My journey thoughout the research of Jeffrey Dahmer has been very interesting. When I started my research I wondered, “Why Jeffrey Dahmer committed the murders?” and now I have answered that question and have shaped sub questions. After reading “The Case of Jeffrey Dahmer: Sexual Serial Homicide from a Neuropsychiatric Development Perspective” made me wonder, “What was his relationship like with his mother?” After reading the “Bio of Jeffrey Dahmer” made me wonder, “What kid of surgery did Dahmer have and how did it make him change?”

From reading all of the intriguing articles about Dahmer, I have answered my research question and my two sub questions. Dahmer had an extreme case of Asperger’s that was untreated. Doctors evaluated Dahmer and discovered that he had a majority of all of the psychological disorders on top of the Asperger’s disorder. Doctors claim that the disorders were the main cause of the murders. Dahmer’s childhood stress was another factor in the murders as well as the surgery Dahmer has as a child. Dahmer’s surgery he had on his brain was a turning point in his childhood, claims his farther. Dahmer’s attitude changed well as his appearance, his hair and the area around his eyes got darker. His father claims, “This strange and subtle inner darkening began to appear almost physically. His hair, which had once been so light, grew steadily darker, along with the deeper shading of his eyes. More than anything, he seemed to grow more inward, sitting quietly for long periods, hardly stirring, his face oddly motionless” (Scott 7) The surgery to fix the two hernias in Dahmer’s brain changed him as a person, this was another fault for leading up to the murders that Dahmer committed. The relationship Dahmer had with his mother wasn’t that strong, even beginning with his mother’s pregnancy. Dahmer’s mother Joyce had a difficult pregnancy, she would experience “At times, her legs would lock tightly in place, and her whole body would grow rigid and begin to tremble. Her jaw would jerk to the right and take on a similarly frightening rigidity. During these strange seizures, her eyes would bulge like a frightened animal, and she would begin to salivate, literally frothing at the mouth” (Scott 7). It seems like Joyce’s body was rejecting Dahmer before birth. Dahmer didn’t have a great relationship with his mother; she was an alcoholic during Dahmer’s childhood. Dahmer didn’t talk to his mother very much he was either at school or killing animals and gathering bones. Unlike his father, Dahmer and him had something in common they both like experimenting with chemicals. Dahmer and his mother had nothing in common besides an alcohol problem. I have successfully answered all of my research questions and no longer have any questions to answer thanks to all of the valuable sources.

The third source I chose was a psychological evaluation of Jeffrey Dahmer from three different doctors. Its titled “The case of Jeffrey Dahmer: Sexual Serial Homicide from a Neuropsychiatric Development Perspective”.  I chose this source because it goes along with my research question and I thought it would be interesting to hear the different views on Jeffrey Dahmer from three different doctors. The audience of this evaluation is other researchers and or people interested in Dahmer’s psychological issues. The purpose of this evaluation is to inform readers of Dahmer’s issues. The Doctors have ethos because they are experts in the field and there is three of them. This evaluation focuses on the Asperger’s disorder, which the doctors think Dahmer had.

This Psychological evaluation is mainly for other psychological experts and/or people interested in what Dahmer was diagnosed with. The psychological evaluation starts off by explaining how serial killings have become a great interest in the modern western society. They explain how Jeffrey Dahmer has become an icon for many serial killers. The doctors look into Dahmer’s case and notice, “he suffered from a high-functioning autistic psychopathology, namely Asperger’s disorder-” (Silva, Ferrari, Leong 1). The doctors go in depth explaining how Dahmer could have had many different psychological disorder. Then they give an in depth review of Jeffrey Dahmer’s case. The doctors go through and explain when they think Dahmer started to develop these psychological disorders and when the violent thoughts began. The doctors discuss how Dahmer had a case of Asperger’s disorder, which they insinuate that it started in his childhood. They list several examples of Dahmer having Asperger’s, and explains how this disorder took over his life. In the evaluation there is a Asperger’s Disorder Criteria chart, on the left side of the chart is listed the different categories of the disorder. The doctors compare Dahmer to all of the categories; Dahmer matched almost every one of them. The doctors branch off and explain how Asperger’s is related to all of Dahmer’s different behaviors and tendencies. The argument of this source was to prove that Dahmer was living with many different psychological disorders that were untreated. The doctors did a great job explaining the Asperger’s Disorder and how Dahmer had pretty much all of the signs of this Disorder.

I believe everything that these three doctors have said, they are experts on psychological disorders, and they know what they are talking about. There is not one thing I doubted about this source, this source sound legitimate in every way. The doctors cited over a hundred and forty sources to support their evaluation. This makes their psychological evaluation credible and reliable.

This source is exactly what I needed to support my research question; it answers my question to a point. I learned what disorders Dahmer was suffering from and how the doctors proved he had these disorders. I also learned that Dahmer was suffering from many different disorders starting in his childhood cause by his parents’ issues and stress. This source plays a huge role in my research; it answers a lot of questions I had about Dahmer and directly answers my research question. This source is very valuable to me and it will help me out with further research. From my knowledge there is nothing missing that I need to take into consideration. After reading this evaluation I want to look more in depth into the psychological disorders Dahmer may have had. This source is made me wonder how Dahmer’s parents didn’t realize that Dahmer had something wrong with him. Were they in denial?

