The serial killer look

Ok, I was discussing this a lot with my water friends at university. You browse photos of serial killers and they all look seriously derranged. But is it their look or our projection about them? Once we find out what they did, maybe in our mind their face gets distorted because we want to assign a face for deviant behavior, trying to make sense of it.

So my question is this..is there a look/vibe they share in common or is it our projection about their character?

Posted by Damnata
Ok, I was discussing this a lot with my water friends at university. You browse photos of serial killers and they all look seriously derranged. But is it their look or our projection about them? Once we find out what they did, maybe in our mind their face gets distorted because we want to assign a face for deviant behavior, trying to make sense of it.

So my question is this..is there a look/vibe they share in common or is it our projection about their character?

well ted bundy was known for his charm and handsome good looks.. in fact that's how he lured the majority of his victims. also there's another serial killer that actually WON a dating game show. forget his name at the moment.. but surely he didn't win because he gave off serial killer vibes and looked like one.

if anything i think what serial killers share is deception. so with that said, oftentimes they're not going to look heinous or scary... charming and even above average maybe.

Rodney Alcala is the dating show serial killer. However, once he won the chick who picked him out of all the bachelor refused to go on the actual date with him because he seemed creepy.

Bundy looks creepy as fuck to me, I don't see the charisma.

http://www.malevole.com/mv/misc/killerquiz/

I'd say not. Considering early on in crime research, there was a thing called phrenology which looked at the physical characters of criminals...and phrenology was disproven to be valid, at least in the way it was set up back then. After biological theories came behaviorist theories which were more advanced. It was the first time people were starting to look at the underlying causes of crime rather than the physical. So, I'd say all the physical theories are more primitive and ancient compared to modern theory.

Posted by Damnata
Rodney Alcala is the dating show serial killer. However, once he won the chick who picked him out of all the bachelor refused to go on the actual date with him because he seemed creepy.

Bundy looks creepy as fuck to me, I don't see the charisma.

http://www.malevole.com/mv/misc/killerquiz/

oh right rodney alcala. but during the game show he was quite charming, which was why she picked him in the first place.

bundy was actually in politics so maybe if you met him and didn't know he was a serial killer, you might think otherwise. lots of psychopaths in politics...

could be that you've got preconceptions that are turning you off to their physical appearance. but the fact that they were able to SERIALLY kill, which means that they were able to continue committing these murders while still being members of society (that is of course until they were caught) means they were able to deceive people pretty darn well.

I think they look flat. Soulless. There's nothing behind their eyes.

Posted by Damnata
Rodney Alcala is the dating show serial killer. However, once he won the chick who picked him out of all the bachelor refused to go on the actual date with him because he seemed creepy.

Bundy looks creepy as fuck to me, I don't see the charisma.

http://www.malevole.com/mv/misc/killerquiz/

OMG, you too? He looks "off" to me. Maybe he wasn't that photogenic and looked more attractive in real life?

Not really for all.




Dahmer looks bored.



Manson looks insane, while never actually killing anyone.



And Ramirez looks angry

OMG Nem, I was thinking of Chikatilo as well...I don't think meeting this guy on the street would've brought forth anything more than repulsion.

Some of the women whom Bundy approached claimed they got away because they sensed something was seriously wrong with him. I was referring more to that vibe.

I don't believe Chikatilo at all. Bundy either. They are ego tripping and playing the guilt card to gather sympathy. I'm sure in their minds they were laughing at the victim's families.

I still don't know whether conscience acts the same way in their brain like it acts in a normal person's brain.

Bundy had the nerve to blame everything he did on pornography. A lot of psychiatrists actually believe they are telling the truth because they have nothing to lose at this point. I still think they take their deception and their mask to the grave. They derive pleasure from it.

Yes, I saw the whole trial with Bundy.

The thing that shocked me the most was some reactions from women in the jury - they were turned on by his looks and his eloquent speech. If he had run into them on the street, he wouldn't have thought twice before murdering them. It was really weird to me.

I watched a good Psychology documentary on this. It stated people need to assign evil physical characteristics because they need to believe these people look apart from the mainstream society.

Realizing they look exactly like us is tough on the psyche and it gets us paranoid so our mind chooses to isolate these individuals.

Con artists most of all prey on the modern man. We're easily swayed by immediate gain and eloquent speech..we're so out of touch with our instincts.

I read somewhere one in five people is a sociopath..but most don't act on it. There's a lot of them in the corporate world, their game is power.

I also go on vibe...but doing so is tricky. People get more worked up over the appearance.

Posted by LovesickCancer
What I don't understand is why inmates are allowed to communicate with the outside world with the pen pal programme.

Surely no sane person would communicate with these types of people, thus giving them validation, even praise for their behaviour.

Just look at all the love letters to Ian Watkins (lost prophets), SMH!!

