A Perfect Storm: Mapping the Life Course Trajectories of Serial Killers

Since the 1970s, scholars have produced a large body of research attempting to establish the mechanisms by which serial killers come to arrive at a life of repeat fatal violence. Traits such as psychopathy, biomarkers such as abnormal dopamine concentrations, and other developmental correlates such as early family environment have all been offered as proximal explanations for the motivations, psychopathology, and etiology of serial homicide. Unfortunately, however, from the standpoint of developmental psychology, these insights are far too limited in scope. Human thought, functioning, and behaviour are the product of complex reciprocal transactions that occur between the individual and their environment throughout their lifespan. Processes that serve to shape human development include neural plasticity, modifiability, resilience and adaptation, among others. Yet, these vital processes are never discussed in the developmental literature on serial homicide. Additionally, research in this area tends to lack the ‘voice of the killer.’ Instead of as active participants, offenders are viewed as objects of research and as passive participants in their own life experiences. Again, this is problematic from the standpoint of developmental psychology. Every person’s actions are formed by years of contextual experience which reinforce dominant patterns of thinking which eventually come to dominate behaviour. Thus, in order to develop a comprehensive understanding of human psychopathology, behaviour, and development one must also endeavor to understand how patterns of thought and/or behaviour were shaped, expressed, and reinforced throughout one’s lifespan. Embracing a developmental model that is complex, and dynamic, and that honors the multisystem aspects of human development is necessary should we hope to understand the motivations, psychopathology, and etiology of serial homicide. Using lifespan developmental psychology as a guiding framework, this paper traces the developmental mechanisms that come together to shape the lives and criminal trajectories of serial killers.Ph.D