The Serial Killer As the Lonely Child

One very common factor in the childhood of serial killers is their loneliness and isolation from their peers. As children, they rarely fit in with their playmates. Henry Lee Lucas and Albert DeSalvo were obviously isolated from other children outside their family by their living conditions. By the subtle rules of childhood society, they do not fit in - something is already out of kilter in their personalities. Both David Berkowitz and Joel Rifkin had lonely childhoods and harboured secret aggressive fantasies. Berkowitz surreptitiously crushed boxes of his grandparents’ precious fragile matzoh and saltine crackers. His grandparents always thought the damage had happened in the store. Berkowitz had no childhood friends. He said, “It was a mysterious force working against me. I felt bothered and tormented, ‘Die Schmutz’ (Yiddish for ‘the dirty one’).” Rifkin was clumsy and stuttered slightly, isolating him from his peers. He was bullied and the butt of jokes throughout his high school career, and he maintained a very lonely existence despite his place on the track team and position as yearbook photographer. When the yearbook came out, all the students who worked on it threw a party - and Joel was the only one not invited. Loneliness gave these individuals time and space within which to develop, evolve, and dwell upon a fantasy life. The hostile and disempowering circumstances behind their loneliness often gives these fantasies a nasty and violent context focused on revenge and the desire for power.