Loneliness and Associated Violent Antisocial Behavior: Analysis of the Case Reports of Jeffrey Dahmer and Dennis Nilsen

• NCJ Number: 209822
• Journal: International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 49 Issue: 3 Dated: June 2005 Pages: 298-307
• Author(s): Willem H. J. Martens; George B. Palermo
• Date Published: June 2005
• Length: 10 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The link between loneliness and violent, antisocial behavior is examined through case studies of two serial killers, Jeffrey Dahmer and Dennis Nilsen.

Abstract

Loneliness is experienced as a feeling related to a state of emotional separation from others. Over time, loneliness tends to erode one's sense of identity in relationships and interactions with others, and long-term loneliness can lead to the diminishment of constructive psychosocial, emotional, and moral feedback that depends on social relationships. A review of the backgrounds and life circumstances of Dennis Nilsen, Britain's notoriously savage serial killer, and Jeffrey Dahmer, who sought total control over and the possession of his victims even after killing them, shows that both wanted a type of perverted companionship with their victims. In the etiology of the antisocial homicidal behavior of Jeffrey Dahmer and Dennis Nilsen, loneliness clearly had a crucial role in the development of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). Rejected by parents and peers, Dahmer and Nilsen experienced long-lasting and unbearable feelings of social isolation that stemmed from their inability to engage in healthy interactions with others that stimulated positive feedback and satisfying intimacy. This article presents a list of significant correlates of loneliness and antisocial behavior. The authors advise that such a list may be useful in assessing possible dangerousness and in developing prevention and intervention programs early in the life of a child who displays symptoms of ASPD. Suggestions are offered for the effective treatment of loneliness and associated violent, antisocial behavior. Future research should focus on the psychosocial, emotional, neurobiological, cultural, and ethnic determinants of loneliness and their correlation with specific antisocial and/or criminal behavior. 28 references