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Why This Generation Will Have More Serial Killers Than Ever - YouTube
Channel: The Infographics Show
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There is no complete data that tells us which
era had the most active global serial killers.
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If we look at the USA alone, though, the 70s
and 80s did seem to have a lot of maniacs
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killing multiple people.
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It was in the 1970s when we first had serious
criminal profiling as we know it today, as
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you might have seen in the show âMindhunter.â
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Such profiling techniques were used to track
down the likes of the notoriously brutal Ted
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Bundy.
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Psychological profiling was not just used
to track down serial killers, but it is the
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modus operandi (mode of operating) of killers
that has made the most compelling tales.
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Are these profilers about to get very busy?
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Thatâs what weâll find out today, in this
episode of the Infographics Show, Why this
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generation might have more serial killers
than ever.
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Ok, so first letâs look more closely at
the question of if the 70s and 80s really
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had more serial killers?
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The BBC asked this, and indeed the conclusion
was yes, it is a fact.
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The Beeb interviewed a man who had been studying
serial killers for many years.
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He said serial killing started becoming more
common in the 1960s, then got even worse in
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the 70s and peaked in the 80s.
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We might recall the names of some of the worst
killers weâve ever heard about in the aforementioned
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Ted Bundy, and add to him the likes of John
Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer, William Bonin
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(the Freeway Killer) or over in the UK the
infamous Peter Sutcliffe (The Yorkshire Ripper).
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Why did all those killers emerge during those
decades?
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Criminologist James Alan Fox told the BBC
there were a few reasons.
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He said all violent crime, at least in the
U.S., was on the rise during that era mainly
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due to the fact people were moving around
a lot more.
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Folks often didnât know their neighbors,
and of course vulnerable people often hitchhiked
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in those days.
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âIt just created an environment which was
ideal for certain killers to prey on victims,â
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said the criminologist.
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Add to that that the police didnât yet have
large databases in which to track down killers
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and the use of DNA didnât start until the
80s.
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That meant killers could commit way more crimes
before they were caught.
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Another person interviewed on the matter said
there was more to it.
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You had public fascination with killers, and
this may have inspired more of them.
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Then in the book, âSons of Cain: A History
of Serial Killers,â itâs written that
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World War II had something to do with it.
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Some of the children of those soldiers lived
with fathers that had experienced the worst
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kind of savagery the world has ever seen,
and that, according to the book, may have
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had a profound effect on how a few of those
kids grew up.
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You had this trauma everywhere, and with it
came the breakdown of some families.
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But the book adds something else.
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We might see a rise of serial killers again
from this generation.
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Why is that?
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Well, itâs complicated.
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In the book we just talked about, the writer
says that recent times might create a generation
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that contains more serial killers than before.
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He writes that serial killers are âmonstrous,
misshapen reflections in a distorted mirror
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to human civilization.â
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These are kids that grew up watching terror
alerts on TV, kids that grew up looking at
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X-rated videos that show the aftermath of
such terror; kids that are not even shocked
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by bloody content they can easily see on the
Internet.
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While people born in the 70s and 80s and 90s
can see that, too, they didnât have it on
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their doorstep, so to speak, all their lives.
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Such content has become normalized.
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The same author is interviewed by Psychology
Today.
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In that interview he talks about the rise
of crime novels and pulp fiction in the 50s
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being some inspiration for serial killers.
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It might not have made them go out of the
door and start killing, but as Psychology
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Today writes, it probably created âpubescent
rehearsal fantasies.â
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Now, with crime fiction turning into real
crime that can be seen anytime on the Internet,
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the author believes, âWe may easily be facing
another viral pandemic of serial killing.â
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He believes this new wave will come when the
new generation grow up to the age most men
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start killing, usually late twenties or early
thirties.
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Some kids of today might turn ugly in the
early 2030s.
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Another crime expert said this in 2018, âWe
are raising a generation of killers because
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we're raising kids to kill since they are
really little.â
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What did he mean?
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In his book, âInside the Mind of a Killerâ
he writes that kids are exposed to violence
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from childhood, on the internet, but also
movies that involve some pretty insane torture
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scenes.
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He adds to that video games that have become
so realistic you might believe in the actions
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you are doing.
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He says if you take this fascination with
virtually slaughtering people and add to it
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a broken home, with perhaps school bullying,
and the availability of guns, you might be
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looking at more kids going on wild killing
rampages.
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He believes things such as school shootings
are only going to get much worse.
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But is there any hard evidence that very violent
video games actually make the players more
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violent or have violent fantasies?
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A 2014 study published in the Personality
and Social Psychology Bulletin did indeed
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say those playing violent games may become
more aggressive because of it.
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But this is still a hot potato of a topic,
and there is still no substantiated evidence
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that playing such games directly leads to
extreme violence.
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We may know more later.
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Nonetheless, if you look hard enough you can
find some crimes which could be said to have
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been partly inspired by games.
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You might look at the case of the young killer,
Devin Moore, who is currently on Death Row
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in the U.S.
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His lawyer said the game âGrand Theft Auto:
Vice Cityâ was partly responsible for the
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kidâs shooting spree.
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Moore even once said, âLife is a video game.
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Youâve gotta die sometime.â
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There are some other cases, but we may be
skeptical regarding if the games really were
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such a big influence behind the crimes.
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But itâs not just exposure to violence,
as weâve said itâs the era kids grow up
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in.
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If there is familial discord, there may be
more kids with problems when they reach adulthood.
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We might look at children born to families
that grew up with World War II and The Great
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Depression.
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Those kids when older were part of whatâs
called âThe Golden Ageâ of serial killers.
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Now we might look at families that grew up
with conflicts in the Middle East and the
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Financial collapse.
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If there have been difficulties and these
kids have also been exposed to violence, well,
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we guess thatâs why some people believe
we might again see a rise in serial killers.
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Before you get too worried, of course this
forecast may not happen.
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In fact, if you look at the database created
by Mike Aamodt, a professor at Radford University
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in Virginia, he says that there has no doubt
been a reduction in serial killers and the
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number of victims serial killers get away
with killing.
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He told The Guardian in 2018, âIâm careful
to say there has been a decline in the number
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of serial killers we can identify â there
could be thousands of serial killers that
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we donât know about and for some reason
weâre not identifying today as well as we
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did in the 70s, 80s and 90s.â
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He did add, though, that even if people wanted
to kill serially it would be much harder with
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improved law enforcement, omnipresent cameras
and the fact people have changed their habits
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and donât usually head out onto highways
hitching cars without anyone knowing about
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it.
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This of course doesnât mean there will be
fewer people with the urge to kill, just that
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it will be harder to get away with it.
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Perhaps weâll see more mass shootings, and
fewer people going on to kill again and again.
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The author of the book weâve discussed told
The New York Post that once these killers
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are caught we might well hear them tell this
kind of story, âWe were living as a family
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in a home and come 2008, my dad committed
suicide.
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My dad lost his job.
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He became a drug addict.
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He was an alcoholic.
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He was never the same.
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He lost his pride and I lost my dad.â
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Do you think thatâs going too far?
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Have things really been that bad that we are
going to see more killers in the future?
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Is exposure to violence on the Internet and
in games really such a big deal?
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As many of you are this young generation weâd
love to know your thoughts on this topic.
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Let us know in the comments.
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Also, be sure to check out our other video
Jack The Ripper - Why Was He Never Found..
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Thanks for watching, and as always, please
donât forget to like, share and subscribe.
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