Serial Killers

Serial killers are described as,'" ...someone who has murdered at least three people, over a period of more than a month, with at least some 'cooling-off” time between each murder."' The article goes on to say that," ...serial killers have existed throughout history. In ancient and medieval times—long before the concept of a “serial killer” entered popular parlance—such murders were often thought to be the work of monsters, werewolves, or witches; when they were caught, many serial killers of the time were accused of (or even confessed to) committing the murders for "supernatural" purposes." 

Serial Killers also tend to be anti-social. The article describes a serial killer's personality as people who act," ...abnormal psychological processes—notably severe antisocial tendencies—...". I feel like this kind of puts a target on people who are usually quiet or more reserved. We see this when kids who are quieter and to themselves get called "school shooters" when they're not really doing much. Something that caught my attention in the article is the patterns that differentiate a serial killer from a mass murderer. I usually associated serial killers and mass murderers with the same thing. The article explains this difference when it says," Serial killers and mass murderers both commit multiple homicides. However, serial killers typically commit the murders over an extended period and allow time to elapse between each. Mass murderers, by contrast, commit all their murders in a brief, one-time event. A school shooter, for instance, is considered a mass murderer rather than a serial killer". I feel like understanding how to identify serial killers is very important but I also believe there should be a line drawn when it comes to serial killers. It shouldn't get to the point where every damn series on Netflix is about serial killers. This fascination people have with serial killers is strange. We should know what they are and learn about them in a different way and not just through shows and constant documentaries about the same serial killer.