Jeffrey Dahmer: Difference between revisions

'''{{Quote|I don't care if I live or die. Go ahead and kill me...|Jeffrey Dahmer's last words}}'''

'''Jeffery Dahmer''' (May 21, 1960 - November 28, 1994) also known as the '''Milwaukee Cannibal''', was an American [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_killer serial killer] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_offender sex offender], who committed the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape rape], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder murder] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dismemberment dismemberment] of 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991, with many of his later murders also involving [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necrophilia necrophilia], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannibalism cannibalism] and the permanent preservation of body parts—typically all or part of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeleton skeletal structure].

<p style="text-align: justify;">In 1982, Dahmer moved in with his grandmother in West Allis, where he lived for six years. During this time, his behavior grew increasingly strange. His grandmother once found a fully dressed male mannequin in his closet; Dahmer had stolen it from a store. On another occasion, she found a .357 Magnum under his bed. Terrible smells came from the basement; Dahmer told his father that he had brought home a dead squirrel and dissolved it with chemicals. He was arrested twice for indecent exposure, in 1982 and 1986; in his second offense, he masturbated in front of two boys.</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">In summer 1988, Dahmer's grandmother asked him to move out because of his late nights, his strange behavior, and the foul smells from the basement. He then found an apartment on Milwaukee's West side, closer to his job at the Ambrosia Chocolate Factory.</p>

==Pathology and Mental Health==

Prior to his 1992 trial, Dahmer underwent multiple psychiatric examinations and although the experts' conclusions were not always in agreement - one thing was clear: Dahmer was afflicted with complicated, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comorbidity comorbid] psychopathologies. Dahmer displayed a tendency to experience recurrent depressive affect, worthlessness, low self-esteem, suicidal ideation and a strong fear of abandonment. Three psychologists who evaluated Dahmer after his 1988 arrest for molestation described him as being uncooperative, angry, resistant to change, evasive, manipulative, emotionally unstable, and lacking insight; each of these traits is commonly associated with borderline personality disorder. Despite thore experts' disagreements upon whether Dahmer was sane or insane, they all essentially agreed that Dahmer suffered from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_depressive_disorder major depressive disorder], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generalized_anxiety_disorder generalized anxiety disorder], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substance_use_disorder substance use disorder], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraphilia sexual paraphilias], and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borderline_personality_disorder borderline personality disorder].

Dahmer was repeatedly diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, which is defined by the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diagnostic_and_Statistical_Manual_of_Mental_Disorders DSM-IV-TR] as "A pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity that begins by early adulthood and is present in a variety of contexts." Following his 1991 arrest, Dahmer completed the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Multiphasic_Personality_Inventory Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory] (MMPI); the results of which indicated that he was sane, was conscious of the difference between right and wrong, capable of dissimulation, and generally maladjusted. The MMPI revealed Dahmer as alienated from both others and from himself, as strongly depressive and hopelessly oriented toward the world and other humans, and filled with specific paranoid fears of others' hostility. Dahmer's MMPI scores suggest that these characteristics conclusively demonstrated that he was a deeply troubled man who was unable to control his impulses.

The forensics team that examined Dahmer's apartment and possessions following his arrest and who conducted the autopsies upon the remains of his victims he had opted to preserve or otherwise store as opposed to destroy or discard, concluded that the murders were rooted in an unconscious hatred of his victims and were the result of Dahmer's "ambivalent homosexuality." All agreed that he suffered from borderline personality disorder.

Dahmer had a long history of substance abuse and dependence. By his early teens, Dahmer was considered a loner who was known to drink heavily and was prone to act the fool in order to attract attention. This alcohol abuse increased throughout his years at Revere High School, and occurred during the time his parents' marriage had begun to deteriorate. The separation was also difficult for Dahmer as he witnessed fierce arguments between his parents over who would achieve custody of his younger brother, David. Although he was by then in his mid-teens, his parents did not vocalize concerns over his own living arrangements.

In addition to alcohol, Dahmer was also a heavy user of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marijuana marijuana] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphetamine amphetamines]. He was also an occasional user of both [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocaine cocaine] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzodiazepine benzodiazepine]—a minor tranquilizer Dahmer is also known to have used to sedate his victims. (Dahmer had a preference for either [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triazolam triazolam] (Halcion) or [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temazepam temazepam] (Restoril).

Dahmer readily admitted to having engaged in a number of paraphilic behaviors, including necrophilia, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exhibitionism exhibitionism], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebephilia hebephilia], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_fetishism fetishism], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agalmatophilia pygmalionism], and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lust_murder erotophonophilia]. He is also known to have several [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partialism partialisms], including anthropophagy (also known as [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannibalism cannibalism]). One particular focus of Dahmer's partialism was the victim's chest area. By his own admission, what caught his attention to Steven Hicks hitchhiking in 1978 was the fact the youth was bare-chested; he also conceded it was possible that his viewing the exposed chest of Steven Tuomi in 1987 while in a drunken stupor may have led him to unsuccessfully attempt to tear Tuomi's heart from his chest. Moreover, almost all the murders Dahmer committed from 1990 onwards involved a ritual of posing the victims' bodies in suggestive positions—many pictures taken prior to dismemberment depict the victims' bodies with the chest thrust outwards.