Serial Killer

Being a serial killer is sometimes motivated by how a child was groomed and the problems in their childhood development. Hickey's trauma control model explains how early childhood trauma can set the child up for behaving in a deviant manner way towards adulthood. It's clear that what surrounds a child in the environment is the dominant factor in whether or not the child's behavior escalates into homicidal activity. The serial killer is no different than any other individual who is instigated to seek approval from parents, sexual partners, or others. This need for approval is what influences children to attempt to develop social relationships with their family and peers, but if they are rejected or neglected, they are unable to do so. This results in the lowering of their self-esteem and helps develop their fantasy world in which they are in control. Almost all of the serial killers in the study had experienced some sort of environmental problems during their childhood, such as a broken home caused by divorce, or a lack of discipline in the home. It was common for the serial killers to come from a family that had experienced divorce, separation, or the lack of a parent (Seaman and Wilson 1990).

Below it is a case study of taxi driver who committed a series of murder in Johannesburg South Africa. The case study will give clear distinctive of what is a serial killer.