found included the different disorders and opinions of all of the psychologists that examined Dahmer during the trial, as well as what was discussed while he was evaluating Dahmer. The testimony that stuck out to me was from Dr. Park Dietz: saying that the paraphilia isn’t something that we can choose, but we can choose what we do with it. Basically what Dr Dietz was saying is that even though Dahmer suffered from these urges, he had the ability to not act on them, this conclusion is just one of the many made in the testimonies from the several psychologists.

http://www.criminalprofiling.com/Psychiatric-Testimony-of-Jeffrey-Dahmer_s115.html

The final article I chose is about Dahmer in his childhood. Early in life Dahmer behaved in an odd way. He was said to have an extreme fascination with dead animals, at one point he nailed a dogs carcass to a tree and put the decapitated head on a post. His parents saw this as “a boy thing”, but to me it is extremely disturbing.

http://twistedminds.creativescapism.com/most-notorious/jeffrey-dahmer/

Chapter 12 of minds on trial told the story of Jeffery Dahmer and his horrifying crimes. Dahmer liked to go to gay bars and things of that nature to select his victims, he would have them pose for photographs in their boxers. Afterwards he would murder them and keep the victims body around for a while, taking pictures and having sex with the corpse. Then he would dismantle the body, in some cases he would even eat parts of his victims. One thing I have a really difficult time with is how frequently he comes in contact with the police and how close he had been to getting caught multiple times. I don’t understand how a person can be so deceptive that the police believe them. The aspect of this that applies to psychology is whether or not a sane person would commit the acts that Dahmer went through with. There was much discussion on the sanity of Dahmer and experts in psychology seemed spilt on whether he was sane or not.

http://investigation.discovery.com/criminals/serial-killers/jeffrey-dahmer.html
In this article Jeffery Dahmer's background it discussed. It is mentioned that as a child he would ride his bike around town looking for dead animals which he would later cut up and do various other things. From other books and articles I have read, this is one of the disturbing signs that tends to show up in a lot of serial killers as children.
http://www.crimemuseum.org/library/serialKillers/jeffreydahmer.html
In this article it discusses many things, but the one thing that stood out to me was when they explained how Dahmer tried to make his victims "zombies". Apparently Dahmer thought that by drilling holes in his victims skull and injecting them with boiling water or hydrochloric acid this would turn them into submissive zombie like sex partners. Hearing that makes you question the mans sanity along with all the other horrific acts he committed.
http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/jeffrey-dahmer.html
In this last article they mention the aftermath of Dahmers sentencing while he was in jail. It mentions that he adjusted well to life in prison and I believe that says a lot about his personality and sanity.

Jeffery Dahmer was a sexual serial killer. This man lured his victims in by offering them money if they would let him take nude pictures of them. After that he would offer them a drink, which had sleeping pills in it, and would kill them. Some got away, but others were not so lucky.
I had heard of Dahmer before, but I didn't really know that much about him. Most killers that I have read about came from a daunting childhood. After reading Chapter 12 it stated that he was the oldest boy of three and for the most part had a normal childhood. His parents had money, and he was well brought up. In his teens he was also discovering that he was gay, he was violent, and also drank a lot. In high school his parents got a divorse, and that is around the time when he killed his first victim, a hitch hiker.
During his court trial, many psychologists testified that he had a disease. Some stated that it was like cancer, and the cancer had won. The psychology aspect of this killer and the trial was if he was sane enough to be convicted, and if he should go to jail or a mental instuation.
http://crime.about.com/od/serial/a/dahmer.htm
The first article I found said that at the age of six he started to change when he had a hernia surgery, his personality changed and he was no longer himself. He no longer gave smiles, only blank stares.
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/dahmer/index.html
In the second article the police released the run away boy from jeffreys apartment back into his hands not only because jeff lied to them about the childs age and said they were lovers, but also because the police said he was a very smooth talker, intellegent, and very calm. They said they had no reason to not believe him.
http://twistedminds.creativescapism.com/most-notorious/jeffrey-dahmer/
The third article shared with us that jeffrey dahmer was sexually molested by his neighbor.

Chapter 12 in Minds on Trial was about Jeffrey Dahmer, a serial killer who lured men into his home by offering money and drugged, had sex, and murdered 17 men. The chapter also talks about the trial and the psyche of Dahmer; whether or not this man was sane or not.

I think that to do what Dahmer did to his victims he had to be insane. I am not saying that he should have gone to a mental institutoin or anyting like that, but he was definitely insane. He also, knew what he was doing though. He suffered from necrophilia, which is a disorder that is called the "cancer of the mind" where people have sex with copses. I think since he knew what he was doing, than he definitely deserved to go to jail. Like it says in the book, he knew that he wanted to kill these boys, he planned on going out and offering money to men or boys, he also planned on drugging them, he planned on killing them, and he planned on having sex or eating them. Although, I think he was insane, he still knew what he was doing while with the victims. The Psychological aspects of this case was obviously about Dahmer and his disorder(s). They only believed him of having necrophilia, but it could have been much more. It is crazy that this could happen to anyone, I mean this guy was a normal kid, but things happened in his past must have lead him to who he became.

