SOCIETY MADE ME THAT WAY:
THE ROLE OF LEARNING IN EXPLAINING MURDER

    Why do murderers kill? This paper supports the idea that the learning process may affect the way that murderers think. Some researchers believe that murderers have an extra chromosome that makes them want to murder people. Other researchers believe that murderers kill because they like the attention. One good reason that a person might decide to kill is if they see someone else not get in trouble for it. Under such conditions, they will copy it.

    Murderers may kill because of the attention that they receive after murders happen. By the way people profile murders on television and in the newspapers, the attention only makes a murderer want to kill more. This thought can be said to be a learning process because the more negative action that the murder commits, the more he or she will be posted in the news.

    On the other hand, murderers can learn from other murderers on how to keep themselves from getting caught or even in trouble. Many murderers find gratification on killing people and then take the time in jail to write stories about it.

LITERATURE REVIEW

    Although all criminologists may share same theories of explaining why one may kill they use different procedures to get their outcomes. In the instance of learning, Schneider & Ervin came up with a theory called rational choice theory. According to the theory, the criminal promotes his or her career by maximizing the profits and minimizing the losses of crime. Within this frame of reference we can summarize the rationale of our model. The dynamic variables in this model are criminal behavior "resulting from profits and damage" and the attitude of youth resulting from the evaluation of profits and damage, combined with a growing sense of responsibility for the damage done to others. The static variables are age and social control (Van Dijkum 2000).

    "Charles Manson was an unusual, satanic spellbinder, giving enigmatic no answers and snarling at interviewer Diane Sawyer" Zoglin quotes in how the women in the Manson family were ordered to kill the people at the Tate-La Biancia murders. The women explained how they were able to kill with just a fork to please their master Manson (Zonlig, Richard 1994).

    In explaining all of the items that people would expect to find at a Jeffrey Dahmer yard sale. "No reputable auction house will go near the items, and a group of investors may offer $1 million in order to prevent the auction (Walls, Jeannette 1996). Jeffery Dahmer was still trying to pick-up men when the cops were closing in on him and his wrongdoing. Even 48 hours before Jeffery Dahmer was being arrested for the last time. Dahmer was offering a young man $100 just to have a conversation with him, not even worrying about the consequence (Mathews, T. 1992). Mathews, writes about how Jeffery Dahmer's lawyer tried to prove that her client was insane (Mathew, T. 1992). Crime and scandal may not pay for the people involved, but there are fortunes to me make on the sidelines. Somebody is always going to make money off of someone else (Grogan, David 1994).

    Jeffery Dahmer's mom thought that there might have been an abnormality that could explain his flesh-eating proclivities. The abnormalities were said to be to due his brain waves. Dahmer's father had a hard time trying to comprehend this idea because he thought that his son was just crazy (Koehi, Carla).

    Massimo Calabresi (1994) explains how killers get full coverage on Court TV, which they will make them semi-famous when they get out if not convicted. Like O.J. Simpson and the Menendez brothers, were getting full coverage and earning symphony from the population. Cliff Kincaid (1994) explains how Diane Sawyer of ABC and NBC News Dateline can take time to cover serial killers. All of this money that these broadcasting companies have, are going to interview killers because they were the rage of ratings during the time.

    "Charles Manson has earned some $600 in royalties from a line of caps, suffer pants and T-shirts adorning with his image"(Elmer-DeWitt 1994). "Examines the American cult of victim hood, which means never having to say you're sorry." It must be nice never to have to worry the consequences (Economist, 1994)

    Gliatto a reporter talks about how serial killers are making Court TV popular. Its like the population has to stop all that its doing to watch it when there is a new killer getting prosecuted (Gliatto, Tom 1994).

    Asking the question would the Menendez brothers get life or the lethal injection for killing their parents. This would ultimately pave the way for other kills who may wish for their parents to be dead (Paplan, David 1996).

RESEARCH METHODS

Source: Capital Punishment 2000

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

    Murders usually kill for the gratification that they get.  And or knowing that they can get away with killing.  Therefore, the number of murders had been going up as you can see in the literature review.  The number of people on death row has also risen from the last ten years.  The way that all of these hypothesis come together, is that they all are learned from someone else.  In doing so the gratification is being learned by the murder by the media.  The media will have the murder on the television for days on end, depend on who and how they killed their victims.  Then you have the murders that feel they will get away with their actions by hearing or seeing court cases were the police have messed up some of the evidence and the murder got to go free.  Not saying that this happens a lot but it has happened enough that murders are willing to take that chase.

REFERENCES

van Dijkum, Cor; KLandsheer, Hans.  “Experimenting with a nonlinear dynamic model of juvenile criminal behavior.”  Simulation & Gaming 31 (2000): 479.

Zoglin, Richard.  “Manson family values.”  Time 143 (1994) 77.

Walls, Jeannette.  “The bidder end.”  Esquire 126 (1996) 17.

Mathews, T.; Springen, K.  “Secrets of a serial killer.”  Newsweek 119 (1992) 44.

Mathews, T.; Springen, K.  “He wanted to listen to my heart.”  Newsweek 119 (1992) 31.

Grogan, David; Wagner, Joyce.  “Cashing in.”  People 42 (1994) 26.

Koehl, Carla; Howard, Lucy.  “Brain waves.”  Newsweek 126 (1995) 8.

Calabresi, Massimo.  “Swaying the home jury.”  Time 143 (1994) 56.

Kincaid, Cliff.  “Glorifying killers now the TV rage.”  Human Events 50 (1994) 21.

Elmer-Dewitt, Philip; Farley, Christopher Joh.  “Serial chic.”  Time 143 (1994) 23.

      .  “Sufferers all.”  Economist 330 (1994) 15.

Gliatto, Tom; Carswell, Sue.  “Change of venue.”  People 41 (1994) 54.

Kaplan, David A.; Foote, Donna.  “The Menendes brothers run out of excuses.” Newsweek 127 (1996) 64.

Comments: It looks like the initial makings of a literature review. I've added a few things needed in capital letters inside parentheses, and you might note the way I restructured some of your sentences that began with your use of the word "Explains".  I understand you were doing research and this is how research notes look when you make them.  You'll eventually have to rewrite this section, but its gradable as is.  I hope you kept the citations for the references.  You can send them to me now or later.

Other comments: I would keep your original title, and use it as a subtitle, as I did here.  You'll also note my editing where I substituted the word "murderer" for where you used "murder".  This is a fairly easy topic that you've picked.  I don't foresee many problems finding sources for it, or in writing about it. I'd suggest watching your language a bit, as your last sentence where you use the phrase "get off" probably isn't the kind of language that should be in a scholarly paper.

Keep working.
On 05/02/02, I added your updates.