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Informative Speech 

What is the Recipe for a Serial Killer? 

 

Informative Speech 

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Alyssa Clark 

 

How many of you have made cookies before? I bet a lot of you, maybe chocolate chip, sugar, and snickerdoodle, perhaps? When you make cookies, you need a good mixture of wet and dry ingredients to make a delicious soft and chewy cookie. Without a good ratio of the wet and dry ingredients, the cookie will be dry and hard. A cookie recipe is very similar to when it comes to the “ingredients” to make a serial killer. In other words, the ingredients are the circumstances that lead a person to exhibit these credenze acts. You may be thinking, what are the situations that can make a person become a serial killer? According to Robert, “There is no single identifiable cause or factor that leads to the development of a serial killer. “Rather, there is a multitude of factors that contribute to their development” (Johnson and Becker 11). Now let's look at what this recipe calls for.  

 

The wet ingredients in making a serial killer are the type of childhood these serial killers had.” Most serial killers have a past of abuse and neglect within their childhood” (Goetz 12). Among all the scholars looked at during the research of this topic, all have one common idea in common: a person's childhood affects their mental and emotional development. “Which lead to the coping mechanism of the torturing of animals, fascination of death, extensive anger, and antisocial disorder” (Goetz 12). If a child is not exposed or taught, this will lead to antisocial tendencies. This leads to skills of interaction, negotiation, and compromise with their fellow kids not being developed. Some kids who never develop this skill are most likely to develop adequate coping mechanisms that result in violent behavior (Johnson and Becker 11). Serial killers don't make bad situations, and bad situations make serial killers. 

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The second key ingredient of making a perfect serial killer is the motivation behind these horrendous crimes. According to Simon, there are five universal motivations for a serial killer to commit these acts of terror; Visionary, Mission- Oriented, Hedonistic, and Power-Oriented. The most “common” motivations of serial killers have been identified as mission-oriented and power-oriented. Mission-oriented killings and when the serial killer feels as if they are doing a public service by killing certain people, prostitutes, homosexuals, people of different beliefs or religions. A power-oriented motive is when the killer uses force or extreme aggression to control the victims until their death. All these motives have in common are predatory, planned, and power.

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To recap, the recipe for a perfect cookie has a good ratio of wet ingredients to dry ingredients, and that is the same idea for the process of making a serial killer. There has to be a good mix of childhood trauma and motivation. Childhood trauma is the source of many issues in developing social skills and other necessary skills to help them later in life. Motivation is the driving force behind these serial killers and what makes them do these crazy, devilish acts. Serial Killers are not human. Serial killers are monsters on earth. Serial Killers are everywhere.   According to Ted Bundy, “We are serial killers, your sons, husbands, we are everywhere” (Simson 1). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annotated Bibliography 

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 Goetz, Aaron T. "The Evolutionary Psychology of Violence." Psicothema 22.1 (2010): 15-21. 

Accessed  on September 19, 2020 

This source opens my mind to the world of violence, how violence can change through a person's life, and how small acts of violence can lead to major acts of violence like murder, homicide, and serial killer. This article shows what events lead to what causes a  person to become violent and have aggression. 

 

Johnson MD, Bradley R, and Judith V. Becker Ph.D. “Natural Born Killers? The Development of the Sexually Sadistic Serial Killer. CiteSeerX, 25 Nov. 1997. Accessed on September 12, 

2020.

This source helps explore the idea of a person being born to kill due to their harsh raising or life situation. How a person can turn into a violent person, and how a person's past traumas can cause a complete change in character. It also provides information on how a child's childhood can affect the growth and development socially. 

 

 Mueller, III, Robert S. “Serial Murder.” Investigation of Serial Murder, FBI, 21 May 2010. 

Accessed on September 12, 2020. 

This source provides the psychology behind serial killers from the government's standpoint and how the government processes when coming across serial killers. How to classify a serial killer. This source gives information to the public about how types of killers are classified and what the government does to counteract these offenses. 


 

Ürmösné Simon, Gabriella. The Traits and the Thrill of Serial Killers. Internal Security 7.2 

(2015): 33-42. Accessed on September 12, 2020. 

This source provides information on how childhood trauma can cause later behavioral trait issues and dilemmas. This source also shows how childhood influences how a person develops and can make social skills and communicate.  

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