Winterwolf

I'm a first year psych student, too. Some of this stuff might look pretty daunting at first, but I hope as we get more into it our understanding of the more complex concepts and ideologies will come easier. I wish you the best of luck. I think what this means is that if we stop learning we stagnate, thereby losing hope. Also, learning can take us to unknown realms, places we would not otherwise encounter, thereby breeding hope and optimism where before there may have been none.

Due to the brutality of their early existence (ie the formative years), could brain injury result and emotional development be derailed to such a degree as to manifest as serial killer mentality? 42 serial killers were studied and these were the conclusions drawn --- Serial killer mentality has been linked to early traumatic factors, which include: lower socioeconomic status; broken home; parental brutality and emotional abuse; neglect; humiliation; or alcoholism. They are usually white males (with rare exceptions) with pronounced feelings of inferiority about their sexual prowess. This produces extreme amounts of ragefulness and aggressivity, which leads them to be mentally disordered to the point of being psychopathic sexual sadists. MH Stone, Psychiatry Journal, 1994 By the way, Charles Manson is classified as a mass murderer, not a serial killer. There is a fine distinction between the two. Mass murderers, as in the case of Charles Manson who orchestrated the deaths of 8 people all in one night, kill many people all at once. Serial killers, as in the case of Dennis Rayder (aka BTK), usually kill several people, sometimes one or more at a time, oftentimes over a period of many years.

I am a first year psych student with an ultimate goal of a masters degree in forensic psychology. This site gave me a detailed and comprehensive look at degree paths and career paths for my specific major. Thank you for sharing it. Anytime I tell someone my major and educational goal, they nod and say something like, "Oh, like CSI." Like that's all there is. Thank you for helping me disabuse them of this notion.