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/dahmer/9.html
- this was pretty much just what we read in chapter 12, just an overview on who Dahmer was, and what happened in the span of time he was murdering people
http://www.criminal-psychology.net/site/?p=460
This was just like the other link, but this one had video and I think that is more disturbing to see him for real and pictures of the dead bodies. His apology is in the video and that just makes me think that he knew what he was doing more and knew he deserved all 957 years
http://www.criminalprofiling.com/Psychiatric-Testimony-of-Jeffrey-Dahmer_s115.html
This link is Dahmer's psychiatric testimony where he told all about what he did to his victims and how he did it.

In the late 1980s, Jeffrey Dahmer was arrested and charged with second-degree sexual assault and enticement of a child. This was not Dahmer’s first interaction with the law. He had been detained years earlier for public indecency. Before his sentencing, he was evaluated by several psychologists who all concluded he was an alcoholic who lacked motivation to get help. Jeffrey Dahmer was sentenced to ten years in prison for his sexual assault charges. However, due to “good behavior”, he was let out after only ten months. Several years later, Dahmer coincidentally met the younger brother of one of his previous victims. After going through his same routine of paying the boy/man fifty dollars to take naked pictures of them, he would drug them and leave them in his apartment. Several of his victims fled the apartment and would find themselves in contact with police. After police investigated the situation, police believed the younger brother, Konerak, was actually Dahmer’s nineteen year old boyfriend. Upon return of his victim, Dahmer killed him, sodomized his body, and then cut him into pieces. When Dahmer was proceeding with his next victim months later, police investigated into the odd situation a little more only to find extreme horror: human bodies, heads, and other body parts filled the closets, freezer, fridge, and shelves. Once he was taken into custody, Jeffrey Dahmer admitted to killing seventeen people. At his trial, several psychologists stated Dahmer was mentally ill and he belonged in a mental institution instead of a prison, while other psychologists believed he had a “mental disease,” he was perfectly capable of knowing his own actions and abilities. The jury found him guilty on fifteen counts of murder and the judge sentenced him to nine hundred and fifty-seven years in prison. However, he was only able to serve two of those years before another inmate killed him with a steel bar.
It was very difficult for me to read this chapter. I had to put the book down several times because I felt I was going to be physically sick. What confused me was why Konerak would go with Dahmer when he knew that his brother had been sexually assaulted by a man offering fifty dollars to “take pictures”. Why would you go with him?! This chapter was very fascinating to read, other than the feeling ill parts. I feel those parts of the chapter was not necessarily needed for me to get the picture as to what was going on. A part that really frustrated me was the police officers giving Konerak back to Dahmer without looking up Dahmer’s history or even trying to find Konerak’s identification.
I think an important aspect of this chapter was Dahmer’s modus operandi of persuading men to his home so he could sexually assault/kill them and then preserve body parts in formaldehyde. I believe it showed the jury he knew what he was doing to people. He was in complete control of his mind and his actions.
My first source is an interview with Jeffrey Dahmer. In the video, he discusses where his hobby of killing animals came from. This interview shows him looking very composed and trying to even formulate his own hypotheses about his actions.
My second source discusses Dahmer’s childhood and young adult hood. It then leads into discussing his murders. During his childhood he had to undergo several different treatments for illnesses and health issues. When Dahmer was two his family moved to Iowa, while his father finished his doctorate in chemistry.
My third source is a discussion on Dahmer’s insanity plea to his first set of charges. It has several quotes from his attorney, Gerald Boyle, in which he says that Dahmer is not a “repeat offender” and that catching Dahmer in his act now was a “blessing in disguise.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErB0R4wlB64
http://www.criminal-psychology.net/site/?p=460
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/dahmer/9.html

