"I felt a kind of hunger, I don't know how to describe it, a compulsion, and I just kept doing it and doing it again, whenever the opportunity arose." (Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer)

Who was Jeffrey Dahmer?

Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer was born on May 21, 1960, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.A. His mother had psychiatric problems during Dahmer's pregnancy, it was investigated. Because of this, had to take many medications before Jeffrey Dahmer was born (DARKSIDE, 2022).

Around the age of 4, Jeffrey had to have surgery to remove two hernias. This fact seems quite remarkable for his story, and 2 years later his younger brother is born and reports indicate to us that before this he appeared to be a happy and active child (IDEM).

After the surgery, he questions the fact that they did not warn him that the doctors would open him up and poke around inside him. His curiosity for the inside of the human body and animals may have started during this period.

Jeffrey Dahmer and his experiences

Ilana Casoy describes that she "did cruel experiments on animals, beheading rodents, bleaching chicken bones with acid, impaling dog heads and scattering like scarecrows in the forest". (Casoy, 2008, p.150).

He had bizarre behavior at school and his addiction to alcohol began to show signs at age 14, and his first murder took place at age 18. He was expelled from college and the army because of his addiction.

He even served a year in prison for sexual assault in 1989. The victim's brother would be a fatal victim of the killer some time later. In all, there were 17 fatal victims, until he was finally arrested in 1991. Dahmer was murdered in prison in 1994.

Series "Dahmer: An American Cannibal

On September 21, 2022 , a biographical version about this serial killer who acted since the late 1970s and early 1990s premiered.

Many accounts presented in the episodes are staged based on police recordings and videos of the time, especially of family members during the murderer's trial.

Diagnosis about Jeffrey Dahmer

That Jeffrey Dahmer possessed a quiet and solitary behavior, his father had already noticed. However, he never imagined that he could reach the level he did. When Jeffrey was convicted of molesting a teenager, Lionel Dahmer realized that his son needed medical help, but the judge did not grant it.

The first symptom of mental illness that we can observe in Dahmer (son) is alcoholism, with which all the psychiatrists who evaluated him agree. Another point that all the experts agree on is necrophilia (CONVERSING..., 2022).

Along with paraphilia, necrophilia, prejudice, and other traits, Dahmer was also diagnosed with alcoholism, an unspecified personality disorder, and antisocial personality disorder with obsessive-compulsive and sadistic components. He was also diagnosed with an unspecified sexual disorder," psychologist Joan Ulman wrote to Psychology Today (FERREIRA, 2022).

Necrophilia

There is an account in the series (IDEM) in which Dahmer reports that he stole a mannequin so it could keep him company. According to psychiatrist Dr. Fred Berlin's definition (ibid.), "necrophilia is a condition in which an individual becomes very excited about having sex with people after they die. In the same series, in another statement, we can conclude that "unconscious bodies, mannequins, and people do not make demands, do not complain, and do not go away" (CONVERSING..., 2022).

It is important to point out that for Dahmer, as the psychiatrists assessed, everything was a matter of control. (CRUZ, 2022) Also, we cannot fail to mention that the issue of abandonment was very apparent, since he did not want his victims to "go away", after all this is how the killer justifies the attempt to create "zombies and the "need to strangle their victims.

Still on the subject of zombies, Dahmer's lawyer, during the trial and in an attempt to prove the insanity of the killer, asked psychiatrist Dr. Fred Fosdel, if he believed that Jeffrey was a necrophiliac. The doctor replied: "Yes, but that is not your primary sexual preference. If he was a pure necrophiliac, he would never have tried the technique for creating a zombie" (CRUZ, 2022).

Modus Operandi: how did he act?

The first crimes ended up happening without much directed or programmed intentions. Dahmer in his statements says that he always did something to make it more enjoyable, but there was always something missing.

I want information to enroll in the Psychoanalysis Course .

In the final stage of his crimes, Dahmer frequented several gay bars, and offered money to young men to take sexy pictures in his house. When they arrived, the killer would drug his victims, in order to have total control of the moment, I would strangle the boys, so that they wouldn't run away, and recorded every step of his experience on polaroid photos.

Saibro (2022) describes the process after the murder, He used to masturbate over the corpse and soon after, practiced anal or oral sex with the deceased. Soon after, he would "put it away" so that when he felt like it, he could copulate again.

A criminal process

When the corpse became "unpalatable", he opened the thorax and was dazzled by the anatomical view of the human body. He said his fascination was so great that he kept "organ intercourse".

