Autistic Serial Killers?
By:
Robert Moran[/size]
Autistics are the perfect serial killers. At least that is what J. Arturo Silva and several colleagues have stated in a series of papers on the psychopathology of autism, written for the Journal of Forensic Science and the Journal of Forensic Psychiatry.
Silva states that
Jeffrey Dahmer and
Ted Kaczynski may have had Asperger's. In Silva's report he states that Dahmer and Kaczynski both seemed aloof when dealing with other people. One of the characteristics of Asperger's is that we often forget that other people have feelings, and it is true that serial killers don't put much importance on the feelings of their victims. How could they when they are usually dismembering their victims or dispatching them in an even more emotionally remote fashion: mail bombs?
[Uh... maybe they were sociopaths? Does that maybe make more sense for serial killing terrorsits and canibals? ]
While most autistics forget about other people's feelings, there are often times that we remember.
Silva states that most serial killers often have repetitive behaviors, a characteristic of Asperger's, especially in the ritualistic manner that they kill.
[So do people with OCD and so do people with several other psycal conditions. Why presume Asperger's?]
The pathology of autism is the one thing all pathological disorders have in common.
[What?? That makes no sense whatsoever!] We are often unable to empathize with others. I, for one, am no exception.
I can think of various examples where this has happened, perhaps too many to count.
Psychopaths, because of their delusional states, are often never cognizant of the feelings of the people around them, yet autistics can learn to recognize that others do have feelings through behavioral training and because we do not suffer from delusional behavior.
We're not crazy. We just lack common sense.
[???? How ****** up is this guy???]
While Silva's claim may be plausible, it is also possible
[ try "certain"...] that serial killers may have some other psychopathological disorder. Autism is referred to as a pathological disorder. It is often called autistic psychopathy. It shares several characteristics with schizophrenia including obtuse, ritualistic behavior. But while other pathological disorders also can create delusional states, autistics do not suffer from them.
While most psychopaths, a word which is derived from the word psychopathology, are dangerous criminals, autistics for the most part are the victims of crime.
Without knowledge about the nature of autism, reports such as Silva's can be. Such misunderstanding may unfairly cast a dark shadow over the autistic community.
Still,
there is a link between Asperger's and crime, as some recent court cases have shown. But while those cases did not involve psychopathic behavior, the link is still evident
These cases, though sensational, can be dangerous and useful at the same time by creating fear in people who have not encountered someone with Asperger's, but also by creating awareness about the disorder.