Jeffrey Dahmer was a serial killer convicted of 17 murders, necrophilia, cannabilism among others. The chapter starts off with a few specific stories that show us a detailed description of Dahmers actions and the events that led up to his arrest and conviction. Later in the chapter it discusses how several psychologists viewed Dahmer and his mental state at the time of trial and at the time of his murders.
I thought it was very interesting reading the different descriptions of how the psychologists depicted his state of mind at the time of the murders. Before I read those accounts I guessed that he had some sort of personality disorder, because of his wanting to be with his victims forever. That to me didn’t sound very much like schizophrenia or another serious mental disorder. I personally believe that he was not insane at the time of the attacks, because he knew what he was doing was wrong. The proof to me lies when he went to retrieve the 14 year old boy that had slipped out. While one may argue that he just didn’t want to be alone with that person, an insane person, in my opinion, wouldn’t have made the excuses that he did to the cops at the time, but instead would have made up a harder to believe story that would have aroused more suspicion.
There are multiple things that are relevant to psychology in this case. Some I have mentioned already such as psychologists, and psychiatrists arguing over the mental state of Jeffrey Dahmer. But some other smaller things would be this was an unusual case to psychology as there wasn’t many like it before. I believe the book said 122 cases of necrophilia 15 of which involved killing the person beforehand. The research that could, or has been, deduced from this trial could be a huge stepping stone in the future to understand why people do these actions and how we can go about stopping that behavior.
I used Wikipedia as my first source just to get some other knowledge. One thing I wanted to point out specificially was the age of most of his victims was actually in the 20s. I noticed in the book it focuses on the accounts of two 14 year olds however his usual persons were in their mid to young 20s.
One website I went to told a tale about Tracy Edwards a hero for escaping Jeffrey Dahmer and ending his serial killing. Edwards in 2011 was convicted of homicide of his own and will face up to 60 years in prison most likely at the same prison dahmer was sentenced and later died in. Edwards seemed never to have lived a normal life after his encounter with Dahmer and had been homeless moving from shelter to shelter for quite some time.
One fact in this website that I don’t believe was in the book and if it was I overlooked it, was the fact he lived with his grandma for 6 years in which a few of his murders were done. I thought this was worth noting because he performed all this stuff in the same household as another person who was none the wiser. It goes a long way to credit how concise he had to be to pull this stuff of.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Dahmer
http://abcnews.go.com/US/jeffrey-dahmer-hero-tracy-edwards-charged-homicide/story?id=14853608
http://investigation.discovery.com/criminals/serial-killers/jeffrey-dahmer.html

First off the Jeffrey Dahmer case was extremely disturbing and gross yet interesting in regards to the legal system. Jeffrey was a very disturbed individual who had several different problems. Previously to reading about the case I had heard about him but I did not know much about what he had done. Jeffrey would use different ways of convincing and manipulating his victims into going to his apartment with him. His victims were primarily men and young boys. Once he got them to his apartment he would drug them, take pictures, rape, and cut up the body. Now as if that wasn’t disturbing enough he would actually eat some of the body parts from his victims. It is so disgusting to think that an individual would be capable of doing such things. Once Jeffrey Dahmer was finally caught he was convicted and sent to prison for 957 years. This process was interesting to read about because it expressed a major concept from text. This was the idea of psychology and law working together. During the hearing several psychologist were asked to observe Dahmer and attempt to diagnose him and figure out why he did what he did as well as if he was insane. As if he was viewed as insane his court hearing and the final conviction could have been different. In regards to the psychologist several of them had difficulty agreeing with each other because Dahmer obviously had several things going on that motivated him to do what he did. But they all agreed that he did do those things and that he deserved the 957 years in prison.

Some of the aspects of psychology that was presented in the case were, if he was sane or not, if he was a pedophile, if he took part in exhibitionism, necrophilia, paraphilia, or fetishism. All of these are terms used in psychology that describes different sexual acts. I think Dahmer did what he did because he simply wanted to and possibly because of his past. Dahmer received feedback that motivated him to basically become a serial killer, as disturbing as it is he enjoyed doing it.

Overall this case was very interesting to read about because I did not know much about it previously. The chapter expresses the idea of psychology and law working together to ensure that an individual is convicted fairly and accurately.

My first link discusses more about Dahmer’s childhood. He was not very social and he would ride his bike around town looking for dead animals that he could cut up. Obviously there was something wrong with the way he thought at a young age. My second link discusses Dahmer’s first encounters with the law. He began drinking and causing problems, once he moved in with his grandmother things seemed to get worse. She began finding odd things in her home like a gun. He eventually moved out and found new ways to cause problems. Dahmer was arrested for drugging and touching a 13 year old boy just a day after he moved into his own apartment. My last link explains what happened once Dahmer was in prison. He was kept in his own cell and was not allowed to be with the other inmates. Somehow he convinced the guard that he could handle being with the inmates. This obviously didn’t work out like he had thought he was killed by another inmate. But my question is, how did this happen? Wouldn’t you think the guards would be right there especially since it was his first time with the other inmates?

http://investigation.discovery.com/criminals/serial-killers/jeffrey-dahmer.html
http://www.crimemuseum.org/library/serialKillers/jeffreydahmer.html
http://www.psychologicalscience.com/psylaw/2013/01/jeffrey-dahmer-1.html#comments

This chapter in Minds On Trial was astonishing. Jeffrey Dahmer was a pedophile, necrophiliac, and cannibal who killed men from their teens into their thirties. The chapter details some of his killings and explains his modus operandi of luring young men into his home by coaxing them with money for photographs. He proceeded to drug, rape and murder the men. One of the unusual and most confusing parts of his case was the evidence that mounted against Dahmer before he started his killing spree. He was on trail numerous times but was let off with a light sentence which seemed to spark the future killings.

