Could Dahmer Have Been a Victim?
Building safe and secure societies requires drastically reducing crime rates. Netflix’s Dahmer is one of many successful shows which explores true crime and has spurred discussions over why people commit crimes. Are people like Dahmer born monsters? Or were they made into monsters? Determining whether monsters are born or made is important because each call for different interventions to reduce heinous acts.
Is Dahmer to blame for his crimes?
Many viewers were made uncomfortable by Netflix’s Dahmer because the show hints that Dahmer was, to some degree, made into a monster. The show portrays Dahmer as a victim of parental neglect, medical malpractice, structural prejudice, and homophobia. From this perspective, anyone with similar experiences could have become a killer. The show’s focus suggests that individuals and institutions bear some responsibility for Dahmer’s crimes. In fact, show creators claim that the show is centered on raising awareness about how homophobia, systemic racism, and other societal problems made it possible for Dahmer to kill. Some viewers think that this characterization neglects the victims’ stories. They are concerned that the victims’ lives are “drowned out by the amount of time spent trying to excuse Dahmer’s actions by his apparently dysfunctional family upbringing”.
A viewer said that the show almost made her feel “sorry for this creep”.
Dahmer’s Violent Death
It seems wrong to feel sorry for him. Dahmer may have had a rough life but he still murdered at least seventeen people. His crimes were undoubtedly gruesome and people may be tempted to find justice in his agonizing demise. He was clobbered to death by a fellow inmate. Christopher Scarver crashed Dahmer’s skull with a 20-inch pipe, brutally ending his life. A hospital spokeswoman implied that he was “beaten so severely that he was unrecognizable”. Coincidentally, Dahmer killed his first victim in a similar way. One could feel that a violent end is just after all the pain he caused.
Scarver claimed to have killed Dahmer because he was disgusted by his crimes and lack of remorse. Further, he stated that God told him to avenge Dahmer’s victims. Scarver described how Dahmer used to perversely play with his food: sculpting it into deceased bodies and decorating them with blood (ketchup). We get a glimpse of this aberrant behavior in episode 9 of the show. In a scene set at the prison canteen, Dahmer grabs a chicken wing and compares it to a human thumb after he “was done with them”, then licks it. Meanwhile, Scarver looks at him furiously. When Dahmer’s death was made public it was reported that “relatives of his victims rejoiced” and one said, “he paid for what he did”. Jamie Hagan, who's relative was killed by Dahmer, said “I am happy and very excited that the monster is finally dead”. Was Dahmer’s bizarre behavior a sign of his depravity or a symptom of a disease?
Should viewers feel sorry for Dahmer or should they find solace in his painful death?
Dahmer’s sudden death, however, left a lot of unanswered questions about the reasons behind his killings. Netflix’s show strongly falls on environmental causes to explain his behavior. We have previously discussed Dr. Eagleman’s review of cases where physiological conditions affect how people behave (including the onset of pedophilia). There are documented cases where certain undesirable tendencies were cured through surgery. How should societies treat these rehabilitated individuals?
Building a society that is open, secure, and welcoming to a diverse range of people requires maintaining their safety. Therefore, it is important to figure out why someone commits heinous acts. On the one hand, carceral systems which focus on preparing people who committed crimes for reintegration into society, have achieved much lower rates of recidivism. Nevertheless, dismissing deterministic views (i.e. that killers are born) can result in people and policymakers looking for causes in all the wrong places. Therefore, designing interventions may have high costs and make no difference. The degree to which monsters are made also raises questions about the responsibility of those who made them.
Implications
The existence of people like Dahmer is a problem that societies need to address. Safety and peace are the cornerstones of liberal democracies. These societies need to seriously consider how to apply knowledge about the causes of crime to legislate policies that protect themselves. These efforts should also explore the effects that these measures would have on the victims and their families.
States have tried to prevent crimes through several methods, many of which have had dire consequences. Often these policies, for example eugenic sterilization, were based on ideas and theories which now seem implausible. We think that societies should be cautiously zealous about reducing crime. While it is probable that crime can be further reduced through research, it is pivotal to be mindful of the consequences. Historically, the allure of such theories and the prospect of a crime-free society have directly harmed thousands of innocent people.
Discussions about crime often focus on the individual who commits the crime and their victims. Netflix’s Dahmer generated controversy because the victims’ relatives were not involved in the production process. @Nix Noir and others think that you should not watch the show because it was done without the consent and participation of those who the story affected. These critics suggest that humanizing Dahmer reduces his responsibility for his crimes and exploits the tragic loss of lives for financial gain. Recently, a psychologist reflected on the ramifications of the murder of her college boyfriend. Policies that aim to reduce crime should also consider the victim’s families.
Netflix’s Dahmer can initiate this important conversation because of the many issues it raised. There is an underlying tension in society which the show reflects: Are monsters made or born? In our quest to create better societies,
Should people feel sorry for these “creeps”?
Authors: Christian Orlic & Lucas Heili both contributed to this article.
The authors want to thank www.newspapers.com. This site is the largest online newspaper archive with over 800 million newspaper pages and it continues to be invaluable in our research.