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You’re not really getting into his plight

Synopsis

An anthology series about high-profile crimes or killers that captured public attention and notoriety.. Evan Peters [Jeffrey Dahmer] says they had one rule, from Ryan Murphy [Creator] to follow going into the series: that it would never be told from Dahmer’s point of view. "As an audience, you're not really sympathizing with him. You're more sort of watching it, you know, from the outside.". In many episodes there is a 3M Command(TM) strip shown in Jeffery Dahmer’s apartment kitchen, this takes place in 1991 by the latest. 3M debuted its first wave of Command(TM) products in 1996.

Featured in Jeremy Vine: Episode #5,195 (2022)

For those interested in the psychology of a serial killer, there is no more fascinating character study than Jeffrey Dahmer. He was a psychiatric enigma and a profoundly sick individual. A chronic alcoholic from a very young age. A sexual deviant with all manner of unusual fetishes. A necrophiliac. A cannibal.

He longed to be accepted by his peers

A pure psychopath and the product of a perfect storm of schizotypal/borderline personality disorder, developmental toxicity (exposure to psychoactive drugs in utero), negative parental influence, neglect and childhood trauma, a morbid curiosity with the macabre, social exclusion at school and deep feelings of loneliness, sexual confusion and insecurity. He longed to be cared about and loved by his family. But, at the same time, we knew deep down that he would inevitably disappoint his parents because of his inability to live a normal life and that he wouldn’t be accepted by friends due to his odd personality.We all tend to seek out like-minded people and make connections with those we have something in common with. The problem was that Jeffrey knew there wasn’t anyone out there with the same interests or outlook as him. Left to his own devices by absent parents and socially isolated, he became increasingly withdrawn and followed a path of introversion and solitude. He must have felt like he didn’t belong in this world, and that there wasn’t a place for him within society, so he abandoned all attempts to participate and pursued a voyeuristic way of life.

His interest was solely in their aesthetic, or physical appearance

He lacked a clear or positive self-image, meaning his perspective of other people was skewed, which resulted in him fully embracing his warped perception of pleasure and satisfaction. The men he felt attracted to were purely sexual objects to him; walking, talking sex dolls. He appeared to have been a deeply troubled soul from the outside and his behaviors were predominantly a consequence of his genetic constitution, exacerbated by negative life experiences. If his childhood had been a more positive one then he may have been able to adapt better to his personal limitations and dysfunctions, but there is no way of knowing the extent of the damage his upbringing had on him. It was evident from his own admissions that he felt predestined to live a peculiar and unorthodox lifestyle due to his innately bizarre persona. The conventional joys of life simply didn’t float Jeffrey’s boat.

But I have to admit that I found his story to be tragically sad

I rarely, if ever, feel sorry for multiple murderers, especially those who commit such heinous and sickening crimes as Dahmer. My usual take away from accounts of serial killers is wondering how and why someone could do that to another human being over and over again!? In Dahmer’s case, I am left feeling conflicted with a strange understanding of, and empathy for, his actions. Of course I’m not condoning what he did, but I can appreciate how and why the sequence of events transpired. In his televised interviews he was so open, frank and forthcoming which is exceptionally rare for someone in his situation.