In terms of psychological aspects of this case, the main theme behind Dahmer was whether he was insane or competent enough to understand his actions. Nearly ten psychologists and psychiatrists were called to the stand during his trial to give their opinion on his mental stability. It was interesting to hear that almost all of the doctors called to the stand claimed Dahmer was not legally insane but was in fact a rather intelligent human being. One such psychologist even pleaded his case for Dahmer saying he is a bright man who deserves a second chance. This makes me wonder how manipulative Dahmer actually was. Does he have the ability to commit these horrible acts and then come across as an innocent man?

The first link I found was a sort of perspective from the jurors point of view. The judge warned the jurors that they were going to hear and see things they probably didn't think possible and hoped they would still be able to listen to the hearing. It is an important article to discuss because as a reader you rarely think about the jurors point of view.
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/dahmer/19.html

Next, I found a PBS link detailing other notorious insanity defense hearings in the court room. It's important to point out that some of the cases are ones that are included in our Minds On Trial book. John Wayne Gacy was another one of the insanity defense hearings I was most familiar with.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/crime/trial/other.html

Lastly, Psychology Today had an article discussing Dahmerfest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Basically people show their disgust and repulsion of Dahmer's crimes. I thought this was rather unusual. Also, there is quote from Dahmer saying he did not discriminate against blacks, or gays during the killings and was aware of what he was doing. "I carried it to far, that's for sure were Dahmer's words to police.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/199204/i-carried-it-too-far-thats-sure

This chapter started out by describing the evening that Jeffrey Dahmer coerced a young man over to his apartment. This young man ended up escaping from Dahmer’s apartment and was able to make it to his home where his parents notice his condition and took him get medical care. The police were notified and went to confront Dahmer. He was arrested, charged and then ultimately let out on bail. He eventually pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting this victim but claimed that he never had any sexual contact with the minor. Long story short, Dahmer was given probation because the judge seemed to think prison time would only make things worse for him and that probation/a work release program was the better way to go. This would prove to be a very poor decision. The chapter then goes on to tell the horrifying story of how Dahmer would resume his killing within weeks of being released from confinement, starting a year-long killing spree where at least 12 people would fall victim. All of these victims were brought to Dahmer’s apartment for the same reason: so he could offer them money for sex, drug them, sexually molest them, kill them and then continue to sexually molest their bodies after death. He would then usually cut their bodies into pieces that he would put somewhere in his apartment or eat. The chapter continues by giving us a brief background of Dahmer’s childhood and what it was like growing up for him. It was clear early on that Dahmer had some issues, considering he would collect insects and preserve them and possibly was cruel towards small animals. Dahmer’s parents also had their fair share of issues, which would clearly not help the increasingly volatile situation. The chapter then takes us back to his adult life by pointing out the irony that the younger brother of the victim that got him “caught” earlier was the victim that would draw attention to him yet again. Dahmer lured Konerak Sinthasomphone into his apartment and attempted to do as he always does to his victims. This victim, just like his brother, escaped and was able to get attention from the police. Again, long story short, the police believed Dahmer’s false story about what was going on. He then went on to kill this young man after the police left. The only reason he was even caught this time was because his neighbor’s felt something was up and continuously contacted the police until they finally came and searched Dahmer’s apartment. What they discovered was absolutely horrifying. Because of the discoveries, Dahmer was then arrested, and this time he would not get away with it. After testimonies at his trial from psychologists supporting both sides on Dahmer’s mental health, the jury would come back with ten jurors convinced that he was sane when he killed and two jurors convinced that he was no guilty by reason of insanity. In the state of Wisconsin, this means Dahmer was guilty of 15 counts of murder.

My opinion of the chapter is that it definitely goes into pretty heavy detail about Dahmer’s crimes, but I think there is no other way to go. When describing people like Dahmer, you almost need this kind of detail in order to fully wrap your mind around what he has done and why he might have committed the crimes that he did. I think the author of this book did a great job of giving us a short (but very well written) account of Jeffrey Dahmer’s life as one of the worst murderer’s in history and I thoroughly enjoyed reading every word.

In terms of psychology, it is pretty clear what aspects are present this case. The ever-lasting question with Jeffrey Dahmer will be if he was “sane” or “insane”. I’m sure there are many different people out there who feel he was sane, or that he was insane, but what it ultimately comes down to is the fact that the jury and the court found him guilty. Relating back to chapter one of our textbook, it talked about the different ways social science can play a role in the legal system. This case was a shining example of that. Not only were psychologist’s brought in for their expert opinions in the Jeffrey Dahmer case, but both sides (prosecution and defense) brought in more than one to try and back up their side. I feel that the Jeffrey Dahmer case revolved around psychology and his mental health.

The first link I found was a good one because it focuses all the different points in Dahmer’s life that are relevant to how he was the way he was. There are a total of 9 different sections and each does a good job of explaining why this part of his life was important in helping analyze (or try to as best we can) Dahmer’s behavior. I feel it’s important to look at all of the pieces when trying to “figure out” something of this magnitude.