After this phase, he then proceeded to butcher the body, separating the parts he considered "useful" from the "useless" ones. From then on, he had no more sexual pleasures, but gastronomical ones. That's right: he had a great appreciation for hearts and guts. One of his favorite dishes was the human meat croquette.

Not forgetting the fried muscles. He reported that he had erections during his meals. He believed that by eating them, the victims could have survival inside his body. (SAIBRO, 2022)

Final Thoughts: On the Mind of Jeffrey Dahmer

As we analyze the experts' versions, we realize that for the studies of the time, there are many considerations about Dahmer's diagnosis.

The only diagnosis with certainty, according to Gigliotti (2022), is alcohol use disorder. However, necrophilia was never denied by any of them, and became an argument and strategy for his defense.

The jury found him sane and fully capable of understanding and answering for his actions at the time of the crimes. He declared himself sane in testimony and in court. But this was not a consensus among jurists and experts of the time.

Bibliographic references:

CASOY, Ilana. Serial Killers: crazy or cruel? Rio de Janeiro: Ediouro, 2008. 352 p.

Talking to a Serial Killer: The Milwaukee Cannibal, directed by Joe Berlinger, USA: Netflix, 2022. son. color. subtitled. available at: //www.netflix.com/watch/81408929?trackId=14170286&tctx=2%2C0%2C75be11af-165f-415d-b8b0-1c65c428cad1-131556%2CNES_61B9946ECBBC3E4A36B8B56DFEEB4C-994911DC4F528C-BD554956AE_p_1667506401680%2CNES_61B9946ECBBC3E4A36B8B56DFEEB4C_p_1667506401680%2C%2C%2C2C%2CAccessed on: 02 Nov. 2022.

CRUZ, Daniel. Serial Killers: Jeffrey Dahmer, the Milwaukee Cannibal. 2022. Available at: //oavcrime.com.br/2011/02/16/serial-killers-o-canibal-de-milwaukee/. Accessed on: 01 nov. 2022.

I want information to enroll in the Psychoanalysis Course .

DAHMER: An American Cannibal. directed by Paris Barclay, Carl Franklin, Janet Mock. starring Evan Peters, Richard Jenkins, Niecy Nash, Molly Ringwald, Michael Learned, Penelope Ann Miller, Dyllón Burnside. usa: Netflix, 2022 (533 min.), son. in color, subtitled. available at: //www.netflix.com/watch/81303934?trackId=14277281&tctx=-97%2C-97%2C%2C%2C%2C%2C%2C%2C%2C%2C%2C%2C . accessed 1 Nov. 2022.

DARKSIDE. 10 FACTS ABOUT JEFFREY DAHMER THAT YOU PROVABLY DID NOT KNOW. Milwaukee cannibal had comic book written by childhood friend. 2022. Available at: //darkside.blog.br/7-facts-about-jeffrey-dahmer-that-you-probably-didn't-know/ . Accessed on: 01 nov. 2022.

DIAGNOSTIC SERIAL KILLER JEFFREY DAHMER IS.... [S.I.]: Narcissist Without The Mask, 2022. (1 min.), son., color. Available at: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uyv6u_3w3ms . Accessed November 1, 2022.

FERREIRA, Luiz Lucas. these are some of Jeffrey Dahmer's disorders, according to experts consulted in the trial: 'Dahmer: An American Cannibal⠹ exploded on Netflix and tells a real case' 'Dahmer: An American Cannibal' exploded on Netflix and tells a real case. 2022. available at: //www.metroworldnews.com.br/estilo-vida/2022/10/23/estes-sao-alguns-dos-disturbios-de-jeffrey-dahmer-segundo-Accessed on: 01 Nov. 2022.

GIGLIOTTI, Analice. Deciphering the mind of "Dahmer," the series that is a sensation on Netflix: real character remains a mystery because of its contradictions. 2022. Available at: //vejario.abril.com.br/column/analice-gigliotti/decifrando-a-mente-de-dahmer-a-serie-que-e-sensacao-na-netflix/#:~:text=Other%20poss%C3%ADveis%20diagn%C3%B3stics%20of%20Dahmer,and%20the%20disorder%20psych%C3%B3tico%20breve . Accessed: 01 Nov. 2022.

SAIBRO, Henrique. Jeffrey Dahmer, the American cannibal. 2022. Available at: //canalciencienciascriminais.com.br/jeffrey-dahmer-o-canibal-americano/ . Accessed on: 01 nov. 2022.

This article was written by Vivian Tonini de G. S. M. Vieira( [email protected] ), English teacher, has been teaching for 12 years in public schools in the city of São Paulo.