Castration anxiety: A neglected aetiological factor in the male murderer

Although the majority of social scientists and medical researchers would argue that the act of murder results from neurodegeneration and other biological factors, by contrast, forensic psychotherapists and psychoanalysts have long appreciated the role of core traumatic experiences as important aetiological contributors to such violent crimes. In this essay, the author has drawn upon both his clinical experience as well as several detailed biographical studies of famous serial killers such as Jeffrey Dahmer and Joseph Kallinger, underscoring the important role of early castration orientated events upon the development of their ego structures. The author has expanded Sigmund Freud's notion of castration anxiety as a core factor in the development of the male psyche, examining the ways in which early attacks on the genitalia, as well as a sense of basic impotency, contribute to the perpetration of murder during adulthood.