The second link I found is solely focused on describing Jeffrey Dahmer’s last victim, and how initially escaped but was left alone with Dahmer after the police were led to believe everything was fine. It’s interesting to think about how different things could have been if this particular victim would not have gotten out and brought attention to the situation before he was killed. How much longer could the killing have gone on? Food for thought.

The third link I found talks about the psychology side of things. It starts out by analyzing his childhood and how different things could have affected him in negative ways. It then moves on to his adult like and talks about how certain things he did were major warning signs of what were to come. There were at least two different times where Dahmer should have been locked up when he wasn't, which would have prevented any of the future murders from that point on.

Links:
http://crime.about.com/od/serial/a/dahmer.htm
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/dahmer/index.html
http://www.criminal-psychology.net/site/?p=460

Before reading chapter 12 I had heard of Jeffrey Dahmer in some of my other classes, but didn’t know the full extent of his crimes. This man will go down in history as one of the most demented serial killers and yet the reasons behind his killings are still unclear. A man that would drug, rape, kill and sexually abuse the body more after death has to have some sort of mental problem. When it comes to many serial killers, some can live two different lives. They may seem normal to some, but don’t know about this person’s secret life. Jeffrey Dahmer had the power to convince others that he was a kind and charming person, because of the ways he was able to pick up guys at the bar and persuade the judge to reduce his sentence down. In a way he suffered from many social disorders by not having many friends, but by taking pictures of his victims, cutting them up and storing the body parts, and by eating some of the body parts he was able to keep him victims with him forever.
Looking into the psychology aspects of Jeffrey Dahmer, many of the professionals of psychology looked at whether he was sane or insane. Many people that he was insane due to the fact of how he murdered his victims. By cutting up the bodies and eating them are all signs of a serious mental disorder. He wanted to keep these people as a zombie that would not leave him. To me the evidence shows that he would plan out his killings, by crushing the sleeping pills before even picking out his victims. I believe at the times of the murders he was able to tell the difference between right and wrong, making him sane enough to convict him of all crimes. If it is true that he abused animals when he was young would be a major sign of future problem. His problem with alcohol would help push his sexual problems even more to the point that he would act on his abuse of people. I think because he was able to get away with murder and rape when he was in high school gave him the idea that he could keep getting away with it. Then with the police and the courts not realizing how serious Jeffrey Dahmer was just encouragement for me to keep killing. Many lives could have been saved if they would have stopped him when sexual charges were brought against him the first time.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPMBfX7D4WU
http://www.murderpedia.org/male.D/images/dahmer-jeffrey/docs/jeffrey-dahmer-silva-et-al.pdf
www.nspb.net/index.php/nspb/article/view/20/17

Jeffrey Dahmer committed his first murder when he was seventeen years old. By the time he was finally convicted and put in jail, where he was eventually murdered, he had killed seventeen men. He would lure men to his apartment but bribing them with money to pose for nude photos, or pick them up in gay bars. He then would proceed to drug them, kill them, engage in sexual activities with their corpses, dismember their bodies, and in some cases eat parts of their bodies. One case that really disturbed me was when one of Dahmer’s victims escaped and ran to the authorities, only in his briefs, but the police returned him to Dahmer’s apartment where he convinced the cops that his victim was merrily his boyfriend so police left the victim their where he later was killed. I read this part of the chapter over and over again and got angrier every time I read it. It seemed like common sense that when a person runs to you in that condition you do not return him to the situation he came from. It also bothered me that the police did not even do a background check on Dahmer. If they would have just done that some of his murders could have been prevented. In July 1991 Jeffrey Dahmer was finally caught and arrested by police officials. In his trial there was a debate among many experts on whether Dahmer was mentally insane at the time of the killing. Some testified that he was insane while others said he was sane. In the end he was convicted of fifteen counts of murder and was sentenced to prison for 957 years.
One aspect of psychology that I find very relevant to this case is clinical psychology. It is relevant because when trying to figure out why Dahmer committed the murders terms such has schizophrenia and affective disorder were thrown around which are clinical disorders. Also legal psychology was used in trying to determine whether or not Jeffrey Dahmer was insane (which is used only as a legal term)
http://crime.about.com/od/serial/a/dahmer.htm - I found this website very interesting because it gave a little but more detail of Dahmers younger years. It is also a more compact version of the chapter itself.
http://www.angelfire.com/fl5/headsinmyfridge/Victims.html - this site is a description of Dahmers victims as well as how he murdered them.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/jeffrey-dahmer-hero-tracy-edwards-charged-homicide/story?id=14853608 – This was an interesting article done by ABC news. It is about that man who escaped Jeffrey and brought the police back which led to Dahmers arrest and conviction was later convicted of homicide himself.

