My first main source is a psychological evaluation of Jeffrey Dahmer and I am beginning with this particular source so that I can get some insight to what Jeffrey was suffering from and possible determination whether he was fully sane during the time period when he killed his 17 victims. This source is definitely for someone who can understand psychology terminology and can keep an open mind as to why an individual, more specifically JD, commit the things they do, whether there is reasoning behind the act(s) or not. The evaluation is from a combination of three medical doctors. Their evaluation of JD ranges from his case history to possible neurobiological issues, such as Asperger’s Disorder, and the other many possible issues that Dahmer had or suffered from.
The evaluation is started out with the discussion of how serial killing has become a very popular topic in our society and how JD was an influence on other serial killers behaviors. The three doctors go in depth to the background history of JD and when the possible thoughts of killing and death began. It was concluded that JD suffered from an autistic developmental disorder, simply that a person suffers from social and communication difficulties and behaviors that are considered different and even repetitive compared to other individual’s behaviors, and also began to have a fascination with bones and the processing of them by way of chemicals. It was noted that when JD did have social interactions with fellow children or classmates, he would turn them into zombie-like individuals; he relished being able to have complete control over people. Throughout the evaluation it is heavily focused upon the fact of JD’s Asperger’s Disorder. The three doctors tie in how there is a connection between Asperger’s Disorder and sexual pathology, aggressive behavior, mood and personality psychopathology, and simply environmental factors as to gain insight as to why JD was an extreme case in this particular instance.
My response to this source was that JD was one case and that this is a rare type of individual. Now by rare, I simply mean an individual who suffers from a wide range of disorders and has the inability to have control over his urges of extreme unsocial norms (many of us have minor unsocial norms, we just normally control them or keep them hidden as to not gain attention). With this reading I tried to stay as neutral and unbiased as possible when building my response as to whether JD was truly sane or insane during this horrific killing spree that went unnoticed for such a long time. I do have difficulty accepting the fact that many people argued over whether he was sane or insane during the killing spree time period. A large majority of people believe that he was sane enough to understand what he was doing. I personally believe that there were separate times where he was sane and insane, I’m not concretely sure on when those times were, but with further research hope to narrow that down and have an answer.
This particular source really adds to my research, both in the beginning and later on, because it offers multiple views on JD and his full background history regarding disorders and possibly why he began this obsession with bones and chemical processing early on in life. I am always learning a new disorder that JD suffered from (it sometimes appears that he suffered from pretty much every disorder known to man). This source, to me, is incredibly valuable to my research. This source offers so much to me and my research question and really helps me to gain a full understanding of JD and his mind. There really isn’t much missing from this source, aside from a full timeline of what fully happened within the killing spree time period. From here, I will have an easier time with other sources and won’t have that vagueness that I began out with on this case. I fully look forward to my extended research into JD and his mind.
Works 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
I think that this is very interesting. It sounds to me like he was really insane. However, I agree with what you said, by I don’t know if it is insane or not because he had so many psychological disorders. I think that you should look more into those disorders and see if as a result he knew if it wrong by killing people. This source sounds like it was very useful and I think that it would be useful in your paper, I would use it if I were you!
I was able to follow your prose to the source you are beginning with easily. I like how your focus was mainly on one topic, which was figuring out what could have caused Dahmer’s horiffic actions and strange obsessions. The source you chose covered a lot of information on a psychologists perspective and learning the scientific approach to anything is very important. Simply because it is a great first step to approaching your research question and it will help you understand Dahmers behavior.
This seems like a very incredible and reliable source. It has a lot of information! I would say that this doesn’t need to just be a primary source and that your can surly fall back on if later on when you have done more research to help you better understand why JD did what he did and what was going through his mind. I have always loved psychology and find that there are many ties from disorder to disorder. I think that you should keep this source handy and reference it further down the road. Awesome job!
Wow I am really impressed by this source, I feel like it presented a lot of helpful information to you. I found it really interesting that he had Asperger’s and so many other behavioral issues that he couldn’t control that led him to do these killings. I however am unsure about referring to him as JD. Do other people refer to him as that or would it be better to refer to him as Jeffrey or Dahmer?
Thank you. The reason I referred to Jeffrey Dahmer as JD was because the three doctors continuously referred to him as that throughout their evaluation of him. In my paper though, I will most likely try to stay away from using JD, as it may become extemely redundant for readers. I will most likely go with either Jeffrey Dahmer.
This source sounds absolutely amazing! This definitely seems like a huge asset to not only your research question but about the topic as a whole. I think that since you’re researching a serial killer the hardest part about researching them is not knowing the reason behind the motive but this source really gives you an inside perspective. I think it’s really good that you are able to stay unbias while trying to discover the truth about whether he was sane or insane. This sounds like a very interesting approach to take on Dahmer.