Difference between murderers and serial killers?

Question

I'm writing a psychology paper on serial killers and I was wondering if anyone knows the difference or knows a site that has the difference between serial killers and just plain murderers.
Thanks.

Answer 1

Murders have an obvious motive an 99% of the time they know their victim. Their motive is usually lust, greed, envy, revenge, love, you get the picture. Serial killers are fighting against something or someone that has never met the victims. Their childhood for example. Serial killers leave signitures, murderers do not. Serial killers desire for killing is not fulfilled until they have satisfied themselves, they are rarely remorseful. Murderers are,a nd usually have actyed out of cintrol whereas serial killers are very controlled. Hope this helps, good luck!!

Answer 2

There is a difference and its not subtle. Murder is an act of passion i.e. rage, jealousy, love, fear, all the psychological points on the compass. Serial is an imbalance on someones perception of the world, or a lack of the controlling ID. Murder is a one time thing that has a deep and crushing guilt on the perpetrator after the commission of the crime followed by confusion and denial. Serials think they have the world at their command. Often feeling like GOD or having some control over another.
Good luck on your paper.
One more thing about serials, During childhood I belive they had a tendency to harm animals, pee the bed, and had a controlling factor in their lives (i.e. mother/father)
Hope this helps

Answer 3

The idea that serial killers only victimize people with common attributes is a common misconception. Victims, while they may be unknown to the serial killer, can be very random. There were several serial killers (like Ted Bundy) do choose victims with commonalities. There is a requirement that the offense itself (not the victims )include commonalities, such as mode of killing.
However, to qualify as a serial killer, usually someone has to murder at least 3 people, individually and separately. (Mass murders may kill 3 people all at once).

Here's the FBI's definition:

What is a serial killer? Retired Special Agent Robert Ressler, a twenty-two year veteran of the FBI’s Behavioral Sciences Unit in Quantico, Virginia, is responsible for creating the term “serial killer.” He defines this person as “one who commits a series of murders, usually three or more, the victims most often being strangers, and usually with a cooling-off period in between each kill” (Kelleher & Kelleher, 1998; Pearson, 1998; Ressler and Shactman, 1997). The FBI derived its current definition for serial killing from legislation that describes serial killing “as a series of three or more killings, having common characteristics such as to suggest the reasonable possibility that the crimes were committed by the same offender or offenders.” The FBI’s definition of serial killing makes no reference to underlying motivation, behavior, and psychological characteristics. The agency kept the definition intentionally broad to encompass the full array of serial killers. People often use serial murder, serial homicide, serial killing, multiple murder, mass murder, and sexual homicide interchangeably. This precise definition is necessary to distinguish this type of predator from the mass murderer (who kills many simultaneously), mercenaries, war criminals, or mafia hit men.

Answer 4

My guess would be that all Serial Killers are murders, but not all murderers are Serial Killers! That is the best description that a Public Education will get you!

Answer 5

A serial killer is a type of murderer. Murder is purposefully taking a person's life. Serial killers have a pattern or ritual that they perform when killing, and they do it for pleasure, not for any type of financial gain or other means to a certain end.

Answer 6

A serial killer is a specific type of Murderer, who kills two or more persons with a significant cooling off period between crimes.

Answer 7

Check out www.wikipedia.org. It's a free online encyclopedia. I looked up, "serial killer" and there is a lot f information posted. I also checked, "murderer" and "murder" came up in the search.

There should be plenty of information here to write a paper. If not, at least it's a good start.

Hope you get an A!

Answer 8

i think that the difference between serial killers and murders is that serial killers have an specific type of ppl they are going to kill or they or already killed and murders just kill ppl in no particular order.

Answer 9

Murderers generally kill once. Serial killers kill repeatedly, and often the same type of people (i.e., all blondes, or all are a certain religion, etc.) In either case, God help them, whoever they are.

Answer 10

The difference is a serial killer leaves signature marks.A murderer is someone who kills but does not leave a signature mark.