We all have heard horror stories about Jeffery Dahmer. It seems like he is the ultimate serial killer legend in American culture. However, myself like many others never knew the true story about this mad man. This chapter was a graphic depiction of what Dahmer's psychotic killing spree what like from the early 80's till it came to an abrupt end in1991. The chapter included detailed accounts of his manipulation of young boys and older men; which he would eventually drug, sodomize, and dismember. The chapter also tried to explain Dahmer's middle class, normal life. In the end, no real psychotic motive was depicted by the “experts” during his trail.
Opinions; for the given time in American policing can courts I am extremely disappointed at the lack of organization and focus on details that was displayed by both the police and the courts. In modern time a law enforcement agent is required to check identification and do a through check of warrants and priors of that individual. I understand this was mid 1980's and the police may not have had the technology. In many instences I felt like Dahmer was simply overlooked. He had a prior record of violent sexual assaults, and mental issues; all of which went unchecked when Dahmer was reported by the public.
This whole case and chapter is based on psychology. We as “normal” individuals are always looking at what causes others to act the way they do. In Jeffery Dahmer's case; his mental state is an extremely important topic to try to unravel. The prosecution and defense both try to understand Dahmer's mental state and his relevant mental problems. In the chapter even the experts really struggle to understand what would make an individual commit such horrific crimes. Understanding the psychology and how it relates to motive take us just one step closer to preventing serial killers like this in the future. Psychology played a role in every move Jeffery Dahmer made.

http://www.criminalprofiling.com/Psychiatric-Testimony-of-Jeffrey-Dahmer_s115.html
-I first wanted to read deeper into the psychiatric testimony of Dahmer; something the chapter did not do enough of in my opinion. One of the main points the testimony describes Dahmer's motive for killing his victims. Dahmer's mental mindset could have been that he was killing his victims because they were also gay, like himself. His sexual preference was the one thing him and everyone else hated.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/obituaries/psychologist-friedman-was-expert-at-dahmer-trial-ar85181-184614361.html
-This show expert Samuel Freiman's testimony of Dahmer and his psychology. He places the blame on his up bring and Dahmer's overbearing parents.

http://investigation.discovery.com/criminals/serial-killers/jeffrey-dahmer.html
-I also seeked more information about the victims. This site goes further in depth about each victim. Sixteen being the final total though Dahmer was only convicted of fifteen. I also noticed that the majority of his victims were African American. In my opinion Jeffrey Dahmer was a racist, one of his many psychological, personality problems.

This chapter tells the story of Jeffrey Dahmer and all the murders he commits. It also goes into some detail of how he finds and attracts his victims, specifically discussing Konerak Sinthasomphone. This chapter was not altogether an easy one to read, because you see things like this in tv shows and it’s easy to accept under the pretense that you know everything is fake, but when you hear about a real person who has actually gone and committed these horrible crimes of drugging someone, raping them, killing them, and then sodomize the bodies, dismember them and on occasion cook and eat the body parts of his victims, it’s a bit hard to handle. As for the psychology piece of this chapter, it’s obvious that there was something going on in Dahmer’s mind that wasn’t quit right. More interestingly though, the way in which he was able to use his knowledge of psychology and human nature to lure these various men into him home. Not to mention his ability to outright lie to and manipulate the police on several occasions.

http://crime.about.com/od/serial/a/dahmer.htm
This first link is simply a more in depth story of what the reading gives us. It discusses Dahmer’s relatively normal childhood, then moves into his teen years when he started drinking. Many people seem to believe that his persistent drinking problem was one of the biggest factors of his crimes. It then discusses Dahmer’s first kill of a 19-year-old hitchhiker, and also discusses that Dahmer was suffering from latent homosexuality. This is yet another potential factor that contributed to his killing spree.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPMBfX7D4WU
This link is the most beneficial for me into understanding who Jeffrey Dahmer was, and ultimately why he did it. This is an hour and a half long interview with Dahmer himself and both of his parents. What shocked me the most while watching this video is just how normal and relaxed Dahmer is throughout the entire interview. He isn’t shocked by any of the questions, he’s composed and intelligent, he even remains unshackled and there is only one of two clips in which you can see the officer in the background who is supervising. When Stone Phillips interviews both of Dahmer’s parents individually he of course asks if there were any early signs that perhaps looking back after all of this that gave any clues about what would happen in the years to come. His mother was very defensive and struck out at the interviewer about him blaming or attacking her, but eventually decided that there were not any signs she could think of. His father on the other hand had a few stories to tell of Dahmer’s early fascination with dead animal’s bones as well as striking a tree with a branch incredibly forcefully after overhearing an argument between his parents. Also revealed is that Dahmer’s father had some obsessive and murderous thoughts when he was a boy as young as seven or eight years old, but because communication between Dahmer and his family was rather limited these were never discussed or even known until during and after the trial. Dahmer’s mother, although she denies it, was said to have had seizure like symptoms during her pregnancy with Dahmer and was put on some potentially detrimental drugs as stated by his father. This interview is very powerful and also quite disturbing, I suggest watching it if you have any free time.

http://www.nspb.net/index.php/nspb/article/view/20/17
Necrophilia
Borderline personality
Asperser’s disease
Chronic masturbation
Cannibalism
Pedophilia
Exhibitionism
Depression
Substance dependence
Abandonment issues
This is the laundry list of possible disorders that Damher may have suffered from while he was killing. This list was complied through a number of interviews and tapes, trial documents and the like by a team of psychologists.

