Psychosocial Factors, The Mind Of A Predator, And Popular Culture Narratives Of Targeted Individuals

“In understanding any behavior or mental process, it is best to take a multifaceted approach.” What do we know about the mind of the predator? What do we know about the mind of the victim? What do we know about how other people, society, and institutions have influenced the predator’s psychology? What do we know about how other people, society, and institutions perceive the victims? For the Targeted Individuals, what do we know about how other people, society, and institutions feel about us? Do they regard us as a victim or as “the problem”? Usually the proper answer will involve a multifaceted and dynamic truth telling for each targeted individual story.

“In psychology, we endeavor to ask why someone is who and what they are. That is an exceedingly difficult puzzle to solve, and no one has yet created a comprehensive model that would fully predict good behavior or bad behavior, including murder … I cannot stress enough that it is statistically unlikely that someone who experienced any one of these factors, or even all of these factors, will become a serial killer. (1)

I want to clarify, serial killers belong to the paranoid schizoid personality constellation. It is the psychoanalytic theory uncovered by Melanie Klein in her research with children of war. It is this personality constellation that is at the core of many mental health issues including serial rape and anorexia. That is to say, its root of sadistic attacks against the other is rooted in the theory on matricide, an infantile response that involves sadistic attacks against the original maternal object. It is for this reason researchers have made associations with criminality, mental illness, and other adverse outcomes with the early adverse childhood experiences with traumatic violence. But suffering from traumatic violence doesn’t mean you will become a serial killer, a drug user, a rapist, a thief, compulsive pathological liar, an anorexic, or a mass murderer. Comprehensive research models fail to explain why some people who grow up experiencing childhood traumatic violence are resilient and survive into adulthood unscathed.

I am basing the information contained herein regarding male serial killers and female serial killers and making a correlation with similar patterns of compulsive, pathological, and repetitive, sadistic behavior in the predators who target subjects claiming to be Targeted Individuals.

It is important to note that callous, cruelty, aggressive violence, targeting weaker, vulnerable, dependent individuals, and manipulation are character traits highly correlated with psychopaths and most often seen statistically common in female serial killers and a small percentage of some male serial killers. Since the phenomenology and narrative of the Targeted Individual’s experience stated in a research study indicates the targeted individual is considered “mentally ill” by family and relatives, shouldn’t this be cause for alarm for the vulnerable group of mentally ill people?(2)

When you consider the term traumagenic which is described as an adjective describing an event or situation that has the potential to generate a trauma response in the body, brains, beliefs, behaviors in individuals and collectives; have not the history of those labeled “mentally ill” been the targets of harassment and lethal violence? Violence rooted in fear.

If we consider the criminal profile, that is the statistical forensic psychological makeup, for female serial killers:

• She’s probably white
• Married at least once or multiple times
• She’s probably in her 20s or 30s
• She’s probably middle class
• She’s probably of Christian faith
• Average or above average in intelligence
• Average or above average in attractiveness
• Employed legally, most likely in health care or a related field
• They have a history of abuse
• At least one of their murders will occur in a suburban area

Female serial killers tend to be motivated by financial gain. Whereas male serial killers tend to be motivated by sexual gain. Women psychopaths prefer passive-aggressive methods of attack, mostly poisoning. Whereas men prefer asphyxiation, a direct attack. Women are far more likely to target people they know. Men are more likely to attack random strangers. Female serial killers are more than twice as likely to have killed a spouse or partner. Female serial killers tend to target the weak, the ill, the vulnerable, and children. Female serial killers tend to have some college or have completed a college education. Male serial killers are likely to have a high school education. Where female serial killers tend to be married, male serial killers tend to be single at the time of their first attack.

Could this criminal profile suggest the existence of a medical conspiracy in the targeted individual experience. Not that they are “mentally ill” but rather experiencing gaslighting games because they are perceived as a pariah within the community they live?

Sources:

(1) Marissa A. Harrison. (2023) “Just As Deadly: The Psychology of Female Serial Killers. Cambridge University Press. New York, NY.

(2) Lorraine Sheridan, David V. James, and Jayden Roth. “The Phenomenology of Group-Stalking (‘Gang Stalking’): A Content Analysis of Subjective Experiences.” International Journal of Environmental Research Public Health. April 2020 17(7).