What kind of inmates are you referring to? Just the ones who've committed heinous crimes? Most people aren't in prison for murder. What if you ended up in jail for something you thought wasn't a big deal or for a reason that had to do with your survival? For instance, what if you had a gun and a man approached you who you knew had a gun and you shot him? That doesn't count as self defense because he wasn't attacking you or even had his gun out while you shot him, but you did it for your own safety. So you wind up in prison and your family doesn't visit or only does so rarely. You think you wouldn't feel lonely? People are so quick to judge those in prison, but the facts are, the criminal justice system is faulty. Innocent people still get convicted. People who commit crimes they don't think are that bad have their lives ruined when put into prison. If you're talking strictly murderers, that could turn into a solid point. Maybe supermax prisons shouldn't allow mail. But to say no prisoners should have contact with the outside world is cruel since some everyone's situations are different.

Nell, let me ask you this, why do you support the death penalty? Is it so those who've murdered can be murdered by the government and therefore there would be justice?

The death penalty has many flaws. Not only do prisoners spend a long time on death row, but, the death penalty doesn't deter crime. Which means, executing people doesn't make other people decide not to commit crime. Therefore, the death penalty doesn't solve anything but lex talionis. There's even theories that state there's a brutality effect after people are executed. This theory states that people identify with the executioner, who is killing for justice, and therefore these people are more likely to commit murder, themselves.

I think instead of focusing on changing the policy for death penalty to be more swift and certain, we should all focus on the basic point for all of this - What will deter crime? Putting more people in prisons would actually increase the crime rate since it's a known fact that those who are put into prison are more likely to commit crime after they're released than people who haven't been in prison and don't commit crime in the first place. So, what will stop these people from committing crime? Not locking them up or executing them. Crime will continue outside and inside (gang and drug crimes) prison. We need to change our system completely. The united state's 'get tough on crime' and 'zero tolerance' attitude is not working.

Posted by LovesickCancer

But the pen-pal programme is specially for those that have committed heinous lengthy prison sentences

This statement is false.

A good reason for the pen pal program is that prisoners may need support for when they get out of prison. Some of them have been in prison for a while and they aren't up to date with the things that have happened since then. Also, have mental/emotional support is good too. People are more likely to commit crime when they have nothing holding them back, such as emotional attachment, support from friends and family, or a job. Considering that, the pen pal programs are more likely to keep recidivism rates down if the prisoner has support. If you treat them like humans, they can act like one. If you condemn them to being less than human then they don't really have a chance, do they?

Posted by LovesickCancer
I understand Scenic what you're saying but some people are beyond help, we're not discussing criminal behaviour we're talking about psychopathic serial killers with no remorse, who are less than human and never showed their victims humanity.

You can't say that all criminals are not the same then say that they all deserve a chance.

I am on and will always be on the side of the victims, they need a voice and I really don't give a damn about evil people being lonely or whatever, prison should be harsher, at least you're still alive, that's humanity.

Serial killers and murderers I don't have remorse for. But, since you brought up the pen pal program I was responding about prisoners in general since most people who are using those programs haven't murdered someone. Many people seem to have a completely negative opinion about prisoners and don't care what crime they did. I'm sure if these people had a loved one who got in trouble for something besides murder that they would still love them.

If it makes anyone feel better, the crime rates in the US ARE decreasing. I wouldn't say that's because of how our criminal justice system is run, but more because of changing social factors. The united states has very outdated policies and laws. They refuse to change them, though. The three strikes law has been PROVEN to be way more detrimental than helpful yet it's still in effect. Weed was made illegal because the US didn't like Mexicans. Now that weed is proven to have no harmful effects, it's only slowly becoming decriminalized. Anyway, I suppose my last paragraph has little to do with the subject at hand, but sometimes I can't help but talk about all the things wrong with the system.

Posted by LovesickCancer
I understand Scenic what you're saying but some people are beyond help, we're not discussing criminal behaviour we're talking about psychopathic serial killers with no remorse, who are less than human and never showed their victims humanity.

You can't say that all criminals are not the same then say that they all deserve a chance.

I am on and will always be on the side of the victims, they need a voice and I really don't give a damn about evil people being lonely or whatever, prison should be harsher, at least you're still alive, that's humanity.

While I understand how you feel, I find the idea of the prison in this article quite interesting, especially upon considering how counterproductive prisons are here in the US. The fact that we talk about not dropping the soap as a joke should be proof enough of just how counterproductive, but reports about people stealing things, making weapons out of stuff they can get a hold of and attacking people really hammer this home.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1384308/Norways-controversial-cushy-prison-experiment--catch-UK.html

I didn't read that article, but if it's talking about what I think it's talking about... the Norwegian inmates are sent off to live in a pretty nice place with some luxuries. There's a very low recidivism rate, I believe, because they only get one chance in that prison. If they mess up again they get sent to a different prison. I think it's a good idea. It has good results so why not try it elsewhere?

How you gonna post these sexually deprived lunatics on here and leave out Jim Jones? Its easy to shoot,stab, beat and kill people but charmin em to the point they commit suicide? Thats another story.