Chapter 12 of Minds On Trial depict the notorious serial muderer Jeffrey Dahmer. He was known for his sick acts of necrophilia and cannibalism. This chapter talks about all of the murders he committed and goes into detail of how he attracted his victims, all of which are male. He would attract his victims by promising money in return if they would pose nude in pictures for him. Dahmer attracted his first victim, Anoukone Sinthasomphone, a thirteen year old Laotian boy, in that manner. Luckily the boy got away. In a portion of the chapter it talks about the childhood Dahmer experienced. How he was the weirdo who collected preserved insects and that gives a hint to the gruesome serial murders he would perform years later. Seducing and drugging gay men after picking them up at bars around the neighborhood, next murdering and having sex with the corpse. What I found to be disturbing and interesting about Dahmer was that he would perform 'surgeries' on his victim's brains to turn them into zombie like slaves so that they would never leave him, so he would have someone to be with all the time. I knew who Dahmer was before I read this chapter but I never knew he would perform brain surgeries on his victims. I think Dahmer's choice of victims really does relate to him struggling with his sexuality earlier in his life. Over the years of his murderous behavior, the acts of murder became more gruesome. His acts of cannibalism to me are the worst. Cutting his victims into pieces and eating their internal organs which to him, tasted like filet mignon. Dahmer himself said it was a way to keep his victims closer to him for a longer period of time. This man clearly needed help. One psychiatrist claimed that Dahmer was a 'sick person' but not 'psychotic'. I beg to differ... One psychologist, Dr. Fred Berlin claimed Dahmer's necrophilia as a "cancer of the mind" and said Dahmer tried hard not to give into his urges to kill and then have sex with the dead bodies.

The case of Jeffrey Dahmer was a remarkable series of disturbing killings. When I use the word remarkable, I don’t mean great or amazing. What I mean by remarkable is the significant, notable horror of the multiple events of drugging, rapping, and then dismembering the victims’ bodies. While reading about how Dahmer strategically lured young and adult men to his home to photograph them, drug them, and then kill them; I knew that he was not insane while committing these horrific acts. These repeated events were thoroughly planned, thought out, evidence was hidden, and even when confronted by police he was able to convince them with a believable alibi. Jeffrey Dahmer was a sick, sick man, and may have been a manipulating alcoholic abuser; it’s just unfortunate that he was able to persist as long as he did.
Jeffrey Dahmer was an overall disturbed man. He strategically lured young and adult men to his apartment, drugged them, had sexual intercourse with them, strangled them, had sexual intercourse with the dead bodies, then finally dismembered the victims’ bodies, or either preserve them in attempt for a zombie-like companion, eat them, or display them around this home. Jeffrey Dahmer was responsible for the brutal deaths of 17 men and children. This unfortunate number was made possible by his intense skill for manipulation, which involves the victims he lured to his home, and the police that were looking at his case. These gruesome events were also made possible by Jeffrey Dahmer’s excessive necrophilia and desire to control another being to do whatever he wanted them too. Variety of Psychologist observed Dahmer before he was convicted. Some tried to decipher if he was sane when these 17 acts where committed. Others felt that a mental illness was to blame, and we should symphonize because he just wanted the people he met to not leave him. However, one psychologist did testify that Jeffrey Dahmer did have a mental disease, but that that disease did not conflict with his ability to conform between right and wrong. It took a day for the jury to decide whether Dahmer was guilty or not. Majority felt that he was sane during these killings, and two jury members felt that he was not. Dahmer was charged and sentenced to prison for 957 years. Jeffrey apologized by saying, “I know my time in prison will be terrible, but I deserve whatever I get because of what I have done…”
Of the case of Jeffrey Dahmer plenty of psychological aspects were involved, such as, the number one aspect if Dahmer was insane or sane when killing his victims. Initially, any right minded person would assume that he was insane during the time of his killings. But as we learned majority found that the he was indeed sane, which led to his final sentencing of 957 years of prison time. When I looked up the Jeffrey Dahmer case form other resources I found a YouTube video of an interview between Jeffrey Dahmer and Stone Phillips. Jeffrey spoke about his childhood how he would take the animals from his biology class home with him and cut them open and feel the organs inside and he quotes, “mystified by how the insides were”. Jeffrey also states how that he is and was the only person responsible for the actions that took place, and that his parents had no part, nor were even aware. His final statement was, “that if there were any motive to why, it was because he wanted to control someone that he found physically attractive and keep them around…” Another site that I found highlighted a little more on incident when the fourteen year old boy tried to escape from the Dahmer, after kicking him in the face. Even when two women witnessed the naked boy in a drugged daze, and notified the police, the Dahmer convinced the the police that the boy was nineteen and that he was his “boyfriend”, even though, which the book did not mention, the boy was bleeding from his rectum. Yet, the police did not intervene. Lastly, I found this website, that I thought was just more information on the case of Jeffrey Dahmer, but what I found was information on the case but with a more emphases on the tension of his parents’ divorce which lead to Dahmer’s increase with alcohol, which would then lead to his destruction. There were also pictures of some of his victims, which were horrific. Although, I felt the writing of this site was not very just. On a side note, I found it most disturbing how this site was also advertising pornography, and the heading of the website was a naked girl on tired up on a pig roaster? And we wonder why people do some of the things they do…

