JEFFREY DAHMER
By: Amber Kelly
BACKGROUND
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Born in Milwaukee on May 21, 1960
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Grew up in a loving household of Lionel and Joyce Dahmer
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Minor surgery to correct double hernia at age 6 affected happiness
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Lacked self-confidence
As a Teen
He became disengaged, tense, and friendless.
His parents divorced when he was 14 years old.
He moved from Iowa to Ohio. His father remarried
in 1979.
1ST VICTIM
After graduation of June 1978, Dahmer picked up a hitch hiker named Steven Hicks and took him to
Dahmer’s parents’ house, where he lived. They drank beer and had sex. Hicks tried leaving until
Dahmer killed him and buried him in his parents backyard.
Around 1978…
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Dahmer acquired a drinking problem.
Dropped out of college due to drinking problem
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His father insisted he enlist in the Army
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Discharged from Army
An arrest in October of 1981 for disorderly conduct prompted his father to send Dahmer to
Wisconsin to live with his grandmother.
1986: Dahmer found masturbating in front of two young boys. He received a 1 year probationary
sentence.
2ND VICTIM
September 1978:
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Dahmer meets Steven Toumi in a gay bar
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The two checked into a hotel and drank heavily.
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Dahmer claimed to have found Toumi dead beside him when he awoke
Dahmer purchased a large suitcase to transport Toumi’s corpse to his grandparents'’
basement.
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Had sex with Toumi’s dead body, dismembered him, and disposed of in the garbage
THROUGH THE YEARS
Dahmer’s killing spree lasted for 13 years.
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Sought out African American men at gay meeting places
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Brought men to grandparents’ basement with promises of money or sex
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Fed them alcohol laced with drugs before strangling them
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Had sex with the bodies and dismembered them
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Usually kept genitals or skulls as souvenirs
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Took photos of victims throughout murder process to later relive the
experience
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Overall charged with: child molestation, disorderly conduct, indecent exposure,
public intoxication
ONE LAST VICTIM
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Tracy Edwards, most recent and last victim of Dahmer (who got away)
- Found running wildly down Kilbourn Avenue in handcuffs
- Told officers he was held captive for 5 hours
- Dahmer threatened to eat his heart
- Claimed not to be homosexual
The hero who sent
Dahmer to prison
AFTERMATH
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Police found gruesome evidence in Dahmer’s apartment
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Found guilty with charge of murder in the 1 st degree
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No death penalty in Wisconsin meant 937-year sentence
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Beaten to a bloody pulp and killed by a fellow inmate while serving his time in prison
THEORY OF DEVIANCE
The sociological theory of deviance that best fits the criminal behavior of Jeffrey
Dahmer is the Social control theory. Jeffrey Dahmer’s compulsions were not only sick, but
sexual. When he began murdering, he sought out mainly homosexual African American men.
He must not have cared to conform to the ‘social norm’ of a straight lifestyle when he went out
to gay bars, where he hunted his victims. I believe Jeffrey Dahmer lost attachment to social
bond when he began heavily drinking right out of high school. Around the time he graduated
high school, he killed his first victim, mainly under the influence of alcohol. He often used
offerings of alcohol, sex, and money to lure men back to kill them. He also lost connection
with social bond when he dropped out of college for his excessive drinking. He was sent to the
Army by his father, but he was discharged due to his alcoholism. That withered the bond with
his father after disappointing him. His father sent Dahmer to live with his grandmother,
possibly to have Jeffrey under close supervision to make sure he did not drink excessively. He
also had withered the bond he had with his grandmother when she had become tired of the
late-night drinking and bringing men to the house. She eventually kicked him out of her house.
REHAB OR PUNISHMENT?
Personally, I believe if Jeffrey Dahmer were still alive to this day and serving his
937 years in prison, I would recommend some sort of psychological help on top of activities to
help change his ways and move him in the right direction. Although I would recommend a
counselor to Dahmer, he in fact did read the Book of Revelation from the Bible and often
contemplated the “question of death”. The Book of Revelation contained prophecies of hellfire,
damnation and apocalyptic fury. It was only a few days after, he had been killed by another
inmate in jail.
Also, I believe Dahmer was a possible paranoid schizophrenic. He had said that he
had compulsions starting at the age of 14. He said his compulsions were of dark, disturbing,
and sexual images.
DAHMER
“When I was a kid, I was just like anybody
else.”
“I think in some way, I wanted it to end. Even if it meant my own
destruction.”
“..Like arrows shooting through my mind from out of the blue.” (Dahmer on fantasies)
“…If I was killed in prison. That would be a blessing right now.”
Ironically, Dahmer was killed in prison.