Do you agree that serial killers should be studied rather than executed?

Hi friend, at last, agreement, I actually wasn't expecting any agreement and welcome diverse opinions. I am strongly of the opinion that so much could have been gained from studying the mind of Ted Bundy more fully if they had delayed the execution to allow more time to probe. I think he would have been so inflated by his own importance that he should definitely have been studied further to give clues to what he would have perceived as his success.

Hi vandana, here we are familiar with serial killers in the West, but are they also on the rise in India too? And if so in what way are they dealt with their, studied or executed, or both? I agree totally that serial killers should be studied as specimens but I am more interested in studying them as in how their minds worked when committing their crimes, and afterwards, so patterns can be learnt from that. However it is useful to study their personal upbringing as you say, but I don't believe that it is an issue which can be corrected before the event with medications. Often they were loners in their early years with only superficial friendships and work hard to build a false impression of their pasts.

Sure, we too have serial killers out here in India. Indians have less patience with such issues. It is unlikely that such prisoners get any sympathy either from courts, or the jail keepers, and may even be looked down by other inmates as it indicates disturbance of mind rather than crime committed due to circumstances or greed. U said it cannot be corrected through medications. I hope it is not true. I believe there is a possibility of temporarily disturbing the pathway of emotions that leads to such thoughts, just like we take anaesthetics. If we can identify the presence of which genes triggers such throught process and which external circumstances are also required to start the process, we might be able to disturb the chain. At least I think it is possible. After all, even high blood pressure, mental shock, epilepsy etc., can be brough under control with medications. Some of them can even be traced to brain activity. May be we all are capable of violence to certain extent. It is just that the right set of external circumstances were not there in our lives. I am not sure we should classify loners to be inclined to do such things. We had Howard Hughes, who was a recluse, and to certain extent so was Elizabeth I. Some people do like their own company, including me. It may be more dangerous to identify them as such, as generally, serial killers are very intelligent, and they can easily blend in the society pretending to be of very mixing nature. I for one think it is prolonged rage that makes them plan and execute such murders to perfection.

Hi again vandana, lots of interesting points there. Firstly though I do not sympathise with serial killers at all and after the event I wouldn't see the point in trying to cure them as they've already done their damage and should never be released back into society. Also the loner trait, I didn't mean such a generalisation as loners become serial killers, I suppose I meant loner more in the way of lack of empathy towards others, they may have connections but never really connect with other people, if you know what I mean, there is something lacking, as in a socioptathic state. As you rightly point out though they are often intelligent people, they know exactly what they are doing, revel in it, and cover their tracks extremely well, and then go on to enjoy the notoriety after the event and relive their fantasies. They also like to be close to the investigation. I don't see how one could identify and cure before the event as they are plausible enough to maintain two personaes. I don't believe that there is a certain trait which could identify them first, unless someone came forward to offer themselves as an experiment by stating that they have urges which are getting out of control, perhaps a rapist who feels that he will HAVE to kill his next victim. I just don't see this scenario panning out though and really believe that the studying we concentrate on will have to be after the event as a way to understand what could possibly give them away in their actions and how often and in what circumstances they would return to the bodies.

Hi Cream, gosh this is an old one. I rather meant we should study them when they are captured rather than whilst they are out on the loose. But the ones which are incarcarated are excellent in spotting traits to help capture those still on the loose due to their similarity in so many traits. One is able to put themselves in the context of the other. It's really all a matter of ego if they can be used in this way but most do have enormous egos as believe that they are cleverer than the ones still uncaptured.

Hi mkrishna, I understand your point of view but would disagree with it. I agree that quick elimination should be used in some cases for killers but with clever serial killers who have eluded capture whilst rampaging I believe we really should put resources into studying them. If something is gleamed which will help to understand their patterns it may help the police to capture the next one with more ease and thus the money spent on the prison facilities would be balanced by the money perhaps saved if the next manhunt is curtailed earlier because of useful information.

Hi darkstormy I agree with you that serial killers are experts in deceiving but sometimes in interviews with those working on other crimes of a similar nature they can actually be quite incisive as share a similar type mentality to another killer. Their ego allows them to actually reveal things they haven't revealed as yet to prove they are both more cunning than the current killer and the people tracking him. If they are of use as a study, which I believe they are, it's not really in the what age did he get a knock on the head, but rather the unravelling of their ego which I think is the key. They can reveal ways in which a current or future killer is likely to act and it is for this reason mainly I say they should be studied. Most serial killers are kept in segregation whilse in prison but I do not advocate that we should care about them at all but that we use them. I particularly think that the execution of Bundy was too soon as he had more information about his own kills to give plus was useful in enquiries too.

Hi brigiette, I don't understand the first line of your response, do you mean there is too much to study generally or too many serial killers to study?

Hi babykeka, but keep in mind the circumstances of those two escapes, the security wasn't exactly tight. He was unguarded when he jumped from the court house window and the prison where he escaped through the warden's house was a bit of a joke. At that point he was using his charm so much he wasn't really taken seriously as a killer, with devastating results of course.