(1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErB0R4wlB64
(2) http://investigation.discovery.com/criminals/serial-killers/jeffrey-dahmer-02.html
(3) http://www.bestgore.com/murder/jeffrey-dahmer-biography-crime-scene-photos-video-documentary/

Serial murderer, necrophiliac, and cannibal Jeffery Dahmer molested, killed and dismembered fifteen or more men ranging from age fourteen to forty. He grew up in a home with two younger brothers, a father who earned a doctorate degree in engineering and a mother who seemed just as normal as any other mother out there. The kink in his childhood, in my opinion, was a probation report that stated he had been sexually abused by his neighbor at age 8. There was very little other than this that sparks any sort hint as why Jeffery Dahmer became the man that he now is so shamefully famous for. Some psychologists testified during Dahmer’s trial that he was bright individual and that they hoped something could be done to help him. Other psychologists believed that his necrophilia, which is an attraction to corpses, was a “cancer to the mind” and Dahmer had been beaten by the “disease”. While there were many psychologists to testify, Dr. Kenneth Smail who spent the most time on Dahmer’s case did not. He concluded that Dahmer was in fact competent, was able to function emotionally and was not impaired to the point where he was unable to stand trial. He did however stated there was a possibility of some sort of mental illness which later was consistent with others testimony in Dahmer’s trial. Dahmer eventually was sentenced to nearly a millennia in prison and was killed by a fellow inmate only after two years of being there.
I can’t think of any aspect of psychology that doesn’t relate to this case. I feel as if cases like Jeffery Dahmer’s case are why we as psychologists are needed. Jeffery Dahmer demonstrated severe forms of a antisocial personality disorder for one. While the cause is unknown, people showing signs of this disorder repeatedly find themselves in trouble, have no regards to their own or other’s safety, can be charming and witty at times, yet can be very manipulative and play on people’s emotions. Not only was Dahmer’s case very clinical but there were other aspects of his case that reflect many other areas of psychology as well. For instance, the men that he murdered didn’t label Jeffery Dahmer as a threat. The victims cognitive perception of Jeffery wasn’t a bad one right off the bat therefore they were able to be lured into apartment and later given a sedative which disabled their sensory functions which ultimately led to their demise. Developmentally, I believe Jeffery Dahmer may or may not have had some issues. This relates back to the nature vs. nurture argument though. Was Dahmer born with a genetic predisposition to some of his disorders or was it something in the way he was raised? His brothers as far as I know hold no record to any such crimes, so what was it that made him into the person he became?
Links that I found that relate to Dahmer’s case are as follows:
1. http://abcnews.go.com/US/jeffrey-dahmer-hero-tracy-edwards-charged-homicide/story?id=14853608
2. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/antisocial-personality-disorder/DS00829
3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErB0R4wlB64
The first link shows a short clip at the top of the page of Dahmer’s victims’ family members letting Dahmer know what they felt toward him. Toward the end it showed the video of him apologizing for what he had done. As you scroll down through the page, it reveals that the text is talking about how Tracy Edwards, a man who was called a hero in 1991 for leading police to Jeffery Dahmer’s apartment where they found all of the bodies, was arrested for homicide. Tracy’s attorney stated one of the reasons why he may have committed the murder was because he was never able to fully recover from that night that Dahmer tried killing him.
The Second link summarizes what anti-social personality is and potential causes of it. Anti-social personality disorder can also be referred to as sociopathic personality disorder. It is a chronic mental illness that changes the way you think about things and perceive situations. Relating to others is considered abnormal and sometimes can even be destructive. People with this disorder have no concerns on if what they are doing is right or wrong and often find themselves in trouble legally.
The Third link is an interview with Jeffery Dahmer by Stone Phillips. In this interview, Dahmer doesn’t sound remorseful at all. He explains how he got started into killing; it started out with animals and from there became a compulsion. He never really tried to stop doing what he knew was wrong. He thought it was exciting (the killing) and said that he was just trying to find fulfillment and was just acting upon his fantasies. He felt like he was out of control and only a part of him was relieved to be arrested.