Jeffrey Dahmer was a necrophiliac, a cannibal, and a murderer; but what exactly makes him and all the other killers out there different from everyone else? One of the biggest things about Dahmer that made him not only capable of horrific acts, but also able to get away with them for so long, was that he was textbook psychopath. This is exemplified when he was on trial for sexual exploitation of a child and second-degree sexual assault of a 13 year-old boy in 1989, and he was facing at least a five year prison sentence. Even though three psychologists concluded he was manipulative, resistant, and evasive, he was able to get off with simply five years on probation. He blamed his problems on alcohol, claimed that, "if anything would shock me out of my past behavior problems, it's this," and promised that he would turn his life around if he was able to continue working. The judge fell for his convincing performance as a remorseful human being, unaware that granting Dahmer freedom would inevitably cost 12 more men their lives. Psychopaths are usually very convincing liars and are incredibly charming, which explains how he could win over judges and also lure victims into his apartment where he would kill them.
In addition to being psychotic, Dahmer had an insatiable need for control. Probably caused by his parent's divorce and lack of self esteem, he could not tolerate abandonment or rejection, and it was that problem that began his life of killing in the first place. Along with leading him to kill, this desire for control was the root of his necrophiliac and cannibalistic tendencies as well. In his homosexual relationships, he only wanted to pleasure himself, and he found that the easiest way to ensure that was if his partner was dead. He would even create shrines using the "trophies" he would salvage from his victims because he believed they would emit special energies that would aid him in areas of life that he felt he had little control over, such as his social life and his finances.
Unlike most serial killers, Dahmer did not come from an abusive or broken home. In fact, he came from the exact opposite. His parents were loving, and despite their divorce when he was 18, they provided him with as good of a childhood as they could. However, once he became isolated and insecure after the surgery he had at age six, not even his parents could reach him anymore. As he grew older, his antisocial behavior became worse and worse until it seemed as if he did not care about anything at all. Inside his head, Dahmer was being overwhelmed by unimaginable, sexual fantasies. It was his inability to talk to anyone about the unsettling things inside his head that permanently severed himself from the world around him.
All in all, Jeffrey Dahmer was a victim of his own fantasies, and his self-imposed isolation prevented anyone from being able to save him from them. His need for control drove him to kill and experiment with the bodies of his victims, post-mortem. He projected his own insecurities and self-loathing onto his victims and punished them in order to punish himself.
In addition to being psychotic, Dahmer had an insatiable need for control. Probably caused by his parent's divorce and lack of self esteem, he could not tolerate abandonment or rejection, and it was that problem that began his life of killing in the first place. Along with leading him to kill, this desire for control was the root of his necrophiliac and cannibalistic tendencies as well. In his homosexual relationships, he only wanted to pleasure himself, and he found that the easiest way to ensure that was if his partner was dead. He would even create shrines using the "trophies" he would salvage from his victims because he believed they would emit special energies that would aid him in areas of life that he felt he had little control over, such as his social life and his finances.
Unlike most serial killers, Dahmer did not come from an abusive or broken home. In fact, he came from the exact opposite. His parents were loving, and despite their divorce when he was 18, they provided him with as good of a childhood as they could. However, once he became isolated and insecure after the surgery he had at age six, not even his parents could reach him anymore. As he grew older, his antisocial behavior became worse and worse until it seemed as if he did not care about anything at all. Inside his head, Dahmer was being overwhelmed by unimaginable, sexual fantasies. It was his inability to talk to anyone about the unsettling things inside his head that permanently severed himself from the world around him.
All in all, Jeffrey Dahmer was a victim of his own fantasies, and his self-imposed isolation prevented anyone from being able to save him from them. His need for control drove him to kill and experiment with the bodies of his victims, post-mortem. He projected his own insecurities and self-loathing onto his victims and punished them in order to punish himself.
Jeffery Dahmer interview: why he did what he did
"Jeffrey Dahmer." Crime Library on TruTV.com. TruTV.com, n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2012.