User:Ea10233/Jeffrey Dahmer

Quick Summary of Jeffrey Dahmer
Jeffrey Dahmer has been known to be one of the most notorious serial killers in history. This American serial killer was also a sex offender, necrophilia, voyeur, and cannibal. He took pleasure in his killings of young teenage boys and men, having permanent preservation of body parts, sometimes all or part of the skeleton.

Dahmer had admitted to the killings and dismemberment of seventeen men and boys. However, during his trial he was only convicted to the killings of fifteen out of sixteen of the murders he committed in the state of Wisconsin. On February 17, 1992, Dahmer would be sentenced to serve fifteen terms of life imprisonment. He would receive his sixteenth term of life imprisonment for a homicide he had committed in Ohio of 1978.

Diagnosed with three different mental health issues, borderline personality disorder, schizotypal personality disorder, and psychotic disorder, Jeffrey Dahmer was found to be legally sane at his trial. During his trial he was convicted of; first-degree murder-sixteen counts, disorderly conduct- two counts, second-degree sexual assault and enticing a child for immoral purposes. His criminal penalty was life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, this totaled in 941 years in prison.

Jeffrey Dahmer was killed at the Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisconsin on November 28, 1994. Dahmer had just served over two years before he was killed by fellow inmate Christopher Scarver.

Childhood
Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer was born on May 21, 1960 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was the first born son of two for his father, Lionel Herbert Dahmer, and mother, Joyce Annette Dahmer (Flint). Lionel Dahmer was a chemistry student at Marquette University where he later went on to be a research chemist. Joyce Dahmer was a teletype machine instructor.

As Jeffrey Dahmer began first grade, his father Lionel Dahmer was not home too often, he was busy with the university doing studies. Joyce Dahmer was known to be a hypochondriac who suffered from depression, which caused her to spend lots of time in bed. She attempted suicide by using Equanil. Due to his home life, Dahmer reflected on his home life to feeling "unsure of the solidity of the family". Dahmer recalled hearing his parents constantly argue within the house, causing there to be always tension.

Dahmer's elementary school teacher remembers him being a quiet, timid child who showed signs of abandonment. Signs of abandonment were due to his absent father and his mothers illness. In October 1966, the Dahmer family moved from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Doylestown, Ohio. In December of 1966, Joyce and Lionel welcomed there second son, David, into the world. Jeffrey was the one who picked out the baby's name.

At an early age, Jeffrey Dahmer became fascinated with dead animals. His father noticed the excitement on Jeffrey's face, only four-years old, when Lionel removed animal bones from under the family home. The interest in dead animals caused him to become "oddly thrilled" by the sound the bones made. He would play with the dead animal bones, which he would then call "fiddlesticks".

In their third home in two years, the Dahmer's moved to Bath Township, Summit County, Ohio. The new home allowed Jeffrey to be closer to woodland, which gave him access to many large insects and small animals. Jeffrey would collect dragonflies, moths, squirrels, and chipmunks, and preserve the dead animals in jars of formaldehyde and keep them in his shed.

Lionel Dahmer taught his son how to preserve chicken bones using bleach. Jeffrey asked his father how to do this, which caused excitement in Lionel thinking his son was curious in scientific discoveries. Jeffrey would use this preserving techniques when he began collecting dead animals, including roadkill. Once he had the dead animal, he would dissect the body and bury the remains by the shed.

What is Murderabilia?
The fascination of owning serial killer possessions is becoming the new “it” item on the market for some individuals. Murder memorabilia, also known as murderabilia or murderbilia, is taking ownership and collecting the items that once were in possession of a person who committed violent crimes. It can be considered strange to want to possess personal items that once belonged to a gruesome killer, but it is becoming a hobby for some who are interested in true crime.

Cult Collectibles
Websites now make it very easy to collect murderabilia, especially when it comes to famous serial killers. One website in particular is CultCollectibles.org. On this particular website, Jeffrey Dahmer has his own special collection that can be viewed on the left hand side of the menu. These items, which are bought and sold through websites, can be shipped anywhere in the world and only taking anywhere from 10-60 days for delivery.

The website, CultCollectibles.org is known as one of the largest sites in the world to be selling and trading these types of possessions. The founder of the website, Taylor James, started the site in 2018 with his ideas to network and expand his personal collection of true crime and cult items. One of the biggest accomplishment this website and Taylor James has seen is having the items on the site be purchased and displayed in museums and exhibits in USA, UK, and Europe as well as having several books published and able to work on documentary projects. On the website, Jeffrey Dahmer has his own special category “Jeffrey Dahmer Collection”. In this collection, one can find People Magazine with articles containing news about Dahmer and the trial. Brain Masters, who is a British writer and known for his biographies of serial killers, was in contact and exchanged letters with Joyce Dahmer. These letters are displayed on the website and are being sold for $500.00. Post cards, fan mail, Jeffrey's school projects, and crime scene photos are also for sale on Colt Collectibles website.

The cheapest thing one can buy in the Jeffrey Dahmer collection is a single playing card owned by Lionel Dahmer for $25.00. The most expensive thing in the Jeffrey Dahmer collection is Jeffrey Dahmer's Urn, which is $250,000. Some things in the collection are shown on the website even if they are sold out.

Voyeurism
The term voyeurism comes from the term voyeur, which is defined as "someone who obtains sexual gratification from observing unsuspecting individuals who are partly undressed, naked or engaged in sexual acts". The term is a fairly recent addition to the English dictionary. Voyeur is a French noun meaning "one who sees". Voyeurism is defined as "the desires or behavior of a voyeur: such as the practice of obtaining sexual gratification from observing others; the practice of taking pleasure in observing something private, sordid, or scandalous".

Another definition for voyeurism, is the “enjoyment from seeing the pain or distress of others”. In the article, The Psychology Behind Watching Reality TV, voyeurism was defined as “a disorder that causes a person to gain pleasure from watching unsuspecting individuals”. The article begins to dive into the topic that some people have a strong desire to watch reality TV while others could do without. Research suggests that some of the reasons for this may be because some people are obsessed. The reality TV that is being viewed is either competition shows or high socialite situations. These types of shows have a different perspective than regular tv selections, it allows us to get a glimpse of real-life persons and the abnormal tasks they are presented with. We have hopes that the person we like succeeds, the person we don’t like fails, and that we see some behind-the-scenes action that is never shown on regular tv. Similar to the genre of true crime shows, the reason we watch reality tv is to see real-life people doing real-life activities. Lemi Baruh, who is a Turkish psychologist, published his findings “ that voyeurism and social comparison tendency were positively correlated with the preference to watching TV”.

Dahmer as a Voyeur
Jeffrey Dahmer was considered to be a voyeur due to his criminal tendencies. Dahmer would become sexually aroused at the thought of watching his victims undress. He would take polaroids of his victims, both alive and deceased. When Dahmer's house was raided by law enforcement, they discovered in his open drawer around 80 polaroid images of his victims who were posed, naked, and even dismembered.