Work Cited

Silva, J.; Ferrari, Michelle; Leong, Gregory. “The Case of Jeffrey Dahmer: Sexual Serial Homicide from a Neuropsychiatric Developmental Perspective.” Journal of Forensic Science Nov. 2002 Vol. 46 No. 6. Murderpedia.com. Web. 29 Oct. 2013

For my second source I chose an article called “Serial Killer: Nature vs. Nurture” from the American Academy of Experts in Stress. This article explains why Jeffrey Dahmer might have committed the murders. This is a great source for my research question because it has theories on Dahmer’s “childhood experiences” and “repeated psychological trauma”. In this article, the author describes what happened in Dahmer’s childhood and how Dahmer was a normal little boy until his father uprooted the family to move to Ohio for his Ph. D in chemistry. After the move Dahmer seemed to have changed, he was acting more shy and distant to his parents, and would collect dead animals off the side of the road. When Dahmer’s parents would get into fights, Dahmer would run into the woods and sit on a pile of corps that he had collected. Dahmer claimed that the dead carcasses comforted him, pleasured him and gave him an emotional release. Because of Dahmer’s homosexuality he felt rejected from his parents. Dahmer turned to other boys to comfort him but then he would kill them for pleasure. “Criminologists and social behavioral psychologists have come to argue that ‘‘childhood experiences’” and “‘repeated psychological trauma,’” during the early stages of growing up can cause a child to seek relief through activities of violence such as killing small animals.” Experts say this explains for Dahmer’s wrongful actions.

The one thing that makes me concerned is that there isn’t an author posted and the end of the article. I believe this source is reliable, because experts on stress wrote this it. This article is cited and the author or authors did a study on murders’ brains and compared them to normal peoples’ brains. All of the information sounds credible plus it is posted on the American Academy of Experts in Stress website.

This source answers my research question, why did Jeffrey Dahmer commit the murders? I learned that studies have shown Dahmer’s childhood and psychological trauma was the cause of the murders. Also that Dahmer was a normal boy until his father moved the whole family to Ohio. His parents’ annual fights and divorce was really hard for Dahmer to cope with. This is a valuable source because it has credible information that will answer my research question. It would have been nice if this article talked more in depth about Jeffrey Dahmer instead of just general serial killers. This source was helpful to my research and gave me great facts about Dahmer and his conditions. I am going to continue my research on why Dahmer committed the murders. I am going to look at some more primary sources like newspaper clippings and magazine articles from the time Dahmer’s case took place.

After reading many articles about Jeffrey Dahmer I have been questioning his childhood. What was his relationship like with his mother? Why did he run to dead bodies for comfort instead of talking to someone? If his parents had stayed together, would that have changed Dahmer’s motives? Many things come to mind when you read about a serial killer that cuts the carcasses up and eats it.

Work Cited

“Serial Killer: Nature vs. Nurture.” American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress. aagets.org. Web. 31 Oct. 2013

The primary source I chose is a newspaper article from The Capital Times dated Wednesday, Sept. 11, 1991 the title of this article is “Dahmer offers plea of insanity”. This newspaper article grabbed my attention for many different reasons. Learning from others sources, I found out that Jeffrey Dahmer had some mental illnesses and was out of the ordinary so when I found this source I was determined to read more.

In “Dahmer offers plea of insanity”, Lisa Hotewa writer for The Capital Times newspaper describes what would happen to Dahmer if he pleaded sane or insane. If Dahmer were found sane, he would serve in the Wisconsin state prison for each murder. Hotewa goes into detail on what would happen if Dahmer were insane. Dahmer would be places in a mental hospital and prove he is no longer insane. The District Attorney said he saw the insanity plea coming and that he would fight it. Hotewa lists all of the murders and where they took place, Dahmer killed seventeen men over a period of thirteen years. Most of the killings took place at Dahmer’s apartment in Milwaukee Wisconsin. This article was directed towards Wisconsin residents following the Jeffrey Dahmer case. This source is useful to Wisconsin residents at the time, because it provides information on what would happen to Dahmer if proven insane or sane and information on the killings.

This source is believable in many ways, it has specific dates, and Hotewa quotes the District Attorney E. Michael McCann and the Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Laurence C. Gram Jr. I doubted this source when Hotewa said Dahmer could be released from the mental hospital after one year of rehabilitation. Knowing Dahmer killed seventeen men; you would think the doctors would keep Dahmer for many years.

This source contributes to my research question by giving information on the consequences Dahmer would have to face if proven sane or insane. I learned where the murders took place and what the police found when they entered Dahmer’s apartment. I also learned what would happen to Dahmer if he had pleaded sane or insane. This source is valuable to me; this will help me support my research question and back up what I think about the insanity sentence. It would have been nice if Hotewa mentioned how the District Attorney would prove Dahmer sane, which would have been more helpful for my research. I want to look more into why Dahmer committed the murders. I want to find out if his parents divorce, mothers drug problem and his mental state had anything to do with the reason he committed the murders.

My research question is “Why did Jeffrey Dahmer commit the murders?” I am interested in the crimes that Jeffrey Dahmer committed because I am majoring in Criminal Justice and crimes interest me. This question is important because many other people around the country are asking the same question, and this research project will interest a lot of people. I do not have a clear understanding of Jeffrey Dahmer as of right now because I haven’t had the chance to look at documents in the archives.